“Just what I was wanting to say myself,” added Thad, as he again started the car. “We’ll move up and take a look. If it seems too dangerous we can give it up, and turn around again.”
Their excitement grew by leaps and bounds as they kept moving along the road in the direction of the scene of danger.
“There, did you see that tree go down with a smash?” suddenly bawled Giraffe; “why, a shot must have cut it off like a knife near the base. And see how the dirt flies up on that knoll, will you? It was a big shell bursting in the ground that sent it sky-rocketing. Thad, what do you think; shall we risk it?”
The boy at the wheel knew that whatever he said those devoted chums would stand back of him to the end. That made it all the harder for him to decide; had he only himself to think of he could settle the matter very quickly, one way or the other. Bumpus did not count; and those other two seemed willing, almost eager, to have him answer in the affirmative. Thad took a careful survey of the ground, and as far along the road as he could see.
“We might chance it,” he finally decided; “for it strikes me that if we can only get to where the road seems to make another bend half a mile a long, we ought to be out of range of the shells. They’re covering this road for some reason or other. Allan, is it go, or turn back?”
“Keep her moving, Thad!” cried the one appealed to. “Let her out to the limit, if you think the road’s safe. The more speed the better our chances of escaping being hit by any of that flying stuff. Everybody hold on, and keep as low down as you can!”
Thad sent the car on with a jump. All the reserve power of the motor was thrown on; and some of those well-built French cars do possess engines that are capable of developing an extraordinary capacity for business, when in the right hands.
It was a most intense period of time for Bumpus, yes, and the other scouts as well. Even that never-to-be-forgotten ride on the gun caissons of the flying French battery when under fire would have to take a back seat when this flight was mentioned; and the boys at the time had thought that the very acme of thrill-producing excitement.
Soon they were in the midst of the zone where the far-away guns of the German batteries were dropping their monster shells with almost mathematical certainty, thanks to their wonderful rangefinders, and the accurate maps they must possess covering the various roads around Paris.
When a frightful crash came, apparently close by over on their right, Bumpus held his breath in awe, not knowing what the result might be. But luckily the force of the explosion must have been thrown in another direction, for none of them received so much as a scratch.