Then he hurried off after the other, who had already started. Bumpus looked as if he already half repented of his decision; but shaking his head sadly he turned his back upon his chums so that he might not be tempted beyond his power of resistance.
Meanwhile the officer had stepped back into the house and soon reappeared bearing several field-glass cases swung over his shoulders.
“These are for the young friends of General Joffre to use,” he told the delighted boys as he again joined the trio; “he gave them into my hands himself, and said that to me. Now we will make our way over to the hill from which observations are being constantly taken.”
Giraffe being a scout who always kept his eyes about him observed several things that might have escaped the notice of Bumpus, for instance. He saw that as far as possible it was managed so that even an air scout sailing over in his Taube aeroplane, and with glasses to assist him, might not learn where French Headquarters was located. This was of course done in order to prevent the possibility of a sudden raid on the part of some Uhlan regiment that had managed to break through the French lines; or even the dropping of bombs from a passing airship, with the hope of depriving the defenders of Paris of the services of the commander-in-chief.
A wire was cunningly laid along the road from tree to tree, but always in such a fashion that it could not be discovered from aloft. Even the couriers who came and went tried to conceal themselves as much as possible, in order to deceive the foe, to whom these signs might betray the truth.
Soon they arrived at the hill which evidently was being used for an observation post. Climbing this at the heels of the officer, the three scouts presently found themselves on the crest, where a scene was spread before them well worthy of being written on the tablets of their memories as long as they lived.
CHAPTER XXIII
WHERE VICTORY WAS SEIZED
More than half a dozen men in military uniforms could be seen, each one with a pair of binoculars in his hands, and most of them sweeping the horizon in their intense eagerness to watch how the fortunes of the battle ebbed and flowed. Now it might be one of them would point a quivering finger toward some particular spot where he had detected events of a thrilling nature developing. Then they would compare, notes, and perhaps send a messenger hurriedly to inform the commander-in-chief of what was going on.
The boys lost little time in making use of the field glasses that had been placed in their hands. It was a picture worth seeing, as they followed along up and down the ridges where those billowing clouds of smoke told of action.
They picked out many batteries of friend and foe from these signs; they could watch the movements of heavy bodies of moving troops as they were flung forward at some supposed weak place in the French lines; and then observe the shock when machine-guns opened upon them, so that the companies dwindled away to mere squads, and these in turn to individuals drifting back in an uncertain way to where they had started forth so bravely.