“It has probably become known through some of those secret channels by which the Germans learn so much that the British have their headquarters established somewhere in Ypres just now, even if it is shifted often to confuse them. And because the fighting line has been pushed so far away they can’t send shells in here they’ve resorted to another means for trying to give the British a scare.”
“The crowd’s pushing over to view what happened,” remarked Amos; “shall we go, too, and find out what a bomb dropped by a Zeppelin can do?”
“I’d like to say I’d seen the effect of such a thing,” returned Jack. “We’re not in such a rushing hurry but what we can afford the little time it’ll be likely to take; so come along, Amos.”
Together then they joined the throng that was hurrying toward the quarter where that last terrible air bomb had exploded on striking the earth.
“What great luck that it fell in an open place, and never a human being was injured, seems like!” exclaimed Amos, gaping at the tremendous hole in the ground, with the earth thrown in every direction for a distance of many yards.
“If a monster meteor, hissing hot, had fallen here it couldn’t have smashed things worse than that!” Jack declared. “From the way things are thrown around I’d say if that bomb ever struck a house the people inside would never know what had happened.”
“Then they shot it down at haphazard, or else knew in what part of the town Headquarters lay, and aimed to hit the same?” suggested Amos.
A soldier in khaki overheard them and started a conversation. Doubtless he was more or less curious to know who and what they were, and why they had the run of the British camps when so many spies were known to be prowling around. He seemed to eye them more or less suspiciously, especially when Jack made no effort to enter into explanations, not caring to take every ordinary Tommy into his confidence.
In the end this happened to bring them into new difficulties, for the soldier must have immediately gone about voicing his suspicions, because about the time Jack said they had seen enough and had better be going Amos noticed that quite a number of soldiers started to cluster around them, nor did they show any intention of opening up to let the two boys pass.
Angry looks were being bent on the lads. Amos was indignant, but Jack could easily understand what a little thing in these days of bitter warfare can cause the seeds of suspicion to be sown, making the harvest quick and unpleasant.