Other detached groups were hastening down to the bank of the river, apparently with the idea of swimming across in some fashion, so as to gather on the opposite shore, and take the hostile battery in the rear.
It was all wonderfully exciting, and no boy could stand there gazing at such a stirring spectacle himself unmoved. So many things were happening all the time that as Giraffe afterwards said, it was like “trying to see a three-ringed circus, where amazing feats were being enacted in all three rings at the same time.” A fellow would have need of several pairs of eyes if he expected to lose nothing of all that went on.
As the head of the attacking column drew nearer the bridge the Belgian gunners stopped firing at the battery above. They turned their guns directly at the close ranks of the oncoming host.
When Thad actually saw a shell explode in the midst of that pack of gray-garbed men, and noted the terrible gap that followed he felt sick for the moment. He was, however, unable to tear his eyes away from the sight; it was so novel, so fascinating, and so dreadful that it held his gaze as the pole does the needle of a compass.
There was not the slightest sign of a stop, even though other shells tore ugly gaps through the lines. To Thad it almost seemed as though those men were parts of a vast machine which, having been set in motion, could not be stayed.
One thing he noticed, and this was that the Belgian battery was entirely unsupported. If ever the Germans managed to push across the bridge they would easily smother the few gallant defenders of the highway to Brussels.
From this Thad judged that the few Belgians at the bridge must have their plans all arranged, and that when they found their cause hopeless there would be a sudden change of front. Perhaps they would bring the horses forward, and try to save their field-pieces from capture.
Now some of those who had hurried to the edge of the water were wading in, holding their guns high above their heads. Others ran up and down the bank looking for any kind of old boat that could be utilized in order to transport a few at a time across to the other side.
There were still a considerable number who hastened along the bank toward the abutment of the bridge. The intention of these latter could not well be mistaken, for they meant to gain access to the structure, regardless of the success or failure of the general assault.
Suddenly in the midst of all this clamor a shadow fell athwart the four scouts standing on that rise, and staring downward. Looking up they discovered an aeroplane, low down, and speeding swiftly toward the spot where that desperate fight for the possession of the bridge was taking place.