Very soon the sight of our friendly track was lost to view, and we had not advanced more than a mile or two before we began to consider that perhaps we should have done better to stick to it, whatever the consequences, as the difficulties of advancing through the marsh were becoming more serious as we proceeded. We were now well over our knees and often up to the waist in water and slime. The moon had unveiled herself, much to our discomfort, and before very long she was shining in a cloudless sky, which caused us to call a halt for the purpose of consultation as to the best procedure under the circumstances. Was it best to go on as we were? We were doing fairly well, but making a terrific noise in advancing through the marsh, which was absolutely unavoidable. Four people cannot push their way through mud and slush nearly up to their waists without making a disturbance. This was well enough so long as it was dark. If any of the enemy didhappen to be in the neighbourhood, they would probably conclude that the noise in the marsh was caused by cattle; but now that we could see almost as well as if it were day, we could therefore just as easily be seen in turn. The sight of four men wading through dangerously swampy country in the middle of the night in close proximity to the frontier in war-time would raise the suspicions of the most simple-minded.
However, our consultation did not lead to any better results, and we were losing valuable time. The general opinion turned out to be contrary to retracing our steps, for many reasons: first, the fear of losing our direction; secondly, if we did strike the railway line again, we might be forced to leave it, and find ourselves in the same position that we were now in. Should we happen to run up against somebody, the impossibility of finding to what extent these marshes extended to our right and left, without running grave risk and againlosing time, and many other minor reasons, decided us to proceed as rapidly as the difficulties of our route would permit.
Within a couple of miles we found ourselves, to our great joy, on the banks of the expected Grand Canal. When I say banks, we were standing up to our waists in water and long lush grass, a heavy damp white mist hung over everything, and we could just see over the other side of the canal, which was evidently a great deal more swampy than our side. Large patches of water, unbroken by reeds, gleamed here and there. To swim the canal would be easy, but to advance on the other side looked impossible. Accordingly we decided to follow the canal southward as best we could, in the hope of striking the railway line again, which must bridge the canal in some place or other in our near vicinity. Hardly had we proceeded a couple of hundred yards or so, when the expected bridge suddenly loomed out of the mist.
The natural elation caused by the sight of this bridge was quickly damped as we approached, for there on the far side of the bridge was a small black shed. It appeared as if this would be one of those occasions where we should be forced to take a risk. Accordingly we advanced to the track with the least possible noise, taking the very greatest care to prevent any rustling of the reeds in our path, climbed to the track, and lay on our stomachs whilst we took a cautious survey. After a few minutes’ reflection I rose to my hands and knees, and crawled up to and over the bridge, and lay within ten feet of it on the other side, where I could distinctly hear a gentle snore, that told of some sort of human inmate; also I now noticed for the first time a very thin wisp of smoke curling up from the cabin chimney—this we had not been able to see before, owing to the thickness of the mist. The fellow in the cabin, soldier or civilian, whoever he was, continued togive out comforting little snores. Accordingly I signalled to the rest of my companions to crawl over as I had done, and one by one they succeeded in doing so without making any appreciable sound, but for me waiting on the other side it seemed as if each one took a lifetime. But the bridge guard slept on, and we all crossed with perfect safety, to immediately push off again down the track with the utmost possible speed, in order to leave this unwelcome neighbourhood behind.
Now that we had put the two rivers and the Grand Canal behind us, we felt that we had done a very good night’s work, even if we made no more progress that night; but it was only 1.30 a.m., and we had at least three if not nearly four hours before daybreak, in which another ten miles might be made. As we advanced the land to our right and left grew gradually more swampy; sometimes large expanses of shining water came into view on either side of us, and we thanked ourstars we had risked the bridge, as, had we essayed to pass through country like this, our progress would have becomenil, even if we survived drowning.
Within a couple of miles the land gradually began to take on a drier aspect, until eventually dry ground showed on both sides of us. Here we took a general survey of our direction by the aid of the stars, and found we were travelling south by west. This had to be corrected, so we now left the track on which we had made such excellent progress, and struck off west over dry land, which led us to a series of gently sloping hills, looking something like the downs at home. Every bit of available ground was under cultivation, and on several occasions dogs barked out their warning from small farms which we passed.
The difficulties of keeping direction were now fully brought home to us. For instance, we would approach a block of farm buildings, and, in order to preventattracting the attention of any dogs, we would make a half-circle round the buildings and strike off west by the stars on the other side. In this manner we must have dropped a tremendous distance southward, as was afterwards proved, although we were always travelling west. It is practically impossible to tell when you have made a circle round a village or building without sufficient landmarks to guide you, and at night it becomes an impossibility. We would walk round a village or other obstacle which we wished to avoid, till it seemed to us that we had more than half-circled it; but in reality we probably only went about a quarter the distance round. At one place a dog followed us up almost to the top of one of these rolling fields, and barked until we thought he must alarm the whole of Germany. Meanwhile we lay with our noses pressed to earth; the moon was at her brightest; and we were on the highest ground, and could certainly be seen froma great distance. Consequently we did not appreciate the attentions of the dogs in advertising our presence in the neighbourhood.
In order to avoid the chance of our figures being seen against the skyline, we crawled over the hilltop until we were well over and down the other side, which brought us to more plough, ending in a densely wooded region of thickets, through which we at first essayed to pass, but found it no easy matter without making a lot of noise, caused by the snapping of the dried undergrowth through which we tried to force a passage. Withdrawing from what seemed a dangerous area, we held a hurried consultation, which ended in our deciding to split up into pairs and make our way through this region of undergrowth at two different points, some distance from each other, and meet on the other side if possible. Should we fail to meet directly, it was no good wasting time looking for each other.
Anyhow, we were rapidly approaching the spot where we might find it necessary for the safety of our project to split up into pairs, as four people are much more likely to be seen than two. And we had no intention of essaying the actual frontier or its immediate environment at our present strength, though we might probably attempt it singly or in pairs.
Itmust have been a good hour before we eventually got clear of the thickets, and our passage through them had been a pretty noisy one. No sign of the other pair could be seen, so that after scouting round for about twenty minutes we moved off again.
My companion was Captain Stewart of the R.F.A., and a more staunch fellow in a hazard of this kind could not possibly be desired. From this time on we made excellent progress through the night, and nothing of note happened until just before the break of dawn, when we had great difficulty in finding a suitable place to hide in during the day. Eventually wediscovered a ditch between two fields, in which we passed the day without incident. The extreme cold, coupled with the want of food, was beginning to tell on us, as we lay too weary to care very much what happened, so long as only the night would come, that we might push on again and get some circulation in our limbs. At about 7 p.m. we started to rub our feet and legs, which appeared quite dead, and at 7.30 pushed off at a good pace. Before long we felt quite warm and comfortable, with the exception of a gnawing sensation in the vitals, owing of course to lack of food.
From here on till about one in the morning no incident worthy of record happened—only the same careful skirting of villages and farms, keeping always to the open country, and avoiding all paths and roads like the plague. About one o’clock, to our surprise, we struck a railway line running south-west. This we followed, not on the line, but parallel withit, at a distance of about a hundred yards. Once or twice we heard voices on level crossings. The reason of our following the railway was that we had not expected to meet one so soon—in fact; not until the following night, and then we calculated we should have to turn south for quite ten miles in order to find it. This railway would be of enormous importance to us, as it ran over an artificial embankment, constructed through the centre of a lake, and thus dividing it in two, both of which portions were connected on either side by a series of small lakes, stretching north and south respectively, and were, I presumed, the means by which the surrounding low-lying country was inundated.
These small lakes, which should run parallel with the frontier, according to the maps we had seen, formed a very serious obstacle to our advance. It was therefore of the greatest importance to find some means to help us over the difficulty, andthis railway seemed to be the only one. If the railway we were now following passed between two small towns situated nearly opposite to one another, and then passed through a third within a mile or so of the last two, then this was the line running through the lakes which we had hoped eventually to strike, in which case we had inadvertently come across it, and were a great deal nearer the frontier than we had thought possible. However, we did not credit such good luck for a moment; for, in reasoning the matter out, we must have dropped a good ten or twelve miles south from where we had started the previous night in order to be anywhere near this railway line. To our great satisfaction, in carrying out our intention of following this chance line, at about 3.30 a.m. we passed between two small towns, this time walking on the track itself, and leaving it again when we were well clear of the outskirts.
Pushing forward at our very best speedtill about four o’clock, we found ourselves approaching another town, through which the railway ran. A careful survey showed a station and several sidings. During this investigation we found the inhabitants were preparing for the coming day, and, looking at our watches, discovered, to our consternation, that it was nearly five o’clock. Where could we find a suitable hiding-place? We hadn’t passed anything on the way that would give shelter to a rat, so there was nothing to be gained by retracing our steps. To try to walk round the town might end in our being caught by the daylight, having found no place of concealment. The only possible procedure in these circumstances was to pass through the town on the track as best we could. Accordingly we moved off, sometimes crawling on hands and knees wherever we saw anything that we were not quite sure of. We tried to get under big heaps of timber and steel rails lying beside the track, but no consolation inthe shape of a hiding-place of any sort offered itself.
We had proceeded through the town in safety, but were brought up sharp by a party of workmen coming along the line from an opposite direction. Fortunately we were practically on the outskirts, so that we were able to dodge into a small garden till they passed. By this time the whole town seemed to be awake, the usual warning lights springing up in the cottages all round us, and day was just about to break. Passing through the garden in our frantic endeavours to discover some place, we found ourselves in a small fir wood, through which we rushed, heedless of the noise we were making. Anything to get away from this dangerous spot! Why had we come near the beastly town at all? What fools we were to be caught by the oncoming daylight in such a dangerous place! These and other thoughts crowded through our minds as we rushed ahead.
Leaving the wood behind us—for we could find no place either in the trees or underneath them that a squirrel could hide in—we found ourselves in more or less open country. Only the lights of a few scattered cottages gleaming here and there showed that we were not out of the danger zone yet. A little way to our left we spotted another small wood or clearing that looked as if it might offer shelter of some kind. To this we advanced with as much caution as possible, only to find no undergrowth of any kind.
Things began to look desperate, voices were heard on all sides of us, and a man came tramping through the clearing in which we were. Throwing ourselves down, we waited with bated breath for him to pass. As soon as he had disappeared I’m afraid we lost our heads for a short space. Beneath our feet was a thick carpet of dead leaves. The ridiculous idea that we could hide ourselves beneath these struck us both simultaneously, and with one accordwe fell on our knees and began frantically scratching up the leaves in wild despair, until we got down to the rotten mossy bed beneath, and after a few minutes succeeded, with broken and bleeding nails, in scratching a hole large enough to hold our bodies; but to pull the leaves over us from the inside, so that they would look undisturbed, we found to be an impossible task.
For a moment or so I lay back in the little grave I had dug and gave myself up to despair, and then suddenly it dawned upon me that this was not the way to make a successful escape. We were in a very bad position, but we were not acting with the coolness necessary to bring about a successful issue to our project. Forthwith I jumped up, and the two of us moved out of the clearing and scouted through the open country, travelling in what we thought must be a westerly direction. Very soon we espied another small clearing, this time to our right.Immediately we made our way to it with the utmost caution, only to find that here also there was no place of concealment. But on leaving this clearing on the farther side we came across a deep drain about two feet broad and four feet deep, with four inches of water in the bottom. Following this drain down its length to right and left, we found it was just the place in which to lie concealed, if only we could find some sort of covering for the top that would look anything like natural.
Unfortunately it was now practically light, and there was great danger that we might be seen whilst trying to construct a roof. Without some sort of covering we would almost certainly be discovered by the first passer-by. With this in view the two of us hastily snapped off a few small branches from the neighbouring clearing, and stuck them into the sides of the top of the drain, so as to form a rough frame-work; then tearing up some ferns of old-man’s-hair which we found growingalong the edge of the wood, we arranged them as quickly as we could on the top of the frame of branches, and removing our boots we wriggled in one by one, drawing them after us. This was all right for the first one, but extremely difficult for the second, owing to the want of space in our retreat, since there was no room for each of us to lie on our backs. We had therefore to wedge ourselves in, lying like a pair of spoons on our side, pressed so close together that the slightest movement became impossible.
Our first sensations were of intense satisfaction at having at last found a place where we stood a reasonable chance of not being discovered, and great bodily relief after our long trek of the night before. Before long we felt the strain of supporting our heads above the water, in which we were partly immersed, but were able at length to alleviate this with the aid of our boots, which we contemplated using as pillows, though this was moreeasily thought of than done, as, owing to our wedged position, neither of us could put a hand out to reach the boots and draw them under our heads, although they were not more than six inches away, so that this had to be brought about by one of us rolling over on top of the other before he could get a hand free. This being accomplished, he rolled back into his old position, with the added comfort of the boots as a pillow.
For a time we composed ourselves to rest with a sigh of content, only too glad to feel that we were at least out of the danger of immediate discovery; but before very long we began to realise that we had a very bad time in front of us. Fortunately it was not given to us to know how bad that day’s experience would be—one that we should ever afterwards remember as the most terrible of our lives. No description of the awful time we spent in that drain, however vivid, could possibly depict the agonies ofbody through which we went. Owing to the cold and damp, we were first assailed in turn by an ague which nothing could suppress, our teeth rattling like castanets. This changed to the most severe cramp of the stomach and legs, which, owing to our position and not being able to move, it was impossible to alleviate. The cramp lasted till nearly midday, when quite suddenly it passed away, to be succeeded by a complete deadening of the limbs from the feet upwards—in fact, from the waist downwards we were as if made of stone, without any sign of feeling or life whatsoever. This was really a great mercy, as it relieved our previous suffering—anything was better than that awful cramp.
But now the likely possibility flashed across our minds that, when nightfall came, we might not be able to continue our journey, if indeed we should be able to walk at all; and even if we got the circulation back into our legs and stuckit out during the following night, but did not succeed in crossing the frontier, should we be able to last another day and night without food, and could we possibly stand another day like this? Of course we should go on till we collapsed, but for that matter we might have done that already. We could only wait for nightfall to put it to the test.
Soon after the cramp had left us a party of children passed, so close indeed that it seemed as if they must be walking almost on top of us. We feared they might be poking along the drain in search of minnows or something. The danger passed, but for some little time we could hear children’s voices, which kept us in a perpetual fear that some game or other might lead them accidentally to stumble upon us. From this time on pedestrians passed close by, either singly or in pairs at varying intervals, which brought us to the conclusion that we had chosen a spot near to some footpath or other across the fields,as we afterwards discovered to be the case. Just about this period it began to rain pretty hard, for which we were very thankful, although it made us more uncomfortable than ever, as we calculated it would reduce the number of pedestrians who would be likely to take a footpath across the fields.
Until the time when the first lot of children had passed, playing by the way as they went, we had felt pretty secure in our retreat, which was our chief consolation for being in such an awfully cramped place; but now that the danger of detection was becoming more frequent, owing to our close proximity to a path of some sort, we began to suffer mentally as well as physically. It was not long before we discovered that, if the rain reduced the number of people likely to be abroad in the fields, it was also very considerably diminishing our head-covering, which, if the rain did not soon cease, would be reduced to a minimum, onaccount of its being chiefly composed of old-man’s-hair fern, which, as most people know, is a kind of grey fibre, very much like horsehair. These hairs, when dry, had formed a beautiful thick and fluffy covering, but now that they were soaked with rain they had become shrivelled and hung down in lank tresses. We could now see out perfectly clearly; but owing to the depth of the drain, and not being able to move, we could not observe anybody who passed, though we felt their eyes could not fail to spot us, which is, I know, very bad reasoning, since one can always see a passer-by from the window of a room without being seen in return.
But philosophic reasoning such as this requires a better mental and physical condition than was ours at that time. Consequently we suffered tortures every time any one passed by. In one case in particular our nerves were strained to breaking-point. A man came along the path, carelessly humming a tune to himself. Just as he was passing us he suddenly stopped, and so apparently did our hearts. For a moment or two he stood motionless. How long he actually remained, or why he did so, I cannot tell, but to us it seemed a thousand years. Finally he moved off and started humming again, though he took our peace of mind with him. We felt sure that he must have seen us, but had feared to take us on single-handed, and had now gone to summon help. For that every German kept his eyes and ears open in the hopes of detecting escaped prisoners we were well aware, as the reward offered by the German Government for such information as might lead to the capture of prisoners was very considerable, especially for the hated English. Rumour had it that any person lodging reliable information received the sum of two thousand marks.
What should we do? If we crawled out, it would probably be hours before we got our legs to work, in the meantimebeing exposed to the view of everybody. No! we must stay, and pray that we were mistaken and had not been seen. From this time on, however, we were a prey to the most harassing fears, as we listened with bated breath for the slightest sound which might foretell the coming of our captors. One or two more pedestrians passed, and at the coming of each we thought the game was up, but all went by without incident. Towards 6 p.m. the rain ceased, but the sky was overcast with heavy grey clouds, which, with the coming of dusk, decided us to try to extricate ourselves.
Itwas with the very greatest difficulty that we got out of that ghastly drain, owing to having lost the use of our lower limbs. Eventually my companion was the first to get clear, but it took a good quarter of an hour’s work to accomplish this, and it was brought about by my placing my right arm (my left was pinned underneath me) round his neck and endeavouring to draw him over on the top of me, he at the same time pressing with both his hands against the opposite wall of the drain, and the two of us pulling and pressing in jerks, until finally he succeeded in rolling over on top. I was now able to edge my body into a flatterposition at the bottom of the drain, owing to the removal of my friend’s body making more room, at the same time supporting his weight on the top of mine. We were now no longer wedged, so that he was able to pull himself out by pressing on the two sides of the drain with his hands, and thus gradually edging himself along, dragging his useless legs behind him.
As soon as he was clear and I had had time to recover from my previous exertion, I succeeded in dragging myself out in the same way, the two of us edging along until we found a broader part of the drain, when, pulling ourselves to a sitting position, we tried to induce the circulation to return to our legs, which we did by putting our hands under the knee-joints and raising them up and down. After about twenty minutes of this, both of us began to experience excruciating pain as the blood came back. However, we worked away with joy, the return of pain also indicating the return of circulation, andtherefore the use of our limbs. It must have been nearly seven o’clock before we were able to scramble out of the drain and crawl to the shelter of the clearing close by. As it was not yet quite dark we felt that we should be safer in the clearing than in an open drain so close to the footpath; also we must get rid of some of the water in our clothes.
Crawling to the wood had still further aided our circulation, so that before long we were practising walking, which at first was not at all reassuring, but improved as we began to warm up. The two of us could not help laughing at ourselves during the time we were trying to walk about, when a leg would suddenly give way, precipitating the owner to earth. Very gradually we began to get the full use of our legs. This difficulty having been overcome, we proceeded to take off our clothes, in order that we might wring the water from them. I then cautiously returned to the drain for my boots, which I hadthe very greatest difficulty in putting on. However, we were equipped and ready for the final venture at a little past eight o’clock, when we moved off westward as jolly as a couple of sand-boys. All the horrors of the past twelve hours were forgotten; the farther we walked the warmer we got, and in consequence more optimistic. Good heavens! what feeble rats we had been! We were good for another week of this, and we felt that all was well with us.
Our object now was to strike the railway on which we had passed through the town the night before, when we had left it in order to avoid the party of workmen coming towards us. We had then rushed to our left; consequently the line must be somewhere to our right, so that we now travelled in the direction we judged to be north-west, according to our calculations during the day. As the stars were not yet visible we had nothing definite to guide us. Every moment we expectedto strike the line, but it must have been quite nine o’clock before we eventually did so, although we had thought it could not have been more than half a mile away from our last hiding-place. On reaching it we carried out the same tactics as on the night before—that is, following the direction of the line at a distance of about one hundred yards. Several times our nerves were harassed by hearing voices; but we stuck to it for over an hour, when we found ourselves walking into a thin mist of white vapour, which got thicker as we advanced. We hoped greatly that this mist might be rising off the expected area of lakes, so that we advanced with added caution, and crossed two main roads, on which the level crossings were lit up. Distinct sounds of people in conversation could be heard at each crossing. Very soon we began to get into wet and boggy ground, which decided us to make for the track, walking along it as quietly as we could. The heavens were now beginningto clear up gradually, and one by one the stars appeared.
We had not proceeded along the track more than half a mile when we passed a small cottage at the side of the line. Hurrying past this as noiselessly as possible, we were brought up sharp by a railing and large five-barred gate across the line. At the moment when we were about to climb the gate, the door of the cottage opened and a man stalked out. Possibly he did not see us, but he could not fail to hear us. We were over the gate in the twinkling of an eye, and were preparing to run for it; but fortunately our presence of mind returned as quickly as it had fled, and we walked on at a comfortable and leisurely pace. The man followed us, and was gaining. If he was a guard, why did he not call on us to halt? He could not have been more than forty yards away. We quickened our pace a bit, just enough to keep the distance between us equal. The blood was beatingin our temples and throats; we wanted to run, but we dared not even look behind us.
On we walked, our imagination running riot. We must have proceeded in this manner for a good half-mile, when suddenly I perceived that we were in the middle of a lake. We were indeed walking on the very embankment running over the lakes that we had calculated on. That we had actually arrived at the lake and walked over it for some distance without noticing it showed the state of nervous tension we were in. Nothing had taken our minds off the man, who was still following us, inexorable as fate itself. Very soon the reason why he had not challenged us was borne in upon us. Of course on the other side of the lake there would be another gate and guard, into whose arms we should walk and be taken like rats in a trap. Should I stop and hold him in conversation whilst my companion struck him down from behind?For it must be done silently. Yes, we must do this. But the idea of killing in cold blood is awful, and we walked on yet another one hundred yards. In doing so we passed a big iron wheel and sluice-gate, connecting the two sides of the lake through the embankment.
A little farther on we noticed a clump of small bushes growing on the sloping sides of the embankment. This would be a good place in which to make an end of him. Silently we waited. The man reached the sluice-gate and stopped. He had missed us and was listening for our footsteps, we thought. But no! after a minute or two we heard the sluice-gate screeching out its note through the night air, to be followed by a rush of water. He must be the attendant of the sluice-gate. Thank God! Perhaps we had not raised his suspicions, so we hoped to hear him walking away, or that he would walk past us, and thus perhaps give us warning of what lay in front of us. But the rush ofthe water seemed to drown all sound. Cautiously I crawled back to the sluice, nearer and nearer, until I stood upon it. There was no man; he must have gone back. His suspicions had not been aroused.
I returned to my companion, and we moved off again, but soon decided that, walking as carefully as we could, we were making too much noise. To alleviate this, we stopped whilst I took off my boots. I had been wearing three pairs of socks till now, so I drew off the two thickest pairs, replaced my boots, and handed one pair of socks to my companion, when we both put them over our boots. This muffled the sound of our footsteps considerably.
As we advanced, we noticed the embankment getting perceptibly wider; also that, whereas as heretofore there had been no mist hanging over the water of the lake itself, we were now running into a thin white vapour, which increased as we proceeded. From this we concluded thatwe were approaching the opposite bank, and must therefore increase our precaution. The sides of the embankment were now studded plentifully with small bushes, of which fact we took full benefit, moving from bush to bush as we went along. During our progress we noticed that we were no longer surrounded by water on either side, but by a slimy-looking bog, sprinkled here and there with tall reeds. We tried this bog, but immediately sank up to our knees in filthy mud, so that we were forced to return to the track. A little farther on we again tried the bog; it was dry this time, but still too bad to venture over.
The moon now thought it was about time she showed her presence on the scene. Fortunately she was baulked of her full design by a veil of thin clouds, to which we sent up prayers of thankfulness, with a courteous request not to move off. Suddenly a brilliant speck of light shone out in the centre of the track, whichimmediately made us take to our knees, on which we crawled until we were within fifty yards of the light. As we had suspected, we could now detect a big gate across the track, upon which the light we had seen seemed to be suspended. As we were making plans how we should pass over this barrier, a man came out from a hut which we had not noticed before, owing to its being in the shadows. He advanced to the light and unhooked it, carrying it with him back to his cabin and placing it on the ground outside his door.
Without waiting for any further developments, we crawled into the bog on our left. Fortunately it was fairly dry here, so we did not sink very much, but found it difficult to advance without making a certain amount of sucking noise as we crawled, caused by pulling our hands and knees out of the mud. We must have made more noise than we thought, for we undoubtedly raised his suspicions, as he came out of his hut and stood listening.Of course we stopped at once on seeing him, and cowered down into the mud; and although he could not possibly see, he went back to the cabin, and in a short space of time returned with his gun, to which we could hear him fixing his bayonet. During the time he was away, which was perhaps two minutes, we had taken advantage of his absence to crawl a good twenty yards farther away from him.
The reader may be surprised that we were able to distinguish his movements so well, but it must be remembered that he was standing on the railway embankment, whilst we were about thirty feet below him in the bog; consequently to us his figure stood out quite clearly against the skyline. For a while he remained motionless (needless to say we did the same); then he walked to the far side of the track, and descended out of view for a few seconds, a fact of which we took instant advantage to creep away another ten yards. This time he must have heard us again, forhe passed off the track and started to descend towards us. We were just about to rise and make a bolt for it, when he stopped half-way down the slope, listening intently; then he quickly climbed to the track, seized his lantern, and placed it inside his hat. It had evidently struck him that his light was advertising his movements. Again we put yet another twenty yards between us, and in so doing crawled up a slight incline, the ground beneath us becoming drier at every step, until we found ourselves on a road, where we lay flat on our stomachs, watching for the next move of the sentry.
It was perfectly evident that his suspicions were fully aroused, for he was walking about like a cat on hot bricks. His actual movements we were now too far away to discern with any accuracy. The road we were lying on cut the railway line at right angles; hence the gate—it was a level crossing. The line, as we knew, was running west; therefore thisroad was due north and south. We decided to get on and join the railway line again, when we had made a big enough detour round the sentry. To do this we had to crawl one by one across the road on our stomachs, fearing that the whiteness of the road would show up our figures in too strong relief if we crawled in the ordinary manner. On the other side was a hedge of prickly brambles. Over it we scrambled, to be pierced by a hundred thorns. On the far side of the hedge was a steep bank, and then—great heavens!—another lake!
The road as well as the railway line was built on an embankment. I essayed to wade the water. It was past my depth. Silently we returned to the hedge, and began to help each other over, when suddenly I felt my companion grip my arm. The two of us remained motionless; the grip on my arm gradually tightened, which I took to mean silence, so I stood without moving, asking no questions, and all thetime half supporting my companion’s weight, who was perched on the hedge, with one leg the other side. Gradually he allowed his whole weight to rest on me, giving me a little nudge at the same time. Straining every muscle, I placed him on his own feet without making a sound; then, as we waited, hardly daring to breathe, suddenly a man cleared his throat with a little cough.
Great heavens! he could not be six feet away, and I realised that, had my friend got over the hedge, he must have fallen almost into his arms. For a moment I felt petrified by the impending danger which had come upon us. Suddenly out of the dark, but before my brain had seized upon a plan of action, we heard a bell clang out its warning from the direction of the level crossing. Simultaneously we heard the sentry shuffle round on the road and walk off. As the sound of his retreating footsteps grew fainter, we took the advantage of scrambling over thehedge as quickly as possible, cowering down under the shadow of the other side, where we waited a few seconds, in order to make sure that the sentry was not returning. Then we started to crawl away down the road, always keeping as close to the friendly shelter of the hedge as possible. Before we had proceeded very far we were startled by the shrill whistle of an engine. A moment or two and we could hear a heavy train panting towards us, and as she passed over the crossing we rose to our feet, and did a good couple of hundred yards’ sprint down the road leading directly southward, feeling quite sure that the noise of the heavy train lumbering by would completely drown the sound of our hurrying feet.
Here we essayed the swamp again, but found it impossible, so at last we decided to follow the road south till we found dry ground to our right. About half an hour’s walking brought us to a very small village on the edge of the marsh, really only a fewscattered cottages; through this we went with the very greatest precaution, as there were still lights to be seen in one or two of the cottages. Immediately we passed through we found a great expanse of ploughed fields to our right. Over this we made our way, going slightly north again, in order to strike the south end of the swamp, and thus keep in touch with it and our beloved railway line, which still apparently ran through the middle of it. Gradually the ploughed fields began to descend towards the bog, and in our anxiety to make sure of the bog we passed quite close to a big barn that had escaped our notice. As we did so a dog inside began to bark furiously. Instantly we rushed away southward again, the dog continuing to bark as long as we were in hearing.
Again we endeavoured to make the margin of the bog. After having made a wide detour round the barn we struck it in safety, but this time it appeared to bedrier, much to our satisfaction. We tried to walk on it, but it was not possible as yet. Following the bank, which ran almost due west, we tried it again. After about another mile it was still too wet, but here and there a solitary tree could be seen growing. These increased in number as we advanced, until at last we were brought up by a decayed wood, through which numerous rivulets were running. Here we plunged into the wood, over our ankles in peaty bog, and advanced northward in another attempt to hit the railway. Our progress was very slow, as we constantly had to jump ditches, some of which were too broad for us to make a successful landing on the other side, when we would slide back into the slimy water, only to pull ourselves out with difficulty.
In one place was a rivulet about forty feet wide, which of course it was impossible to jump. Noticing a heavy log on our side, we pushed it into the water, and reached the opposite bank one by oneastride the log. This was not so easy as it seems, as the log rolled first this way and then that; but we finally managed to cross in safety without wetting the upper part of our bodies. Some people might say we ought to have jumped in and swum over, but they must remember the condition we were in. Both of us feared that, if we once got into the water, cramp might again overtake us.
Whilst still advancing northward we passed to higher ground, which grew drier as we proceeded, and before we had gone very far we suddenly stumbled on to the railway. Joy of joys! we had got our direction once more, when, following the railway for about a mile, which was still running due west, quite suddenly it branched southward. This rather put us off, but we decided to follow it for a little while longer; and a very good thing we did, as before long we were brought up sharp by numerous lines of lights, showing like pin-pricks in the darkness, some beingred, others green. This must be a big junction of some kind. We crept cautiously nearer, more lights showing as we advanced. By the side of the track was a big hedge; to this we made our way, and lay down in the shelter of its shadow.
For the first time we realised that we were both very tired, but, strange to say, not in the least hungry—in fact, neither of us could have eaten anything, even if we had had it. As we lay resting ourselves the bells of a neighbouring church chimed out the hour of twelve. Good heavens! only five hours to daylight; we must get on. Each said to the other we must start at once, but neither of us moved, our limbs refusing to obey us. I had a violent pain in the chest, my head ached, and my teeth would not cease from chattering. In the end the spirit gained over the flesh, and the two of us moved nearer to the lights, when, suddenly looking to our right, we discovered a bright light in the sky to thenorth. Great Scott! that must be the town of V——; there cannot be any other place big enough within fifty miles of here which could shed such a light as that, and V—— was three miles over the Dutch frontier. My companion refused to believe we could be so near, but I insisted. “Then, what is this town in front of us?” “It must be K——,” I replied—which is, as you know, just on this side of the frontier and south-west of V——.
For the moment our pains were forgotten, as we made towards the welcome lights of V——. But our troubles had only just begun; the climax of the venture was to come.
Aswe walked towards V—— over heavily ploughed fields, we found that we were very gradually ascending. On the way we passed a line of posts running in a straight line north and south. Was this the boundary? They were certainly boundary-posts of some kind. But then this could not be the frontier, as we had seen no sentries at all, and we knew there were at least two lines of them. Still pressing forward, only with added precaution, dropping on our faces every time we heard a sound or saw anything suspicious, we approached a sunken road, with what appeared to be a line of blockhouses situated on it, at about a hundredyards apart. These were occupied by soldiers, as once or twice a door opened, letting out a flood of light, and exposing to view a man in German uniform, who left his house and walked over to another one, carrying a lantern. This he put out and went inside. All this time we were lying in suspense not more than sixty yards from one of these blockhouses.
Immediately the soldier had disappeared we crawled over the road, and advanced towards the glow in the sky already mentioned. Within a mile the plough came to an end, and we found ourselves approaching what appeared to be a long hedge, but when we came up to it we found it to be the outskirts of a dense forest of broom. Into this we penetrated for a few yards, when we came across a little path cut through the broom. Here we held a whispered consultation, and decided that we did not like the look of it at all. We lay down in the broom beside the path, in order to hear anysound that might betray the fact that others were there besides ourselves.
Hardly had we sunk into the broom when the intense silence of the place was broken by the sound of footsteps, which came nearer and nearer, until a sentry with his gun at the slope passed us on the path; he was so close I could have touched him. It is not necessary to describe to what a pitch of excitement we were brought by our discovery that we were actually in the frontier lines. The moment of swift and fearless action had arrived! Drawing out my penknife, I hastily cut the laces of my boots, pulled them off, and padded silently in my stockinged feet down the path after the sentry. Fortunately this path had not been cut in a straight line, but wound about here and there, so that I was able to slip after him from corner to corner. Once or twice I imagined that I could distinguish his form in front of me, but I could hear the sound of his heavy tramp distinctlyenough to know if he stopped, otherwise I might have come upon him suddenly round a corner.
We must have proceeded about seventy yards in this manner when the soldier in front of me was challenged, but I could not catch the answer. Then I distinctly heard two, if not three voices in conversation, although I must have been quite thirty yards away, which led me to believe that, for the moment at least, our presence had not been suspected, or they would have been more careful to hush their voices. Again a slight noise led me to believe that our sentry was on the move. Instantly I slunk into the bushes to await events, thinking that perhaps he might be going to return, but nothing happened until I heard another challenge in front of me, this time very indistinct. I now came to the conclusion that we were in a line of outposts, and that our sentry was the visiting patrol, which turned out to be correct. If this was the case, then theremust be another sentry very close to the spot where I had left my companion—too close, in fact, for peace of mind—and I immediately started to retrace my steps.
On my way back I noticed for the first time that I had passed a number of small paths, cut through the broom, in the same way as the one on which I was, but running at right angles to it—in fact, going towards what we supposed to be the frontier. Could we afford to risk taking one of these? If there were any more sentries in front, certainly not. Whilst absorbed in these meditations I suddenly heard something coming towards me. Hurrying on, I arrived at the place where I supposed my friend was, and plumped down into the bushes. In a few moments the same sentry passed again, so close I could have touched him. Within from ten to fifteen yards he was again challenged, to which he answered “Friend,” after which I thought I heard a few mumbled words passed between them about rain coming, andone of them moved off again. My difficulty now was to find my companion without making any noise that the sentry near us could hear. Creeping down the path, I tried to locate the place where I had taken off my boots, but I was absolutely at sea, when to my satisfaction I saw another figure creeping towards me.
Fortunately my friend had seen me come back, and had marked down my position. We then discussed in whispers the result of my scouting movement, deciding to take to the broom, and try to follow the direction of one of the paths running at right angles. This we put into immediate execution, but very soon found that the disturbance we were making would be fatal to us, since it is almost impossible to walk or crawl through thick whippy stuff like broom without making a noise; so, after having gone a few yards, we decided to trust ourselves to one of the paths, which we did, advancing along its edge and dodging from bush to bush.
The moon was now playing the most exasperating tricks; sometimes she would be quite hidden, only suddenly to flash out again between the light clouds which obscured the heavens. We must have made a bit over a hundred yards or so, when we again heard somebody talking, this time almost directly in front of us; so off we went into the broom again, travelling south-west, and within a few minutes struck another path running parallel with the one we had just left. This bucked us up, as we thought we had escaped a sentry in front of us on the other path; but our hopes were quickly dashed to the ground by the sight of the glowing end of a cigarette right beside the path which we were now on, and not more than thirty yards in front. For a few moments we felt rather hopeless, but soon decided that we must risk crawling through the broom between the two of them. Accordingly we again entered the broom, working our way to a spot whichwe judged would be about equidistant between the two sentries, and started to crawl forward, taking the most infinite precautions.
We made our way through the broom, crawling one behind the other, the foremost carefully parting the bushes and holding them back for the passage of the one behind, in order that they might not whip back and cause a suspicious sound. Every ten yards or so one of us would crane his head cautiously above the broom to see if we were keeping direction relative to the drives. It was during one of these surveys that we discovered that we were on a level with the sentries on our right and left respectively; for there to our right was the other man, who was also smoking. “Blessed cigar, or whatever you are! What a splendid beacon light you show!”
Crawling on, we left the line of sentries behind us, and had proceeded a little distance when we found that the broom wasgradually becoming thinner and thickly interspersed with heather, until finally only thick heather about a foot deep prevailed. Here we were able to notice that a slight wind had sprung up, which was encouraging, as it lessened the chances of our being heard. On the other hand, the moon had come out from behind a big mass of clouds, so that we could be seen from a very great distance. Fortunately she was sinking and would not trouble us much longer. In front of us lay a long stretch of flat heather, over which we must continue to crawl, both because our figures could easily be seen by the sentries behind us and because we did not know what might be in front of us.
We had passed through two lines, possibly we were actually over the frontier; but we dare not risk this. The dispositions of sentries that we had discovered and of those we had eliminated were as shown opposite. Still crawling, we pushed forward slowly and cautiously—at first, in order to