Fighting in France Part 32

"It's an awful chance," mused Jacques.

"I know," exclaimed Leon, "but it's our only one. You know as well as I do that if we don't get away before their reenforcements arrive we're done for. Why, after we've killed a couple of their men they'll spend a year if necessary to hunt us out."

"That's true," Jacques agreed. "I guess you're right; we'd better try it now."

Crouching low and making as little sound as possible the three young soldiers crept forward. Jacques led the way, with Leon and Earl close behind him. Every boy held his pistol gripped tightly in his right hand. Night had now fallen and pitchy darkness had taken possession of the forest.

The clearing was but a short distance away and presently Jacques stopped. All three of the boys stood still and listened intently for some moments. Not a sound came to their ears and in a brief time the advance was continued.

Slowly and carefully they picked their way. They practically felt out every step before they took it; the snap of a dried twig or stick might spell their doom. A few moments later Jacques spied the open sky through a vault in the tree-tops; they were almost upon the clearing and again the little band halted.

"We'd better separate," he whispered. "Fire the moment I do."

They dropped to their hands and knees and again the stealthy advance was resumed. Every boy selected a large tree behind which to take his position. The white wings of the monoplane glistened and a clump of dark figures could be seen nearby. Whether they were horses or men it was impossible to distinguish.

Suddenly, above the rim of the forest appeared the moon. It had appeared much sooner than the young soldiers had expected, or was it that they had consumed more time than they had realized? If the latter was the case they had need of haste. Leon and Earl waited impatiently for Jacques to open fire but as a matter of fact he did not know at what to aim. Killing the horses would do no good and the flash of the revolver shots would only serve to disclose their positions to the Germans.

Higher and higher rose the moon. It was soon half above the tops of the trees and the whole clearing began to be suffused with its soft light. The monoplane could be distinctly seen now and the dark clump proved to be horses as the boys had surmised. Where were the Germans?

Surely they would not go away and leave their mounts.

All at once something moved near one end of the monoplane. Instantly there was a sharp report; Jacques had found his target. Four flashes in rapid succession disclosed the location of the remaining Germans.

Leon and Earl immediately opened fire. Another shot from the position Jacques had selected showed that so far he had been untouched.

The fight became general and the firing increased. The three young soldiers of France had a distinct advantage over their enemies, however. The moment the Germans had fired they had revealed their locations and now it was possible to make out the forms of the Teuton hors.e.m.e.n in the moonlight; the three boys were hidden in the shadow of the woods.

The bullets rained about them, cutting through the branches of the trees and rattling through the bushes. As quickly as they fired, however, the boys s.h.i.+fted their positions and the Germans having nothing to guide their aim save the flash of the pistols, were unable to locate their adversaries.

The frightened horses snorted and jumped at every shot; they tugged violently at their tethers and danced madly about. The moon, now risen completely above the crest of the forest, shone down upon a strange scene. The great aeroplane still stood silently by, a mute witness to the desperate struggle waged for its possession. Three dark forms lying nearby showed how effective the boys' fire had been. Only two Germans seemed to be left to dispute their escape.

"Charge them, Jacques! Come on, Earl!" shouted Leon and he sprang to his feet and dashed forward.

The two remaining Germans had taken refuge behind the protection of the monoplane and toward this spot Leon rushed. A shot struck his steel helmet a glancing blow and he stumbled; a moment later he had regained his balance, however, and pushed on. Coming around the wing of the flying machine he stood face to face with one of the Germans; there was a flash and he felt a burning sensation through the muscles of his left arm. He discharged his pistol point blank at his enemy.

Suddenly he was seized violently from behind. Powerful fingers closed about his throat, shutting off his wind. Gasping, choking and fighting desperately he was borne to the ground.

CHAPTER XXIV

THE RETURN

Leon opened his eyes. He had an indistinct remembrance of the fight but that was all. His last recollection had been of shouts and shots and a violent struggle for breath.

Where was he? There was a great roaring in his ears and a sense of confusion all about him. Perhaps he was in the trenches again and the roar he heard was the drum-fire of the Germans. Undoubtedly the Boches were attacking and they must be repulsed at all costs. He struggled to get up. His head ached painfully and a sharp twinge in his left arm caused him to utter a slight groan.

It was dark all around him and he could not see distinctly. The roaring continued and he stretched out his hand. He felt something smooth; probably it was the barricade in the front of the trench.

Where was his gun? If he only had a hand-grenade: the Germans would pay dearly for any advance in that position. Again he tried to struggle to his feet and he heard above the roar a familiar voice speaking in his ear.

"How do you feel, Leon?" inquired Earl.

"Where are we?"

"We're on our way home."

"To America?"

"No, to the _douzieme_. We'll be there before long."

"How are we going?" demanded Leon greatly puzzled. He was having a hard time understanding what was taking place. His brain was still stunned and worked slowly.

"We're in the monoplane," explained Earl.

"Where's Jacques?"

"He's right here."

"But the Germans?"

"Those that attacked us aren't going to bother us any more. Don't let the thought of them worry you."

"But I don't understand," Leon persisted. "What happened?"

"When we rushed out from the woods," said Earl, "we thought there were only two of the Germans left. You accounted for one of them yourself when you came around in back of the machine there. The other one Jacques took care of. We thought we had killed three of them before we charged, but one of those three was 'playing possum.' As soon as we pa.s.sed the spot where he was lying he jumped up and grabbed you around the neck. It was a pretty clever trick on his part and he was a powerful fellow too; I thought you were done for for a while there."

"So did I," agreed Leon; ruefully pa.s.sing his hand over his sore and bruised throat. "Tell me though; how did you pry him off?"

"Well we had a terrible time. Jacques finally cracked him over the head with the b.u.t.t of his revolver; that finished old Mr. Boche."

"Did it kill him?"

"No," exclaimed Earl, "it merely stunned him. That was enough for us though and we got away as fast as we could."

"How did you manage it?"

"Why we just dumped you into the monoplane here and then got aboard ourselves and off we went."

"Before the reenforcements arrived I suppose?"

"Just before. As we left the ground and began to rise a whole troop of cavalry came racing into the clearing. They fired at us all right but they didn't touch us and here we are."

"It seems queer to me," said Leon, "that the Germans didn't do something to disable the engine or some part of the machine so we couldn't use it again."

"That's what I told Jacques," exclaimed Earl, "but he said they probably thought we wouldn't give them any more trouble and that they had captured a perfectly good monoplane and could use it themselves."

"Not with this paint on it."

"No, but it wouldn't take much trouble to put the distinguis.h.i.+ng mark of the German machines on it."