CHAPTER XII.
LIÈGE.
Hal and Chester started forward.
"Captain Derevaux!" they exclaimed simultaneously.
The gallant captain smiled.
"Even so," he returned. Then turning to the general: "I will vouch for the truth of the story told by these boys, sir," he said.
"You know them, then?" questioned the general.
"Yes, sir." And the young captain recounted his first meeting with Hal and Chester and their subsequent adventures. Concluding, he said:
"And I wish to say, sir, that two braver and more resourceful lads it has never been my fortune to encounter."
"Very well, then," said the general. "They are free. I leave them in your charge, captain."
The captain and the two boys left the hut.
"I will take you to my quarters," said the captain, leading the way.
In the captain's hut, seated on a camp-stool, Hal demanded:
"How did you escape? I was sure you and Lieutenant Anderson were doomed to die. And where is the lieutenant?"
"He has returned to England," replied the captain, answering the last question first. "But my story can wait. Tell me about yourselves."
Chester related their experiences after the four had been separated.
"You are certainly a pair of wonderful youngsters," remarked the captain, when Chester had concluded.
"But how did you escape?" demanded Hal again.
"Practically the same as you did," replied the captain. "Airship. Believing that we could not possibly escape, we were left too loosely guarded. Condemned to be shot as spies, we were placed under guard near one of the outposts.
"It was along in the evening that an airship descended within a few yards of us. It had been disabled, and the aviator had alighted to make repairs. When the aviator had thoroughly overhauled the machine, he made his way to the quarters of the commanding general to report.
"As I said, our hut was but a short distance away, and, believing there could be no possibility of our escape, our guards had relaxed their vigilance. Anderson and I stepped to the entrance and looked out. The guards paid no attention.
"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 Liège 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 Liège, 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.