CHAPTER IX.
GUERILLA WARFARE.
"Do you mean?" asked Hal, "that 150 men, at large in these woods, havedefied the whole German army?"
"There are less than a hundred now," replied the brother of Alexis,whose name the lads learned was Stephan. "We have been conducting thisguerilla warfare for more than two weeks now, and we have doneinestimable harm to the Germans. We have evaded large bodies of troopssent out to kill or capture us. Of course, some of our men have beenpicked off, but we are not going to run yet."
"But how do you live?" demanded Chester.
"We have been living on roots and herbs," was the reply, "and such otherfood as we have been able to take from the enemy."
"And where do you sleep?"
"This forest," said Stephan, "makes an ideal hiding place. It is filledwith large caves, the presence of which seems to be unknown to the foe.Many of the caves are large enough for twenty men, although it is seldomthat there are more than five or six men in one at a time."
From the rear came the sound of galloping horses. Stephan sprang toinstant action.
"Come with me," he cried, and led the way into the very thick of theforest.
Hal, Chester, Alexis and Marquis followed him and soon were safe fromdiscovery in a large cave, the mouth of which was screened from view bya dense mass of shrubbery.
Outside, after a few minutes, the lads could hear the sounds of movinghorses and the exclamations of their riders. The horsemen halted nearthe entrance to the cave and held a consultation.
"They have probably fallen in with some of these guerillas," said onevoice. "If so, we shall have hard work to find them."
Close upon his words came a scream from outside, and straining theirears, the party inside made out the sound of a distant pistol shot.
"One more gone," said Stephan briefly.
There came a volley from outside the cave, as the Germans fired at theirunseen assailant.
"Not much chance of their hitting anybody," said Stephan calmly.
From outside the cave came the sound of rapidly retreating hoofbeats.The Germans were moving away. Alexis, having thus quickly learned theway of the guerillas, cautiously poked his head from the cave, reachedback and picked up his brother's rifle, and fired after the retreatingfoe.
"Another one," he said grimly, returning the weapon to Stephan.
"Just how long do you suppose you can keep this work up?" Chester askedof Stephan.
"Not much longer, I am afraid," was the reply. "I figure it is only aquestion of days now until the Germans send out a force strong enough tosearch the woods thoroughly. In that event, we shall try to make our wayback over the border to safety."
From a corner of the cave Stephan now produced a small quantity of food,which he set out. All fell to and it was soon disposed of. Then theyventured from the cave and, walking slowly, made their way northward.
"It's just a case of keep moving," Stephan explained. "Of course, itmight be possible for us to join forces, but then we should greatlylessen our effectiveness."
Alexis, who was in front, stopped suddenly and threw up a warning hand.Immediately the other three halted in their tracks. Peering in thedirection in which Alexis pointed, they made out the forms of half adozen German soldiers standing near a tree. Directly, however, thelatter made off, and the little party approached the tree.
"Another placard, eh?" muttered Stephan, as he drew near.
The other three also approached and read:
"The time for surrender has been extended till to-morrow at noon!"
Angrily, Stephan snatched the placard from the tree. Turning, he sawseveral other trees also bearing placards. These he also tore down.
"Surrender, eh!" he cried. "Never!"
Suddenly he clapped his hand to his side and staggered back. At the sameinstant, from directly ahead, came the sharp crack of a rifle. ButStephan did not fall. Recovering himself, he dashed straight in thedirection of the shot at top speed. There came the second crack of arifle, but still the Cossack did not pause.
Now Hal, and Chester, dashing after him with Alexis at their side, sawStephan pause momentarily, raise his rifle and fire quickly twice. Thenhe dropped to the ground. But it was not from injury, as the othersfeared, for at that moment there came a volley and bullets whistledoverhead. Quickly Hal, Chester and Alexis also flung themselves to theearth.
Stephan, lying upon his stomach, was pumping lead steadily straightbefore him. Hal, Chester and Alexis drew their revolvers and joined inthe fray. Through the trees they could now make out the number of theirassailants. There were an even dozen of them, all lying in a littleclearing, their rifles trained upon the spot where the four friends lay.
Under the deadly aim of Stephan's rifle, two men dropped to the ground.The others returned the Cossack's fire, but the latter was wellprotected by foliage, and escaped injury. Another German jumped to hisfeet, spun round on his heel, and fell to the ground.
Then, at a word from one of the Germans, the remaining nine jumpedsuddenly to their feet and dashed toward their enemies on a dead run,their rifles spitting fire as they came on. Exposed to the fire of thefoe as they were, they realized that their only chance of life lay inrushing their opponents.
Alexis was the first to see the danger in this attack. He jumped to hisfeet, dragging Hal and Chester with him. Stephan also was up in aninstant.
"Quick!" cried Alexis, and at a rapid run, he urged the lads to anothersecluded spot.
There, as the Germans appeared in the spot where they had stood a fewmoments before, Stephan, the only one of the four armed with a rifle,fired three more quick shots at the foe. One tumbled forward on hisface, and a second dropped his rifle.
And now unexpected aid came to the four friends. From the rear of theGermans came several rifle shots in quick succession, and two more ofthe enemy bit the dust. As they turned to face this new attack, Stephanstepped forward and opened on them again. Caught thus between two fires,the Germans fought well, firing blindly at their unseen foes on bothsides.
But such a struggle could have but one ending. The Cossacks, screenedfrom the fire of the enemy who lay between them, were practically safefrom the German fire, at the same time having the Germans at theirmercy. No quarter was asked, nor none was given. Soon a heap of fallenbodies marked the spot where the Germans had made their last stand.
From the other side of the Germans, two Cossacks now stepped forth, andapproached. Stephan advanced to meet them. Alexis made his way to thefallen foe, and gathered up the rifles. Returning, he passed one to eachlad, with the remark:
"Here; these beat revolvers for this kind of warfare."
After a short conference with the two newcomers, Stephan motioned forhis friends to follow, and the party, now increased to six, moved on.For perhaps half an hour they marched through the woods, and at the endof that time stopped once more before the entrance to a second cave.
"Before we enter," said Stephan, "I will tell you that these men havejust informed me that inside a consultation of war is being held. Thereare perhaps 60 men there, who have gathered here for that purpose. Ihave vouched for you, and you will therefore be admitted to theconsultation without question."
The others signified that they understood, and Stephan led the way intothe cave. Inside, the lads looked quickly around. This cave, they saw,was much greater than the first they had entered. Also it showed signsof human handiwork. Large pillars ran up through the center of it, andbeyond the far entrance the lads could see one, then two morecompartments.
Sitting about on the floor of the first compartment were more than halfa hundred men, talking in low tones. They looked up in surprise at thesight of Hal and Chester, but Alexis they greeted with a nod. The latterstepped forward and greeted them in their native tongue. The lads couldnot make out all he said, but the looks of suspicion on the faces ofsome vanished immediately, and they moved a bit to let the newcomersjoin the circle.
Plainly it was the opinion of most of the men that
the guerilla warfarehad been carried far enough. Some were in favor of making a lastdesperate raid upon the enemy before attempting to get back across theRussian border, while others were in favor of attempting to get backimmediately.
For an hour the discussion waged and then it was rudely interrupted. Theman left to guard the entrance to the cavern rushed in.
"Germans approaching in great force!" he cried.
Immediately all were on their feet, and one man rushed to the narrowentrance. He started through but fell back, a bullet in his head. Asecond, rifle in hand, also advanced, but Hal, springing quickly to hisfeet, stopped him.
"Wait!" he cried. "They can pick us off one at a time as we go out. Someother plan will have to be found."
Stephan and Alexis took their stand by the lad's side, and faced the menwho would have rushed to certain death.
"The lad is right," said Stephan. "Out the other end of the cave, men,and scatter!"
Rapidly this order was obeyed, and soon none were left in the firstcompartment but Hal, Chester, Alexis, Stephan and Marquis.
Now Hal also dashed after the others. But the lad was not bent uponflight, leaving his friends to face the enemy alone. Quickly he hurriedthrough the three compartments of the cavern, casting a keen eye hereand there. Clear to the far entrance he went, and then turned back. Ashe made his way along, he stumbled over something and fell heavily. Hewas up in a moment, however, and glanced curiously at the object overwhich he had tripped. Then a smile lighted up his face. He made his wayback to his friends.
"How many do you suppose there are out there?" asked Alexis.
"We have no means of telling," replied Chester. "However, there areprobably no less than two or three hundred."
"If we stand here and fire as they attempt to enter, we may have somesuccess," said Stephan.
"Yes," said Alexis, "but the detonations may occasion the falling in ofthe cavern. At the first shot from outside a piece of falling rockgrazed my shoulder."
"We must do something quickly," said Hal. "We cannot leave withoutstriking at least one blow at them."
"Assuredly not," agreed Alexis. "I have a plan."
Boy Allies with the Cossacks; Or, A Wild Dash over the Carpathians Page 9