Book: The boy Allies at Liege

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"Suddenly Anderson shouted: 'Come on!' and we went. There was no one
about the machine, and we started it quickly. But, just as the machine
was skimming over the ground, the guards noticed our absence, and,
running to the open, took a shot at us.

"I had taken the aviator's place, having had some experience with
aeroplanes. Anderson was winged at the first shot, but was not badly
wounded. By the time the second volley was fired we were high in the air,
and the rapidity with which we traveled made accurate shooting
impossible. We reached the Belgian frontier without trouble."

"But how does it happen you have not returned to France?" asked Chester.

"When I arrived at Liege I communicated with my government, and was
ordered to remain here. I am attached to the Royal French Lancers, the
only body of French troops yet in Belgium. The Lancers were ordered here
immediately war was declared, to help check the advance of the invader."

"I suppose the best thing for us to do," said Hal, "is to go on to
Brussels and try and find mother."

"It is impossible," declared the lieutenant. "Right now you would not
be allowed to go. And, in the second place, I took the trouble to
inquire, when I first reached Liege, whether your mother was in
Brussels. Your ambassador, Mr. Brand Whitlock, informed me that she had
left the country."

"What? Gone and left us behind?"

"Yes; but not because she wanted to. It was either a case of leave
Brussels then, or run a chance of being held there indefinitely."

"Then what are we going to do? There is no use going to Brussels."

Chester clapped his hands.

"I have it!" he exclaimed.

Hal looked at him in surprise.

"What?" he demanded.

"Why, what we are going to do."

"Well, what is it?"

"Fight!"

"Fight? What do you mean?"

"Join the army!"

Captain Derevaux leaped to his feet.

"I will not hear of it!" he exclaimed.

But the idea caught Hal's fancy.

"Good boy, Chester!" he exclaimed. "That's just what we will do!"

"It is impossible," exclaimed the young captain. "In the first place, it
would not be possible, at your age, to enlist. But I will tell you what I
will do for you."

"What is it?" asked the two lads eagerly.

"In times such as these," explained the captain, "young fellows like you
may be useful in many ways without running the risk of going into
battle--scouting expeditions and the like. I will speak to the general
about you and see what I can do. Understand, I wouldn't do this did I not
know that if I didn't you would get mixed up in trouble in some other
way, and in a way that would be much more dangerous."

"We are willing to take our chances," replied Hal.

"Of course we are," agreed Chester.

"Oh, I know that," replied the captain, "and what I am proposing is not
without danger. But what I have in mind calls for quick wits rather than
for strong arms, although I know you have both. I will go now and speak
to the general."

"All right," replied Hal. "In the meantime, Chester and I will go out and
look around the town."

Everywhere, as the boys strolled about the streets, preparations to
withstand a siege were being made; but everything was being done quietly
and without confusion. The great steel forts, some of them practically
isolated, were subjects of great interest to the lads.

"I'll bet the Germans have a hard time capturing this place," remarked
Hal, as they examined one of the forts.

"Yes," agreed Chester, "as the battle of the _Monitor_ and the
_Merrimac_, in Hampton Roads, in our own civil war was the first battle
between iron ships, so will an attack on these forts be the first in
which such impregnable defenses will be tried out. I was reading about
them long before war was declared."

"And I believe the Germans are making a sad mistake when they say the
Belgians can't fight," said Hal.

"You bet they are. They will fight till the last. Do they look like
people who would give up without a struggle? Look at the way those
fellows who captured us turned to face the Uhlans, knowing that, unless
reinforced, they were bound to be slaughtered."

"Right. Which reminds me we were in a ticklish position ourselves for a
few minutes."

"You bet we were."

As the boys continued their walk, almost on every hand they were mistaken
for English, and time after time they were accosted with the question:

"When are the English coming?"

Suddenly the lads were attracted by the sounds of great confusion down a
side street.

"Let's see what is going on," cried Hal, and, quickening their pace, they
were soon in the midst of an excited crowd.

In the center of the mob a lone man struggled desperately to shake off
the many hands that grasped him.

"Hang him!" came a voice from the crowd.

Other voices took up the cry immediately.

"Hang him! Hang him!"

Hal turned to a man in the crowd.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"Matter? Why, the man was caught spying near one of the forts."

"How do you know he was spying?"

"He is a German. Why else should he be prowling around, if not to spy?"
And their informant rushed into the thick of the crowd, gesticulating
violently, and adding his voice to the din.

"Great Scott! We can't stand for this!" exclaimed Chester. "Come on!"

Together the two lads rushed into the thick of the mob. Elbowing and
pushing men to right and left they made their way through the mass
of humanity.

The cause of all the confusion had now freed himself from the clutches of
the angry mob, and was laying about him furiously with his cane. He
cleared a space before him. But those in front were pushed forward by the
men in the rear of the crowd, and once more surged to the attack, just as
Hal and Chester, with a final effort, burst through.

The lads took their places, one on each side of the fighting German, and
Chester raised a hand to check the mob.

"Get back!" he shouted. "Shame upon you to attack a single man like this.
Is this Belgian bravery?"

For a moment the crowd hung back, then rushed forward again, and the
three were soon fighting desperately against fearful odds.

But the boys this time had tackled a task that was beyond them. They
struck out rapidly, as did the man to whose aid they had rushed, but the
sheer weight of numbers finally told.

Chester, Hal and the stranger all went down at last, and were in imminent
danger of being beaten into insensibility.

But at that moment the sound of a bugle rang out, and the crowd scattered
in all directions. A troop of cavalry was hurrying to the scene.

Hal, Chester and the stranger picked themselves up and brushed the dirt
from their clothes. A cavalry officer dismounted and came up to them.

"What is the meaning of this?" he demanded.

Chester explained.

The officer turned to the German.

"Come with me," he ordered.

The German obeyed and the troop continued on their journey.

Hal and Chester returned to the captain's quarters. The captain was
already there.

"Did you see the general?" asked Hal.

"Yes."

"What did he say?"

"It's all fixed, boys," replied the captain, smiling at their eagerness.

"You mean that the general has consented to the plan?" asked Hal.

"Yes."

"Hurrah!" shouted Chester.

"Hurrah!" cried Hal.

"Yes," continued the captain, "you are ordered to hold yourselves subject
to the command of your superior officer," and he concluded smilingly,
"which is me."

"And we couldn't have a better!" exclaimed both lads in a single voice.




CHAPTER XIII.

CHESTER SAVES THE DAY.


The day was at its noon!

From the first break of dawn the battle had raged; now, at mid-day, it
was at its height. Hour after hour the fighting had continued under a
shadowless sky, blue as steel, hard as a sheet of brass. The Germans had
attacked the Belgians and French with the first streak of light.

Circling, sweeping, silently, swiftly, a marvelous whirlwind of force,
the Germans had rushed on. Swift, as though wind-driven, they moved. An
instant, and the Allies broke into violent movement. Half-clothed
sleepers poured out. Perfect discipline did the rest.

With marvelous and matchless swiftness and precision they got under arms.
There were but fifteen hundred or so in all--six squadrons of French
Lancers, the only French troops yet to reach Belgian soil, and a small
body of infantry, without artillery.

Yet, rapid as the action of the Allies was, it was not as rapid as the
downward sweep of the German horde that rushed to meet them.

There was a crash, as if rock were hurled upon rock, as the Lancers, the
flower of the French cavalry, scarce seated in the saddle, rushed forward
to save the pickets, to encounter the first blind ford of the attack and
to give the Belgian infantry, farther in, time to prepare for defense.

The hoofs of rearing chargers struck each other's breasts, and these bit
and tore at each other's throats and manes, while their riders reeled
down dead. The outer wings of the Germans were spared the shock, and
swept on to meet the bayonets of the infantry.

The cavalry was enveloped in the overwhelming numbers of the center. It
was a frightful tangling of men and brutes.

The Lancers could not charge; they were hemmed in, packed between bodies
of horsemen that pressed them together as between iron plates; now and
then they cut their way through clear enough to reach their comrades, but
as often as they did so, so often the overwhelming numbers of the Germans
surged in on them afresh like a flood, and closed upon them, and drove
them back.

It was bitter, stifling, cruel work; with their mouths choked with dust,
with their throats caked with thirst, with their eyes blind with smoke;
while the steel was thrust through nerve and sinew, or the shot plowed
through bone and flesh.

The answering fire of the infantry kept the Germans farther at bay, and
mowed them down faster--but in the Lancers' quarter of the field--parted
from the rest of their comrades, as they had been by the rush of that
broken charge with which they had sought to save the town and arrest the
foe--the worst pressure of the attack was felt, and the fiercest of the
slaughter fell.

The general in command of the cavalry had been shot dead as they had
first swept out to encounter the advance of the German horsemen; one by
one the officers had been cut down, singled out by the keen eyes of their
enemy, and throwing themselves into the deadliest of the carnage with
impetuous self-devotion characteristic of their service.

At the last there remained but a bare handful of the brilliant squadrons
of 600 men that had galloped down in the gray of dawn to meet the
whirlwind of German fury. At their head was Captain Derevaux, and beside
him rode Hal.

It was not the gallant captain's fault that Hal was thus in the thick of
the battle. This had been an accident, and had come about in this manner:

Late the night before Hal and Chester had been called to the quarters of
the commanding general and dispatched on separate missions. Their ways
led past the outposts--even beyond the farthest--where the six squadrons
of French Lancers and a small body of infantry had been thrown out, under
orders, to make a reconnaissance in force in the morning. Advancing
beyond this line, Hal had turned east and Chester west.

His mission accomplished, Hal had just reached the Allies' line upon his
return, when the Germans bore down on them. Hal saw that his one chance
for safety lay in throwing in his fortunes with the troops.

Accordingly he turned his horse, just as the Lancers swept past on their
first charge, and reined in beside Captain Derevaux. The latter had
recognized the danger and realized that the boy's keen wit had detected
his one hope of life. He had greeted him with a smile; nor had he blamed
him for his choice.

And so Hal had swept forward in the charge. Seizing a sword from a
falling trooper, Hal, riding at the captain's side, was soon in the thick
of the terrible carnage, and, in spite of the terrible fighting, had
escaped injury.

Two horses had been killed under Captain Derevaux. Twice he had thrown
himself across fresh, unwounded chargers, whose riders had fallen in the
fray, and at whose bridles he caught as he shook himself free of the dead
animal's stirrups. His head was uncovered; his uniform, hurriedly thrown
on, had been torn aside, and his chest was bare; he was drenched with
blood, not his own, that had rained on him as he fought, and his face and
hands were black with smoke and with powder.

Hal could not see a yard in front of him; he could not tell how the day
went anywhere save in that corner where the Lancers were hemmed in. As
fast as they beat the enemy back, and forced themselves to some clearer
space, the Germans closed in afresh.

No orders reached the little troop, and Hal could not tell whether the
Belgian battalions were holding their own or had been cut utterly to
pieces under the immense numerical superiority of their foes.

Glancing about the field, Captain Derevaux could see that every officer
of the Lancers save himself was down, and that, unless he took the vacant
place and rallied them, the few troopers still left would scatter.

With Hal at his side, he spurred the horse he had just mounted against
the dense crowd opposing him--against the hard black wall of dust and
smoke and steel and savage faces, which were all that either could
see. He thrust his horse against the mob, while he waved his sword
above his head:

"_En avant_!" he shouted.

His voice reached the troopers, clear and ringing in its appeal. Hal,
turning in his saddle at this moment, caught from the hands of a reeling
trooper the Eagle of France, and as he raised it aloft, the light,
flashing upon the golden wings, brought an answering shout from those
that remained of the troop.

"_En avant_!" came the rallying cry.

The young French captain glanced back on this little troop, guarding
his head the while from the blows that were rained on him, and his
voice rang out:

"Charge!"

Like arrows launched from a hundred bows they charged, Hal and the young
captain still slightly in advance, Hal striking aside the steel aimed at
him, as they pushed on, and with the other hand holding high the Eagle
of France.

The effort was superb.

Dense bodies of Germans parted them in the front from the part of the
field where the infantry still was engaged, harassed them in the rear
with flying shots and forced down on them on either side, like the
closing jaws of a trap.

Their fierce charge was, for a moment, irresistible; it bore headlong all
before it. For a moment the Germans gave way, shaken and confused. For a
moment they recoiled under the shock of that desperate charge.

As Captain Derevaux spurred his horse against the enemy, twenty blades
glittered against him. The first would have pierced his chest had not Hal
struck up the blade with a quick move.

To pause was impossible. Though the French horses were forced through a
bristling forest of steel, the charge availed little.

Hal waved the Eagle aloft, as the captain looked around at the few who
were left and shouted:

"You are the sons of the Old Guard! Die like them!"

"Surrender!" came a cry from in front.

Hal looked back once more on the fragment of the troop, and raised the
flag higher aloft, as he muttered to himself:

"This will be the end. I wish I could have seen Chester once more; good
old Chester!"

Hot and blinded, with an open gash in his shoulder where a sword had
struck a moment before, but with his eyes flashing and a smile on his
lips, the young captain cried his reply to the command to surrender:

"Have we fought so poorly that you think we shall give up now?"

Then, with upraised swords, the troop awaited the onward rush of
the Germans; and, as they waited the young captain found time to
murmur to Hal:

"I am sorry to see you here now, but you are a fighter after my
own heart."

Hal was unable to speak. He put out his hand and the young Frenchman
grasped it warmly.

"I guess it is good-by," he said quietly.

Then came the shock. With a yell the Germans threw themselves
forward. A moment more and the onrushing horde would have massacred
them like cattle. But, even at the moment of impact a voice rang out
over the field:

"Forward! Charge!"

Above the din of shouting and rifle shots it came; and from behind came
a full troop of Belgian light cavalry; and in front, with drawn sword,
rode Chester.

The troop came on at a whirlwind rush; and, even as they did so, Captain
Derevaux urged his men into another charge, and pressed forward into the
thickest of the conflict. And Hal rode by his side.

Blow after blow was aimed at them, but none found its mark. Parrying and
striking, they pushed on; and then a German bugle sounded a recall, and
the enemy drew off.

Panting, Chester rode to Hal's side.

"I was afraid we would be too late!" he exclaimed.

"I am not even scratched," returned Hal, grasping his friend's hand.

A Belgian officer hurried up to Captain Derevaux.

"You have this lad to thank for our opportune arrival," he declared,
indicating Chester. "He told us of your plight, or we would not have
arrived in time."

The captain grasped Chester's hand.

"You saved the day!" he said simply.




CHAPTER XIV.

A DANGEROUS MISSION.


Chester was embarrassed.

"I did nothing," he said. "I only rode fast."

The hurrahs of the men who heard him drowned his words.

"The general will think differently," returned the captain.

"How does it happen you arrived so opportunely, Chester?" asked Hal.

"It's very simple. I was returning from my mission, and was riding
between you and the outposts. I heard firing and rode forward to see what
was going on. I saw how things were with you. Even from where I was I
thought I could recognize you in the front rank.

"At first I thought I would ride directly toward you, but then I knew
that I could be of greater service by hurrying back and summoning aid.
When I told the general of your perilous position, he acted at once, and
I came with the reinforcements. That's all there is to it. You, Hal, are
the one deserving of praise."

"And I shall see that he is rewarded for it!" exclaimed the captain. "But
your gallant conduct also shall be made known. Certainly I made two good
friends when I met you two boys. At some time I hope to be able to repay
you in some slight measure, although I know I can never entirely cancel
my indebtedness to you both."

In the hut of the officer commanding the division Captain Derevaux went
into detail concerning the gallant actions of our two boys.

The general congratulated them.

"I shall see that your conduct is brought to the personal attention of
the King," he declared. "You shall both be rewarded if I live long enough
to write out my report."

"Thank you, general," both lads replied, and then accompanied Captain
Derevaux to his quarters, where his wound, which was found to be slight,
was attended to.

It was the next afternoon that the general again summoned the lads
to his hut.

"I have a mission of importance," he said, "and I am seeking
volunteers. It is somewhat dangerous, and I am loath to order anyone to
go. But in view of your gallant conduct, I thought I would give you the
first chance."

"We shall gladly undertake it, general, no matter what it is,"
replied Hal.

"Yes, sir," agreed Chester, "we shall always be glad to aid the cause of
the Allies, no matter what the dangers."

"Well, then," replied the general, taking a paper from his desk. "I want
this paper put into the hands of General Givet, at Louvain. If there is
any danger of your being captured, destroy it. It contains information
that would be invaluable to the enemy.

"In view of your past resourcefulness, I am putting great confidence in
your ability to get through. The country between here and Louvain,
while not precisely in the hands of the Germans, is being constantly
overrun with parties of raiders. You will bring General Givet's reply
to me here."

The lads saluted and departed.

"You certainly have made a great impression upon the general," said
Captain Derevaux, when the boys informed him of their mission. "Just keep
as cool as you have been in the past, and I am sure you will get through
without trouble."

It was late that night when the lads made their way from the young
captain's quarters, passed beyond the outposts, and made their way into
the forest beyond, following the road, but keeping well within the shadow
of the trees.

"This is the best summer vacation we have ever had," declared Hal, as
they went slowly along.

"You are right, there," replied Chester. "Of course, war is a terrible
thing, but as long as there is a war I would rather be over here where I
can see what is going on than to be sitting home reading about it in the
newspapers."

"Yes; and then you couldn't be exactly sure you were getting the facts."

Shortly after sunrise the boys came upon a large farmhouse.

"It's pretty early," remarked Hal, "but perhaps we can find some one and
get a bite to eat."

They approached and found the household already astir. As they
ascended the steps, a young girl, probably sixteen years of age, came
out on the porch.

"Can you provide us with a little something to eat?" asked Hal politely
in French, doffing his cap.

The girl glanced at him, a puzzled expression coming over her face.

"I don't understand French very well," she said, in English.

"By George!" exclaimed Hal. "I thought so. That is," he apologized for
his exclamation, "I was sure you were not French."

This time Hal had spoken in English, and a look of surprise had come over
her face, followed by an expression of delight.

"I was sure you were Americans!" she exclaimed, and then added
hesitatingly, "or are you--can it be you are English?"

"No; we are Americans, all right," Chester broke in; "but we certainly
didn't expect to run into an American girl in this corner of the world."

"No; particularly at a time like this," agreed Hal.

"Oh, I am perfectly safe here," replied the girl "Uncle, who is a Belgian
officer, has joined his regiment, and I am here with only two servants.
He wanted me to go to Liege with him, but I preferred to remain here. No
one will harm me."

"But the Germans may come through here at any time, and then you would be
in danger."

"Oh, no. Several German regiments already have passed by, and some of the
officers were here. They assured me I would not be molested."

"Nevertheless, you are likely to be. You can't tell what may happen."

"I am not afraid," replied the girl. "The Germans won't bother an
American."

Remembering their own experiences, Hal and Chester looked at each other
and smiled.

"I am not so sure," replied Hal; "but if you have decided to stay,
I suppose you will. You see," smiling, "I know something of
American girls."

The girl also smiled.

"I suppose you wonder who I am," she said. "I am Edna Johnson, and I live
in Chicago. Mother was here with me, but she went home just before war
was declared. I suppose she is worried to death about me, but I believe
it is safer here than elsewhere, and I have heard Americans are having
great difficulties getting home."

Hal and Chester introduced themselves.

After a few minutes Edna suddenly exclaimed:

"Here I am, keeping you chatting, when I know you must be awfully hungry.
Come with me and we shall have some breakfast."

The boys followed her into the house, where a hearty meal was soon set in
the dining-room, and the three fell to with a will.

Hardly had they satisfied their appetites when there was the sound of
many feet upon the porch. Miss Johnson glanced through the door.

"Germans," she said, with a smile; "but they won't bother us."

Hal and Chester jumped to their feet.

"We must hide, Miss Johnson," exclaimed Hal. "If we fall into the hands
of the Germans it may mean death to us."

"What!" exclaimed the girl.

"Exactly. I neglected to tell you that we are attached to the Belgian
forces and our capture would not only mean trouble for us, but would be a
blow to the cause of the Allies."

The girl looked at the lads in amazement, but there was no time for
words. There was a loud knock at the door, followed almost immediately by
the tramp of feet within the house.

Edna acted promptly. Rushing to the side of the room, she pulled open a
door to what appeared to be a closet and motioned to the boys.

"In here, quick!" she cried, and closed the door tightly.

As they passed through the door the boys saw a flight of steps leading
apparently to the cellar. Hardly had the door closed behind them ere the
steps of the Germans were heard in the room they had just left.

They also heard the girl greet them pleasantly, and the gruff demand for
breakfast. Edna called one of her servants, and gave an order that
breakfast for the Germans be prepared immediately.

"It is too cramped here," whispered Chester. "Let's go down these stairs.
If we were to make a move here, they would surely hear us."

The boys descended the steps. At the bottom they emerged into what, upon
inspection, proved to be a wine cellar. At the far side they saw another
passageway and moved toward it.

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