CHAPTER IX

WITH THE FRENCH AT THE FRONT

“It’s all over but the shouting, fellows!” cried Giraffe, holding the boat steady in the current by means of his push-pole, while with his companions he watched to see what was transpiring over on the further shore.

The shells from the French battery continued to burst amidst the rapidly scattering Uhlans, showing the wonderful accuracy of the gunners’ aim. Knowing that it would be simple madness to attempt a further advance in the face of such a raking fire, the Germans had done the only possible thing under the circumstances. This was to scatter like a flock of sheep into the midst of which a wolf has suddenly leaped.

The four scouts no longer found any reason to fear those riders; in fact, the shoe was on the other foot now, and the Uhlans were fleeing from the peril that lay in French shells.

Giraffe clapped his hands excitedly and indulged in some of his characteristic sayings as he applauded the fine work of their friends a quarter of a mile away, it might be.

“Oh! look!” cried Bumpus, “there’s some one swimming across the river below us!”

“It’s our friend, the driver of the caisson!” snapped Giraffe immediately. “Glad he escaped being hit with any of his own shells when he let her go bang. Say, this is something like it now. It makes a heap of difference whose ox is gored, they tell us. And mebbe those Uhlan lancers don’t feel so stuck up, with all that chasing across fields to get away from the shells. Oh! did you see that one burst right alongside a rider—and he’s down, sure he is!”

“Isn’t it frightful, though?” exclaimed Bumpus, whose face had as usual lost all its customary color.

“Let’s get ashore,” suggested Thad, for there might always be a chance that one of the fugitive riders would appear on the bank, determined to get even with the boys in the boat, under the impression that they had served as stalking horses to lure himself and his mates into a trap.

Giraffe started to make use of his pole again, and as Thad also manipulated the oar they quickly made land. Allan was the first to jump ashore. He immediately began to draw the bow of the flat-bottom boat up on the little shelving beach they fortunately found waiting for them. Then the others tumbled out, Bumpus and his bag being the last to debark.

About this time the firing ceased as abruptly as it had commenced. Evidently the one in charge of the field battery considered that it was useless to expend any more valuable ammunition on such a scattered detachment on the enemy, especially since the demoralized remnant of the large Uhlan force was fleeing madly and no longer to be feared.

The driver of the destroyed caisson had by this time managed to crawl out of the water. He shook himself much after the manner of a big dog after a swim, and then came toward the boys, who happened to be near the road leading away from the former bridge.

They met him in a spirit of genuine boyish enthusiasm, each fellow insisting on shaking hands with the Frenchman, which act caused him to smile with pleasure. Then the little party started along the road, hoping to come in contact with the battery before fresh orders caused it to change positions again.

In this they were successful, and before long they found themselves surrounded by men in the French blue, who acted in a most friendly fashion. The one in command exchanged a few sentences with the driver. Thad, listening, had reason to believe that he was commending the discretion of the man in destroying his charge rather than take chances of having it fall into the hands of the enemy.

Then came their turn. In a few short sentences Thad managed to explain who they were and how they happened to be there. It was fortunate that the French captain of the guns could speak English.

“We would be under great obligations to you, M’sieu the Captain, if we were allowed to ride on one of the caissons further, in case you may be going on,” Thad wound up with.

He must have made a very pronounced impression on the soldier, for it was really an unusual request, and one that under normal conditions could not very well be granted. But after a brief period of consideration the officer nodded his head in the affirmative, much to the secret delight of Bumpus in particular.

“We are about to start for a new position,” was what the captain said, briefly; “and no doubt room may be found for you on a couple of the caissons. You must be good friends to France to be made a target for Uhlan guns. Yes, after all, it is but a little thing, and no harm can come of it. So find your seats, young Messieurs, for we are off immediately.”

The gunners and the drivers of ammunition carts were eager to accommodate. Somehow it seemed as though they looked on Thad and his three chums as allies. Possibly this came of their having shared dangers of the driver who blew up his store of ammunition lest it fall into the hands of the invading foe.

Thad and Bumpus were given seats on one caisson while the other boys found room on a second. The driver who had no longer a charge also secured a lift, for it turned out there was another seat vacant on a gun; and the fact that one of the other men had a bloody bandage wrapped around his left arm told the story of the shrapnel that had burst overhead.

So they were soon on the road, the horses again galloping under the incentive of both voices and lashes. Thad took note of the fact that their progress was in a southerly direction. From this he knew that by degrees the battery would manage to swing around until it reached a location much nearer the spot where that furious boom of great guns told of a battle in progress.

The boys all knew that they were yielding to the great temptation that had waylaid them. By rights they should be heading directly for Paris instead of allowing themselves to be tempted to follow along the course of the French army. Bumpus, if given the opportunity, might have taken that course, but it was a case of three against one, and he had no choice in the matter but to keep right along with the balance of the company.

In fact, to tell the truth, much as Thad and Allan and Giraffe would like to please such a beloved chum as Bumpus, they just could not resist the yearning to try and see more of the tremendous historical events that were transpiring on those battlefields of France, so near the capital that the boom of the big guns might almost be faintly heard there, if the wind proved favorable.

Discretion was thrown to the winds. Such a grand chance to witness the making of history came but once in a life-time, and they would be silly to deliberately cast it aside when it was offered to them for the taking.

All they had to do was to sit there and allow themselves to be carried along to the new location of the fast-moving field battery, evidently now scheduled to take a more active part in the day’s engagement.

Thad knew that he was doing a very rash thing. His conscience also reproached him whenever he thought of poor Bumpus, for it was really a pity that the stout chum, who did not have much stomach for fighting and exciting adventures, should be dragged into their midst. Thad tried to salve his conscience by telling himself that they might run across a chance whereby they could make themselves useful in some capacity, perhaps by assisting the ambulance corps connected with the Red Cross. Sooner or later he knew there would be many Americans enlisted in this humane work, and it would at least give them a valid excuse for being there on the field of battle.

Now they came on other detachments of the French army, men working big guns that seemed to fairly shatter the surrounding atmosphere each time they were fired. The enormous missiles that they sent for a distance of miles must have torn terrible holes in whatever they struck.

The enemy could not be seen at all, which the boys considered most remarkable. But Thad knew how the commanders made use of artificial eyes in the shape of powerful field-glasses; and besides, there were several aeroplanes darting back and forth above in the blue heavens, the operators of which doubtless continued to send valuable information down by means of a prearranged system of signals.

Still they kept moving on along the encircling road. Evidently they had not yet come to their appointed station, where an attack was expected, and scores of field guns would be needed to mow down the grayish-green clad lines of the Germans before they came within reach of the rapid-fire pieces.

All the time the boys noticed that they were passing through heavy masses of troops eager for action. Temporary trenches had been thrown up, a mere shadow of an excuse when compared with the wonderful concrete creations that later on became such a part of warfare along the Aisne. Behind these ridges of earth the soldiers in blue lay, watching and waiting for the coming of their enemies, and ready to do their duty with gun and bayonet after the customary gallant French style.

Many curious glances were cast in the direction of the four boys in khaki who sat with the drivers of the caissons. Perhaps they were taken for English lads, as had happened more than once before, and in some fashion connected with the new alliance that was being formed between France and her neighbor across the Channel.

Then the battery came to a pause. Thad guessed what it meant, so that he hardly had need to discover the captain making motions to him. They must jump down now and take care of themselves.

According, Thad left his seat, in which action he was speedily followed by the other three boys. Bumpus even grinned a little, as though pleased. It had been a regular nightmare for a time for the fat boy, clinging desperately to some frail support alongside, as the ammunition wagon bowled recklessly along the rutty road, and jolting the breath from his body with fits and starts.

So they saw their good friends leave them, still heading for their appointed position in the long line that waited for the coming of the gray hosts of the Kaiser. The boys discovered the driver waving his hand back to them, and as one they sent an answering signal. They never set eyes on him, or any of his comrades again; and if they actually survived the horrors of the amazing Battle of the Marne the fact remained a mystery to Thad and his comrades. Still, in times to come, they would often delight to recall their adventure of the road and the river, and wonder what became of the French caisson driver who blew up his ammunition wagon rather than yield his charge to the foe.

What they should do now was a question. No doubt their presence on the firing line would not long be tolerated. Thad expected some officer to come along at almost any minute and demand to know who they were and by what right they were at the front, when all boys of their age should be far in the rear. He was also prepared to do anything that military authority might decree, though cherishing a vague hope that by some means they might be able to secure glimpses of the battle destined to decide the fate of Paris.

Men were around them chattering in French and looking curiously at the cluster of lads in khaki. Had it been a German camp they would very likely have been under a volley of gruff questions as to the reason of their presence; but the French are by nature exceedingly polite, and so far no one had ventured to question their right to be there.

All about them could be heard the thunderous discharge of the big guns that were shelling depots of the enemy and trying to delay the inevitable advance of the German army corps threatening the capital from the northwest. The air at all times throbbed with these mighty shocks. Shells, too, from enemy guns could be heard exploding here and there, showing that it was a game of “give and take” on both sides.

About this time Thad noticed that they were beginning to be the centre of a considerable crowd. Men passing by stopped to observe the four lads and comment in their voluble way. Still, there were no unfriendly glances cast upon them, which was one comfort. In good time, no doubt, an officer would bustle up and proceed to ply them with questions. Thad hoped he could satisfy the demands that would be made upon them. Bumpus, on his part, was secretly wishing that the French commander might be so taken with their looks that he would be pleased to invite them to join him in a jolly little dinner shortly, for Bumpus had lately become aware of the fact that he was decidedly hungry.

“Here he comes now, Thad,” remarked Giraffe, noticing a sudden movement further along, where the soldiers hastened to fall back and make way for a number of advancing men in uniform.

Yes, Thad could himself see that one of these bore the insignia of rank that stamped him at least a colonel. He had made up his mind just what to say in order not to bore the officer, and at the same time create a favorable impression on his mind.

Another look caused Thad to begin to feel some uneasiness. He fancied that the old officer with the white imperial, who had such a decidedly military air about him, also looked very severe. And that other party at his side, who was doing considerable talking it seemed, why did he take it upon himself to point his finger toward the four boys in that aggressive manner?

Straight up to where the scouts stood came the little party. Thad raised his hand in respectful salute, in which act he was copied by his mates. To the astonishment of them all, at a word of command from the officer, two soldiers stepped forward and laid rough hands on poor, astounded Giraffe, who stood there with his mouth open, simply staring at the stern colonel.

Thad, listening, heard a word that gave him a nasty shock. It was spoken by the man in the company of the officer, and had been hissed with much vehemence.

“Spy!”