Chapter 5

PURSUIT

They had no thought of any further danger, as they sped along the road on the stolen--or, rather, the captured motorcycle. The road was smooth and good. There was nothing to detain them. Behind them the furious shouts of the Germans, even the firing, died away, until the only sound they could hear was the noise of the engine. The machine was a good one, evidently built for the hard work of an army in the field.

Before them now was the searchlight from Fort Boncelles, picking up one patch of darkness after another, flooding it suddenly with light, and then passing on to the next, swinging about endlessly in a great arc, so that the slightest movement that was out of the ordinary was sure to be seen. From time to time the great beam of light struck the road, before them or behind them. Then they were in the midst of it, riding in a sea of light. The searchlight winked off, came back to them, and went with them for nearly half a mile.

"They've spotted us, Arthur!" said Paul, with a laugh. "Well, I hope they're not frightened!"

"They must want to make sure of what we're doing, I suppose, Paul! Look at the other lights! It's a great sight when they all swing up together, isn't it?"

From the forts that ringed the ancient city the darting searchlights swept the heavens. At times all of them met, for a moment, making a blinding reflection against the sky. They would stay thus; then, one after another, the lights would go swooping down, keeping their vigil. Behind each were watchful eyes, ready to report immediately the first, the slightest sign of what might come now at any moment.

"Those searchlights make the idea of war seem more real than anything else has, Paul," said Arthur.

Paul gave a short laugh.

"If you'd seen those shells and the parts of the guns, all ready to be put together in that cellar, you wouldn't say that!" he exclaimed. "And how about the German officer--in uniform, on the soil of a friendly country? That's almost an act of war itself, Arthur! He has no business here!"

"I don't see what difference it makes, Paul. If they're coming, there'll be so many more that one more or less won't count."

"Well, they're coming! I'm more sure of that than ever since we found that house. I say, Arthur, I think you'd better stay right out here in the road with the motorcycle, while I run in and get the plans. If we both went, we might be caught--and I don't want to have to explain anything until we've told what we know to the staff officers."

"All right, Paul. But don't be long."

"I won't! Here we are! Now you wait--and I'll get back just as soon as I can."

It was an easy matter, as it turned out, for Paul to slip into the grounds and retrieve the plans. But it took time, and time, had he only known it, was the one thing he could not afford to waste just then. Somehow neither he nor Arthur had given a further thought to the two Germans they had so cleverly eluded in the mysterious cottage. They had felt that these two enemies, at least, might be counted out for that night.

And so Paul, returning to the spot where he had left Arthur, took no particular pains to conceal himself. He called out as he vaulted the low wall between the grounds of his uncle's place and the road.

"It was easy!" he cried. "No one was about. They're probably so excited that they haven't even missed us yet! Start your engine! We've got to hurry now."

Arthur tried to obey. But there was some slight hitch in the starting of the engine. Then the spark worked, and the motor began to throb. The cycle started; Paul leaped up to his place behind. And then, behind them, came a sudden roar, the sound of another motorcycle, and a flash of light swept over them.

"Stop!" cried a voice--a voice they knew! It was one of the Germans!

"Go on! Hurry!" cried Paul. "Perhaps we can get away from them--we're ahead, anyhow!"

The motorcycle leaped forward now, but from behind they could still hear the barking of the exhaust of the other machine, and the excited cries of the Germans. Luck was with them, however, for just at that most critical of moments something must have gone wrong with the pursuing machine. The noise of its motor ceased behind them. The shouting continued, but only one voice was raised. Plainly the other man was busy. While their luck held, Arthur pushed the machine at the best speed he could get out of it. And it was well that he did, since the trouble with the other motor was soon mended. It sprang into sputtering life again behind them. But now they had a good lead and were racing on toward the forts, toward the circle of wide swinging searchlights.

"How are we getting on, Paul?" asked Arthur. "Are we gaining?"

"I'm afraid--no, we're not. They're coming along awfully fast. That must be a much more powerful machine than this."

"I don't think it's that. I'm awfully afraid that our gasoline is running low! That German must have ridden a long way. Probably he expected to fill his tank back there! There's so much noise that I'm not sure, but I'm afraid one cylinder is missing. That's what is making us slower."

Over their heads now a bullet sang out sharply. There could be no doubt about it at all, now; the other motorcycle was rapidly making up lost ground. Then while they still raced on, and when the other machine was less than a hundred yards behind, the whole road was paved in light again, as the Boncelles searchlight swung around and down, and was focused full on the chase.

Still the other cycle gained, but there were no more shots. The reason for that was made plain in a few moments by a call to surrender.

"They're only boys!" one of the Germans had yelled to the other. "We can catch them. Don't let's hurt them."

And then, with the distance between the two machines being reduced every minute, they could hear one of the Germans shouting to them.

"Stop! Surrender!" he cried. "You can't escape--we're gaining all the time! If you stop now, you won't be hurt!"

Then the searchlight swung away, and in that same moment Paul had an inspiration. He remembered that in his pocket was a glass flask that had contained water. He took this out now, and broke it against the steel frame of the motorcycle. The fragments cut his fingers, but he ignored the cuts and the flow of blood. At the risk of hurting himself still more, he broke the fragments again in his hand. Then he began dropping the sharp pieces of glass. And in a minute he had his reward. From behind came two sharp explosions, and looking back, he saw the other motorcycle swerve and fall. The two riders went sprawling.

"Get all you can out of her, Arthur!" he shouted. "I spilled them. The glass punctured both their tires! That was luck! It won't stop them for long, but it's given us a little more time. I don't believe they'll put on new tires, even if they're carrying them. And if they don't, it will make them much slower. You can't go so fast on rims as you can on rubber tires!"

"That was fine! I never thought of doing that!" exclaimed Arthur. "I do believe it's going to save us, too. We can't be more than a mile and a half from Boncelles now."

"We'll get there--unless our gasoline gives out altogether before that, Arthur. And it may. The engine is certainly missing all the time, now. Oh, if it will only hold out!"

Their speed was greatly reduced now. And from behind the other motor started again.

"I admire those Germans!" said Paul. "A good many people wouldn't keep at it the way they're doing. It's no joke to ride on a motorcycle with both tires gone. They'll remember to-night for some time, I think! They'll be sore and shaken to pieces before they're done."

"They'll be better off than their machine," said Arthur, philosophically. "There won't be enough of that left to sell for junk if they ride it very far in that condition."

"Well, I don't believe they'll care about that, if they only catch us and get the plans--"

It was a sudden lurch of the machine, accompanied by a sputtering and a stopping of the motor, that interrupted him. The two scouts sprang off just in time, steadying the machine.

"Drop it! Into the fields here!" cried Paul. "We can't run any longer. We must try to elude them by tricking them. Come on!"

And so they were obliged to abandon the machine that had served them so well, leaving it lying in the road. They ran across a ditch that bordered the road, and into a field where they managed to conceal themselves in a hedge. They could still see the white road, and the collapsed motorcycle, but there was a chance, even if it was a slim one, that they themselves would not be seen.

Arthur wanted to run across the field, but Paul stopped him.

"That's what they'll expect us to do, isn't it?" he said. "And, besides, they could see us. There's no shelter for a long way. Here they may overlook us, just because we're so close--and it's the only chance we have, anyhow."

"Here they come!" cried Arthur, and crouched down, staring. For a moment it seemed that the pursuers might ride straight by, and Paul groaned suddenly.

"We ought to have dragged the machine in here with us!" he said. "Then I don't believe they'd have known we had stopped for quite a distance! I never thought of it, though, and now it's too late!"

It was too late, indeed, for the other machine stopped within a few feet of the overturned cycle.

"Ha! Now we'll have them! They can't have gone far!" said one of the Germans. "Accursed boys! They have given me a fright!"

"You haven't caught us yet!" whispered Paul, defiantly.

It was true, as the Germans soon discovered. For when they began looking for the two boys, they found that it was one thing to know that they must be somewhere about, and quite another to find out just where. They did not begin to look immediately in the field, but went along the road, toward Liege, evidently looking for footprints. Then when they did take to the field, they crossed the ditch fully a hundred yards further along the road.

"Come on!" said Paul, suddenly. "We got one of their machines--why shouldn't we take the other?"

Arthur saw the point as quickly as Paul. The carelessness of the two Germans had once more given them an opportunity. In a moment they dashed out, and, just as the Germans, with a yell of fury, saw them, they were off. Bullets flew about them, but they bent low over the machine, and they were going fast. Still two bullets found their mark, one puncturing the rear tire, the other perforating the gasoline tank. Once more they seemed to be caught. And then a searchlight swept down upon them again. But this time it was not the great light from Boncelles. It was the huge headlight of an automobile, and behind it they saw an armored car. Soldiers sprang from it, and in a moment the tables had been completely turned.

It was the two German officers who were made prisoners, while officers eagerly pressed about the scouts, asking question upon question.

"I must be taken to General Leman at once," said Paul, stoutly. "We have information of the utmost importance."

The Belgian officers laughed at him at first. But he was so earnest and persistent that he had his way at last.