CHAPTER XIX. Captured and Under Fire.
Startled by the unusual circumstance of a human voice coming, apparently, from the very earth at his feet, the boy paused in wonderment. He glanced inquiringly about, searching for the owner of the voice.
No one appeared, and thinking it either a trick of his imagination or the work of some ventriloquist who desired to play a joke upon him, Ned again started up the slight rise, intending to hasten toward the group of officers, where he would get the receipt for his message.
Already the droning of the monoplane's motors told him that there was need of haste if he would make the return trip to the Grey Eagle and hope to even overtake his rival before reaching the aviation camp. Impatient at the trick he thought had been played Ned fumed.
"Halt!" again came the command, and apparently from the same direction. No one was in sight, and Ned was plainly puzzled.
Glancing along the slope to his right, he saw what at first sight seemed to be the opening into a burrow of a fox or wolf or some other creature of similar habits. Curiously enough, Ned detected a pair of eyes peering forth from the darkness of the excavation.
With a start the boy realized, however, that the rifle barrel protruding from the cavity was not the property of fox or wolf, but indicated the presence of a human being. A closer glance showed him that the eyes were not those of a wild animal, but belonged to a man. A glint of metal and flash of color from the blackness behind the small opening betokened a uniform. Ned's thoughts rioted frantically.
His first impulse was to turn and hasten from the spot as rapidly as his legs would carry him, but he realized that the man with the rifle was a determined character, and might not hesitate to shoot.
A volley of questions issued forth from the opening, but the language was one unfamiliar to Ned, and he could only shake his head.
"I cannot understand you," he at length ventured. "Can you speak English? Perhaps we might understand each other better if you can."
"English?" repeated the man from his location. "Yes, I speak English very good!" This statement was belied by his accent and pronunciation, but Ned accepted it at its face value, giving his whole attention to the matter of carrying on the halting conversation.
"Why do you stop me?" Ned asked. "How did you get in there?"
"We stop all spies coming from the Germans!" replied the voice. "You will remain where you are and my comrade will appear!"
"That's nice!" scorned Ned hotly. "Why, you are entirely mistaken! I have never been in Germany! I am from the United States!"
"You have had a long journey," replied the other, with mock sympathy, "and will need a rest before proceeding. Therefore, we will be glad to have you accept the hospitality of our poor quarters!"
"But I am from the aviation camp to the westward of here. I am in a race with a French air pilot, and you will cause me to lose the race!" stormed Ned, beginning to see that the fellow meant to detain him.
"We have very comfortable quarters!" urged the other.
"Well, occupy them, then!" snapped Ned, "I am going on!"
"Listen!" commanded the other. "Unless you accept our so freely offered hospitality of the drawing room, we shall be obliged to put you to sleep in one of our nice new beds. They are quite comfortable, I assure you. No one of the occupants has ever complained!"
Ned caught the significance of the remark, and decided that he did not care to become a lodger with this man as landlord. He knew full well why none of the tenants mentioned ever complained of the quarters. The tenants referred to would never complain again of any quarters.
Wisely concluding that nothing would be gained by further efforts to convince the fellow of his identity, Ned put away all thought of immediate escape, and with it also laid aside the cherished hope of beating the French pilot and his monoplane. That must wait.
A man in uniform appeared from behind a clump of bushes a short distance to the right with such startling suddenness that Ned nearly lost his composure. He carried a rope and approached Ned with a smile. Ned held up a protesting hand and waved away the bond.
"You don't have to tie me up!" he said. "I'll go with you peaceably. I shall not try to run away from such good landlords!"
"Will you not step into the parlor?" suggested the newcomer.
Believing compliance with their wishes the only way to placate them, Ned followed his captor to the clump of bushes, behind which he discovered a narrow shaft leading downwards into the earth. Steps, uneven but firm, were cut into the sloping side, affording sure footing.
Under a low lintel Ned stooped and found himself in a sort of cave or cellar, the sides propped and supported by short lengths of small saplings, the roof braced with larger logs, the only opening, the burrow-like hole in the hillside, providing light and ventilation.
A bunk with straw for mattress afforded sleeping accommodation, while straw was plentifully strewn on the floor, making a fine rug.
"I do not understand the arrangement," Ned began, as he surveyed the interior of the place. "What is the idea? Why bring me here?"
"If I had not captured you, another might have been minded to put you to sleep!" replied the first speaker. "Not all of the men in the trenches are considerate of Germans, but I liked your looks, and so you are here now instead of fast asleep," he added, tapping his rifle and smiling significantly, while he still looked out from his window.
"Germans are not usually welcome in the drawing room," added the other soldier, "and they are put to sleep as soon as possible!"
"But I'm not a German!" protested Ned vigorously.
"No?" inquired the other politely. "Listen a moment, I hear an officer approaching. We shall soon learn if you are a 'Bosche'!"
Ned was startled to discover a fourth person in the narrow confines of the place. The late arrival was evidently an officer.
Saluting, the two occupants of the burrow began a report in French concerning their captive. Evidently full details were being asked and given, for the conversation consumed much time.
"Come with me," the officer said to Ned at length, as he turned toward an opening that had heretofore escaped the lad's attention.
"But, officer," protested the boy, "my comrades are out there, waiting for me to return! I cannot leave them!"
A few words of command from the officer caused both soldiers to make hasty preparations for departure. They were evidently about to sally forth to capture the crew of the Grey Eagle. Ned fumed. He had been very foolish, he thought, to make so rash a statement.
The officer indicated that Ned was to proceed into the passageway.
For some distance they passed through a tunnel-like opening, scarcely large enough for a full-grown person to negotiate. At intervals an opening, somewhat similar to the one first seen by Ned, gave ventilation and light. It served the double purpose of window and loop-hole, the officer explained, in case Germans should venture too near. Once, as he paused to look forth from one of the openings, he called Ned's attention to a clump of trees some little distance away.
"Can you see that man moving about?" he questioned. "Yes? Well, presently you will see him throw up his arms and fall. Our sharpshooters will get him! Your men are too reckless. They expose themselves too much! Now he is preparing a position for one of your guns. Tonight your friends will drag up to that clump of trees a gun this big," he formed his arms into a circle. "Then the ranges will be given them, and they will start shelling these trenches. After they have demolished our so hardly earned resting places, they will charge. Tomorrow night they will charge. Then they will occupy these trenches—perhaps!"
"My friends haven't got a gun, except an automatic pistol and a rifle!" protested Ned. "We will not charge the trenches, because we do not know they are here. If your man had not stopped me I would never have suspected that this hillside was undermined as it is!"
"Ah!" ejaculated the officer, eyeing Ned closely. "Perhaps you tell the truth. But come," he added, "we must proceed."
Not far from where they were standing a larger excavation had been made, and this was fitted up more luxuriously than the other. A mirror was on the wall, a stove in the corner, and a telephone instrument rested on an upturned box near the bunks. As they approached, shouts of laughter greeted their ears. Evidently the life in the underground passages had not destroyed the soldiers' sense of humor.
Turning a corner, the cause of the merriment was at once apparent. One soldier was seated on an empty provision case, his face covered with lather. Another stood beside him, endeavoring to play the part of a barber, but with very indifferent success, judging by the expletives from the lathered one. All seemed hugely enjoying the circumstance.
As the officer entered he called out a low order. Instantly every man was on his feet standing at attention. Even the lathered soldier stood. Simultaneously their hands were raised in military salute, and remained so until the salute had been returned by the officer.
Picking up the telephone, the officer spoke rapidly for a few moments, then replaced the instrument and directed a question to the man watching from the window. That individual replied at some length, pointing out toward the same clump of trees that had been indicated to Ned by the officer himself. Evidently something unusual was taking place.
A sharp exclamation from the soldier on watch brought the others to their feet. He was excitedly pointing toward the trees and speaking rapidly. Ned saw a cloud of white smoke appear in the grove.
Following the glances of the men, he was startled to see hurtling through the air a large black object. It appeared to be approaching their position. Ned clearly followed the missile until it fell to earth but a short distance away. Scarcely had it touched the earth before their burrow was shaken and rocked by a mighty explosion.
Dirt fell from the roof in showers. Ned had clapped his hands to his ears as the missile fell, expecting an explosion, and thus did not suffer the painful shock that would otherwise have been felt.
Glancing from the opening he saw an immense cloud of heavy black smoke hovering all about the place where the shell had landed. An awful odor crept into the place, nearly choking the men.
Again a cry from the man on watch startled Ned. Another shell was coming! He turned to run back along the passageway, but stumbled on the uneven floor and fell. A shout from the officer roused the boy.
Looking backward, he could see a revolver leveled in his direction, and lost no time in scrambling to his feet. Just in time he dodged around an angle in the passage. Shot after shot came tearing into the dirt at his side. Luckily the officer's aim was poor.
In a half-panic Ned raced as fast as he was able along the narrow tunnel. His one thought was to regain the open air and find his chums, who would be frantic at his long-delayed return. He had gone but a few steps until the earth seemed to rock violently. A burst of air from the rear swept the boy off his feet. His ears were deafened by a terrific blast that shook the entire surroundings.
Scrambling upward beneath the weight of dirt that had fallen, Ned with great difficulty stood upright. Strangely enough, daylight was all about him. The roof of the trench had fallen!
Glancing backward, Ned saw a yawning pit where once had been the roomful of soldiers. A heavy black cloud of smoke hung over the place.
Astounded at the narrow margin by which he had escaped the disaster that had overtaken the men in the trench, Ned stood for an instant, unable to decide what to do. Then his training prompted him to return to lend whatever aid might be in his power to such as needed it.
Search as he might, the boy could find no indication of living men. All, seemingly, had been blown to atoms. As he was turning away from the scene, sick at heart, he brushed aside a low-growing bush. From an upper branch fell an object. It was part of a man's arm, with a revolver still clutched in the hand. Ned ran at full speed from the spot.