CHAPTER XV
A DASH THROUGH THE NIGHT
Both boys were startled when they reached the open air again to observehow the din of the battle to the east had increased. They paused for amoment to stare at one another.
"That is real war," said Boris. "Not like the skirmish here when theCossacks came."
"The Germans are giving way on purpose, of course, if Ivan is right--andit seems to me he must be," said Fred. "I am afraid to think of whatwill happen to him."
"I do not like to think of it, either," said Boris, "but it is fate. Hehas his work to do, and it is all for Russia--for God and the Czar! Ihave always been taught that we can die only once, and that it is a holything to die for Russia."
"Yes, but it is better to live for Russia than to die for her, if it ispossible," said Fred. "Come! We have no time to lose, I suppose."
They approached the car in a death-like silence. It was still whereFred had left it. There was a little delay in the start. Both Fred andBoris had driven cars, but they were not familiar with this one, and itseemed a good idea to learn the controls before they started. But in afew moments they were off. The car rode easily, and the motor was verypowerful. It was a silent one, too, considering its great power. Fredtook the wheel first.
"We can take it in turns," he said. "Get some sleep, if you can, Boris.I'll rouse you if there is any need of that. And I'll be glad to restmyself, after a time. Just now I'm too excited to sleep, even if therewere no especial reason for keeping awake."
There was something so wonderful, so weird that it was almost ghostly,about that ride in its beginning. Behind them was the din of the heavyfighting between them and Gumbinnen. The sky was streaked with theflashes of searchlights, and the vibration of the cannon beat againsttheir ears incessantly. Yet the road before them, as it lay like awhite ribbon in the path of the great headlight, was absolutely empty.They passed houses, went through villages. And in none of the houses wasthere a light or a sign of life. The whole countryside had beenabandoned.
"It reminds me of things I've read about the plague in olden times,"thought Fred. "People used to run away like that then, and leave a deadcountryside behind them. It would almost look more natural if there weresigns of fighting."
There were to be plenty all about here soon. But that night there wasnothing, save the inferno of noise and the dazzling points of light inthe sky behind them, to suggest anything save the deepest peace. Grainstood in some of the fields. In others, where the harvesting had begun,there were reaping machines. But despite the noise, there was a strangeand unearthly silence. Fred had driven at night through lonely countrybefore, and he could remember the way dogs at almost every house hadburst into furious barking as the car approached. Now there were nodogs! It was a trifling thing to think of now, but just then it seemedto Fred that the absence of the dogs meant even more than the dark,silent houses themselves.
The houses did look as if their owners might be asleep within, but thedogs would have barked their alarm. And so that came to be the symbol ofthe flight of the people to him.
They had many miles to go. After a couple of hours Fred changed seatswith Boris, and for a time dozed, though he scarcely slept. However, hedid get a good rest, and when they came near to the stretch of road thatIvan had told them would mark the crisis of the trip, both boys were ingood condition for the test. They slowed down at the sound of anengine's whistle, the first nearby noise that had come to their earssince they had left the parsonage. It startled them tremendously atfirst, but then they remembered Ivan's warning.
"There is one place where, for about four miles, the road runs veryclose to the railway," he had said. "The Germans will have patrols allalong the railway line, but there is no reason why they should pay anyattention to you. Be watchful--that is the vital thing. And especiallyso when you begin to descend a long hill. At the bottom of that hill therailway crosses your road, and that culvert will be watched withespecial care. After that you will find the way clear, for our nearestoutposts should not be more than a mile or so beyond the railway there.We would have seized the line before, except that until we hadstraightened our front in that quarter it would have been useless to doit."
The whistle that they heard warned them that they were getting near tothis dangerous stretch of road, and in a few moments the sight of atrain, sparks flying from the smokestack of the engine, gave them visualproof as well. Then for a time they ran along parallel with the tracks.Fires were burning along the railway at intervals of about a hundred andfifty yards, and at times, in the firelight, they could see a darkfigure moving slowly.
"Heaven knows what this bugle means!" said Fred, as they drew into linewith the tracks. "But if we sound it they may make up their minds thatwe're all right--and I'm not anxious for them to get curious about us."
So he sounded the bugle from time to time. They aroused no curiosity.Plainly these sentries thought there was nothing strange about thepassage of a military automobile, nor, in fact, was there. It was notlikely that they would know enough of the general disposition of theGerman army to speculate as to what officers might be doing hereabout.
"Here we are! We're beginning to dip," said Boris, after a time. "Theculvert Ivan spoke of must be at the bottom of this hill. The road getsaway from the railway again after that, and when we have passed there weought to be all right."
"There's just one thing," said Fred, with a frown. "They must know justas well as Ivan that the Russian outposts lie not far beyond them. Won'tthey think it strange for us to be going full speed toward the Russianlines this way?"
"No. I think that's easily accounted for, Fred. There is a crossroadless than half a mile beyond that culvert. They will suppose that wemean to take the turn. Ivan would have thought of that, I'm sure, ifthere had been any danger that they would not expect us to be travelingon this road."
"I guess you're right, Boris. It sounds reasonable. And anyway, if thereis a chance, we've got to take it. I'm certainly not going to hesitatejust for that after we've come as far as this. We'll soon know because,as you say, once we're past that culvert, we'll be safe. That's thecrucial spot."
The grade grew sharper as they descended, and the pace of the carincreased. Now, at the bottom, stretching across the white road, theycould see a heavy shadow and above on what was unquestionably therailway, half a dozen lights.
"They've got more than a sentry there. It seems to be a regular post,"said Fred, a little nervous, as they approached. "I'd like to slow downhere--we're taking this hill pretty fast."
"Yes," agreed Boris, who was driving. "But it's not just the time toslow down, is it?"
"Hardly. We've got to shoot under there so fast that they won't have achance to find out too much about us. The headlight will help us, too.It ought to dazzle them so that they won't be able to see into the carat all. As soon as we're close to them, I'm going to sound the buglepretty steadily."
They rushed on toward the culvert faster and faster. The powerfulheadlight illuminated the scene before them, and they could see a dozenor more dark figures. And as they came closer, they saw that several menwere looking at them, trying to shade their eyes with their hands.
Fred sounded the bugle steadily now, and saw that this seemed to relievethe watchers. For the first time he took his eyes from the culvertitself and looked around. The road here descended much more steeply thanthe railway, and that, Fred judged, was the reason for the culvert. Forthe first time he realized that the culvert was not quite at the bottomof the hill; that beyond it the road still bore downward quite sharplyfor a space, until it turned. It was plain to him that there were moredangers ahead than those represented by the soldiers on the culvert.
The pace of the rushing car was faster now than would have beenaltogether comfortable had they been on a road they knew perfectly.Here, with a curve just ahead that was an unknown quantity, there wasreal danger in the sheer speed of the machine. Heavy as the car was, itlurched and swayed from side to side. And simply to shut off the powerwou
ld not have been enough. Moreover, that was something both of themwould have feared to do. The slightest mischance, the most triflingcircumstance, might arouse suspicion in the watchers on the culvert. Itwas necessary, and Ivan had warned them specially of this, to dash underthat at the highest possible speed for there would be stationed notprivate soldiers alone, who would be likely to take it for granted thatan officer's coat and helmet meant that all was well, but an officer aswell.
And an officer would be curious as to the meaning of this solitary car,rushing over a road that had been deserted, in all probability, for atleast two days. No, there could be no slowing down, even had the fearfulgrade made it possible.
Then they flashed into the shadow. For just a moment, before they wereactually under the culvert, Fred, looking up, saw the white faces ofthose above, staring curiously. Then he lowered his head, for he knewthat his face and Boris's gave the lie to their helmets. Streaked withdust they both were, to be sure. There had been a mist in the low-lyingcountry through which they had come, and the flying dust of the higher,drier parts of the road had caked on their faces. But they were not thefaces of officers.
Fred thought he heard a shout as they passed under the culvert. Butshouts were not enough to check them. What they both feared was avolley. And that, as they passed out and beyond the menace of theculvert, did not come.
"Look back! See if they are looking after us!" cried Boris.
"No!" Fred shouted in his ear, for now the rush of the wind made itdifficult for them to hear anything. "The light is on us now--they mightsee too plainly. And, if we were officers going as fast as this, therewould be no reason for us to look back--Oh! Look out!"
They had come to the turn. So great was their speed that they seemed toreach it before they were well out from the shadow of the culvert, yetthey had traveled two hundred yards or more. There was nothing really tofrighten Fred as he cried out unless it was the sudden imminence of theturn, which had seemed much further away when they had first seen it. Itwas less what he saw than some indefinable thing he felt.
Whether Boris's hand was wavering or whether some hitherto unsuspectedweakness had developed in the machine, Fred could not tell. But heseemed to sense somehow that all was not well. There was some break inthe rhythm of the car's movement that warned him.
Now they took the turn. Took it on two wheels--on one! For a moment itseemed that they must upset. Then, by a miracle, the car righted itself.For a moment it seemed about to straighten itself out and resume itsflight. And then, together, Fred and Boris saw what lay before them, andBoris tried frantically to swing the car out. In the road lay the wreckof a huge van.
It was too much for Boris. He did swerve the car, but it struck thewreck. There was a deafening crash, and then they were hurled out ontothe turf by the roadside, while the motor roared and flames leaped outover the wreck.
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