Reddy had gone straight as a homing pigeon to the army headquarters, had pleaded his way through every sentry post, and to the presence of Colonel Bainbridge.
The mainspring of the military machinery was quick to act, and it was a gallant array that the little red-headed Frenchman guided to the rescue of the treasure guards he had left in the tunnel.
There was yet a bayonet charge to be resisted before the slab was lifted. There had been fierce combat, hand-to-hand, as well as artillery practice at Château Trouville. A company in gray had fallen back from the main body in the night in the direction of the ruined fort. The rescue party came as a surprise out of the ravine, and “point of rocks” was made the scene of a brief but desperate encounter. The German force, outnumbered, gave way.
Reddy, who had been viewing the clash from behind a screen of stones, jumped from the slab when danger had ceased to threaten, and in his excitement plumped down into the pit like a football.
Billy and Henri, now very much awake, were jointly seized by the hands, and Reddy, who had alighted flat-footed, pulled his comrades about in a sort of circular war dance.
This came to a sudden stop when a deep, commanding voice hurled these words downward:
“You kids come up and report!”
The speaker was Sergeant Scott.