In the Russian Ranks Part 18

About this time I noticed that there was a great increase in the number of aeroplanes and airs.h.i.+ps hovering over the country. I usually saw one or two every day, mostly German craft; on this 21st April I saw no fewer than six, and one Zeppelin. They were making an attack on a Russian position about five miles away; but it was not successful--few such attacks are. One of the aeroplanes dropped no doubt within the Russian lines; and another soon after it had retired and flown over our heads.

Both machines came down slowly. I saw the two men who worked the one that fell near us. The aviator was badly knocked about, and his face much cut; but I do not think that he was dangerously hurt. The mechanic was not so much injured: the aeroplane was wrecked.

The Zeppelin seemed to be injured; but she got away and sailed out of sight. We distinctly heard the reports of the exploding bombs dropped by these craft, and explosions of the Russian guns fired at them. I rejoiced to learn my friends were so near, and hoped that I might be released by some lucky chance, but this did not occur.

There was plenty of food at Prajashzhol--pork, fowls, ducks, bread, beef and mutton, and vodka; but vegetables were scarce, even potatoes; and wine there was none. I filled my haversack with sufficient food to last three or four days, and procured a new coat of rough material.

While we were bivouacking in the market-place, a vidette galloped in with some news which caused Captain Eshricke to mount in hot haste, and we literally bolted from the village. The dismounted men and the six Russian prisoners were left behind with their carts, and were, no doubt, retaken by the pursuing Russians, the first of whom appeared as we pa.s.sed the last houses of the village street. I tried to lag behind, but the Captain swore he would shoot me if I did not urge my horse forward; and one of the Uhlans p.r.i.c.ked the animal with his lance, causing it to rear and dash forward wildly. I would have fallen off, but there were too many men behind me. I should have been trampled to death, and probably speared into the bargain. For they are nasty-tempered fellows are the Germans when things are running counter to them; and the first Cossacks that appeared were only half a dozen men, and they held back until they were reinforced: indeed, they did not make a very energetic pursuit. They probably knew that there was a strong force of the enemy at hand, and feared they would be trapped.

I soon learned that the Uhlans in whose hands I was, and who belonged to the 12th regiment, formed part of the advanced guard of a whole army corps. At nightfall we came to a force of infantry, whose numbers I could not estimate, it was so considerable, and covered so wide a range of country.

The Captain handed me over to the first outpost we reached, and I was sent to the rear under escort of an infantry file. My horse was taken from me, and my feet were so painful that I could scarcely hobble along.

But no mercy was shown me. I was compelled to walk a distance of about four English miles. Then we came to a small cottage which was being used as a guard-house. Here I was blindfolded, and again marched on, I could not tell in what direction, for quite an hour, when we arrived at another house. I then found, from the sounds, that I was in the presence of several officers who were interrogating my captors.

Then the bandage was taken from my eyes, and I was searched. The officers carefully examined my papers, and the one who seemed to be the chief spat out, rather than spoke, so great was his venom:

"So you are an English spy, you dog!"

I said I was not a spy; but had been honourably fighting with the Russians, and was captured in company with a Russian soldier who was killed at the time.

"Don't you know that foreigners are not permitted to fight in the Russian Army?" asked the officer.

I said that I did not know anything of the kind; but I had been fighting in the Russian ranks.

"Spying in the Russian ranks," said this man, who spoke perfect English.

"Have you any defence to make?"

"I do not admit that a true charge has been made against me, or that I have need to make a defence. I am, practically, a Russian soldier," I replied.

"Oh!" said the officer, very sarcastically. "Have you any evidence that you were regularly enlisted in the Russian ranks, which we know to be impossible?"

"I do not say I was 'enlisted.' The papers you have taken from me prove that I held honourable relations with the Russian Army, and that I have fought with it for a period of nine months."

The man looked through my papers again. Those written in Russian he evidently could not read; but he sent for a soldier, having the appearance of an orderly-room clerk, who translated them to the officers.

"Bah! They are only pa.s.sports to enable you to carry on your nefarious business. You are a spy," he said; and deliberately tore the whole of the papers to shreds, which he cast on the floor.

My indignation was so hot that I exclaimed: "You scoundrel!"

"What!" he shouted. "You d----d Englishman! You shall be shot to-morrow morning. Take him away."

"You are a cowardly murderer!" I replied fiercely.

I did not get an opportunity to say more; for my guards hauled me away with great roughness, and took me to a house which seemed to be used as a prison; for at least a hundred persons were crowded into it.

Two-thirds of these were Russian soldiers; the remainder were civilians of various grades, including one woman, a lady of mature years; and one man was nursing a young child.

Was there ever a more horrible way of conducting war? Women, children, harmless citizens and honourable soldiers, treated as felons! Is there to be a retribution for this cruelty and wickedness?

It would be waste of time to pause and inquire what were the probable charges against these civilians. What are the charges against a bandit's victims? The revolutionists of '93 splashed blood on the walls of their cities: BLOOD should be splashed on the brows of the German monsters who have deluged Europe with it.

I believed that my last day had come. I had seen too much of the German method with prisoners to entertain the least hope of escape. I need not trouble to record my feelings: they were not pleasant emotions.

Those in the room were pa.s.sing their time in various ways. Some were asleep on chairs, or lying on the floor in corners. So many were smoking that the place was full of blue, hazy smoke. The woman, with bowed head, seemed dazed with wretchedness, the child was whimpering. From the way in which many of the men stared at me, I thought that they knew that I was appointed to die. One party devoted as much attention to me as they did to the cards they were playing. The guard numbered a dozen men, who occupied an ante-room, were laughing, talking noisily, and singing beastly songs; a circ.u.mstance that convinced me that the house occupied an isolated position, not near any body of troops commanded by an officer above subaltern rank, who would soon have put a stop to the ribaldry. These things did not occur to me just at the moment; but they flashed on my mind later, when a certain incident occurred.

I suppose it was about midnight; but there was no means of telling the time. Many of the guard-soldiers were dozing; the rest had quieted down, but were talking together, and not taking particular notice of the prisoners.

Two of the men who were playing cards got up, and came and stood in front of me. One of them, first looking round to see that the soldiers were not observing him, pointed his thumb at them, and winked; then he made a gesture of striking a terrific blow. He looked at me inquiringly; and I thought I comprehended what he meant, and nodded acquiescence. He replied by a nod of satisfaction; and he and his companion retired to the far end of the room.

What they seemed to propose to do was a desperate act. They appeared to intend to rush past the guards, knocking down any who attempted to oppose them, and so get away. I made up my mind that, since death must come, I would rather die making a desperate effort for my life than wait an hour or two longer to be led out in the grey dawn, tied up and shot like a dog. At that moment I was strung up to such a pitch of nerve that no action could be too desperate for me to attempt.

There was a yard attached to the house, which the prisoners were permitted to use, as occasion required. It was approached by a short pa.s.sage from the guardroom; and a sentry was posted in the yard to prevent prisoners escaping over the wall, which was nine or ten feet high.

Presently the two men I have mentioned, both of them soldiers of the Russian artillery, went out, one of them raising his hand slightly as he pa.s.sed through the door. I nodded to intimate that I would come. I was beginning to perceive more clearly what was intended. I followed at once. As I entered the yard one of the prisoners quietly shut the door behind me. The sentry began to speak, probably protesting, as I think only one or two prisoners at a time were permitted to enter the yard.

Before he had well opened his mouth one of the prisoners sprang on him from behind and clasped his throat; the other threw himself on him in front and tore his rifle out of his hands. He was lifted off his feet and held across the knees of one of the prisoners. He could not utter any sound except a smothered gurgle, but he kicked desperately. I saw what was wanted of me, and clasped his legs with all my strength. So we held him till he died.

Then the prisoners acted with the nimbleness of monkeys. One of them gave me a leg up the wall; I did not wait to see how they got up; it was a matter of life or death to act quickly. The three of us were over the wall and in the street in three seconds. I noticed that my companions had taken off their boots. I followed their example, and rushed up the street after them. It led out into the open country; and as there was some moonlight I rushed towards a patch of trees and bushes--a copse, I suppose. As I entered it I saw that one of the prisoners was already there. He immediately hid himself, and I did not see him or his companion again; nor do I know what became of them.

It was a very small wood; of some length, but not more than twenty or thirty yards wide. It will be inferred, though I have forgotten to actually say so, that there were lights in the prison-house. I could see these lights dimly showing through two of the blinded windows: and farther back I could see a single bright light. Probably this was in the town; and the town, I suppose, was Janow, which is Prussian, and situated on the frontier between that country and Poland. But this is merely a guess, based on the direction my captors had taken, and the situation in which I afterwards found myself. It may have been some large village, of the existence and name of which I was ignorant.

Although at the moment all was quiet, and there were no signs of movement behind, I could not hope that the discovery of our escape would be long delayed, and I saw the necessity of putting as great a distance as possible between myself and the enemy without a moment's delay.

I turned to the left, because that seemed the darkest part of the country, and ran as fast as I could; but even with the prospect of escape to urge me on, I could not run very fast owing to the crippled and painful state of my feet. In about half an hour I was compelled to sit down for a rest; and I tried to put my boots on. Owing to the swollen condition of my feet, occasioned by running rapidly over some stony ground, I found that I could not do this; and I bound up the injured members in tufts of gra.s.s which I gathered in one of the fields I pa.s.sed across; and in this plight continued to walk until daylight.

The country I travelled over was fields and open ground. I crossed several roads and pathways, but was afraid to keep on them as I expected that pursuing parties would use them. The fields were exposed; and when light broke I dodged from bush to bush, or along the ditches. There are no hedges or fences in this country, the part.i.tions of the ground being made by ditches. Trees or bushes, except in the woods, are very scarce; but there are a few along the courses of the brooks, which are numerous and often serve as boundaries to the fields. As they have deep banks, I often ran along their beds, especially as the water was grateful to my hot and painful feet; but I am not sure that I did wisely to resort to this method of obtaining ease; for afterwards I suffered so severely that I almost despaired of being able to continue my journey.

In this district farms and peasants' houses were tolerably numerous, and though I strove to avoid it, a woman at one of the cottages saw me, and beckoned with her hand. I thought it would be wise to stop, especially as her gestures were friendly. She took me by the sleeve and led me into the cottage, where two men were seated on benches at a rough table, eating their breakfast. A large jug of milk and some bread and meat were given to me, food I was much in need of, and while I was eating it the woman bathed my feet in warm water, and bound them in rags. They seemed so little taken by surprise at my appearance, that I fancied I was expected; and I am pretty sure that one, or both, of my fellow-prisoners had been there before me, and kindly put these people on the alert to a.s.sist me.

When I had finished eating, the woman pointed to a ladder leading to a loft, and motioned that I should ascend it, evidently intending that I should rest; but I preferred to put a greater distance between myself and the Germans; though I think it is unlikely that they would pursue a fugitive far into an enemy's country. So I thanked these kind people as well as I could, and went on my way. The men walked about two English miles with me, and pointed out a road I should take, leading to Przasnysz. I understood that well enough; and also that they blessed me in the name of the Trinity when we parted.

When I had gone some distance I looked back. The men were standing by some mounds which I guessed covered the remains of slain Russians, and were bareheaded and silently praying--a common custom in this country, where people more often address themselves to the Almighty in the open air than they do in houses.

The road was over an undulating plain, with a few willow-trees along the courses of the streams, but practically no cover for a person wis.h.i.+ng to hide himself. I hurried on as fast as I could walk. By the time the sun was well up I was so tired that I was glad to creep into a fairly dry ditch, where I slept soundly until nearly evening time. Before resuming my journey I ate a small loaf which the woman had put in my pocket when I left the cottage in the morning. Then I took a road running eastwards to Ostrolenka, with the object of reaching the railway, and also in the hope that I should find Russian soldiers to whom I was known. There is no railway at Przasnysz: and though I believed that the last-named place was still in the hands of the Russians, I was not sure of it, and feared that, in any case, I should run great danger of meeting parties of the enemy in that direction. It so happened, however, that I saw patrols or scouts of the enemy on the road I had decided to take. They consisted of small bands of Uhlans and dragoons, the strongest of them not more than twenty troopers in number. They were probably flying parties, at a great distance from a base; but that circ.u.mstance made them none the less dangerous to me; and I spent the greater part of the day lurking in cover. It is a fortunate event some of these men did not discover me; for I was compelled to be content with very incomplete concealment. I escaped notice, but I had several very narrow escapes; and if the soldiers had been as alert as they ought to have been I should have been discovered. One man nearly rode over me as I lay crouching in a patch of sedge by the side of a tiny brook; and a squad of eight dragoons pa.s.sed within four or five yards of me, giving me a very unpleasant shock, as I had no weapon for defence, except a stick I had broken from a tree. The Germans had stripped me of everything I carried, my money excepted; and that, fortunately, I had successfully hidden by st.i.tching it, sovereign by sovereign, under a black braid stripe down the seam of my trousers.

CHAPTER XXV

ADVENTURES DURING THE EFFORT TO ESCAPE

I soon decided that it was necessary to ensure my final escape by hiding during the day, and travelling only at night. The country was full of small mounted parties of the enemy, who were prying into every hole and corner of the land. During a week that I was travelling towards Ostrolenka (which could not be farther than thirty English miles), I saw enough to show what my fate would be if I had the misfortune to fall into the hands of the fiends who were ravis.h.i.+ng the country. I saw several peasants dragged from their hovels and shot, and the women treated with unnameable barbarity. I heard children screaming in fright at the murder of their parents, and saw homesteads set on fire and burnt to the ground. Outrages of all kinds were committed by small squads of men who were commanded by unter-officers (that is, corporals), if commanded at all; and in saying this I do not intend, in any degree, to exonerate the commissioned officers. As I lay hidden on the roof of a barn I saw a young beast, who did not seem to be more than twenty years of age, ill-use a woman, while one of the devils he commanded kicked away her children, as they undoubtedly were. He afterwards threw the woman to his men, half of whom abused her in turn; while their commander shot a white-haired old man who interfered, and who was probably her father. Other men on the farm had been previously shot. I am half-ashamed to narrate the incident, and have to admit that I did not interfere--I could not. Starving, crippled and ill, and unarmed, any interposition on my part would only have added another drop to the horrible pool of blood that lay in front of the doorstep.

Afterwards the house was set on fire; and being old and built mostly of timber, it burned out in about half an hour. While it was in full blaze the hussars, a dozen in number, rode away. One of them was badly hurt, having been shot, I think, by one of the men the Germans afterwards murdered.

I came down from my perch amongst the bundles of sticks on the barn-roof as soon as the murderers left the yard. The woman had thrown herself on the body of one of the men, and was moaning piteously: the children hiding their faces in her dress, and sobbing bitterly. There were three of the little mites, the eldest about twelve years, the youngest four or five. I afterwards found a boy of eight, who had hidden himself, and was paralyzed with fright.

At this time I was faint with hunger; and finding it impossible to arouse the woman, who was nearly dead, or comfort the children, I entered the smouldering house in search of food, if any had escaped the flames. I knew it was the Polish custom to build the pantry of stone, and projecting beyond the house; and I hoped that some fragments of bread at least were still to be found. But the Germans had cleared the place: not a crumb was to be seen; and as I was exploring one of the rooms, I broke through the floor into a heap of ashes at white-heat. I extricated myself pretty quickly, but nevertheless my already frostbitten feet and legs were burned; it is surprising that I continued to stand and walk for days after this occurrence.