AT THE BROOK
The great World War which had now raged so furiously for four years was
rapidly approaching its climax. The Germans had been driven from the
vicinity of Paris, they had suffered their great defeats on the Marne
and at Verdun at the hands of the entente Allies, and now the American
troops had beaten them back at Château Thierry and other points, while
the Italians were hammering the Austrians mercilessly in the mountains
of upper Italy.
In the meanwhile there had been naval battles in the North Sea and the
Mediterranean, and the extraordinary submarine campaign of the Germans
had proved to be more or less a failure.
Our soldiers were coming over the Atlantic as fast as our transports
could carry them, and what was equally important, we were sending
immense quantities of food, ammunition and other supplies to those who
were fighting this tremendous war with us.
With the Americans and their Allies thus pushing the Germans back
at every available opportunity, there was plenty of work for the
engineers. More than once Dave and those under him found themselves
working ten and twelve and even fourteen hours on a stretch, and doing
this in places which were as dangerous as they were uncomfortable.
More than once they were out when it was raining furiously, and on two
occasions after an early breakfast they got nothing more to eat until
nightfall.
“If anybody thinks being an army engineer is a cinch, he’s got another
guess coming to him,” remarked Ben one evening, after an extra hard
day’s labor.
“You never said a truer thing than that, Ben,” returned Phil. “Gosh!
how my back does ache!”
“I know what I’m going to do,” put in Roger. “I’m going bathing. There
is nothing that refreshes me half so much as a bath after a hard day’s
work.”
“I think I’ll go with you,” said Dave. “I saw a dandy spot to-day,
while we were fixing that bridge.”
“And that’s just the place I had in mind,” said the senator’s son.
When there was a favorable opportunity the engineers often took a
little time off to go bathing in one of the rivers or brooks that was
handy, taking care, of course, to select only a place where the water
was clean and pure--not an easy thing to do in a locality where so many
dead bodies of soldiers were to be found.
Dave and all of his chums from Oak Hall formed the party which went
bathing. They had found a tributary to one of the larger streams, and
this was fed mostly by springs. The water was consequently quite cold,
but was absolutely pure, and for this they were thankful. They lost no
time in disrobing, and then one after another plunged in.
“I’m going up the stream a way and do a bit of exploring,” said Ben
presently, and sloshed along through the water and over the rocks.
And presently one after another followed until only Dave was left
behind. He was more interested in getting a good bath than in doing
any exploring, and, sitting down on a rock in the water, he proceeded
to make himself just as much at home as though he was in one of the
bathtubs at the Wadsworth mansion.
Although Dave did not know it, the departure of the Oak Hall chums for
the bathing-place had been noticed by Nat Poole, who chanced along at
that particular time. Walking through the brushwood, Nat presently
approached the place where the young engineers had gone in bathing.
“Gee, I guess here is a chance to play a good trick on those fellows,”
observed the money lender’s son, with a sickly grin.
Not far from where Nat was standing rested Dave’s uniform and his other
garments. Watching his opportunity, when Dave was not looking in that
direction, Nat leaped forth from behind the bushes and gathered up the
things in his arms.
The rascal might have escaped undetected had it not been for a mishap
which overtook him when he least expected it. With the uniform and
other things piled high in his arms he could not see where he was
stepping, and suddenly one foot went down in a crevice between the
rocks, and he pitched headlong.
The noise Nat made was not great, but it was sufficient to attract
Dave’s attention, and looking in that direction he saw in an instant
what was occurring.
“Hi, you! Drop those things!” he cried, and then, leaping up, he made a
dash for the bank of the stream.
Much startled, Nat Poole arose to his feet. He had now no longer any
desire to take the garments, his one thought being to get away without
being recognized. So far Dave had not seen his face and now he did what
he could to hide his features.
But the young lieutenant did not intend to allow the would-be joker
to escape thus easily. Thinking it might be somebody from his own
command, he leaped quickly over the rocks and caught Nat by the arm
just as the latter was trying to worm his way into the bushes.
“Nat Poole!” he ejaculated, as he brought the soldier around with a
twist of the arm. “So this is what you are up to, eh?”
“Aw! it was only a joke,” pleaded the money lender’s son.
“You were going to run away with my uniform and all the rest of my
things!”
“Didn’t I say it was only a joke? Can’t you take a little fun, Dave
Porter?”
“I don’t like that kind of fun, Nat Poole! I would have cut a fine
spectacle if you had gotten away with my clothing. You just come along
and explain yourself;” and thus speaking, Dave dragged the unwilling
soldier out from the bushes and down to the side of the stream. Then he
let out a low but well-known whistle, to which his chums immediately
responded, that having been the “get-together” call at Oak Hall.
“Hello, it’s Nat Poole!” cried Phil.
“What are you doing here, Nat?” questioned Roger.
“I just caught him trying to steal my things,” explained Dave.
“I wasn’t going to steal ’em!” stormed Nat. “I was just going to hide
’em behind the bushes.”
“He’d have gotten away with them if he hadn’t stumbled,” continued our
hero. “I heard the noise, and I was just in time to grab him.”
“He ought to be reported for that,” said Ben.
“Humph! that’s just like you fellows--report a fellow just for having a
bit of fun.”
“I don’t think I’ll take the trouble to report you, Nat,” answered Dave
coolly. “It isn’t worth it. But after this, I want you to keep your
distance. If you don’t, you’ll get something that you won’t like.” And
having thus delivered himself, Dave gave Nat Poole a vigorous shake and
then gave him such a shove that he stumbled backward several steps and
then went flat on his back in some low brushwood.
Such vigorous treatment aroused all of Nat Poole’s ire, and scrambling
to his feet he rushed toward Dave.
“You’re not going to treat me that way!” he bawled. “I won’t stand it!”
And then he shoved his fist under our hero’s nose.
This was too much for Dave to stand, and disrobed as he was, he leaped
at the money lender’s son, knocking the fist to one side and then
delivering a stinging blow which took Nat squarely in the chin, causing
him to stagger back several paces.
“Now you go on about your business, Nat Poole!” he said sternly. “And
you remember what I told you!”
“You just wait, Dave Porter! I’ll fix you yet!”
“Nat, shut up and do what Dave told you,” put in Roger. “You are the
meanest pill that ever came out of a box. Go on!” and he waved his hand
threateningly.
“You are a disgrace to the uniform you are wearing,” added Phil.
“Oh, sure! There is no use of my talking, with all of you against me!”
grumbled Nat. “Just the same, I’ll get square some day, you mark my
words!” And having thus delivered himself, Nat Poole slunk away and was
soon lost to sight in the brushwood.
“How I would like to have a fellow like that for a brother,” remarked
Shadow sarcastically.
“His father must be proud of him,” was Buster’s comment.
“He and his father are two of a kind,” explained Ben. “At the start of
the war they were both slackers. The only member of the family that is
worth while is Mrs. Poole. She has done a lot for the Red Cross and
other war organizations, and I am mighty sorry that she has to put up
with such folks as Nat and Mr. Poole.”
“You’ll have to keep your eyes open, Dave,” observed Phil. “Nat will
do his best to square accounts, and he’ll probably get Gebauer to aid
him.”
“It’s a pity Nat doesn’t try to make something of himself while he is
in the army,” observed Dave. “He has just as good a chance as any of
us.”
“It isn’t in him,” said Buster. “You can’t build a marble palace out of
mud.”
“Oh, say! Speaking of mud, puts me in mind of a story I heard
yesterday,” cried Shadow. “Three Americans were in the end of a trench,
and they were completely surrounded by Germans. They were out of
ammunition and didn’t know what to do. The trench was full of mud and
water, and as the Germans came down to make them prisoners the three
Americans grabbed up some buckets which were handy, filled them with
mud and water, and let the Germans have the dose full in the face. Then
they leaped out and ran for their lives. One of them was killed, but
the other two got away.”
“They certainly took chances,” answered Dave; “but that’s the American
style.”
Making his way through the brushwood, Nat Poole presently came out on
the forest road, and then lost no time in hurrying back to camp. He was
in anything but a good humor, and his face showed it.
“Well, Nat, why the thunder-cloud look?” queried Lieutenant Gebauer,
when he saw his crony.
“Oh, I had another run-in with that Dave Porter,” growled the money
lender’s son. “Say, that fellow makes me tired all over!”
“I don’t think he makes you any more tired than he does me,” said the
lieutenant, bringing out his ever-present cigarette-case and lighting
up.
“I thought you were going to think out something by which we could get
square with him?” continued Nat. “I know what I’d like to do!”
“What?”
“I’d like to disgrace him! And say, Max, if we could get him disgraced
maybe Jessie Wadsworth wouldn’t have anything more to do with him, and
that would give you a chance.”
To this the lieutenant did not reply at once. He blew a ring of smoke
into the air, took another puff, and threw the cigarette on the ground.
“I might as well tell you,” he said finally. “I’ve been watching Porter
every opportunity I get. Sooner or later our chance will come. When it
does, I want you to be ready to act with me.”
“I told you before that I would do that.”
“I happened to hear some conversation yesterday that put me to
thinking,” pursued Lieutenant Gebauer. “The engineers are going to move
in a day or two. They are going to lay out a road in the vicinity of
some abandoned coal or iron mines. I rather think they’ll have their
headquarters in the mines, just as the Germans were quartered there
when they were in that vicinity.”
“Well, what if they do go to those mines?” questioned Nat.
“I think it’s a pretty lonely sort of region around those mines,”
returned Gebauer. “And that being so, we may have more of a chance to
get at Porter. If he went off to explore any of the mines--or anything
like that--we might get a chance to follow him. Anyway, I am going to
keep my eyes wide open at every opportunity. And I want you to do the
same. We’ll never catch him unless we watch him like a cat watches a
mouse.”
“Gee, if only we could get the best of him!” sighed Nat. “I’ve wanted
to do it ever since we went to boarding-school together.”
“The time will come, don’t worry. Sooner or later, Nat, we’ll get Dave
Porter just where we want him. And when that time comes--well, he had
better look out for himself, that’s all!” concluded Lieutenant Gebauer.