CHAPTER XXIV
IN NO MAN'S LAND
It was a misty, muddy night upon which the reconnoitering party,including Frank, Bart, Billy and Tom, was sent out under CorporalWilson, with orders to get as close as possible to the enemy's line andlearn all they could regarding their positions.
This included information in regard to the general direction of theenemy trenches, the extent and strength of his barbed wireentanglements and, if possible, the approximate force with which thetrenches were manned.
Of course, this order involved taking pretty long chances, but thepicked men sent out did not give much thought to that side of thequestion. By now it was all, not only a part of the day's work tothem, but the excitement of such an expedition was, in truth, somethingof a relief from the growing monotony of trench life.
They left their own trenches with the least possible sound and creptcautiously forward toward the enemy defences. The night was heavy andstarless, an excellent one for their project.
The soft earth deadened their footsteps and they slipped forward like acompany of ghosts, hardly a sound breaking the stillness save thedistant roar of the heavy guns that caused the ground to quiver andtremble under their feet.
The mist enveloping them began to grow denser minute by minute andbefore they had gone more than a hundred yards it was with the greatestdifficulty that they kept from becoming separated.
It was an uncanny experience for the young, almost untried soldiers,and the Camport boys were excited, and each eager to prove himselfworthy of having been chosen for the work.
Suddenly Frank thought he heard a subdued sound on his right andinstinctively stopped a moment to locate it more definitely.
In that second his comrades, who apparently had heard nothing, wereswallowed up in the thickening fog. Frank's impulse was to hastenafter them but he had hardly taken a step forward when he was againhalted by a repetition of the noise he had heard before.
He dared not call out to his comrades as he knew that such a cry wouldbetray them all in case they were near the enemy trenches. His nextthought was to return to his own lines, but the sound he had heard,surprisingly like the low-pitched gutturals of a German voice, made himunwilling to go back without investigating the matter further.Besides, here was the beginning of an adventure after his own heart,and he thought with a quickening pulse of the satisfaction that wouldbe his if he could, unaided, gather valuable information and take itback to his commanding officer.
This reflection decided him and slowly and with infinite caution hestole in the direction from which the sounds seemed to come.
He had not gone far when his first impression was verified. Throughthe mist he heard distinctly the subdued sound of voices. Creeping onstill farther as quietly and stealthily as a jungle animal, he couldfinally catch the articulation in the voices, and he knew the languagespoken was German.
"I must be mighty near their entanglements by this time," he thoughtexcitedly. "If I can only get through them I ought to be able to hearsomething. Here goes for a try at it anyway."
He dropped to hands and knees, regardless of the sticky mud, and wormedhis way along, one hand outstretched feeling for the wire that he knewmust be close. Sure enough he had not gone ten feet when his hand camein contact with the wire. He dropped flat on the ground and carefullydrew his wire cutters from his belt. Cautiously he nipped a sectionout of the lowest strand and crawled beneath. He knew that he wouldsoon come to a second line, and when he reached it he cut it in thesame way he had the first, and then cut a third and a fourth.
"That's probably the last fence," he thought, nor was he mistaken.
He was now close to the enemy's trench and could hear the subduedmurmur of voices. Above these came every now and then a sharp word ofcommand and the click of gun mechanisms being inspected together withother sounds indicating a state of bustle and preparation.
To Frank lying prone on the miry ground, these sounds conveyed a verydefinite and significant message.
"They're up to something sure as shooting!" he thought. "I'll betthey're preparing for an attack on our trenches! They're all as busyas bees!"
He lay quiet a minute longer until the sounds of preparation increasedto such an extent that he felt sure the Germans would soon be on themove.
"About time for me to hunt cover," he thought with a grin that even hisperilous position could not repress. "The sooner I get out of this andwarn our men the better it will be."
With this thought in mind he turned cautiously about and had startedback when suddenly he saw something that made his heart lose a beat.
All over the wire entanglements that lay across his path of escape longsparks were leaping and hissing with a subdued crackling sound like thesnapping of a wood fire. The Germans had electricified their wires inthe hope of entrapping any scouting party of Americans who might chanceto penetrate them!
Now indeed Frank found himself in a terrible predicament. He knew thatin the maze of wires he could hardly hope to find the place where hehad entered, and he was sure that with the heavy current in the wiresit would be certain death to touch them with his clippers. On theother hand he knew that the current would be shut off only a minute orso before the Boches left their trenches to attack. He would hardlyhave time to cut his way out before being discovered and shot.
However his only chance seemed to be to lie still and awaitdevelopments. This he did, resolving to make a dash the second thecurrent was cut off.
As he lay there his ears caught the sound of measured footstepsapproaching him.
"It's a sentry!" flashed through his mind. His hand flew to thebayonet at his side and he prepared to strike quick and hard.
But then another thought came to him. There must be a way through theentanglements that the Germans used. If he could capture the sentry hemight be able to make him act as a guide.
It was a chance--and a desperate chance. Would the sentry prove to bealert and resourceful? Would his love of the Fatherland, or at leasthis training that the individual must be always subservient to thegovernment, cause him to give the alarm at the expense of his personalsafety? Or would he be slow to think and act, and would the verytraining, having undermined his self-reliance, make him yield to thequick intelligence and the poise that freedom had given to the American?
Noiselessly he shifted his hand to his revolver and drew it forth. Heknew that it would be fatal to risk a shot, but he grasped the barrelof the weapon and as the heavy footsteps came abreast of him leaped tohis feet and brought the butt down with stunning force on the head ofthe dim stolid figure that loomed through the mist.
The man dropped without a cry but Frank listened anxiously to judge ifthe sound of his fall had reached the trenches. Apparently it had not,and satisfied of this the young American turned his attention to theinert figure at his feet.
Presently the man stirred and then in a dazed fashion started tostruggle to his feet. Quick as lightning the cold muzzle of Frank'srevolver was pressed against the German's neck speaking a language thatall men understand. The soldier stood quite still and Frank felt thatthe man, unstrung by the unexpected attack, would not risk death bygiving an alarm.
He was at a loss to convey a command to the German to show him the wayout through the barbed wire. He knew little of the German language.But it occurred to him that possibly the German could speak English.
"Show me the way out of this," he commanded, speaking very slowly. "Doyou understand?"
"_Yah, yah,_" mumbled the German. "I vill show you, only don't shoot.Dis way. Follow me."
"I'll follow you and mighty close too," Frank assured him. "One falsemove and you'll never make another."
The German made no reply but crawled sullenly through the mud, Frankfollowing with the muzzle of the gun pressing the man's leg.
Soon the German paused at what appeared to be a sort of gate but wouldhave seemed like any part of the fence to one not acquainted with it.After a moment's fumbling the gate sw
ung open and captor and captivecrawled through. In the same way they got through the other lines ofwire. Frank was once more in the open and the proud possessor of aprisoner besides.
"Forward march!" commanded the young American. "We will now visitthose pigs of Yankees you fellows are so fond of talking about. I knowthey will be glad to see you."
The big German only hunched his shoulders and went on doggedly. In alittle while they were near the American trenches and after answeringthe sentry's challenge they clambered down.
Frank was met with a wild rush by Bart, Billy and Tom, who had beenalmost crazy with anxiety because of his failure to return.
"Where have you been, Frank?" shouted Bart, "and where did you get theBoche?"
"I'll tell you when I get back, fellows," promised Frank. "Take careof this Hun. I've got to report right away. I think the Huns aregoing to attack."
He hurried away and made his report.
"You've done well, very well," declared Captain Baker. "And if theenemy attacks, as you think likely, they will find us ready for them.You may return to your company."
Frank saluted and hastened back. Orders were issued, and soon everyman was at his post, strung up to the highest pitch of excitement andexpectancy. They strained their eyes through the baffling fog but fora while could see or hear nothing.
Then suddenly a white shaft of light stabbed through the fog andpiercing the damp folds revealed row after row of helmeted figuresmoving toward them with a deliberation and menacing weight that mightwell have struck terror to hearts less stout than theirs!