CHAPTER VA MASTER STROKE
Withfresh arms at the oars, they hit up a rapid gait, which in that unknown passage was not without its dangers. The darkness was so intense that they could not see a foot ahead of them, and they dared not use the flashlight for fear it would betray their location to their pursuers.
“Let’s hope this tunnel is straight all the way through,” muttered Tom. “If there’s a winding in it and we bring up against the sides it may send us all to kingdom come.”
“Right you are,” returned Frank, “but there’s no help for it. We’ve got to take our chance.”
He had scarcely gotten the words out of his mouth when what Tom had feared came to pass. The boat smashed head on into the rocky wall where the tunnel described a curve. There was a grinding of oars, a splintering of planks and a startled exclamation from the Army Boys.
Luckily Frank and Tom had been sitting in the stern of the boat, and, though they were badlyshaken, escaped the full force of the blow. Billy and the corporal were thrown from their seats into the bottom of the boat. The bow was smashed in, and a great jagged hole in the side opened the way for a flood of water that rushed in. In a moment the boat had sunk to the gunwales. Another moment and she had gone under the surface and the four occupants found themselves floundering in the water.
All were expert swimmers, and the ducking meant nothing in itself. But the loss of the boat might well mean the loss of their liberty or their lives.
They swam to the rocky side nearest them and clambered up on the bank. The path along the canal was a narrow one and the wall of the tunnel rose up perfectly smooth on the further side of it, affording no opportunity of concealment.
The corporal gathered them around him. It was time for quick thinking for the sound of oars had grown plainer and the enemy would soon be upon them.
“We’ll have to run for it,” Wilson whispered. “We ought to be able to keep ahead of them until we reach the other end of the tunnel. It would be easy enough if we could see where we were going, but we’ll have to feel our way and make sure we don’t tumble into the canal. We’ve got the chance that they may make the same mistakethat we did and smash into the canal wall. But then again they may know more about the way the canal runs and steer clear of it. Come along, now. I’ll lead the way and you fellows keep close behind me.”
They started off at as rapid a pace as they dared in the pitch blackness and soon had the satisfaction of noting that the sound of oars had grown fainter, thus indicating that they were outdistancing their pursuers.
They had kept this up for perhaps ten minutes when they caught sight of something that seemed like a star in the distance. But as they drew nearer they saw that it was a fire that had been built on the canal bank, and soon they could detect the figures of men moving about it.
They stopped short for consultation.
“There’s a patrol of some kind there,” said the corporal, as he strained his eyes, “and it isn’t likely that it’s anybody we care to meet. Sheldon, your eyes are the best. See if you can make out those uniforms.”
“I think they’re Huns,” judged Frank, after a moment’s intense scrutiny. “But we’ll have to get a trifle closer before I can be sure of it.”
They moved a hundred feet closer and then conjecture gave way to certainty.
“No doubt about it,” pronounced Frank. “They’re Huns, as sure as shooting. And thereare twenty of them if there’s one. They’re right in our path and there’s no getting around them.”
It was grave news, and their pulses quickened as they recognized their peril.
The corporal pondered a moment before reaching a decision.
“We’re between two fires,” he said. “It would be suicide to go forward with our numbers and our scanty ammunition. With the fellows in the boats we’ve still got a chance. We’ll have to double on our tracks and try to get past the boats. When we hear them coming close, we’ll lie down flat on the path and trust to their passing us without seeing us. The only thing that will queer us will be if they happen to flash a light when they’re abreast of us.”
The young soldiers followed him as he turned and started on the return journey, listening as they went for tokens of the enemy’s approach.
Soon the sound of oars grew distinct. The corporal gave a whispered command and they flattened themselves on the bank as far away from the edge as possible.
Nearer and nearer came the boat. They listened in vain for the second craft. It was evident that it was either far behind or perhaps had been left at the mouth of the tunnel to trap them when they should try to emerge.
Closer, still closer the boat came, and the ArmyBoys lay like so many statues, holding their breath lest the slightest sound should betray them.
Now they knew that the boat was almost abreast, as they could hear the labored breathing of the men tugging at the oars.
But just then the leader of the Huns turned a flashlight in their direction, revealing the four figures. There was a shout, a sharp command in guttural tones, a dropping of oars and a click of rifles as the men raised them to their shoulders.
But quick as they were, Frank was quicker.
Lithe as a panther, he sprang to his feet and hurled the grenade that he had been holding in his hand full at the boat.
There was a blinding flash, a terrific explosion and the air was filled with flying bodies and debris. Frank himself was thrown to the ground by the shock, but scrambled to his feet again, none the worse except for a few bruises.
It was too dark to see the effects of the explosion, but the dead silence that followed told its own story. There was nothing more to be feared from that special group of enemies.
His own comrades gathered around Frank, themselves too dazed and shaken by the suddenness of the whole affair to understand fully just what had happened.
“What did it?” asked Billy.
“That was the grenade I was telling you fellows about a few minutes ago,” replied Frank. “I thought of it again just when I dropped to the ground. I figured that I might have a chance to smash their boat with it, so I got it out and had it ready in my hand.”
“Great stuff, Sheldon,” said the corporal warmly. “It did the work all right. It’s lucky we only had one boat to deal with. But now we’ve got to make tracks for the mouth of the tunnel.”
“And we can’t do it any too quick either,” said Tom, as the sound of a commotion rose behind them. “Those fellows round that fire have heard that explosion and they’ll be coming on the double quick to see what’s up.”
There was a growing din behind them that hastened their steps as they hurried along. Once, Billy going too near the edge nearly fell into the canal, from which he was saved by Tom’s quick grab of his arm. At intervals the corporal used his flashlight on the narrow road ahead of him but he did not dare to do it very often, for fear that the light might be seen by Huns who might be lying in wait at the tunnel’s mouth.
Soon they were conscious from the increasing freshness of the air that they were nearing the entrance. They slackened their steps a little, for the noise in the rear had died down. They didnot interpret this as meaning that their adversaries had given up the chase, but thought it more likely that they had halted at the scene of the explosion to try to fathom its meaning.
“Now,” said the corporal, when they were within a few yards of the entrance, “I’m going to scout ahead and see whether that other boat is hanging about. If it isn’t we’ll have an easy time in swimming to the bank. If it is, we’ll have some fighting before we win out.”
He stole away like an Indian, but almost before the boys realized that he had gone he was back again.
“They’re out there all right,” he reported. “The boat is lying about twenty feet from the mouth. I couldn’t see it, but I located it from some low talking that was going on. There’s nothing to do but make a sudden dash, catch them unawares and get to the other side before they recover. Now here’s how I figure we may do it,” and he outlined his plan hurriedly while the young Army Boys listened intently.
“It sounds good,” said Frank. “And there’s another reason why we’ve got to do it anyway,” he added, as a sound of hurrying feet behind them told them that the Hun patrol had again taken up the pursuit.
They followed the corporal to the tunnel’s mouth. For an instant they stood there listening,until they had located the position of the boat.
“Now!” shouted Wilson.
Their revolvers spoke at the same moment and there were cries from the boat that told that the bullets had found a mark. Then they hurled their revolvers into the mass that the light of their shots had revealed, dived into the water, and struck out for the further side.
There was a wild commotion in the boat that had been so suddenly attacked. The inmates had been taken totally by surprise and the confusion was indescribable.
Those who had not been wounded and still retained their wits sprang to the oars and tried to turn the boat in the direction of the boys. Others seized their weapons and sent a scattering volley after the fugitives. But the shots were fired at random and went wild, although one or two struck the water uncomfortably close.
It was a case of surprise and audacity winning out against odds. All of the Americans could swim like fish, and as the distance to the shore was not great, it was only a matter of two or three minutes before they struck the bank and clambered up its sides. A moment more and they had crossed the path and reached the shelter of the trees on the further side. Only then did they pause to take breath.
“A close call,” gasped Frank, as he shook the water from his face and hair.
“Closer than I care for,” remarked the corporal, “but we’ve come off scot free, or at least I hope we have. Any of you fellows wounded?”
“Never touched me,” grinned Billy.
“Same here,” echoed Frank and Tom jubilantly.
“Good,” said the corporal. “I think our officers will be satisfied with the night’s work. We’ve got a lot of information, and we’ve accounted for quite a number of Huns while we were getting it. Now we’ll go straight to headquarters.”
There was no occasion for secrecy now, as they were in their own lines, and they made good time past the sentinels and to the section where the old Thirty-seventh lay. Their officers were poring over maps in earnest consultation, but Captain Baker and Major Willis came forward when the party appeared.
The corporal saluted and made his report. Then each of the Army Boys was questioned in turn as to his share in the night’s events. The information they had gained was of marked value for the coming day’s operations, but by far the greatest importance was given to the paper that Frank had so cleverly extracted from the German officer’s pocket. A general laughwent round when they heard the story of how it had been done, but amusement was soon lost in excitement as they scanned the paper.
“Why,” exclaimed Major Willis, “it’s a complete plan of the defenses of the Jager Brigade, the one that’s right opposite our part of the line! The Germans would rather have lost a million dollars than to have had that paper fall into our hands.”
“The beauty of it is,” replied Captain Baker, “that they don’t know we’ve got it. If they did, they’d change their plan. But it’s ten to one they’ll think it’s lying around in their own lines somewhere and they’ll just give the officer a reprimand for carelessness and let it go at that.”
“You have done very well, Sheldon,” said Major Willis, turning to Frank. “It was an excellent piece of work. The names of all of you will be mentioned in the order of the day and there may be other rewards in store for you. You made no mistake, Corporal, in picking out your men,” he continued, turning to Wilson. “You were fortunate in your helpers and they were worthy of their leader. You may go now.”
They saluted and retired, tired and almost exhausted with the strain they had been under, but happy in the commendation of their officers and the consciousness that they had played their part well.
“There’s just one thing lacking,” said Frank, as they were getting ready to turn in, “and that is that poor Bart wasn’t along.”
“Good old Bart,” said Billy regretfully. “How he would have enjoyed that scrapping. He’ll feel cheated when he hears of it.”
“That boy would rather fight than eat,” was Tom’s tribute to their absent friend. “I’d give a lot to know just how he’s getting along with that broken head of his.”
“We’ll go over to the hospital the first thing in the morning and find out,” said Frank, as he rolled himself in his blankets.