CHAPTER XXI.

THE CALL FOR HELP.

"Giraffe, would you mind bending over and pinching me?" asked Bumpus, sweetly, after they had been going on for a short time, leaving the watch-hill behind them, with all its dreadful memories.

"Sure I will, Bumpus, as many times as you want me to. I'm the most accommodating fellow you ever knew, and I can give a nip equal to one of those dobsons we use for catching black bass in the good old summer time."

Giraffe evidently was as good as his word, for there was an immediate low screech from the fat chum.

"Hold on, Giraffe, that's enough!" he hastened to exclaim. "You'll have me all black and blue if you keep that going. I'm sure of it now."

"Sure of what?" asked Allan, chuckling, for this was not the first time he had seen this interesting little circus play come off between the two chums.

"That I'm awake, and didn't just dream about that awful battle!"

Bumpus shuddered as though he had suddenly been taken with a chill that foretold a visitation of the ague or malaria. They knew from this that the sights he had recently witnessed must have made a tremendous impression on his mind, and would probably haunt him for many a long day.

"I guess all of us feel pretty much the same way you do, Bumpus," Thad informed him. "We're sorry to have seen such sights, and yet glad at the same time. It was an opportunity that few American scouts could ever expect to have come their way. And if we could have done any good we'd have been only too glad of a chance to offer our services."

"They'd have laughed at us if we'd risked it," asserted Allan.

"And like as not bundled us all into a dungeon for suspects," added Giraffe, although he immediately added, "but say, did you ever see such dauntless bravery as those same Germans showed when they marched straight up to that bridge, and every time a hole was torn in their ranks closed in as if on dress parade."

"Oh! I don't know," spoke up Bumpus, "it struck me that handful of Belgians showed the real stuff in the way of bravery, holding out with ten or twenty times their number against them. The German brand of courage seems to be different from some others I know of. They are parts of a big machine, and have to touch elbows when they fight."

Giraffe was up in arms at once, but Thad poured oil on the troubled waters.

"Listen, Giraffe," he said, "this is what Bumpus means, and I've read the same thing more than once; even high German generals have admitted it. Germans soldiers are not trained to take the initiative like our men and the French are. They are educated to obey orders as a unit, and a company of them will walk directly into the jaws of death with a courage that couldn't be beaten. But there's little of that hurrah and dash and single-handed work we're accustomed to associating with heroic actions."

Perhaps there was food for thought in what the scout leader said. Giraffe may not have looked at matters in this light before. He became pensive as though revolving the theory over in his mind. Then he broke the short silence by saying:

"Here's the fork of the road, Thad, and we can make a start in the other direction. After all the longest way around is sometimes the quickest way to the fire. But for one I'm glad we took the other. I've seen a real battle, and that's talking some."

There was good reason for Thad to be thoughtful. Troubles seemed to be multiplying as they proceeded. He was beginning to believe that young Belgian gunner with whom Giraffe had talked must have known what he was saying when he declared they had but one chance in three to get through the country that seemed to be a network of war trails, with hostile forces moving in every direction.

Secretly Thad was rapidly coming to the conclusion that they would show their wisdom by turning back and making for the Dutch border again. Once in Holland they could take a train for Rotterdam, and in some way secure a passage to Antwerp.

The more he considered this the better it looked to him. He was even sorry now he had not insisted on such a course at the time they were across the border. In fact he had given up mostly on account of the plea advanced by Bumpus, who after all was a poor one to make suggestions.

So Thad determined that should they meet with another backset, he was bound to put the matter before his chums in its true light. He knew he could count on the support of Allan, and also that Giraffe was open to conviction, even if a little set in his way.

For a few miles the car moved along the second road fairly well, though Thad was chagrined to find that he could not speed it up at all.

"What ails the old shebang, Thad?" demanded Giraffe, impatiently, when it crawled along with sundry groanings and complainings.

"It's tired out, and creaks in the joints, don't you know," said Bumpus, with one of his old-time grins.

"But shucks! we're on level ground right now, and she ought to spin along like fun!" mentioned Giraffe, with a snort of disgust. "Why, honest, I could keep out of your way walking, and never feel it. Talk to me about an ice-wagon, this goes it one better. It's like those harvester engines we see creeping along the country roads up our way, slow but sure."

"What do you figure can be the matter, Thad?" asked Allan.

"I'm in a fog," came the reply. "The only thing I can think of is that some of that petrol we bought at double price is mighty poor stuff."

"You mean it's been weakened to make it seem more," said Giraffe. "I didn't know oil and water could be mixed, but mebbe these smart Belgians have found a way to do it. And Thad, now that you mention it I reckon you've about hit the right nail on the head."

"Well, there's nothing to be done," ventured Allan; "so we'll have to grin and bear it. But let's hope we'll strike a chance before long to buy a new lot of gas, and this time get a decent quality with push in it."

"Yes," added Giraffe, "just now it looks as if we had need of all the push going; in fact I was going to offer to step out and put my shoulder against the car to help along."

"Oh, you'll get all that pleasure right away," Bumpus told him, "because I can glimpse another of those rises ahead there, and we'll never make a third of it under this low pressure, worse luck."

Just as he had prophesied they were compelled to work their passage to the top of the rise, though coasting down the other side with a fine burst of speed. About a mile beyond this point Thad was noticed to listen attentively, and immediately work the car over to one side of the road.

"Something coming!" announced Giraffe, "and listen to the row, will you? Makes me think of a fire engine going on the run. But it's an automobile at that, believe me. Give 'em all the room you can, Thad, because, my word! they're coming to beat the band."

Already they could see the dust rising above the trees, and all sorts of vague speculations took form in the minds of the boys. Then suddenly there burst into view a strange contraption, the like of which none of them had ever seen before.

In one way it was a large car, but it had been boxed in with some sort of metal, so that it looked like a "battering ram," as Giraffe declared afterwards.

Rushing at a rapid pace along the road it quickly reached the car and sped past. The staring scouts heard loud voices, and even saw waving hands over the top of the barricade. Then it was lost to view in the cloud of dust.

"Whew! That's going some!" gasped Giraffe.

Bumpus was coughing from the dust he had inhaled, but he managed to give expression to his astonishment in a few jerky sentences:

"Oh! whatever was that! I thought a goods van had skipped off the railroad track and was raging along the road. Thad, can you guess it? Please enlighten me. Schew!" and he ended up in a tremendous sneeze.

"Yes, I think I know, though I never saw anything like it before," Thad obligingly told him. "I remember reading that some Belgian had been experimenting with what he called an armored motor-car, and which it was claimed would be a terror in war times. I think that must have been it."

"Well," admitted Giraffe, scratching his head, "it was all of that, let me tell you. And Thad, there was a hole in the armor plating on our side. That must be where they use the quick-firing gun that mows things down, just as the farmer cuts the wheat with his machine."

"If that war engine struck a regiment of the enemy it would make holes in their ranks, all right," Allan remarked, with a shake of his head.

"I'm glad I saw it," ventured Bumpus, "but they're sure a reckless lot aboard, from the way they rushed along this road."

"It takes that sort of men to use an armored car, I should think," said Thad. "They expect to drop down on the enemy wherever they can find him, and never stop to count heads, but just run the gantlet, firing as they go. If they're lucky, and get through without an accident, they go back home laughing over a good day's hunt."

"This war is bound to show up some queer freaks," remarked Allan. "Now, d'ye know that armored car makes me think of the war chariots the ancient Romans used, with sharp knives fastened to the wheels, and as they dashed through the crowded ranks of the Goths and Vandals these mowed them down. This scheme is only a little more up to date, that's all."

"Nothing new under the sun, when you come to look into things," declared Bumpus.

"This mad pace gives me a shiver," said Giraffe. "As I didn't sleep good last night I think I'll cuddle down right here, and take a few winks. If anything exciting comes along just give me a jolt, will you, Bumpus?"

"It's more than likely to be a hill," was the reassuring answer returned by the stout chum. "All I'm hoping for now is that we strike a village pretty soon, where we can find some decent petrol for sale, and load up."

"Huh! one word for the petrol and two for your dinner," chuckled Giraffe. "Now, don't say anything more to me, Bumpus, because I'm booked for a nap. The warm sunshine, the drone of the bees, the grunting of our elegant car, and a lot of other things combined make me feel _aw_-fully drowsy."

He was really meaning it, too, for he had closed his eyes, and seemed about ready to let his senses slip away. Bumpus looked down at him as though he might not object to a little of the same sweet slumber himself. With Thad and Allan on guard there could be no harm in giving way to this feeling. And should they come to one of those nuisances in the way of rises, which would stall the engine, of course all of them stood ready to drop out and do their duty.

But it was not to be.

They happened to be passing a small cottage just then. It sat back from the road, and there were flowers in the front yard, yes, and a well also. Thad was almost tempted to stop and ask for a drink, but he thought better of it. Further on, when they came to a town, and made an effort to secure a supply of petrol it would be time enough to think of quenching their thirst, aggravated by the dust they were forced to breathe most of the time.

And it was at that instant they heard wild shrieks ring out, in a woman's voice. Looking toward the cottage and half expecting to see it in flames they discovered a woman at the well. She was wringing her hands frantically, now leaning over to peer into the depths, and then rocking to and fro as if in the very abandon of grief over something.

Thad stopped the car instantly. Both Giraffe and Bumpus were on their feet, and staring with might and main at the spot.

"Oh! whatever has happened?" the latter was exclaiming in horrified tones. "She acts like a child had fallen down the well!"