CHAPTER XXVII.

THE UHLAN HOLD-UP.

Bumpus was heard to give a big sigh.

"I can see our finish, boys," he remarked, calmly, as though he had resigned himself to the inevitable. "I'm ready to cry quits, and hold up my hands. Holland looks pretty good to me just now."

"Let's wait and see what happens," said Thad, though he secretly rejoiced to hear Bumpus admit this, for the fat scout had more at stake than the rest of them, in that his sick mother was waiting and watching in the city of the Schelde.

The Uhlans came swiftly along. If they noticed the old car drawn to one side of the road, out of the way, they gave no evidence of the fact until the leaders had arrived almost abreast of the spot.

Then a bugle sounded, and the whole squadron halted, causing the dust to mount up more furiously than ever.

A score of troopers gathered around the car, most of them officers, Thad could see, although the dust covered them so completely that it concealed the insignia of their rank to some extent.

"Giraffe, it's your turn," said Thad to the lanky scout; "air what German you know, and tell them we're American Boy Scouts; also ask if one of them can converse with me in English."

"There is no need to ask that, because most of us are familiar with your tongue," said the stout officer who seemed to be in chief command, much to the satisfaction of the scouts. "But we must take that assertion of yours with a grain of allowance. We even suspect that you are English boys, bent on getting through our lines with valuable information for the enemy, which we cannot allow, you understand."

Thad was not surprised. He realized that at such a time every one who spoke the English language must come under the ban with the Teuton race. Already he had discovered that this stout man was inclined to be a martinet, and possibly ruthless in dealing with those whom he had reason to suspect.

"I assure you, sir," he hastened to say, respectfully but firmly, "that we are every one of us native-born Americans. We were making a cruise down the Rhine and when we arrived at Cologne news that war had broken out gave us a shock. One of my comrades here has a sick mother in Antwerp, under the care of a specialist. That is why we are trying to make our way there."

"Where did you get this car?" asked the officer, sternly.

"In Cologne, or rather near there, buying it from a man we met. I have the bill of sale here. It is a terrible car, and has broken down with us many times. That is why we were allowed to keep it."

"But if, as you say, you were in Germany when the Kaiser's troops crossed over into Belgium, how happens it you are here? They would not let you come by way of Aachen, where the glorious army crossed the border?"

Thad, of course, did not mean to tell how they had been hotly chased by German troopers, and just managed to elude them by reaching the Dutch guards in time. He fancied that such an account would hardly be likely to influence this stern looking Uhlan leader in their favor.

"We figured that there would be all sorts of difficulties in trying to cross at that point, sir," the boy explained, simply; "and so we arranged to pass over into Holland where it is very narrow, and from there reach Belgium. That is what we have done."

"Yet you have been allowed to proceed this far in peace, it seems?" observed the Prussian, as though he considered this a very significant fact.

"Oh! we have had all sorts of troubles besides our poor car breaking down," Thad continued. "Yesterday from a hilltop we witnessed the fight for a bridge that was defended by a Belgian battery. The Germans charged bravely, and would have carried the bridge, but it had been mined, and was blown up just as they reached it."

The Uhlan officers exchanged glances. Thad was of the impression that possibly they may have been having a tragic little experience themselves in connection with the ingenuity shown by the Belgians in setting traps at bridge-heads. He remembered how he and his chums had been told by those Belgian soldiers that they had fixed it so the bridge they guarded would fall as soon as troopers started to swing across it, carrying some of them down in the ruins.

He heard them talking among themselves in German. Giraffe was listening eagerly to what he could catch, and when he found a chance he whispered to Thad what he was able to make of it.

"They say a breathing spell for the men will do no harm, and you can see their horses are sweating something fierce, Thad. But somehow all you've said doesn't seem to have convinced that head officer. He must hate everything English like the mischief, for some reason or other. He's telling them that perhaps we're cunning spies after all, smart Britishers playing a game, and pretending to be neutral Americans. I'll keep on listening and see what they mean to do, Thad."

Meanwhile, now that most of the dust had settled, Thad found a chance to glance along the line, and notice what a sturdy, well-set lot those Uhlan raiders were. As a rule they seemed to be fair-haired young chaps, with clear eyes and ruddy cheeks. Thad was more than a little surprised. Like many others, he had imagined that all Uhlans, having such a reputation for daring and recklessness, must be grim-looking men, after the type of the Russian Cossacks. These fellows were not at all what he had pictured them.

They sat their saddles like men who were born to ride hard. And the horses were a picked lot, capable of standing great fatigue, Thad also noticed. After all he believed he would always be glad he had come in contact with these Uhlans; for he had wanted to see them at close quarters; and on that other occasion the moonlight did not allow of much scrutiny.

Presently the chief officer turned again to the boy in the car.

"Show me your passports!" he commanded, and if anything his voice and manner were sterner than before.

Thad was only too glad of the opportunity to do so. He also gave up the several letters so that the other could glance them over, which he proceeded to do. All that time the look of suspicion did not leave his set face. Every now and then he would eye the boys keenly.

"He just keeps on thinking we're sailing under false colors, Thad," muttered Giraffe, who had also observed the actions of the Uhlan commander.

"Take out what letters the rest of you have had from home since coming over," said Thad, hoping that this would convince the other, and bring about their release; for should they be arrested as spies, and treated harshly, he considered that would be the hardest blow of all.

Even when he had carelessly glanced at these the face of the officer still wore that same frown, as though he could not get rid of his suspicion that they were really English boys, and all this might only be a cleverly arranged scheme to hide their identity.

Thad was almost ready to give up in despair. He felt that he had about reached the end of his rope, and could do nothing more. Just how these hard riders could hold them prisoners, and make them accompany them he could not guess, unless they happened to have four empty saddles among them. And it would be difficult to imagine Bumpus going at headlong speed across country, keeping pace with such mad riders as these Uhlans.

Then all at once Thad remembered something. It was not that a verbal plea would do any good, for he suspected the more he talked the stronger would this martinet be inclined to hold them under the ban of his displeasure.

The brief note written by the aviator whom they had aided--might not that be of benefit to their cause?

It will be remembered that Thad had taken pains to conceal this under the lining of his campaign hat, lest some Belgian eye read what the Taube birdman had written over his signature, and charge them with being German spies.

Taking off his hat he fumbled under the lining, and quickly produced the paper, a bit crumpled, and lacking freshness, but with the penciled writing plainly legible, which was all Thad cared about.

When he looked up he saw that many eyes had been following his motions, as if the Uhlans had had their curiosity aroused.

"There is one incident connected with our trip through this part of Belgium, sir, that I would like to speak of, hoping it will convince you we are what we claim to be, only that and nothing more. Have I your permission to tell you about this adventure, sir?"

"Proceed," the officer told him; "we are giving the horses a little rest, which they sorely need, so a short delay will do no harm."

"We were coming along when we had an accident to the engine. While I was making the necessary repairs one of my friends made an astonishing discovery. We saw the figure of a man caught in the top of a tall tree. He was moving his arm to us as if he hoped to attract our attention in that way. When we hurried up to the tree we found, just as we expected, the wreck of an aeroplane there!"

Thad purposely paused at that thrilling point so as to let them grasp the full force of his assertion. He was not much surprised when the officer demanded:

"Could you tell from the build of the aeroplane what sort of a machine it may have been, boy?"

"Yes, for I had noticed them while over in Germany, sir," replied Thad. "It was a Taube model. We climbed the tree at once, three of us, and after some hard work managed to get the aviator safely down. He told us how he had been scouting over the Belgian lines when both his machine and himself were struck by shots. He tried to sail slowly to the ground miles away from the fighting line, but by hard luck struck that tree, and became caught there, his machine falling to the earth."

Again Thad stopped as though to get his breath, but it was really done for effect and to give the officer a chance to ask a question, which he immediately did.

"Then you claim that this man whom you aided was a German aviator, do you?"

"He had a bad wound in his arm," proceeded the boy, promptly, "which we had no trouble in binding up, because you may know, sir, that scouts are taught how to treat all manner of wounds. I am sure he felt very grateful on account of what little we were able to do for him. We were only carrying out the principles of our scout organization. It did not matter to us whether he was German, Belgian or French, he was in need of assistance, and we gave it."

The officer in command swept a look around at his comrades, and Thad saw that several of them nodded their heads as though they rather liked the way the boy in khaki had put forward his ideas concerning strict neutrality.

"Would you know the name of this German Taube operator if you heard it again, boy?" asked the commander.

"Oh! he left a note with us, which he signed with his name," said Thad, smilingly; "you see he said it might be of assistance to us in case we came across any party of Uhlans on our travels. I supposed from that he must be pretty well known, although of course none of us had ever heard his name."

"Was it that note you just took from under the lining of your hat?" asked the officer.

"Yes, sir, and here it is. You see, I felt that it might get us into trouble if Belgian eyes saw it, for they would not like to know we had saved the life of a German aviator who would have died in that tree, perhaps."

The officer hastily took the piece of paper and read the few lines written thereon by the man of the wrecked Taube. Thad saw that it seemed to create something of a sensation among the Uhlans as it was passed from hand to hand, and from this he felt satisfied that the aviator must have been one of the leading airmen in the German flying corps.

Now the grim face of the Uhlan commander had relaxed. He even smiled on the Scouts.

"I am convinced that you are what you claim, my brave boys; so shake hands with me, one and all of you," he said.