CHAPTER XXV.
THE END OF THE CONSPIRACY.
When Chester opened his eyes to the world again he was propped up onGeneral Givet's own bed, and the Belgian commander and a Belgian surgeonwere leaning over him.
"Awake at last, eh?" said General Givet, with a smile, as Chester openedhis lips to speak. "You had a narrow squeak, and no mistake. And to thinkthat a young lad like you should be the means of saving my life!"
"You have indeed rendered a great service to Belgium," broke in thesurgeon. "But how do you feel?"
"A little weak," replied Chester, with a faint smile. "But CaptainBassil? Where is the traitor?"
"Dead," was the Belgian commander's laconic response.
Chester shuddered involuntarily.
"Never mind," said the general; "it was his life or yours, and mine too,for that matter."
"But it makes a fellow feel awfully queer," said Chester. "In battle itwould have been different. But to shoot--"
He broke off and was silent.
"And the conspiracy?" he asked, after a brief pause. "You have takensteps to catch the Germans in their own trap?"
"I have," said the general grimly. "They will wish they had attempted totake Louvain in some other manner. Thinking us unprepared, they will betoo confident. If they fall into our trap--and I am positive theywill--they will be annihilated."
Chester was struck with a sudden idea.
"General," he said, "why can't we round up all the conspirators that arein the city?"
"In what way?" asked the commander.
Chester's reply was another question:
"Has your attempted assassination been kept a secret, or is itgenerally known?"
"It has been kept quiet," was the general's reply. "Were it generallyknown our coup might fail."
"Exactly as I thought," said Chester. "Now I am almost positive that theconspirators will gather for one more session before the German advance,if only to make sure that nothing has gone amiss. We can surround thehouse and capture them red-handed."
"An excellent idea!" exclaimed the general. "It shall be acted upon.I will give orders to that effect immediately," and he turned toleave the tent.
But before he should step outside, Chester jumped out of bed and ranafter him.
"And how about me, sir?" he demanded. "Am I not to be allowed to takepart in the capture?"
"You!" exclaimed the general. "You are in no condition to move about. Youshall stay here in bed."
"Please, general," pleaded Chester. "This is my discovery; it should bemy capture, too."
The general stood wrapped in thought for some moments.
"So it should," he said at length, "and so it shall be, if you feel equalto the task."
"I am perfectly strong again," said Chester eagerly.
"So be it, then," replied General Givet. "How many of the conspiratorsdid you say there are?"
"About twenty-five, I should judge."
"Good! I shall place one hundred men at your disposal, and leave entirelyto you the manner in which you make the capture."
Chester was jubilant. So great was his eagerness to be at his work thathe could hardly wait for his men to be selected. But at last everythingwas ready and it was time to start.
A short distance from the rendezvous of the conspirators, Chester dividedhis men into four groups of twenty-five each, so that they could approachfrom all directions at once.
With his men concealed from view, Chester bethought himself of the bestmanner to entice the conspirators out into the open. Finally he hitupon a plan. Calling three of his men, he walked with them to a spotdirectly in front of the conspirators' rendezvous. Here the fourstarted a heated argument.
Suddenly there was the sound of a door opening, and a moment later thewell-known voice of the chief of the conspirators exclaimed:
"It is the spy! Come, men, we must capture him. Shoot down the soldiers!"
A moment later and the entire number of masked conspirators were inthe street. Then, at a signal from Chester, the Belgian troops sprangupon them.
There was the sound of a pistol shot, followed by many more, and a bulletwhistled by Chester's ear. Two of the Belgian troopers fell, and severalothers groaned. It was plain that the conspirators, trapped as they were,would not give up without a fight.
"Fire!" cried Chester, and a death-dealing volley was poured into thelittle knot of men huddled together in the street, surrounded byBelgian soldiers.
The fighting became desperate. The conspirators were giving a goodaccount of themselves, and here and there Belgian soldiers were falling.
Now the conspirators turned and made a dash toward their retreat. Butfive Belgian troopers sprang forward and barred the door, firing as theydid so. The ranks of the conspirators were considerably thinner now, andto continue the fight would mean slaughter. This fact the chiefrecognized.
He hurled his revolver at his foes with a fierce imprecation, and thenraised his hands above his head. His followers did the same.
"I surrender!" said the chief.
Chester went up to him.
"The tables are turned, I see," the chief greeted him. "Well, a man can'tbe on top all the time. But I was a fool not to have stayed and seen youproperly shot."
"I am glad you didn't," was Chester's reply, "for I guess you would havemade a good job of it. But enough of this. I am commanded to take youbefore General Givet."
Surrounded by Belgian troopers, the conspirators were marched to theheadquarters of the commanding general. There a court-martial was calledto sit at once. Its work was brief. The prisoners were ordered taken outand shot as spies and traitors to Belgium.
Upon orders issued by General Givet, the Belgian troops soon began tomove in accordance with the plan by which the Belgian leader hoped totrap the Germans. Their movements were such as to lead the Germanoutposts to believe that they were retreating.
But instead of weakening his line where the Germans had planned toattack, General Givet strengthened it heavily. The troops were ordered tofallback a short distance, so that the German leader might believe theforce in front of him had been sent to another part of the field to repelan attack that was believed imminent.
But the expected fall of Louvain by this piece of treachery was to provea bitter disappointment to the German commander. Instead of the weakBelgian line he believed he was to encounter, he was sending his menagainst a force that had been heavily reinforced and that was determinedto wipe out the insult.
As the Belgians gradually drew back, the Germans advanced, not tooswiftly, so as to indicate an attack in force, but gradually and slowly.But continually larger and still larger bodies of Germans were sentforward, until suddenly it was apparent to General Givet that the timefor the German surprise had come.
But when it did come the Belgian commander was ready. As the Teutons cameforward in a headlong charge, the Belgians checked their backwardmovement and rushed forward.
A terrific volley greeted the charging Germans, and from the ambush, intowhich the enemy had been lured, the artillery opened upon them. Theywavered slightly, but still they came on. But even as they sprang forwardonce more, the Belgian cavalry swooped down on them, dealing out death onevery hand.
Stubbornly the Germans held their ground. Reinforcements were rushed totheir aid, and the battle became general all along the line.
It was evident by this time that the German commander realizedsomething had gone wrong with his plans; but now that the attack hadbeen made he was not the man to give up without doing all in his powerto go ahead. Now the Germans broke and began to retreat. With a wildyell, squadron after squadron of Belgian horsemen charged down upon theretreating Teutons.
Three times the German officers, bravely exposing themselves to theleaden hail of death, succeeded in checking their straggling troops, andthree times the Germans coolly reformed under a terrific artillery andrifle fire.
But it was no use. For now the Belgians began a concerted advance allalong the line. The Ge
rman charge had spent itself, and the Teutonsgradually drew off.
But the retreat did not become a rout. The Germans fell back slowly,contesting every inch of the ground. The aim of the Belgian gunners andinfantrymen was excellent, and the havoc wrought in the German lines wasterrible. The field was strewn with dead, but over these the Belgiantroops pushed on, pressing their advantage to the utmost.
Finally General Givet called a halt. The Germans were still retreating,but the Belgian commander did not feel that he could afford to pursuethem farther. The danger of a surprise was over, and he did not wish torisk another battle, particularly as he was unable to see the necessityof extending his own lines.
Therefore, the Belgian troops fell back upon their line of defense andthe battle was over.
Chester, upon the express command of General Givet, had not been allowedto take part in the battle. The Belgian commander had kept the lad closeto him, occasionally dispatching him to some near portion of the fieldwith some order. And now that the fighting was over, General Givetannounced that he would be pleased if Chester would dine with him.
But his work over and all his duties properly attended to, Chesterbethought himself of his wounded chum. He was anxious to see Hal andrelate what had happened and to make sure that his friend was beingproperly taken care of.
He reminded the general of the latter's promise to have Hal sent toBrussels, and received the commander's renewed assurances that he wouldnot forget. Then he set out for the place where he had left Hal.
He stopped on the way, however, to see Edna Johnson, knowing that shewould be interested in what had occurred since he last saw her andlearning that but for her the Belgian army in Louvain might have suffereda terrible calamity.
Chester did not linger long with Edna, however, after relating hisexperiences and a brief chat on other subjects, made his way to the housewhere he had left his wounded chum, to whom he gave a detailed account ofall that he had done, and of the arrangements he had made for theirreaching Brussels.
"I would have been all right here," protested Hal.
"Maybe you would," replied Chester, "but there is likely to be morefighting at any time, and you are in no condition to move about. You willbe better off in Brussels."
"I guess you are right," said Hal.
"I know I am right. I understand there are no German troops between hereand Brussels, so there will be no danger on the way."
Hal was silent for some moments, musing.
"We have had some fun here, haven't we, Chester?" he asked at length.
"We have," was the reply. "I wouldn't have missed it for the world."
"Nor I," returned Hal. "And, when I am well, we shall see more fighting.The war has just begun."
Four days later Chester and Hal arrived in Brussels, where Chesterprocured the services of a good physician for his friend, who had stoodthe trip remarkably well, and the physician, after an examination,announced that Hal would be able to get about in a short time.
"Quiet for a few days is all that is necessary," he declared.
And so Hal and Chester, comfortably housed in the Belgian capital, satdown to await the time when they could again give their services to theallied armies.
And here properly ends the story of "The Boy Allies at Liege," though notthe story of "The Boy Allies." Their subsequent adventures in thegreatest war of all history will be found in a sequel, "The Boy Allies onthe Firing Line; or Twelve Days' Battle on the Marne."
Boy Allies at Liège; Or, Through Lines of Steel Page 25