At last the other American troops which were expected around the lower side of the little hill burst into view. With them came another machine-gun detachment and also a company which was well supplied with hand-grenades. These grenades they used upon the Germans whenever they saw an opportunity to do so without injuring any of their own men.
With a force against them now equal, if not superior, to their own, the Germans began to waver, and one company began to fall back, in spite of the protestations of some of their officers. Then, as all the Americans made a rush, the remainder of the enemy commenced to retreat.
“Hurrah, we’ve got ’em on the run!”
“Give it to them good and plenty, boys!”
“What’s the matter with rounding them up and making them prisoners?”
“That’s the talk! Let us teach ’em a lesson they won’t forget!”
So the cries ran on, and while the majority of the Germans managed to get away from the vicinity of the Americans, a half-company became detached from the others, and these were quickly surrounded.
“Throw up your hands!” cried one of the American officers, and he repeated the words in German.
A number of the hands went up, and some of the Germans, realizing that they were out of the fighting, began to shout, “Kamerad! Kamerad!” Two, however, of the crowd were ugly, one a middle-aged soldier and the other a rather young-looking officer. These two very foolishly raised their weapons and began shooting, the soldier with his gun and the young officer with his pistol. Both of the weapons were discharged twice when the officer and the private were laid low by bullets of the Americans. Then the others surrendered without further question.
Dave was close at hand when the capture was made of the German soldiers. He heard the discharge of the pistol and the gun in the hands of the officer and the private and felt a strange pain shoot through his body. Then a sudden faintness seemed to overtake him, and he fell to the ground senseless.