CHAPTER XXII
FIERCE FIGHTING
Jimmy's astonishment at seeing the man they had called a German spy was duplicated by his companions. With one accord they halted and stood staring at the captain who had saved their lives. On his part he did not see them, apparently. He stood there talking with other officers as calmly and coolly as though nothing worried him.
"There he is!" exclaimed Bob.
"No question about it!" said Roger.
"The dog!" fairly hissed Franz. "And to think he's going to betray our secrets to the Huns!"
"Not if I can help it!" declared Jimmy, and there was firm resolve in his voice.
"What are you going to do?" asked Roger, though he could almost guess the answer of his chum.
"Come over here," said Jimmy Blaise to the otter Brothers. It was time they should be marching up on their way to the front to take part in the big advance. But there was also vital necessity of action at this juncture. And so many soldiers and officers were hurrying along that the temporary halt of Jimmy and his bunkies would not be noticed.
"Don't we to fight go?" asked Iggy, somewhat puzzled by the halt. "I mine gun haf und many bullets. To fight it is my idea, yes."
"You've got the right idea!" declared Bob. "We'll be fighting soon enough. But Iggy, do you see that fellow over there?" and he pointed to Captain Dickerson.
"Sure I see him. Him was the man what saved us at the fire."
"Exactly. And he went over toward the Germans, didn't he?"
"I thinks me he did," admitted Iggy.
"When did you see him last?" asked Franz, as if this was a trial and he had the examination of witnesses in hand.
"We saw him between our lines and the German forces, and he wore a
German uniform," declared Bob.
"And now he wears an American outfit," added Roger.
"That settles it!" declared Roger. "The verdict is unanimous. Captain Dickerson, as he calls himself, is a spy, and it's our duty to denounce him!"
"Yes," said Sergeant Jimmy, "he saved our lives—there's no doubt about it. But he's a spy. It breaks my heart to do it, but duty is duty! We'll have to expose him!"
He looked at Roger and Bob. Solemnly and mournfully they nodded their heads in assent.
"I don't know as much about it as you three fellows do," said Franz, "but it sounds as though you'd have to. Tough luck, but it's got to be done."
"How about you, Iggy?" asked Bob.
"I fights mit youse," said the Polish lad simply, "and what you says I say!"
"That ends it!" went on Jimmy. "I'd rather lose ten times five thousand francs than do this, but—well, let's get it over with, and then we'll jump into the fight and try to forget it."
He walked up to the group of officers, in the midst of which still stood the captain. Jimmy saluted Major Wrightson, the senior officer then present, and when the latter looked at the lad, seeing that he had something to say, Jimmy spoke:
"My comrades and I," he said, indicating his four Brothers, "wish to denounce that man as a German spy!" He spoke quietly, and pointed an accusing finger at Captain Dickerson.
"What's that?" cried the major, in great surprise.
Jimmy repeated his statement, and as he did so he kept his eyes on the face of the accused. The latter smiled faintly, but did not seem at all alarmed.
"Have you any evidence to support this amazing statement?" asked the major.
"Plenty," answered Jimmy, and then, briefly, he told what he and his chums had seen. During the dramatic recital, which was corroborated at several points by Roger and Bob, as well as Franz and Iggy, the captain never said a word. He continued calmly smoking a cigarette he had lighted.
"Can this be possible?" exclaimed a lieutenant, and he seemed to shrink away from Captain Dickerson.
"Have you anything to say regarding the accusation of these lads,
Captain Dickerson?" asked the major, at length.
The accused flicked away the end of his cigarette. He looked at the boys, smiling cynically, and then answered calmly:
"No, I have nothing to say!"
"It is my duty—my painful duty—to order you under arrest then," said the major. "And it breaks my heart to do it. You were once my lieutenant and—"
Emotion overcame him, but he signaled to a captain, who summoned two orderlies, and in charge of these Captain Dickerson was led away under arrest.
"This matter will be taken up later, Sergeant Blaise," said the major. "It will have to wait until after the battle. He might better have been killed in action a dozen times than have this happen," he added rather ambiguously. "This is terrible!"
"It was hard to do this, after he had saved our lives," said Jimmy, "but it had to be."
"Yes," assented the major brokenly, "it had to be. And now let's forget it in giving battle to the Huns! It's up to us to redeem whatever wrong he may have done," and he nodded in the direction of the captain, who had been led away under arrest.
"He took it calmly enough," remarked Bob, as the five Brothers marched away.
"Never turned a hair," added Roger. "But you've got to have nerve to be a spy."
"I suppose they'll shoot him," observed Franz. "They don't have time for hanging any more. He'll face a firing squad all right."
"It's too bad!" declared Jimmy. "But it had to be. I'll say this for him—he's a brave man to venture back here, when he might be sure he'd be exposed—if not by us by some one else. Yes, he's a brave man!"
It was with no very light hearts, at first, that Jimmy and his chums marched on toward the front lines where they had been ordered to take their places for the general advance. The scene of the last half-hour preyed on their minds. But they were satisfied that they had done their duty.
"What's the program, sir!" asked Jimmy, as he reported to his second lieutenant.
"Well, we're going forward just as soon as our barrage gets in working order," was the answer. "I expect that will be any minute, now. See to it that every man in your squad has his gas mask, his pick and shovel, his canteen and mess gear. We may be several days under fire, and the supply wagons won't be able to get up if the Huns start shelling the roads, as they're likely to."
"Yes, sir," answered Jimmy, saluting. Then he and his chums put in several busy minutes.
Jimmy, Roger and Franz, as sergeants, would each have charge of a squad to lead into the fight, and in Jimmy's squad were Bob and Iggy, the corporals.
"Everything in readiness here?" asked the young lieutenant who had given Jimmy, Roger and Franz their orders. He came along the trench, glancing now and then at his wrist watch to note the approach of the hour set for the beginning of the barrage.
"Everything ready, sir," reported Jimmy, and Roger and Franz repeated this.
"Very good. You won't have long to wait now."
The lieutenant passed on, making his observations. The five Brothers were talking in low tones, speculating on many things. They talked of what they had gone through in the past, for each one realized that there might be no future for him after this great battle that was pending. And they talked of the spy captain, of the missing Sergeant Maxwell, and other matters.
"If we live through this," Jimmy was saying, "I'm going to get leave and see if I can't find Maxwell. It isn't so much for the sake of the money as it is for him. He was a good friend to me."
"To all of us," declared Bob.
"Well, I can't imagine what has become of him," said Roger. "If he—"
There was no chance for further words, for at that moment it seemed as if all the thunderstorms from the beginning of the world to the present time had broken loose at once.
"It's our barrage!" cried Jimmy. "Get ready to go over and fight!"
And ten minutes later the five Brothers were in the midst of the most desperate struggle in which they had had a part since the start of the World War.