Belgians to the Front

by Ralph Henry Barbour

  CHAPTER IX

  WAR

  "They've come, then!" said Paul. "That means war. Look at hisuniform--I never saw a German soldier looking like that before."

  It was true. The uniform seemed to melt into the landscape; it wasindeterminate, greenish gray in color. Even the spike of the helmetdid not catch the rays of the sinking sun; it was covered with thedull, neutral colored cloth.

  "I hope he isn't going to stay there," said Arthur. Their voices hadsunk to whispers. Though there was no chance that the vidette wouldhear them, his very presence had the effect of quieting them. Therewas a tremendous difference, somehow, between thinking of an invasion,between realizing that it was inevitable that German troops should pourinto Belgium, and the actual sight of one of the enemy.

  "I don't think he will," said Paul. "He's just scouting, I think.Probably he will ride back soon. And they can't be very near--the mainbody, that is. If they were we'd hear something of them."

  Then before Arthur could answer, something happened. The air trembled,and a dull sound, echoing again and again, came to them. The twoscouts stared at one another; then they turned, together, to look atthe Uhlan, and saw that he had heard it, too, and was listeningsharply. The light was full on his face, and they could see that itwore an awed expression. And well it might! They had heard the soundof the first heavy gun that was fired in anger in the war of thenations!

  "That gun was some distance away. I should think it might have beenfired at Fleron," said Paul. "The siege must have begun."

  And now the air was full of sound. First from one side, then from theother, batteries and forts joined in the chorus. All around them, itseemed, the great voices of the guns were speaking. Soon individualexplosions ceased to stand out; everything was merged into a heavy,dull roar that beat against their ears and filled the air with acontinuous tremor. Sometimes the roar rose in volume when a newbattery came into action. For a few minutes Paul and Arthur wereabsorbed. They listened, spellbound, to the roar of the guns. Therewas something unreal about it. It did not seem possible that thoseguns were being fired to kill and destroy, for, as they looked out,everything was peaceful still. Save when their eyes fell upon theUhlan, mounted on his horse. He sat in his saddle, stiff, erect, thevery type of the vast army of which he was a tiny, undistinguishablepart--as a rule. Now he was that army, for the two who watched him.Still they stared while the shadows advanced, eating into the lightspaces that remained, until grey dusk settled over everything, and heseemed to slip into it, and become a part of the landscape. Then hishorse moved; he turned, and cantered slowly out of sight.

  His going somehow seemed to break a spell.

  "Come! We must see what's going on back there," said Paul. "We cansee the battery, you know, if those crosses really mean that a batterywas to be located on the spot we had placed from the map."

  They went to the other side of the little garage and looked out. And,to the east, on a piece of rising ground, that would have been hiddenhad the de Frenard house still stood, as it had stood before the fire,they saw something that looked like a picture of an inferno.

  There was a great gash in the woods, where trees had been cut downruthlessly. Against the background of the woods that had been spared,a lurid glare threw everything into relief. Great arc lights had beenstrung, so that a space of ground was as bright as day, and in thelight hundreds of men were working. In one place a great furnace wasblazing, and the ruddy glow from that cast a crimson light against thecold, white radiance of the electric lamps. Steam cranes were at work;huge cannon were being moved into place on the pedestals that had beenprepared for them in advance.

  "We were right!" said Paul, exultingly. "That is to be a greatbattery. They must be very powerful guns, too, or else they would havebeen ready with the rest, and in action by this time. Ah! I'm glad Ithought of the telephone!"

  "How fast they are working!" said Arthur. That was what caught his eyein the strange, weird scene. There was no confusion, despite theextraordinary efforts that were obviously being made to hasten thework. Every man, as they could see, even at that distance, knewexactly what he was to do. It seemed that the whole operation musthave been planned far in advance, even rehearsed. Such perfect teamwork could not be the result of chance, nor even of unusually gooddiscipline. No, somewhere in Germany just such scenes must have beenenacted in time of peace, that when the grim, harsh test of real warcame there might be no delay, no lost motions, no trifling, unforeseenhitch to render useless all the elaborate plan that had been made.This might be war, but it was a grim, cold business, too.

  "It's like going to see the steel works at Seraing at night," saidPaul. "Except that there's less glare from the blast furnaces, ofcourse."

  "A good many of those men aren't in uniform," said Arthur, his keeneyes taking in details as he grew more accustomed to the strange andawe inspiring grandeur of the scene as a whole.

  "They're probably workmen from Essen," said Paul. He had a pair ofbinoculars out now, and was looking closely at every detail of thescene.

  "But why should they be there? This is a time for soldiers."

  "Not altogether, Arthur. I know--don't you remember what Uncle Henritold us?--that a lot of the workmen from Seraing would have to be alongwith some of the new field artillery pieces, because the secrets ofsome things are kept even from the soldiers. Those are probably someof the men from the Krupp works, brought here just to handle these bigguns."

  "Well, they take their chances, just like soldiers, if they do that,don't they?"

  "Of course. They really are soldiers, just as much as the others, butthey have special work to do, that they're trained for. That's theonly difference."

  "What are we going to do now?"

  "We're going to try to spoil the little surprise these Germans arepreparing for Boncelles and Embourg," said Paul, gritting his teeth."You stay here by this window, Arthur. I'm going down to telephone toBoncelles. If anyone comes near, tell me at once. It's awfullyimportant, you know, to keep them from finding out about our telephonewire just as long as we can. And listen, in case I call to you. I'llwant a quick answer, if I do."

  "All right, Paul."

  Down Paul went, then, to the gasoline pit. Lying at full length, hedrew the telephone instrument from the cunningly devised hiding placehe and Arthur had arranged for it. He was fearful for a moment; therewas a chance, and more than a chance, that the German scouts might havefound and cut the wire; they would certainly have tried to cut everytelephone and telegraph wire in the neighborhood, as the first and mostobvious precaution. But after a brief delay he was delighted to hearan answering voice.

  Quickly he explained who he was, and found that his call had beenexpected. In a moment an artillery officer, who said he was LieutenantDelaunay, was speaking.

  "What information have you?" he asked, quickly. "I have your maps herebefore me."

  "Find the one that shows the Ourthe and the ground before Boncelles andEmbourg," said Paul.

  "Right!"

  "Mark the house of M. de Frenard, destroyed last night by fire."

  "I have it!"

  "Good! To the east of the house the ground slopes upward. It is wellsheltered from observation by the fort. Your searchlights would beblocked by the woods between the fort and the house. But there is aspot marked on the map by a group of crosses. Do you see it?"

  "Right! We decided that would be a battery. The other forts reportthat they have been fired on from points marked on the maps that yousupplied, and that by concentrating their fire on the points indicatedon these maps they have silenced a number of field guns."

  "I am glad," said Paul, quietly. "I was sure that the informationwould prove to be valuable. Well, then, this battery is not of fieldguns. That is why you have heard no firing from it as yet. They areworking now, by electric light, and are placing heavy guns--not thevery heaviest, I should say, but far heavier pieces than would usuallybe at the front so soon--pro
bably seven inch mortars."

  "Seven inch mortars! That sounds almost incredible!"

  "None the less, it is true. You may open fire at once on the spotsmarked on your map, and do great damage. We are in a position here totell you whether your shells land properly or not--we can see thebattery from here. Will you fire?"

  "At once!" said Delaunay. "Go and watch for the shells--then report tous, if you can, whether they were properly aimed. You will be of thegreatest service to us if you can do that. It is of the lastimportance that that battery should not come into action againstus--these forts were not intended, when they were built, to withstandthe battery of such heavy guns as that!"

  Thrilled by the knowledge that the risks he and Arthur had run theprevious night had not been in vain, Paul went upstairs and rejoinedArthur. To the east, where the frantic efforts of the Germans to gettheir heavy artillery into position for the opening attack were stillcontinued, there was no apparent change in the situation.

  "No one has come near," said Arthur. "Was the wire working? What didthey say at Boncelles?"

  Paul told him, and they settled down to wait It was nervous work, tenseand anxious. Two of the guns--they counted six of them, in all--werealready in position, and finishing touches were being put to them.

  "Oh, why don't they hurry?" complained Arthur. "The Germans are notgoing to wait for them to be ready to fire."

  "Listen," said Paul. "The fire is slackening a little, I think. Youcan see that what we did had some use--they have silenced a good manyGerman guns already, through knowing just where to aim."

  "What's that?" exclaimed Arthur, suddenly.

  Overhead a strange noise filled the air; a shrieking, whining,whistling sound. It rose, as it came nearer, to a wild whistle, likethe blast of a factory signal, releasing the workers at the end of theday's work. The two scouts stared at one another; then, withoutknowing why, they turned to look at the busy scene to the east.Suddenly, before their eyes, there was a flash; a puff of white smokerising in the ghostly radiance of the arc lamps, and, after a distinctpause, a dull crash. Then, as the smoke cleared, and they still stoodawe stricken, they saw that the bursting shell had torn a great hole inthe ground. They saw men running; others were crawling, draggingthemselves painfully along. And others still lay very quiet.

  For just a moment there was a scene of wild confusion. But then orderwas restored, and a knot of men ran to the two guns that were uninjuredand ready. Paul dived down at once. Quickly he told what hadhappened, then raced up again. Another whistling overhead, and then aterrific explosion. The two guns lay overturned, ruined.