Chapter 21

THE HAUNTED WELL.

The boys did not attempt to do much of this sort of talking as they moved along the road. Many reasons united to make conversation a weariness to the flesh when carried on under the prevailing conditions.

In the first place they had to keep a certain distance apart, which would in itself necessitate shouting. Then the rumble of cannon was growing steadily heavier the further they advanced, deadening most other sounds pretty much all the time. Last of all there were those gaps in the road, springing up most unexpectedly, where enemy shells had struck in the endeavor to destroy as many of the pursuing French troops as possible.

Both armies had traversed the region through which Rod and his friends were making their tedious way. It can well be understood that the marks of their late progress abounded on all sides.

Even where no particular action had occurred a thousand reminders of the human flood of men that had so lately passed through were to be discovered on every side. Often Hanky Panky's heart seemed to feel a chill hand rest upon it as he marked the inevitable evidences of "man's inhumanity to man." Cottages were burned or ruined in some way or other; once beautiful gardens trampled out of all recognition; outbuildings torn down to make campfires for the marching hosts--in fact the land looked as though a hurricane might have recently swept across it, leaving scars that it would take a long time indeed to heal.

Here, there, and everywhere they could see groups of the forlorn inhabitants wandering about. Some stood and stared at the ruins of their recent homes; others guarded the little they had saved; while still more were on the roadside looking toward the region of the north, from whence came all those portentous rumblings and angry roarings.

Hanky Panky, however, was astonished to discover very few solemn faces among the peasants of the Marne country. At first this amazed him, but presently he figured out what it meant.

They had in many cases lost the accumulated savings of years, even their humble homes; but in spite of this they could take off their caps and shout in almost savage glee as the three Motorcycle Boys rode past.

Why, to be sure, the Great Day had come, of which they had some of them dreamed full forty years and more; when the German legions, like a plague of locusts, had once more descended upon devoted Paris, only to be brought to a standstill by the glorious army of the republic. And even now those furious guns told how Von Kluck, who had made such wonderful boasts of what he meant to do, was in full retreat bordering on a panic.

That was why temporary sufferings were all forgotten. For France these honest sons and daughters would make much greater sacrifices, and think little of it. So Hanky Panky felt ready to take off his hat to every one of them who gave the three riders a cheer or a salute in passing by.

Few animals save dogs and cats could be seen. Evidently the Germans had tried to make a clean sweep of the forty miles and more they covered like a vast fan, in falling back to the prepared positions along the Aisne. Those horses or cows that had been saved from the general slaughter or seizure must have been artfully secreted somewhere, so that they escaped the keen search. As for chickens, not a solitary rooster's crow had the boys heard since early dawn; for fowls of every description are first looked after by the soldier marching through a hostile country.

Long caravans of supplies were crawling over other roads, all heading for the front and coming from the direction of Paris. No wonder that every thoroughfare must be crowded with vehicles of transportation, when a million Frenchmen in arms had to be fed daily, not to mention the enormous quantities of ammunition that must be expended between the rising and the setting of every sun.

The more Rod saw of this the greater grew his admiration for the genius of the men whose brains had to command all these thousands of details looking to the provisioning of such a vast host. It was an experience the educational value of which could never be fully estimated; and often would the boy ponder over the problems that must have confronted those who were responsible for the solution of them.

They had numerous little adventures by the way, though as a rule these were in the line of narrow escapes from nasty spills, on account of ruts in the road. Rod frequently gave warning when he reached an especially bad stretch of ground, for he was well aware of the failings of his two chums--Josh with his impetuous ways, and Hanky Panky rather apt to be careless as well as clumsy.

One thing in particular Rod noticed, and this was that as they proceeded the sounds ahead of them kept on growing louder. Evidently then they were coming up on that part of the Marne country where the last rearguard action was being fiercely contested.

Von Kluck and his proud army must be continually finding themselves pushed further and further away from the beautiful city in which they had fully expected to be encamped ere this; though they grimly contested every mile they gave up, bound to sacrifice as few of their heavy guns as possible.

Another thing staggered the boys when they came to think of it. During the Civil War in their own country some of the greatest battles then known to history were fought, and the numbers on both sides did not really amount to more than two hundred thousand men. Here there were more than as many million grappling in deadly earnest, supplied with the most wonderful of modern death-dealing weapons, with engineers highly educated along the lines of utilizing these engines of wholesale destruction.

No wonder then the dead and wounded were as the leaves of the forest when the wind of late October tears them from their hold upon the branches and scatters them in windrows behind the logs and stumps and in fence corners.

Rod had some reason to believe that if they were allowed to proceed forward on this particular day they would presently reach the regiment in which Andre, sought so earnestly in the interest of his family, had an humble part. He was determined that should fortune favor them and the object of their search be accomplished he would listen no longer to the pleadings of Josh, but strike for Paris, so as to get away from this war-blasted country as quickly as possible.

It was beginning to pall upon Rod. After all he was only a boy, and had never been accustomed to such terrible sights as of late were being continually thrust before him. Nature has its limits, and Rod believed he was now very close to the end of his endurance.

"As it is, what we've run across will haunt us the rest of our lives," he was telling himself as he led the way along the difficult road; "and for one I'm longing to wake up again, and find myself wandering by the peaceful waters of the river bordering Garland in the far-distant States. And here's hoping that this may turn out to be our very last day in the track of the battling armies."

The dust was thick in places, partly on account of the season of the year, and then again because of the unwonted use to which that particular thoroughfare had been put of late. When several hundred thousand feet have tramped along in almost endless procession, and then innumerable vehicles of every known description, not to mention heavy artillery, some of it drawn by traction engines, some by horses, passing back and forth, it can easily be understood that the best of roads must be well nigh wrecked.

Hanky Panky had coughed a number of times, as though his throat was beginning to clog up with all this dust, and he found himself in danger of choking. When no attention was paid at first to these plain symptoms he coughed louder than ever, and with such evident distress that Rod guessed what he wanted.

"All right, Hanky," he shouted back, "wait till we come to a well, or a spring of some sort, and we'll drop off to wash it down."

After that Hanky Panky quieted considerably, his main object having been accomplished. As he rode along the boy kept watching ahead, hoping that it would not be long before they sighted some oasis in the desert where a sparkling rill ran, or the thrice welcome sweep of an old-fashioned well told of water to be had for the trouble of raising the same.

"I see one, Rod!" he presently called at the top of his voice, which was quite husky from the accumulation of dust; "there's a well in that place we're coming to, and I hope you keep your word, because I'm nearly perishing for a drink."

"Same here," said Josh, thinking to relieve the other's mind, because that would make two in favor of a stop, and majority always ruled with the Motorcycle Boys.

It happened just then that the road was next to deserted, though again just the reverse might be the case. The well sweep could no longer be seen, but Hanky Panky had marked the spot in his mind, and was not to be cheated because a knoll hid the well from the road, so it was only visible in that one quarter.

Rod drew up. A gate stood before him that was now in ruins, showing that the invaders had been there. They pushed their heavy machines past, and followed the lane leading over the knoll, to find a cottage in ruins, having been burned to the very ground.

It was a sad sight, and filled the boys with distress; but by this time they were naturally becoming a little hardened to such spectacles of warfare, and could view them without the same sensation of anger and disgust toward the aggressors that had filled their hearts at an earlier date.

For some reason or other the Germans had chosen to apply the torch to this isolated cottage. Perhaps some party had been keenly disappointed at finding it totally deserted, with not even a stray chicken left to satisfy their longing for a supper.

Rod gave one hasty glance around. Then he heaved a satisfied sigh, for he had been a little afraid lest he discover some evidence of foul work there. Such did not happen to be the case; the owner of the cottage instead of staying and arousing the passions of the invaders by firing at them in secret, had wisely departed to unknown regions before their coming, taking warning in time.

So the trio of boys hastened to the well as soon as they could dispose of their wheels. It would do them no harm to idle away ten minutes here, and drink their fill of the sparkling liquid which doubtless lay in those shadowy depths.

Hanky Panky reached it first of all, Josh not appearing to be in a humor to force himself to the van. In fact Josh seemed to be amused at something, for he had one of those smirks on his face which marked it whenever he watched Hanky Panky's evidence of greed.

"I don't seem to be able to quite see down _all_ the way, Rod," the other was saying when his comrades joined him; "but I dropped a pebble in, and could plainly hear a good splash; so there's plenty of the stuff down there."

"I only hope it's all right," remarked Josh, shortly afterwards, when they had managed to draw up a dripping bucket of cold water.

That caused Hanky Panky to hesitate, for he had a gourd in his hand, and was about to dip in.

"Now what in the wide world do you mean by saying that, I'd like to know, Josh; you're always trying to drop a fly in the ointment, seems to me. What could there be wrong with this water?" he demanded, filling the gourd as he spoke.

"Oh! I don't know," drawled the other, wickedly, "but if it happened that some of those ugly-tempered Germans chose to drop a little poison in the well it'd be a tough thing for the French who drank later, and mebbe make 'em sick in the bargain."

Hanky Panky turned pale, and allowed the gourd to spill; whereupon Josh coolly took it out of his hand, dipped into the bucket, and commenced drinking.

"If it doesn't kill _me_, why then it's safe, you see. I'm always willing to be the tester for the crowd, you know. Tastes all right, though, and as cold as anything. Whew! Rod, you have a dip, since Hanky feels nervous about it, won't you?"

Rod thereupon laughed, accepted the rude drinking cup from the joker, filled it from the dripping bucket, and offered it to the third member of the group.

"Don't mind what he says, Hanky; you know Josh loves to have his little joke; and I believe he still feels that he owes you one on account of the trick you played on him this morning."

"Then you really don't believe they did poison it, Rod?" asked the other.

"That isn't the German way of doing things, as far as I know," Rod told him; at which assurance Hanky Panky swallowed his fears, and drained the gourd.

"Might as well be hung for a whole sheep as a lamb!" he declared, once more dipping into the bucket; "but no matter if it's my last drink or not, I'm going to say this is as fine water as any I ever drank over in our own dear country. So here goes."

Rod in turn took a drink, and was ready to pronounce it excellent. Indeed, after their dusty ride of the morning nothing could have been one-half so refreshing as that draught of ice-cold water from the well with the old-fashioned sweep.

"If we're meaning to rest up a little bit," remarked Hanky Panky, shrewdly, "we might as well stay right here. Then just before we start off again it'll be another swig all around. I'd like to carry a canteen of that same water along with me, so I could wet my whistle as I rode."

"That would be your undoing, I'm afraid," laughed Rod, picturing the other uptilting the said canteen every few minutes, in spite of the wretched condition of the road and the necessity for cautious riding.

"I wonder whatever became of the people who lived here?" remarked Josh, presently, as he shifted his position for some reason or other, and sat with his face close to the curb of the well.

"Oh! they must have lit out long before the Germans arrived," Hanky said, confidently; "I hope now you don't believe they were actually killed, and buried somewhere around here, do you, Josh? You are the worst hand to imagine terrible things I ever knew."

"I didn't say anything like that, did I?" demanded Josh; "but it must have been on your mind. Listen! what was that?"

"I didn't hear anything," said Hanky Panky, looking worried all the same; "what did it sound like, Josh?"

Instead of answering, Josh held his hand up to indicate that if the other stopped talking he too might catch the sound. And as they listened what seemed to be a long-drawn groan came up from the depths of the well from which they had just been drinking!