CHAPTER IX.
OFF TO THE SOUTH.
The following morning Captain Anderson bade the boys good-by and set outto find his own regiment. Stubbs also said good-by, announcing that hemust be moving in his search for news. He had been given credentials daysbefore and, representing as he did one of the greatest newspapers in theworld, was one of the few correspondents to have the freedom of theallied lines.
Hal and Chester idled about the greater part of the day. There had been alull in the fighting, and, although they had reported to General French,no duties had been assigned them; but along in the afternoon they wereagain summoned to headquarters.
"I have here," said General French, placing a document in Hal's hand, "acommunication that must be placed in the hands of General Joffre with allpossible dispatch. I have selected you to deliver it. General Joffre hashis headquarters near Soissons. You should have no difficulty in reachinghim. Take an automobile and make haste."
The lads saluted and left the tent, actually disappointed that they hadnot been selected for some more strenuous work.
"Anybody could carry this," said Hal.
"There is certainly no danger," agreed Chester. "All we have to do is tostay within our own lines."
Half an hour later found them speeding southward, well in the rear of thegreat battle line. Hal himself was at the wheel and Chester sat in thetonneau of the machine. Through Ypres, Douai and many smaller towns thehuge car sped without a stop. At Roy they halted for a fresh supply ofpetrol, and immediately resumed their journey.
But the lads were not entirely familiar with the lay of the land, andthis fact resulted in throwing them into great danger once more.
Just south of Roy the long battle line--which had previously stretchedstraight southward--swerved suddenly to the east. The lads turned withit all right, but too soon. Instead of going straight south to thebanks of the river Aisne, as they should have done, they turnedeastward some distance north of this river, and were in trouble beforethey realized it.
Neither lad thought anything of the fact that they were pushing straightthrough the mass of French troops in this region, and it was not untilthey had come into an isolated region--an opening between the two greatarmies--that Chester surmised there was something wrong. The desolateappearance of the land spelled suspicion to him, and, leaning forward inhis seat, he shouted to Hal:
"Slow down, quick!"
Hal obeyed without question and then turned to his chum to ascertain thereason for this abrupt command.
"We must have gone clear through our own lines," Chester explained. "Ifwe hadn't, certainly there would be troops about. I believe we must beright between the two armies."
"I don't think so," replied Hal. "There are probably more French troopsahead of us."
"I am sure I'm right," persisted Chester.
"Well, it's not worth while taking a chance," said Hal. "We'll turnsouth here."
At a cross road he swerved toward the south again. But, although neitherlad realized it then, they had penetrated right through the German lineswhere they had been thinnest and most greatly scattered. They were stillnorth of the Aisne, and the main German line lay between them and the farshore, where the French were massed in strength. They could have turnedwest again at this point and probably have reached safety by the way theyhad come; but neither realized his danger, and so the big car sped southdirectly toward the enemy.
It was night now, and the machine was forced to travel more slowly,running along at a snail-like gait until the first signs of dawn appearedin the eastern sky. An hour later the lads made out in the distance amass of troops. They were still too far away to make out plainly, butneither doubted that they were French.
But they were doomed to disappointment.
As the machine sped closer, Hal suddenly applied the brakes and utteredan exclamation of dismay.
"What's the matter?" demanded Chester.
"Matter!" echoed Hal. "Why, we have run right into a nest of Germans!"
It was only too true. The troops whom they were now approaching were theenemy, and both lads realized in an instant that they must be surroundedby Germans on all sides. In the darkness they had penetrated through therear line, and now were in the very midst of their foes.
Hal thought quickly. So far they had not been perceived. Two men incivilian clothes were approaching afoot, and as they came up to them Halcrawled under the machine and began to tinker with it. The men camecloser and stopped to watch.
Suddenly Hal crawled from under the car, and, as the men cried out insurprise at the sight of his British uniform, he covered both of themwith a pair of revolvers.
"Silence!" he cried, "or you are dead men." He spoke to Chester overhis shoulder. "We'll have to go straight though the line," he said,"and we can't do it with these uniforms. We'll have to exchange withthese fellows."
In vain did their prisoners protest. Hal kept the two covered whileChester stripped himself of his own garments and climbed into those oneof the prisoners passed to him. Then Chester covered the men while Halmade a change and transferred the document given him by General French tothe pocket of his new coat. Then they bound and gagged the two men andtumbled them into the ditch at the side of the road.
"So far so good," said Hal. "Now, if we simply act unconcerned, weshould have no difficulty in going through the lines. It's when we makea dash for the other side that the trouble is likely to come; but wemust chance that."
"All right," said Chester, "let's move."
They started off slowly down the road and within the hour were in thetown of Caronne, held by the Germans, but a few miles from the northernbank of the river Aisne. Here they left the machine to avoid attractingunnecessary attention.
They lost no time, and made their way through the town as swiftly aspossible. They walked along boldly, and near the outskirts, coming upon alittle restaurant Chester suggested a cup of coffee and a sandwich. Halassented and they entered the door.
They took seats at an improvised counter and soon were engaged in thepleasant occupation of satisfying their appetites. A German officer, whohad been eating in the rear of the restaurant, passed them on his wayout, and, as he did so, he cast a quick look at Chester, and turned backtoward him.
"Haven't I seen you some place before?" he asked, tapping the lad onthe shoulder.
The lad turned and glanced at him sharply, and his heart leaped into histhroat. He recognized the officer in a moment. He was the man with whomHal had fought in a farmhouse near Liege in the earlier days of the war,the man who, mistaking Chester for Hal, had spared the former's life whenhe was sentenced to death by a band of conspirators in Louvain, and fromwhom the lad had escaped in time to warn the Belgian commander of theplot to deliver the town into the hands of the Germans.
"I don't seem to remember you," said Chester, replying to theGerman's question.
The officer looked at him long and searchingly. Chester returned the gazewithout flinching, and finally the German, evidently satisfied that hehad made a mistake, bowed and turned to leave. Chester drew a quickbreath of relief as the officer stepped from the door.
"Do you know who that was," he whispered to Hal, who, although he hadsaid no word, had been greatly surprised by the conversation between hisfriend and the German officer.
"No," he replied. "Who is he?"
"That," replied Chester, "is the German whom you disarmed in EdnaJohnson's home and whose life you spared."
"Is that so?"
"Yes; and it's lucky he didn't recognize us."
"I should say it is. Well, let's be moving."
The two lads left the restaurant and started on their journey again.They had not gone a block, however, when they halted at a sudden hailfrom behind them. Turning suddenly they saw the German officer hurryingafter them.
"I can't get you off my mind," he said to Chester, as he came up. "I ampositive that I have seen you some place, but for the life of me I can'ttell where."
"Well, you have the advantage
of me," replied the lad, his hand seekinghis pocket and resting on the butt of one of his revolvers.
The two lads started to move on again, and at that moment the Germanexplained:
"I have it! You are the lad who invaded our secret council in Louvain!"
Chester did not take the trouble to deny it, but as the German's handwent to his hip he said quietly:
"I wouldn't do that if I were you."
His revolver gleamed in his hand as he spoke, and he took a stepforward. The German moved back a pace, but he made no further move todraw his weapon.
"Now that you have recognized me," continued Chester, "I would advise youto come along with us. We can't afford to let you go back and set up analarm, you know. I don't want to shoot you, for I remember that I owe mylife to you. Walk on ahead of us, now!"
He emphasized this last sentence with a flourish of his revolver, andthe German, realizing that a refusal to obey might possibly spelldeath, obeyed.
"Sorry I didn't place you at once," he exclaimed. "Then I guess we wouldbe going the other way."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Hal broke in. "We usually go the waywe want to."
Half a block farther on Hal perceived a body of German troops movingtoward them.
"Step in between us," he commanded the prisoner.
The latter obeyed without remonstrance.
"One false move and you are a dead man, no matter what happens to us,"said Chester quietly.
The prisoner recognized by the lad's tone that he was in earnest, and hewould have passed right on, but an officer with the approaching troopwalked directly up to him and saluted.
At the same moment he felt the pressure of Chester's automatic, which thelad gripped inside his pocket, against his back.
Boy Allies in the Trenches; Or, Midst Shot and Shell Along the Aisne Page 9