Bumpus had reason for looking worried. He knew what a terrible amount of damage an exploding shell might accomplish, even when it came from only an ordinary field battery, and he had no wish to offer his pudgy form as a target for the gunner.
They hurried along the road, hoping every minute that a turn would disclose the presence of men in the French blue. A second crash did not make Bumpus feel any more cheerful, especially since this detonation came from still another quarter.
“Do you suppose they’ve glimpsed us and are trying to drop one of those horrible shells right in our midst?” he asked Thad.
Before the scout leader could make any reply there was a sudden wild burst of cannonading from a point close by. Thad guessed the truth at once as if by some instinct. Evidently there must be an advanced French field battery secreted in the region, where it commanded the road over which the Germans were thronging, and this had commenced action. Those several German shells had been dropped just to disclose the position of this battery; its presence being suspected, thanks to some air scout who had passed over previously and communicated the facts to the invading general.
A tremendous din quickly broke out. Guns were fired by the dozen, and the crash of bursting bombs almost deafened the four hurrying boys.
They had good reason to hasten their steps, for to the right and to the left the shells exploded. One tore a great hole in the roadway not a hundred yards in front of them, causing the stones and dirt to fly in every direction.
It was almost impossible to know which way to turn, and as for finding a place of refuge, that was utterly out of the question. There did not seem to be a rod of territory that those searching shells might not fall upon. One place was just as safe as another, since it was all a matter of luck. So Thad kept them on the move, huddled in as small a compass as possible, with the idea of presenting as minute a target to the rain of bombs as they could.
“Listen!” yelled Giraffe as they ran along, with Bumpus puffing like a winded horse dragging a load up hill, “they’re coming right now—the French battery, I mean. Got too hot for ’em where they were, and they’re on the jump for safer quarters. Thad, if we get half a chance, let’s try to hook on to some ammunition caisson! Anything to give those shells the slip! And there the guns come with a whirl!”
CHAPTER VII
A NARROW ESCAPE
It was an inspiring spectacle. The French field battery had done its utmost to inflict more or less damage upon the advancing German hosts, but evidently the time had come for discretion to take the part of desperate valor.