THE DESERTION OF ANTHONY.
"The miserable hound! Hanging would be too good for him!" exclaimed
Merritt, who it appeared had not up to that instant suspected anything
like the truth, and was therefore taken completely by surprise.
"That all depends on what his motive may have been," said Rob
reflectively.
"Why, it's plain he got cold feet after that little experience at the
bridge this morning!" Merritt hastened to declare. "I thought he was a
man of more nerve than that. I hope all Belgians are not made of the
same kind of stuff."
"Hold on a minute, Merritt," Rob cautioned him, "you are jumping to
conclusions now without being sure of your ground. I've been watching
Anthony from time to time and I've noticed that whenever he happened to
speak of the gallant doings of his people on the battlefields his face
would beam with pride, and what I took to be a touch of envy."
"Oh!" said Tubby, grasping the idea, "then, Rob, you think our guide
shook us just because he couldn't hold back any longer. He thought he
ought to be on the firing line along with the rest, and get in a crack
at the invaders of his country. Is that the stuff, Rob?"
"I'm thinking that way," Rob informed him gravely, "but we've got no
time to look Anthony up. Whether he's gone to join the Belgian army or
turned back to the city of Antwerp isn't going to cut any figure in our
calculations."
"That's about the size of it, Rob," agreed Merritt, beginning to show
signs of returning confidence, when the patrol leader spoke with such
vim.
"What we've got to do is to figure out whether we want to call the whole
thing off just because we haven't a guide to do the talking business for
us and turn back to the city, or set our teeth together and push on."
Tubby and Merritt exchanged looks.
The latter even half opened his mouth as if to indignantly protest
against giving up the most cherished plan of his life for a little snag,
such as the desertion of Anthony proved. Then he suddenly closed his
lips firmly. He had remembered an important fact, which was that after
all he should not be the one to make such a suggestion. Let one of these
good chums, who were his side partners, express an opinion first of all.
That was why Merritt remained silent.
"Oh! we just can't quit at the first puff!" remonstrated Tubby. "Fellows
who have been through all we have shouldn't be built that way. Think of
the battles we've been up against on the diamond and the gridiron; and
did anybody ever hear us complain, or show a yellow streak? Well, I
guess not! Tell him how you feel about it, Rob!"
"Just as you do, Tubby," responded the scout leader heartily. "I wasn't
counting any too much on Anthony's services, come to speak of it.
Nine-tenths of what we expected to accomplish would have to come from
our own hard work. If you put it up to me to decide, I say every time,
go ahead!"
Merritt looked almost joyous. Though he was not a demonstrative fellow
as a rule, he could not help reaching out and squeezing a hand of each
of his faithful chums. Indeed, no one ever knew more reliable allies
than Merritt possessed in Rob and Tubby, who were ready to go through
fire and water with him, if necessary.
"It may all turn out for the best," Tubby continued, with fine optimism,
such as these chubby fellows nearly always show since life looks rosy to
them. "And it's going to save you a little money in the bargain, too,
Merritt. I must brush up my French and Flemish from now on. Already I
can say as many as six words of the first, and I think I know how to
almost pronounce one in Flemish."
"No trouble to tell what that one is," remarked Rob, laughing.
"It stands for grub!" added Merritt.
"Now, I consider it strange how you should guess so easily," Tubby shot
back at them reproachfully. "I suppose I'll have to acknowledge the
corn. We've got to eat to live, and so I thought I ought to know the
right word that would produce results quickest. Don't blame me, boys; I
was thinking of you as well as myself."
"Well, shall we get out of here?" asked Rob. "I don't altogether like
the way we are being stared at by some of the people of the village.
They say in Antwerp that there's a hidden sympathizer of the Germans in
every city, town and hamlet through the whole of Belgium always trying
to send information of value to the enemy."
"Huh! don't know just what to believe, and what to brand as big yarns,"
protested Tubby. "Since we've landed here I've heard stories that would
make poor old Baron Munchausen hide his head in shame as a has-been. If
one-tenth of the same turned out to be true, these Germans are the most
remarkable people that ever lived for getting ready for a war against
the whole world forty years ahead of the date. I'm beginning to use my
own horse-sense, and figure things out."
Ten minutes later they turned their backs on the little hamlet where a
fair meal had been procured, and which had also witnessed their first
real misfortune in the base desertion of Anthony.
In many cases they found the roads occupied with throngs of fugitives.
These poor peasants were flocking, in a general way, toward Antwerp,
though possibly a few of them meant to cross the line into the
Netherlands, where they hoped to be safe from the German armies of
invasion that were gradually progressing further and further toward the
coast.
A thousand-and-one sights greeted the eyes of the three scouts. More
than a few times they stopped for some purpose or other that did their
hearts credit. Once it was a limping boy whose condition excited the
pity of Rob. He did not hesitate to put to some use the practical
knowledge of surgery that he had picked up in company with all the other
members of the Eagle Patrol.
Another time they saw a wretched woman trying to mend the wheel of a
miserable old handcart, upon which she had some humble belongings, and
three small children. That was more than the boys could stand. They
stopped their horses, and giving the lines of their mounts into the
keeping of Tubby, Rob and Merritt busied themselves with fixing up the
disabled wheel.
Although they had next to no tools with which to work, their skill
proved sufficient to surmount the difficulty. Inside of twenty minutes
the woman was able to trudge along again. She thanked them volubly in
Flemish, which they did not understand. Tubby listened eagerly, but
owned up that it was beyond the range of his extremely limited
vocabulary, consisting, as that did, of but one word.
"Well, that look on her face paid us for all our trouble," Rob remarked
contentedly, as he once more remounted, and led the way along the
highway.
"It's something fierce where all these forlorn people come from," said
Tubby.
"To me the greatest puzzle is where they're all going," Merritt added.
"If you should ask them," Rob advanced as his opinion, "nine out of ten
couldn't begin to tell you. Some have had their houses burned over their
heads; others I expect have seen their homes destroyed by bursting
shells, where they happened to lie near the place where an artillery
duel was going on. So they've just started on the road, hoping to reach
_somewhere_ the fighting won't follow."
"It's a terrible sight," sighed Tubby. "I'll never forget it as long as
I live. Every minute I'm telling myself we ought to be the happiest
people going over in America, to know that we needn't get mixed up in
all this butcher business."
Slowly the afternoon wore away. The three chums did not make very rapid
progress, and for many reasons. In the first place their horses objected
to putting forth any unusual exertion, and seemed to consider that they
were doing their full duty by merely working their four weary legs in a
machine-like fashion.
Then, again, the roads were cluttered in places with squads of the
peasant population fleeing from the battle lines. Three times did the
scouts come upon detachments of Belgian soldiers stationed behind
temporary intrenchments, where they expected to harass the advance
forces of the Germans whenever they appeared.
From these men they received many curious stares. Of course the soldiers
could not understand why three boys in khaki, who were undoubtedly not
Belgian scouts, should be heading so boldly toward the scene of carnage,
when everybody else was fleeing madly the other way.
They were halted and questioned. At first Rob felt a qualm of anxiety,
lest the fact that they no longer had an interpreter in their company to
explain things might get them into trouble. That fear soon vanished,
however. In every instance it was found that some man could either talk
fair English, or else what little French the patrol leader was able to
muster explained matters in a satisfactory manner.
The probability was that the message given them by the burgomaster of
Antwerp was much more potent than anything else. The worthy official was
a well known and highly respected man; and among these commands there
were always those who knew him personally, so that his "passport," while
hardly worth the paper upon which it was written, officially, acted
magically with the Belgian officers.
As the afternoon sun began to draw near the western horizon they
continued to be on the lookout for some haven of refuge. Another night
was coming; they must not only have food but lodging, if this latter
could possibly be obtained.
"Of course," explained Rob, as they walked their sorry looking horses
on, "while we'd like to find some sort of respectable beds to-night, if
the worst comes, we can always make shift with a haystack. It wouldn't
be the first time we've curled up in the hay and snatched a few winks of
sleep."
"I should say not," Tubby assured him. "Only I do hope we manage to
strike a dinner-call somehow or other. I can do without a bed, but I
must have eats or I'll collapse utterly, like a balloon with the gas let
out."
"Please don't think of it, Tubby," Merritt implored him. "We promise to
do everything in our power to find the grub. Brace up! We're coming to a
village; and I think I can see an inn the first thing."
It proved to be as Merritt had said, and better still, the man who kept
the modest little tavern assured Rob in fair English that he would be
proud to serve the honored guests; also that he had once spent a year in
the Birmingham machine shops himself.
"Just like all the rest, he takes us for Johnny Bulls," complained
Tubby.
"Well, that's partly your fault," Rob told him.
"Just because I'm so well filled out, I suppose you mean, Rob? Well, if
they keep on thinking that, I guess I'll have to get busy and cultivate
a real cockney accent. 'Beg pawdon; thank _you_; my word!' You see I've
got a few of their favorite jabs spotted."
As before, they found themselves the object of more attention than any
of them enjoyed. People kept peeping in through the open door of the
room where the three strange young chaps in khaki were enjoying their
really excellent supper.
"Don't mind them," advised Rob, when he saw that Tubby was posing, as if
conscious of being in the lime-light. "Let's finish our supper, and then
we can sit outside on the porch as the sun goes down, and talk over our
plans for to-morrow."
"Yes," added Merritt quickly, "because to-morrow may take us so far on
our journey that we'll either find our man, or meet with some bitter
disappointment, something I hate to think about."
"Don't do it, then," advised Rob. "We must believe everything is bound
to come out right, and that you'll not only run across Steven Meredith,
but that the paper will be found under the lining of the cover to his
field-glass case, where he's been carrying it all this while, without
knowing it."
"One thing sure," said Merritt grimly, "if he's left that post and gone
anywhere else, I'll follow him, hit or miss, if it takes me to the
battle front."
"Listen!" exclaimed Tubby. "What's that man shouting, Rob?"
"As near as I can make out," replied Rob quickly, "he says the Uhlans
are entering at one end of the town."