"Whoa, here, Hal!" shouted Chester. "Time to stop. Can't you see the others have given up the pursuit?"
"I can't stop!" Hal shouted back. "The blamed thing won't work."
Every second they were approaching where the Germans had made a stand.
"Come about in a circle then and head back!" shouted Chester.
Hal swung the head of the tank to the left. It moved perhaps two degrees in that direction, then went forward again.
"Something the matter with the steering apparatus!" Hal shouted. "I can't turn it. I can't stop it. I can't shut off the power, and the brakes won't work."
"Let's jump for it, then!" cried Chester. "We'll be right in the middle of the enemy in a minute."
The tractor was still spitting fire as it advanced. It was plain that the Germans took the advance of the single tank as a ruse of some kind, which they were unable to fathom. They could not know that the occupants of the tank were making desperate effort to stop its advance or bring it about and head back toward the British lines.
From the British troops shouts of warning arose. Crews of other tanks had now dismounted, and these men added their voices to those of the others calling upon the apparently venturesome tank to return. These men could understand the advance of the single tractor no more than could the Germans.
"The fools!" shouted one man. "They'll be killed sure; and what good can they do single-handed against the whole German army?"