THE MACHINE-GUN NESTS
“The Huns are coming, boys!”
“Up and at ’em, fellows! Don’t give Jerry a chance to get anywhere near
us!”
So the cries ran up and down the trenches, mingled with several orders
and the cracking of rifles. Then the artillery, which had ceased for a
moment, began again, this time with increased fury.
“I think we had better get out of here, boys,” announced Dave. “Never
mind your tools. I guess all you’ll want just now will be your rifles.
We’ll go as far as the entrance to the dugout, anyway.”
As the dugout and the entrance to it were not yet completed, it was
no easy task to crawl up the wet and slippery slope leading to the
trenches.
As requested by him, the top sergeant of the company had been
transferred to another unit, and as Dave was next in rank to him, and
as no one had been as yet appointed to fill poor Lieutenant Harney’s
place, Dave was in command of the engineers left in the dugout.
It must be admitted that he felt his responsibility, the more so
because the sudden alarm above had cut him off from communication with
the first lieutenant or the captain. Some of the engineers attached to
the signal corps had been stringing telephone wires along the trench to
the dugout, but these were as yet not ready to be used.
As the engineers came up to the level of the trench above them they saw
some fierce fighting not a great distance away. A fairly large body of
German troops had come forward over a slight rise of ground and had
taken a position behind a natural ridge of rocks. Off to one side a
German machine-gun nest had been located, and from this the enemy was
pouring a constant fire toward the Americans.
“We’re in for it, all right enough!” cried Roger.
“Boys, when you use your guns make every shot tell!” cried Dave to his
little command. And then, of a sudden, he turned to face the crowd.
“Are you with me in trying to do a bit of hazardous work that may count
big for our side?” he questioned quickly.
“Sure we are!” cried Phil.
“You can count on me every time, Dave! You know that,” announced Roger.
“Show us what we can do, and we’ll do it,” was the way Ben expressed
himself. And the others shouted various words of approval.
A few military supplies had been brought down into the dugout by some
soldiers who had been ordered to leave them there for the present.
Among these supplies Dave had noticed a box of hand-grenades. He
immediately ordered two of his men to go below and bring the box up
with all possible speed.
“I am not quite sure whether we can reach that machine-gun nest with
these hand-grenades or not,” he said; “but, anyway, I think it’s worth
trying.”
“We can’t throw them from here,” said Phil.
“I don’t intend to throw them from here. I’ll show you what I have in
mind just as soon as the grenades have been distributed.”
It was an easy matter to break open the box and hand the grenades
around. Each man was supplied with four to six of the deadly
explosives. Then Dave, after another careful survey of the machine-gun
nest, ordered his men to follow him.
On arriving in that locality the young sergeant had taken time to look
over the ground carefully, noting the various trenches which were in
the course of construction. In doing this he had taken note also of
the lay of the land and had wondered what would happen if an approach
should be made by the enemy through a little rocky gully running off to
one side and which was all but hidden by some stunted undergrowth.
This gully, he had now noted with satisfaction, ran in an irregular way
toward the vicinity of the nest where the German machine-gunners were
operating their weapon with such telling effect against the Americans.
At one point where the gully made a sharp turn it was less than fifty
yards distant from the gun.
“I don’t believe I’ll need more than three or four men,” announced Dave
presently. “Who wants to go along?”
Every engineer wanted that honor, and all begged Dave not to leave them
behind.
“All right--you can all come along if you want to,” he announced, with
a grin. “We’ll give the Heinies a salute they will most likely never
forget.”
The young sergeant led the way along the trench to where there was an
unfinished portion, and there he halted his little party and instructed
them carefully.
“Just beyond the top of this trench at a distance of about ten feet is
the beginning of a gully which runs along between the rocks and bushes
for a long distance. It is very irregular in shape, and in some places
is much deeper than at others. We’ll have to crawl along slowly and do
our best to keep ourselves hidden. Otherwise the Huns may spot us, and
then it will be all over. Keep your guns ready for use in case any of
the Heinies show themselves. They may be in the gully already.”
With caution he raised his helmet on top of his rifle and held it
above the top of the trench. No rifle report followed, and he moved
the helmet along a distance of several feet, as if the man wearing
it were walking. But no shot came, and then without further delay he
crawled quickly over the top of the trench and made for the entrance
to the gully he had mentioned. Like so many snakes the other engineers
wriggled along after him.
It took fully a minute for the whole sixteen to reach the gully, and
during that time each man was fearful that the Germans would discover
and open fire upon them. But the battle was raging furiously at some
distance, and they fortunately were not noticed.
Once in the gully, they proceeded with caution. Dave was in the lead,
with Roger next and Phil and the others following. All crawled along on
their arms and knees, holding their rifles ready for instant use.
Presently Dave heard a sound ahead which brought him instantly to a
halt. It was the noise of a loose stone falling on a rock, and there
followed an exclamation of pain in German. Evidently the stone had come
down on somebody in that part of the gully just ahead.
The young sergeant motioned for those behind him to keep absolutely
quiet. Then, with his gun ready for immediate use, he moved forward
inch by inch until he could peer around a turn in the gully.
A German soldier was there, sitting on a rock with his back toward
our hero. In one hand he had a sandwich, consisting of rye bread and
a sausage, and the other a small bottle of native wine, and he was
evidently enjoying his lunch regardless of the battle going on all
around him. Dave looked beyond the German and saw that he was alone.
It would have been an easy matter for the young sergeant to have killed
this enemy then and there; but he could not bring himself thus to shoot
a fellow human being in the back, and besides he did not consider it
good policy to make any unnecessary noise in the gully. The success of
the task he had undertaken lay, largely, he felt certain, in advancing
in utter silence.
He motioned to Phil and Roger, and both understood. Then all three
advanced side by side and laid down their rifles.
The next instant Dave was on the German and with both hands had caught
him directly over the mouth, pulling him backward. Then Roger and Phil
leaped forward, one to kneel on the fellow’s breast and the other to
catch him by the legs.
The German was taken completely by surprise, and with his mouth full
of bread and sausage he came close to choking. He spluttered and
gasped, and then, seeing he was helpless in the hands of the Americans,
gasped out hoarsely: “_Kamerad! Kamerad!_”
“All right, ‘_kamerad_’ it is!” announced Dave in a whisper. “But you
keep quiet.” And to make the fellow understand he pointed to his mouth
and placed his hand over that organ of speech.
The fellow understood and nodded. His gun had rested across his lap, so
he was easily disarmed. Then Dave detailed two of the engineers to take
the fellow back to the American lines.
“And don’t let him make any noise while he is in this gully,” cautioned
the young sergeant.
“You bet your boots he’ll never let out more than one peep!” announced
one of the engineers who was to take the prisoner back. And, looking at
the prisoner, he pointed to the fellow’s mouth and then to the point
of his own bayonet, to intimate that if the fellow made any noise he
would be stabbed to death. But the German prisoner had no intention
of risking his life further, and he nodded vigorously to show that he
understood.
With this German thus disposed of, Dave and those remaining with him
again advanced, this time with increased caution, for if one German
had found his way into the gully others might do likewise, and the
engineers did not wish to be treated to a disagreeable surprise.
As they progressed it must not be supposed that they did not keep their
eyes and ears open for what was going on beyond the gully. Every few
feet they stopped to look up and peer between the rocks and the stunted
undergrowth which overhung the edges of the depression. Beyond this
hollow the landscape had been torn up and in many places swept clean by
the heavy artillery fire of that day and of days gone by.
Presently they came to another turn in the gully. Here there was a deep
depression, and they had to wade through water and mud up to their
knees. They were now getting closer to the German machine-gun nest, and
Dave motioned to his men to increase their caution and for each of them
to hold a hand-grenade ready for use.
At last they reached a point where it seemed impossible to go any
further. A shell had exploded in that vicinity and completely blocked
the gully. To advance farther would mean that they would have to crawl
out of the depression and around a small hill of dirt and sand left by
the exploded shell.
“I don’t know whether we can reach that machine-gun nest from here or
not,” Dave whispered to the others.
“What’s the matter with going over the top after that nest?” demanded
Roger.
“Do you want to do it?” questioned Dave quickly, turning to all of
those under him.
“Sure! Let us go over!” was the whispered answer. Not an engineer
wanted to hold back.
With more caution than ever Dave peeped out among the rocks and
calculated what might be the chances for success. While he was doing
this he made another discovery, which was to the effect that while
they had been slowly crawling up the gully another machine-gun of the
Germans had been located almost side by side with the first. Both guns
were popping away constantly, and evidently doing considerable damage.
“If they should turn their guns this way it would be all up with us,”
said the young sergeant. “So if we show ourselves we’ll be taking our
lives in our hands.”
“Well, what of it? Come on!”
“Don’t let us waste any more time. Those guns must be doing terrible
damage to our fellows.”
“Let us get busy with these hand-grenades right away.”
They were all enthusiastic, and Dave more so than any one else. His
eyes lit up with patriotic fire as he got a hand-grenade ready for use.
“All right, boys! If you say so we’ll go over the top and at ’em,” he
cried. “Get your grenades ready, but don’t throw until I give the word.
And then be sure to give it to the Heinies just where it will do the
most good.”
There was a brief pause, and then Dave leaped forth from the gully,
followed almost instantly by all of the others. Away they sped over the
ground in the direction of the machine-gun nests.
They had covered fully fifty feet before the Germans discovered them.
Then a yell went up and several shots rang out, the bullets whistling
over their heads.
“Now then--all together!” yelled Dave, and let fly with his
hand-grenade. The others hurled their explosives at the same time.
While two of the hand-grenades went wide of the mark and one other
failed to go off, the others came down directly in the midst of the
two machine-gun nests. There was a loud explosion, followed rapidly by
a number of others. The machine-guns were completely wrecked and the
bodies of the gunners were hurled in all directions!