Belgians to the Front

by Ralph Henry Barbour

  CHAPTER III

  THE HOUSE OF MYSTERY

  Utterly bewildered, they stared down at the steel.

  "Put out your light!" said Paul, suddenly. His voice was tense. "Keepstill a moment! See if you can hear anyone moving around near us."

  They were absolutely still for a full minute, but there were only thefamiliar sounds of the night.

  "All right," said Paul. "Now you watch and listen while I dig downhere and see what this is about."

  "Why can't I dig, too?"

  "Because it's better for you to watch. Besides, I want to dig so thatI can put the earth back in a hurry, and fix this place so that itwon't look as if it had been disturbed."

  Then he fell to, working silently and quickly, like a mole, diggingwith his hands until his nails were torn and his fingers were raw andbleeding. But Paul did not mind that. He had already made a guess,and a shrewd one, as to the meaning of this strange discovery that theyhad made. It was not long before he found that the steel plateextended for only a short distance. Around this, and spreading beneathit, was a bed of cement. As soon as he had satisfied himself of that,using Arthur's flashlight, Paul stopped digging, and began carefully toreplace the earth. Then, calling on Arthur to help him, he trampleddown the earth.

  "There!" he said. "I don't believe anyone would know we had been here,unless they were suspicious already."

  "But what is it?" asked Arthur. "Paul, tell me!"

  "I'm going to, Arthur. Don't worry. But come away from here. Wedon't want to be caught around here--and, besides, there's still a gooddeal for us to do."

  Swiftly they made their way to the road, away from the cottage and thefield where they had made their discovery.

  "Now!" said Arthur, after a little distance had been covered, stoppingshort. "I won't go a step further until you tell me what that place ismeant for!"

  "It's meant for a big gun--that's what it's meant for!" said Paul,vehemently. "Can't you see? A siege gun can't be fired from acarriage, or even from ordinary ground. The recoil would bury it inthe earth if they tried that. There's got to be a regular emplacementfor it--a firm base of concrete and steel, so that it will withstandthe shock of firing!"

  "You mean they'd mount a gun here?"

  "I mean just that! It takes days, almost weeks, to do that. They haveto pour the concrete and let it stand until it's set. But here they'vegot everything ready! They can bring up their guns, place them, andbegin firing, all in less than twenty-four hours! They must have beenpreparing for this for months--perhaps for years!"

  "The cowards! We've never done anything to them!"

  "No, they're not cowards," said Paul, thoughtfully. "I suppose theythink they're right, and that as long as that is so, they are justifiedin using any means at all to win. But I think we can put a spoke intheir wheel, just the same."

  "I don't see how, Paul. There aren't enough soldiers in Liege to watchevery spot where there's a cross marked on these maps."

  "No, but that's not the only way, Arthur."

  "It's the only way to stop them from bringing up their siege gun, isn'tit? I know what the plan is in case of an attack. It is for the fortsto hold off the Germans until there's time for the French army to comeup and relieve them. And they're not supposed to be able to stand thefire of heavy guns. The plan was made for use against an army thatwouldn't have time to bring up its siege artillery."

  "Yes, that's true enough. But, just the same, I think we can help.I'm so sure of it that I'm going to take these plans into Liegeto-night and try to get them to General Leman."

  "I'm with you, Paul! Are we to go now?"

  "Not quite yet. I'm interested in this house, too. I want to find outwhatever we can about it before we go in. Don't you see what ourfinding that gun mounting means, Arthur? Finding it just where wedid--in a field that belongs to that house?"

  "You mean there may be spies there now?"

  "I don't say that they're there now. But I think they have been there.And I know I'm going to find out all we can."

  "All right. I think we ought to do that, too. Let's get along! It'llbe awfully late when we get into Liege, I'm afraid."

  The house that had suddenly assumed such an air of mystery, so great animportance, was dark as they approached. Not a light showed from itswindows. But they took no chances, none the less. They got very closeto it without detection; they were able to go up to the windows. And,listening there, they heard not a sound inside to indicate that anyonewas within.

  "I'm going in," said Paul, suddenly. "Let me have your light, Arthur."

  "Can't I come in, too?"

  "One of us must stay outside and keep watch," said Paul. "It's thehardest part of the job, Arthur. If you stay outside, watch carefully,especially near the door. Hide, so that you won't be seen, but in aplace where you can see anyone who comes. And if anyone is coming,call like a quail. I'll be listening, and I'll slip out of this backwindow and get back to you. But if they catch me, go back and get theplans, and then hurry into Liege. Tell General Leman, if you can getto him, or a staff officer, if you can't, everything that has happenedsince we found these papers, whether it seems important to you or not.Something that may not seem to mean anything at all may really be veryimportant."

  "But it seems to me you're taking all the risk," protested Arthur."That isn't fair."

  "It's just as risky outside as in," said Paul. "Here goes! Off withyou, now, and find a good place to hide! We haven't any time to lose,I can tell you. If there's no one inside now, they won't leave a placelike this deserted very long, I'm sure."

  Arthur went off reluctantly, but, as usual, he obeyed Paul to theletter. He found a clump of bushes from which, without being seenhimself, he could watch the door of the house, and there he croucheddown to wait. It was dull work, and, after he had once settledhimself, he was afraid to move lest unseen eyes be watching somewherein the neighborhood.

  Meanwhile Paul was busy getting into the house. It was easier than hehad thought it likely to be. The catch on the window was simplicityitself and he forced it with his penknife without any difficulty at all.

  "I feel like a burglar," he thought to himself, as he climbed in. "ButI don't care. Even if there's nothing wrong in here, I've got theright, in a time like this, to make sure. Every Belgian has to thinkof his country first now."

  And he was pretty sure that there was a decided connection between thiscottage, so strangely stout in its construction, and the unquestionablythreatening and sinister discovery he and Arthur had made in the fieldonly a stone's throw away.

  Inside, he found himself in a large room that took up all save a verysmall part of the ground floor of the cottage. To the left there was awall, and in it an open door--he could see that much through the veryfaint light that filtered through the windows. Seemingly, he was inluck. There was absolutely nothing to make him doubt that he was alonein the house. Everything was still. There was not even the ticking ofa clock, the one sound he might reasonably have expected to hear evenin a temporarily deserted house. But he waited for quite a minute, tomake sure that no one was about. He felt certain that, had anyone beenthere, he would have heard breathing, no matter how anxious the otheroccupant of the house might be to conceal his presence.

  Then he switched on the light, shielding it with his hand, so that noreflection of its faint glow should betray him, by means of thewindows, to anyone approaching from outside.

  About the big room in which he found himself there was nothing toexcite suspicion at first sight. The room seemed ordinary enough; theusual living-room of a peasant. One thing was curious; he could see atrap door, evidently leading to a cellar below. But that he reservedfor later inspection, preferring at first to look upstairs. He reachedthe second floor by the stairs; there, too, there seemed at firstnothing out of the ordinary. But when he threw aside all scruples andlooked everywhere, he found something that confirmed some at least ofhis suspicions--a bundle of letters,
all written in German script. Hedid not stop to read the letters, but on the chance that they mightcontain something that would prove valuable or important, he slippedthem into his pocket.

  As yet, however, he had made no real discovery. The letters mightprove a great deal; for the moment he was obliged to leave them unread,since his time might prove to be very short. Down he went, light out,pausing in the big living-room to listen for some sound from thewatcher outside. There was none.

  Now he lifted the trap door, and found, as he had been sure he would, aladder leading to the cellar below. He hesitated for a moment now.There seemed to be no safe way of propping up the trap door. Todescend, closing it after him, meant that he would be shut into thecellar, where he could not hear the warning signal from Arthur, shouldit be sounded. But his hesitation lasted only a minute.

  "It's a chance, but I've got to take it," he said to himself. "Afterall, I haven't really found anything anywhere else. The cellar's thelast place to look--and the most likely, too."

  One thing was a relief; when he was safely down he could turn on hislight, unafraid. From the cellar, without a window, with no means ofegress save that by which he had entered it, there was no danger that astray beam of light would betray his presence to the lawful dwellers inthis cottage, should they chance to return while he was there. Andwhat he saw in the light when he switched it on was ample reward forhis daring in braving the dangers of the place.

  The place was an arsenal! Arranged against one wall were the parts ofthree powerful guns, all ready to be assembled. And all about, neatlystacked, were shells. He looked at them, pointing his light at them,to make sure. They bore the stamp of the Krupp works at Essen inGermany, the world-famous works whence the greater part of Germanmunitions of war come.

  Here was a discovery indeed! The Germans were ready to attack Liege.Of that there could no longer be even the shadow of a doubt. Not onlyhad they prepared a place for the reception of guns; they had evensmuggled the guns themselves over the border. It was, as he could see,not a matter of really great difficulty. The border was not fardistant; the guards, on the Belgian side at least, had had no greatreason in the past year or so to be especially vigilant. But Paul washorrified by this proof of the determination of the great power to theeast and north not to hesitate to invade Belgium, should that course benecessary to enable it to reach its most formidable antagonist, France.

  There was something horrible and cold-blooded about such minutepreparation. He was thrilled by his discovery. No less was hethrilled by the feeling that it was within his power now really toserve the land he loved. He was not old enough to be a soldier, but hefelt that if he could get back to Liege with the information that heand Arthur had garnered that night they might serve Belgium as well assoldiers could do.

  Light in hand, he made his way back to the ladder. Then he switchedoff the light and started to climb the ladder. And as he did so, hestopped, appalled. Above there was the sound of a closing door; thenheavy footsteps sounded on the trap door over his head.