A wild cheer from his men was the reply. The huge Cossack turned to the two lads.
“We will fight till the last,” he said calmly. “Are you with us?”
“We are,” said Hal simply.
“You bet!” Chester agreed.
“Good!” exclaimed Alexis.
He turned once more toward the enemy, who, it was evident, were preparing for another attack upon the little band. The latter stood quietly, awaiting the charge; and in a moment it came.
Urging their horses on at a gallop, the Germans came rapidly forward. There was the clash of steel on steel as the enemy hurled themselves upon three sides of the little square simultaneously. Russians and Germans dropped together, fighting till the last.
But the odds against them were too great. Dense masses of the Germans swooped down upon them, engulfing them, overpowering them. Hal, engaged with a big German officer, had just succeeded in parrying a thrust of the other’s sword, when someone from behind struck him a heavy blow over the head. The lad fell from his horse without a sound.
Chester, seeing his friend fall, fought his way toward Hal. He was just about to leap from his horse by his chum’s side, when a tall German trooper brought the flat of his sword down on the lad’s head. Chester also went hurtling to the ground.
And now Alexis, with a few remaining men, was left to fight the enemy alone. His sword whirling around his head in great sweeps, and an empty revolver clutched tightly in his left hand; his teeth bared in a snarl and his eyes flashing angrily, this great Cossack stood off his foes.