CHAPTER V
PURSUIT
They had no thought of any further danger, as they sped along the roadon the stolen--or, rather, the captured motorcycle. The road wassmooth and good. There was nothing to detain them. Behind them thefurious shouts of the Germans, even the firing, died away, until theonly sound they could hear was the noise of the engine. The machinewas a good one, evidently built for the hard work of an army in thefield.
Before them now was the searchlight from Fort Boncelles, picking up onepatch of darkness after another, flooding it suddenly with light, andthen passing on to the next, swinging about endlessly in a great arc,so that the slightest movement that was out of the ordinary was sure tobe seen. From time to time the great beam of light struck the road,before them or behind them. Then they were in the midst of it, ridingin a sea of light. The searchlight winked off, came back to them, andwent with them for nearly half a mile.
"They've spotted us, Arthur!" said Paul, with a laugh. "Well, I hopethey're not frightened!"
"They must want to make sure of what we're doing, I suppose, Paul!Look at the other lights! It's a great sight when they all swing uptogether, isn't it?"
From the forts that ringed the ancient city the darting searchlightsswept the heavens. At times all of them met, for a moment, making ablinding reflection against the sky. They would stay thus; then, oneafter another, the lights would go swooping down, keeping their vigil.Behind each were watchful eyes, ready to report immediately the first,the slightest sign of what might come now at any moment.
"Those searchlights make the idea of war seem more real than anythingelse has, Paul," said Arthur.
Paul gave a short laugh.
"If you'd seen those shells and the parts of the guns, all ready to beput together in that cellar, you wouldn't say that!" he exclaimed."And how about the German officer--in uniform, on the soil of afriendly country? That's almost an act of war itself, Arthur! He hasno business here!"
"I don't see what difference it makes, Paul. If they're coming,there'll be so many more that one more or less won't count."
"Well, they're coming! I'm more sure of that than ever since we foundthat house. I say, Arthur, I think you'd better stay right out here inthe road with the motorcycle, while I run in and get the plans. If weboth went, we might be caught--and I don't want to have to explainanything until we've told what we know to the staff officers."
"All right, Paul. But don't be long."
"I won't! Here we are! Now you wait--and I'll get back just as soonas I can."
It was an easy matter, as it turned out, for Paul to slip into thegrounds and retrieve the plans. But it took time, and time, had heonly known it, was the one thing he could not afford to waste justthen. Somehow neither he nor Arthur had given a further thought to thetwo Germans they had so cleverly eluded in the mysterious cottage.They had felt that these two enemies, at least, might be counted outfor that night.
And so Paul, returning to the spot where he had left Arthur, took noparticular pains to conceal himself. He called out as he vaulted thelow wall between the grounds of his uncle's place and the road.
"It was easy!" he cried. "No one was about. They're probably soexcited that they haven't even missed us yet! Start your engine!We've got to hurry now."
Arthur tried to obey. But there was some slight hitch in the startingof the engine. Then the spark worked, and the motor began to throb.The cycle started; Paul leaped up to his place behind. And then,behind them, came a sudden roar, the sound of another motorcycle, and aflash of light swept over them.
"Stop!" cried a voice--a voice they knew! It was one of the Germans!
"Go on! Hurry!" cried Paul. "Perhaps we can get away from them--we'reahead, anyhow!"
The motorcycle leaped forward now, but from behind they could stillhear the barking of the exhaust of the other machine, and the excitedcries of the Germans. Luck was with them, however, for just at thatmost critical of moments something must have gone wrong with thepursuing machine. The noise of its motor ceased behind them. Theshouting continued, but only one voice was raised. Plainly the otherman was busy. While their luck held, Arthur pushed the machine at thebest speed he could get out of it. And it was well that he did, sincethe trouble with the other motor was soon mended. It sprang intosputtering life again behind them. But now they had a good lead andwere racing on toward the forts, toward the circle of wide swingingsearchlights.
"How are we getting on, Paul?" asked Arthur. "Are we gaining?"
"I'm afraid--no, we're not. They're coming along awfully fast. Thatmust be a much more powerful machine than this."
"I don't think it's that. I'm awfully afraid that our gasoline isrunning low! That German must have ridden a long way. Probably heexpected to fill his tank back there! There's so much noise that I'mnot sure, but I'm afraid one cylinder is missing. That's what ismaking us slower."
Over their heads now a bullet sang out sharply. There could be nodoubt about it at all, now; the other motorcycle was rapidly making uplost ground. Then while they still raced on, and when the othermachine was less than a hundred yards behind, the whole road was pavedin light again, as the Boncelles searchlight swung around and down, andwas focused full on the chase.
Still the other cycle gained, but there were no more shots. The reasonfor that was made plain in a few moments by a call to surrender.
"They're only boys!" one of the Germans had yelled to the other. "Wecan catch them. Don't let's hurt them."
And then, with the distance between the two machines being reducedevery minute, they could hear one of the Germans shouting to them.
"Stop! Surrender!" he cried. "You can't escape--we're gaining all thetime! If you stop now, you won't be hurt!"
Then the searchlight swung away, and in that same moment Paul had aninspiration. He remembered that in his pocket was a glass flask thathad contained water. He took this out now, and broke it against thesteel frame of the motorcycle. The fragments cut his fingers, but heignored the cuts and the flow of blood. At the risk of hurting himselfstill more, he broke the fragments again in his hand. Then he begandropping the sharp pieces of glass. And in a minute he had his reward.From behind came two sharp explosions, and looking back, he saw theother motorcycle swerve and fall. The two riders went sprawling.
"Get all you can out of her, Arthur!" he shouted. "I spilled them.The glass punctured both their tires! That was luck! It won't stopthem for long, but it's given us a little more time. I don't believethey'll put on new tires, even if they're carrying them. And if theydon't, it will make them much slower. You can't go so fast on rims asyou can on rubber tires!"
"That was fine! I never thought of doing that!" exclaimed Arthur. "Ido believe it's going to save us, too. We can't be more than a mileand a half from Boncelles now."
"We'll get there--unless our gasoline gives out altogether before that,Arthur. And it may. The engine is certainly missing all the time,now. Oh, if it will only hold out!"
Their speed was greatly reduced now. And from behind the other motorstarted again.
"I admire those Germans!" said Paul. "A good many people wouldn't keepat it the way they're doing. It's no joke to ride on a motorcycle withboth tires gone. They'll remember to-night for some time, I think!They'll be sore and shaken to pieces before they're done."
"They'll be better off than their machine," said Arthur,philosophically. "There won't be enough of that left to sell for junkif they ride it very far in that condition."
"Well, I don't believe they'll care about that, if they only catch usand get the plans--"
It was a sudden lurch of the machine, accompanied by a sputtering and astopping of the motor, that interrupted him. The two scouts sprang offjust in time, steadying the machine.
"Drop it! Into the fields here!" cried Paul. "We can't run anylonger. We must try to elude them by tricking them. Come on!"
And so they were obliged to abandon the machine that
had served them sowell, leaving it lying in the road. They ran across a ditch thatbordered the road, and into a field where they managed to concealthemselves in a hedge. They could still see the white road, and thecollapsed motorcycle, but there was a chance, even if it was a slimone, that they themselves would not be seen.
Arthur wanted to run across the field, but Paul stopped him.
"That's what they'll expect us to do, isn't it?" he said. "And,besides, they could see us. There's no shelter for a long way. Herethey may overlook us, just because we're so close--and it's the onlychance we have, anyhow."
"Here they come!" cried Arthur, and crouched down, staring. For amoment it seemed that the pursuers might ride straight by, and Paulgroaned suddenly.
"We ought to have dragged the machine in here with us!" he said. "ThenI don't believe they'd have known we had stopped for quite a distance!I never thought of it, though, and now it's too late!"
It was too late, indeed, for the other machine stopped within a fewfeet of the overturned cycle.
"Ha! Now we'll have them! They can't have gone far!" said one of theGermans. "Accursed boys! They have given me a fright!"
"You haven't caught us yet!" whispered Paul, defiantly.
It was true, as the Germans soon discovered. For when they beganlooking for the two boys, they found that it was one thing to know thatthey must be somewhere about, and quite another to find out just where.They did not begin to look immediately in the field, but went along theroad, toward Liege, evidently looking for footprints. Then when theydid take to the field, they crossed the ditch fully a hundred yardsfurther along the road.
"Come on!" said Paul, suddenly. "We got one of their machines--whyshouldn't we take the other?"
Arthur saw the point as quickly as Paul. The carelessness of the twoGermans had once more given them an opportunity. In a moment theydashed out, and, just as the Germans, with a yell of fury, saw them,they were off. Bullets flew about them, but they bent low over themachine, and they were going fast. Still two bullets found their mark,one puncturing the rear tire, the other perforating the gasoline tank.Once more they seemed to be caught. And then a searchlight swept downupon them again. But this time it was not the great light fromBoncelles. It was the huge headlight of an automobile, and behind itthey saw an armored car. Soldiers sprang from it, and in a moment thetables had been completely turned.
It was the two German officers who were made prisoners, while officerseagerly pressed about the scouts, asking question upon question.
"I must be taken to General Leman at once," said Paul, stoutly. "Wehave information of the utmost importance."
The Belgian officers laughed at him at first. But he was so earnestand persistent that he had his way at last.