CHAPTER IV.

THE BLOCKED WAY TO THE BORDER.

They passed over a second and even a third mile without having any trouble. Now and then they overtook or met people on the road but although the natives stared at seeing four boys in khaki riding in that dilapidated old car they did not offer to molest them.

Thad knew, however, that they had a rocky road to travel, for many times they must run up against soldiers, who would not be apt to let things pass so easily.

"We're coming to a bridge ahead there, that spans the river," he told the other three presently.

"I wonder will it be guarded," remarked Giraffe; "I've heard so much about the wonderful way every little thing has been mapped out in case of war being declared by Germany, that I reckon each man, young and old, knows just what his part is to be, and has rushed off to do it the first thing when the news came."

"Yes," added Thad, "we were told that the older men of the Landstrum would stay at home and guard bridges, water plants, Zeppelin sheds, gun factories and all such places. And unless my eyes deceive me I caught the glint of the sun on steel at that bridge right now."

"Yes, that's a fact, Thad; I see soldiers, and they're watching us come on," Allan observed, with a tinge of disappointment in his voice.

It was with more or less anxiety then that the scouts approached the bridge.

"I don't suppose it would be wise to risk rushing it!" said Bumpus, and the idea of such a thing was so ridiculous that Giraffe laughed aloud.

"Just imagine us bearing down on the guard in this wheezy old trap!" he exclaimed; "why, old Don Quixote on Rosenante wouldn't be a circumstance to us. He fought windmills, and we'd have to tackle German soldiers armed with guns. Well, our only chance would be to _scare_ them nearly to death, so they'd be unable to shoot."

"We'll not think of taking any such risk," said Thad, severely, though of course he knew very well Giraffe was only joking.

With many a groan the car was brought to a stand at the bridge. Three middle-aged men in uniform stepped up, and one who seemed to be a non-commissioned officer addressed them in German.

Of course it devolved on Giraffe to do the honors, and so he proceeded to tell just who they were, how they came to be on the Rhine, and how necessary it was that they get back to Antwerp so as to take the sick lady away.

All this had been arranged between Giraffe and Thad beforehand; and possibly the former had practiced his speech at a previous time, so that there might be no hitch.

Meanwhile Bumpus was waiting and listening, hoping for the best. The gruff old German soldier looked at their passports, and then at the little American flag which each one of them had fastened to the lapel of his khaki coat.

He shook his head, and it was in the negative, Bumpus noticed, with a spasm in the region of his heart.

Then followed some more conversation between Giraffe and the soldier; after which the former turned to his comrades with a look of pain on his long face.

"He says we've got to turn and go back to Cologne again, boys," Giraffe informed them. "He has his orders to not let a single person cross the bridge who doesn't live around here, and is known."

"But we are Americans, and he might have some consideration for us," complained Allan, though he knew just as well as anything, from the severe look of the soldier, that talking would be useless.

"It makes no difference," Giraffe said, "orders are orders with him. I really believe if the Kaiser himself should come along he'd have to go back again. He says we might as well give over our foolish scheme of getting across the border into Belgium, now that war has been declared, and the fighting is going on."

Poor Bumpus looked heart-broken.

"Then we'll have to give up this beautiful car, and just when we were getting so used to it, too," he fretted, as though that were the worst and most cruel blow of all.

Thad knew it was folly to think of trying to swerve that old man, who had an iron jaw, and may have been with the army many years ago when Paris was taken and France humbled.

"Well, we must make out we're going to do what he suggests, anyway," he said, in a low tone to the others.

Then he began to maneuvre so as to make the turn. It required some dexterity, for the old car did not respond to the wheel very readily. In the end, however, the turn was negotiated successfully, without any accident. Bumpus had been clutching the side nearest him as though fearful lest they might be precipitated down the embankment into the river.

It was with despondent faces that the boys started back along the road which they had so recently traveled in such high spirits. Bumpus, however, believed that things were not utterly hopeless. He had caught the words spoken by Thad, and to his mind they could have but one meaning.

"Do we give up the ship at the first storm, Thad?" he asked plaintively.

"We have to make a show of doing what they ordered, you know," explained the pilot at the wheel; "but I noticed on that little map I bought in Mainz that there's another good road leading to that Belgian border. We can try that and see what luck we have."

"Was that it about a mile back, leading off to the right as we came along?" asked Allan, quickly, showing that he, too, had kept his eyes about him, as every wide-awake scout should at all times.

"Yes," Thad told him.

"And you mean to take it, do you, Thad?" demanded Bumpus, oh! so eagerly.

"We can make the try, and see what happens," he was told. "Of course, if every bridge and culvert on the road has its guard, we'll not be apt to get very far before we're hauled up again."

"Well, let's all hope that if that happens it'll be a man without that iron jaw, and one who might listen to reason," Giraffe ventured, for he was feeling badly over the utter failure of his attempted negotiations with the guard.

They rode on in silence for a short time, and then Allan cried:

"There's your road ahead, Thad; and we've lost sight of the bridge long ago, so they couldn't see us dodging into the same. There are some people coming along, but they'll not notice what we're doing."

"I hope you haven't changed your mind, Thad?" remarked Bumpus, anxiously.

"Certainly not, Bumpus," he was informed, and that satisfied the stout chum, for he sank back again into his place with a grunt.

It turned out that the second road was almost as good as the other, a fact that caused the boys to congratulate themselves more than once.

"They certain sure do know how to make roads over here in the Rhine country," Giraffe declared; "fact is, they do about everything in a thorough way that makes a Yankee sit up and take notice. No slip-shod business will answer with these Germans."

"Yes, they even turn you back when your passport is O. K., and you've got rights they ought to respect; they're thorough all right, but it's too much red tape to suit me," Bumpus complained.

"No kicking yet awhile, Bumpus," Giraffe warned him; "you notice that we're still on the move, and headed for the upper corner of Belgium's border. If we've got any decent sort of luck at all we ought to make the riffle."

"I'm afraid we're coming to some sort of town," Thad told them, "and as there's no way of turning out here we'll have to take our chances."

"I did see a side road back a piece," remarked Allan.

"Yes, and running to the northwest in the bargain," added Giraffe.

"That would mean if it kept on straight it would finally bring up at the Holland border, wouldn't it?" Bumpus wanted to know.

"I don't suppose we're twenty miles away from Holland right now," said Allan.

"If we had to come to it, would you try to get across the line there, Thad?" asked the stout boy, and when he was told that "half a loaf would be a lot better than no bread," he seemed to be satisfied that all was not lost.

As they proceeded the evidences of a town ahead of them became more and more evident. Neat houses, each with its well kept garden, could be seen on both sides of the road. Women and children, many of them wearing wooden shoes, stared at the car as it wheezed past, bearing the four boys.

Doubtless the sight of their khaki uniforms caused a general belief that they must in some way be attached to the army, for several boys ventured to give them a salute, which the pilgrims hastened to return in every instance.

"Even the kids over here have got the military spirit born in 'em," remarked Bumpus, after a very small specimen had waved his hand in real soldierly fashion.

They were now entering the town, though it could hardly be called by so pretentious a name, since there was really but the one main street running through it, with others cutting across.

"Too bad!" they heard Thad say; "but we're going to be held up again."

Several soldiers stepped out in the road. One seemed to be an officer, from his uniform, though he did not carry a sword. He held up his hand in the manner of an autocrat who must be obeyed, and of course Thad stopped the car just before coming to the little squad. The other three soldiers carried guns, and with such an array of weapons it would certainly have been the height of folly for the boys to think of running the gantlet.

To the surprise of Thad, the officer spoke in excellent English. Perhaps he had at some time been stationed in England, or else in the United States, though that did not necessarily follow, as undoubtedly many Germans were proficient in other languages.

"You must turn back!" he said, severely; "I do not know that I would be exceeding my authority if I ordered your detention under arrest."

"But we are American tourists, as our passports will show you, sir," Thad explained; "and all we want to do is to leave the country. One of my comrades here has an invalid mother in Antwerp and he is wild to get to her, so he can take her back home to America. Surely you will not want to keep us here against our will, where we would be a burden on you, and with four more mouths to fill?"

"It is sad," said the officer, with a shrug of his shoulders, "but now that war has been declared, and we do not know what will befall the Fatherland, we must do many things that would never happen in times of peace. So while I am sorry for the boy with the sick mother, it must not interfere with my orders, which were that no one should be allowed to pass on toward the Belgian border unless he showed proof that he was in the service of the Central Government."

"I am sorry to hear you say that, sir," Thad told him.

"There is still more," continued the other, sternly; "this is the second warning you have had to turn back. We received word by telephone from the bridge to look out for four American boys in scout uniforms. Be careful how you risk a third offence, for I fear it would result in your being thrown into prison. And remember, it is a long way from the country of the Rhine to your Washington."

What he said gave the four chums a cold feeling. They knew he meant that no matter how innocent of any intention to do wrong they might claim to be, if they persisted in breaking the rules laid down by the German Government for war times, why they must take the consequences, which could not be very pleasant.

All of those castles in the air which Bumpus had been conjuring up during their short ride now came tumbling in ruins to the ground.

"I guess we'll have to give it up, fellows," he groaned, "and take our medicine the best way we can. We've tried our hardest to get out of this beastly country; and no one can blame us for not succeeding. But I hate to think of my poor sick mother over there, waiting and waiting for me to come to help her, that's what!"