CHAPTER XX
THE CAPTAIN AGAIN
Worried over the possible fate in store for them, sick at heart, smarting with wounds and bruises, and with Jimmy regretting the deaths of the men he had led out to help rescue Bob and Roger, it is no wonder that the three Brothers hardly knew what happened in the next hour. All they remembered was that they were pushed, dragged and fairly punched along in the darkness that was, every now and then, lighted by gun flashes or the star-shells. The fighting was still going on, though it was growing less intense, and it seemed evident that the attacking party of raiding Germans had been beaten back.
But it was at a heavy cost, for many Americans had been killed or wounded, and several taken prisoners, including our three friends. Later, however, they learned that the losses of the Huns had been heavier, except in the matter of prisoners. Only two had been captured as against perhaps a score of Americans. The raid had been a surprise, and this quality of it led to its success.
For a time, after he had learned of the presence of his two chums in the raiding party of Huns, Jimmy was separated from them in the darkness and confusion. He could not locate them by calling their names, for each time he tried this he was struck by one of his captors, which led him, finally, to desist. He realized that if he exasperated the Germans too much they would not hesitate to kill him, even though he was a prisoner.
But later on, when it seemed as though he had been pulled and dragged over miles and miles of rough country, Jimmy was aware that the party of men who had him in charge had been joined by another squad of the Boches. And to his delight he heard some one say:
"Wonder what became of Blazes?"
It was Bob's voice, and Jimmy at once answered:
"Here I am! Is Roger there?"
"Yes," came a voice out of the darkness, and it ended in a gasp of pain, as if the words had been stopped by a blow.
Jimmy felt as though he could tear himself loose and hurl himself on the cruel captors, but he was held fast.
There was rapid talk in German among the members of the raiding party, and it could not be doubted that they were exulting over the success of the sortie, such as it had been.
A little later Jimmy was prodded forward again by the butts of German guns, and he was aware that Roger and Bob were advancing along with him. Whether there were any other Americans in that party Jimmy could not tell, as it was dark now, since the "fireworks" had ceased.
"Tough luck!" murmured Bob, as he limped along beside Roger.
"You said it," answered Jimmy. They spoke in low voices so as not to incur the further enmity of their captors.
"What do you think they'll do with us?" asked Roger.
"Try to get information," was Jimmy's answer. "But don't give them any! Keep stiff upper lips and let 'em ask all they want to. Don't answer!"
"We won't!" murmured Roger and Bob, but they did not realize how hard it was going to be to keep that resolve.
Forward in the darkness they stumbled, being pushed and shoved when they were not roughly seized and dragged, and at last they seemed to have been brought to a place where they were to be detained for some time. They were led down into a trench and along this in single file, a German preceding and following each of the three captives, so they were thus separated. They discovered that the German trenches were not much better as regarded mud and water than their own, and they did not have the protection of "duck boards" except in a few places. So that the progress of Bob, Roger and Jimmy was through mud that came nearly to the knees.
Suddenly their captors halted. They had reached a wider part of the trench, and in the dim light from a small electric bulb, which indicated this place to be one of the more permanent German positions, the three Brothers saw a concrete dugout.
The door of this was kicked open, and after the three Khaki Boys had been hurriedly searched, and all their personal belongings taken from them, they were thrust inside in the darkness and the door was closed.
And then, clinging together in their pain and woeful state, they told each other what had happened—Roger and Bob relating how they had been cut off and captured, and Jimmy telling of his leading the rescue party, only to be betrayed into going in the wrong direction, deceived by the call of some Hun whose English was good enough to do the trick.
"And now we're here," sighed Bob. "What's to become of us?"
"I think they'll take us before some officer and question us," said Jimmy. "They'll wait until morning, though, to give us a longer taste of misery."
"Morning!" gasped Roger. "Will morning ever come to a hole like this?" and his eyes tried to pierce the blackness.
"There may be a window to it, or some way of letting light in, unless it's away down underground," Jimmy went on. "I couldn't tell what it was from the outside."
"Me, either," admitted Bob. "Well, this sure is tough luck!"
"Don't be downhearted!" advised Roger. "Our boys may attack in a few hours and rescue us."
"Yes, they may," assented Jimmy, and this cheered them up for a time.
How long the hours seemed! Would morning ever come, and would they see a gleam of light when it did? Or would they still be in blackness?
This question was answered for them some time later, when, after being sunk in painful silence, they were aroused by a faint gleam coming in through what proved to be a small opening in the roof of the dugout. It was a little gleam of sunshine, and it cheered the boys almost as much as if it had been news from home.
"We're not in an underground dungeon, anyhow," said Jimmy.
The light grew stronger, and presently the door of their prison was opened. "I hope it's breakfast," gasped Bob. "Even if it's only a glass of water."
But it was not even that. Several burly, brutal Germans leered in the faces of the boys, and one, who spoke fairly good English, ordered them to come out.
"Where are you taking us?" demanded Jimmy.
"You'll see," was the enigmatical answer.
They did not have long to wait, for, presently, they were taken before a German officer, whose rank they were unable to determine, though he seemed to wield considerable authority.
He was seated at a table in a dugout most comfortably fitted up. Before him was a mass of papers, and at his side stood a bottle of wine from which he poured a glass now and then, as he puffed at a pipe. There were several others in the room, some officers and others, clerks or secretaries.
I shall not relate what followed. Suffice it to say that the reason for the night of misery inflicted on the boys, and the failure to give them breakfast, was soon evident. It was to break their spirits, and cause them to answer and give information as to their own forces opposed to the Huns.
Every device of refined and barbarous cruelty was practiced as well as every trick of cunning. But the three remained steadfast, and even laughed in the faces of their captors. But not a jot of vital information did they give, though they boasted in exaggerated terms of the strength of the commands to which they were attached, and told of countless armies on the way over to wipe the Huns from the face of the earth.
At last the German officer, in a burst of rage, ordered the three prisoners taken away, and this was done with great roughness. This coupled with their terrible night and the mental and physical torture inflicted at the inquisition, made the young soldiers sick at heart and body. Once more they were thrust into their horrible prison, and not until nearly noon was any food given them.
Then it was only some greasy, slimy water, probably intended for soup, together with some chunks of mouldy bread.
"But we've got to eat it, boys!" said Jimmy. "We've got to keep up our strength."
"What's the good of it!" sighed Bob, with a half cry of anguish.
"So we can escape, of course!" said Jimmy with more fierceness and energy than he really felt. "Think I'm going to stay in this hole?"
"How are you going to get out?" Roger wanted to know.
"I'll show you!" went on Jimmy, and by his strength of character, and by his forced spirits he bolstered up the courage of his companions. They managed to choke down the food, vile as it was, and seemed to feel a little better for it.
Their miseries of the next few days I will not detail. In fact, the boys themselves could not remember all of them, horrible as they were. Again and again they were questioned, but always they remained steadfast, and gave no information that could be of any value to the Huns.
Then they were taken from their horrible prison and removed to a camp, some distance in the rear, where there were a number of other Allied captives, in as miserable a condition as that to which the three Khaki Boys were now reduced.
"Well, we've got a better chance now," said Jimmy, with an assumption of cheerfulness, when they were thrust into the barbed wire enclosure.
"A better chance for what?" asked Bob.
"To escape," was the answer, "It's a common occurrence for prisoners to get out of German prison camps, though I won't say that they all get back to their friends. Anyhow, we'll try the first chance we get."
There was one advantage of being in the prison camp, and away from the dungeon that was partly underground. The air and light were better, and the food was somewhat improved, though it was far from being good, satisfying, or even decent.
But the natural healthfulness of the boys kept them up, and they soon recovered from the slight wounds and bruises caused by the fight during which they were captured.
"Heard of any chance to escape?" asked Roger, when they had been in the camp about two weeks.
"No, though there is talk of digging under the barbed wire and a lot of the men going out," Jimmy answered. "You want to hold out and hide all the food you can. Well need it if we do get away."
His advice was followed, and, though the prisoners did not get much more than enough to keep them alive, the three boys managed to hide some scraps of bread and a bit of what was called "sausage," though it was made mostly from the meal of peas and beans.
As Jimmy had said, there was a plot, hatched among some of the English prisoners, to break out of the prison camp. But before there was a chance to put it into operation Fate stepped in and gave her aid—that is, it was aid for some, and death for others.
Not far from the German prison camp was a German ammunition dump, and one night there passed over it a raiding squadron, though whether of French, American or English airmen could not be learned by our heroes.
At any rate several bombs were dropped and one, either more accurately placed than the others, or falling more luckily, fell on the dump and it went up in a terrible and fearful burst of powder and shell.
The concussion caused several of the prison camp buildings to collapse, and a number of Russians were killed. The barbed and charged wires about the camp were torn loose and then it was that Jimmy saw his chance—a chance taken by many of the captives.
"Come on!" he shouted to Roger and Bob, as they awoke in the darkness and confusion, hardly knowing what had happened. It seemed like the end of the world.
Out rushed the three Brothers, catching up their few belongings and the precious packets of food they had hoarded against just such a chance as this, though they had not hoped for it so soon.
The Germans were in such confusion, and such havoc had been caused among them when the ammunition dump went up, that they had no time, then, to look to their prisoners. Consequently the unfortunate men who had been kept in the horrible camp scattered to the four winds, eager to make their way back to their own lines.
Jimmy, Bob and Roger formed a little party among themselves. They had only a general notion of which direction to take, but again Fate seemed to help them, for they were not stopped all that night. They tramped on, taking the most unfrequented ways, stumbling on in the darkness and on the alert for a sight of German soldiers. But the attack of the Allied airships, and the consequent destruction of a great pile of German shells, had caused such havoc back of the Hun lines that for several hours all was in confusion.
"It's getting daylight," murmured Bob, as he and his two chums were limping down a road. Limping is the correct term, for their own good army shoes had been taken from them and replaced by German apologies, with paper soles, which now were all but gone.
"What shall we do?" asked Roger.
"Keep on until we see something to stop us," advised Jimmy. "We are going toward our own lines, I think, or where our lines used to be, though there may have been a lot of changes since we were caught."
"Can't we stop and get a drink?" panted Bob. "My tongue is like a piece of that leathery stuff the Germans gave us and called meat. I've got to drink!"
It was light enough now to disclose a small stream not far away. Looking about to make sure no Germans were in the vicinity, Jimmy led the way toward it. A drink of water and the eating of some of their scanty stock of food would put new life in them.
They reached the water safely, near a small clump of trees. They drank, and though the fluid seemed half mud never was there a sweeter draught to parched throats and dry mouths. Then, as they were about to open their rude packets of food. Bob clutched Jimmy's arm.
"Look!" he exclaimed, pointing off to the left.
"A searching party!" gasped Jimmy. Then Roger saw at what his chums were gazing—a squad of German soldiers under the command of an officer, and they were marching straight toward the clump of trees where our heroes hoped to stay and eat!
"Quick!" cried Jimmy. "Burrow down in the leaves and dirt! If they see us we'll be shot on sight as escaping prisoners! No chance for quarter! Burrow down!"
And amid the dirt and dead leaves of the little patch of woods the boys scratched shallow hiding places for themselves, stuffing their food inside their shirts.
They were only just in time, for no sooner were they as well covered as they could manage in the hurry than the Germans came tramping into the little grove.
However, they did not seem to be acting on any precise information, as presently, after a cursory search in the grove, they left, and the boys breathed easier again.
"Shall we chance it now?" whispered Bob to Jimmy, cautiously raising his head from the hole amid the leaves.
"Wait a bit," advised his chum. And, in ten minutes more, when it seemed that the party of Huns must be far enough away, the lads emerged.
"Close call!" murmured Bob, brushing off some of the dirt. "But I guess we can eat now—such stuff as we have! Say, Roger, did you—"
He paused, to gaze in the direction where Roger was looking. And Jimmy, attracted by the attitude, gazed also. And they saw a strange sight.
Marching away, for which the three Brothers felt great relief, was the searching part of Germans. But this was not at what Roger was looking. It was the sight of a man, in a German uniform, seated on a fallen log at the edge of the clump of trees. The man was looking over some papers, and he must have been there when the searching party passed. Perhaps he had been with them.
"Look! Look!" murmured Roger. "It's the captain again. Captain Frank Dickerson—the officer who saved our lives at the red mill; and he's in a German uniform!"