CHAPTER XV
A DARING RUSE
Harry, furious as he was when he saw Graves allowed to go off afterfalse accusation that had caused his arrest, was still able to controlhimself sufficiently to think. He was beginning to see the whole plotnow, or to think he saw it. He remembered things that had seemed trivialat the time of their occurrence, but that loomed up importantly now. Andone of the first things he realized was that he was probably in no greatdanger, that the charge against him had not been made with the seriousidea of securing his conviction, but simply to cause his detention for alittle while, and to discredit any information he might have.
He could no longer doubt that Graves was in league with the spies onwhose trail he and Dick had fallen. And he understood that, if he keptquiet, all would soon be all right for him. But if he did that, theplans of the Germans would succeed. He had already seen an example ofwhat they could do, in the destruction of the water works. And it seemedto him that it would be a poor thing to fail in what he had undertakensimply to save himself. As soon as he reached that conclusion he knewwhat he must do, or, at all events, what he must try to do.
For the officer who had arrested him he felt a good deal of contempt.While it was true that orders had to be obeyed, there was no reason,Harry felt, why the lieutenant should not have shown some discretion. Anofficer of the regular army would have done so, he felt. But this manlooked unintelligent and stupid. Harry felt that he might safely replyon his appearance. And he was right. The officer found himself in aquandary at once. His men were mounted on cycles; Harry was on foot. AndHarry saw that he didn't quite know what to do.
Finally he cut the Gordian knot, as it seemed to him, by impounding abicycle from a passing wheelman, who protested vigorously but in vain.All he got for his cycle was a scrap of paper, stating that it had beenrequisitioned for army use. And Harry was instructed to mount thismachine and ride along between two of the territorial soldiers. He hadbeen hoping for something like that, but had hardly dared to expect it.He had fully made up his mind now to take all the risks he would run bytrying to escape. He could not get clear away, that much he knew. Butnow he, too, like Graves, needed a little time. He did not mind beingrecaptured in a short time if, in the meantime, he could be free to dowhat he wanted.
As to just how he would try to get away, he did not try to plan. He feltthat somewhere along the route some chance would present itself, andthat it would be better to trust to that than to make some plan. He wasordered to the front of the squad--so that a better eye could be keptupon him, as the lieutenant put it. Harry had irritated him by hisattempts to cause a change in the disposition of Graves and himself, andthe officer gave the impression now that he regarded Harry as adesperate criminal, already tried and convicted.
Harry counted upon the traffic, sure to increase as it grew later, togive him his chance. Something accidental, he knew, there must be, or hewould not be able to get away. And it was not long before his chancecame. As they crossed a wide street there was a sudden outburst ofshouting. A runaway horse, dragging a delivery cart, came rushing downon the squad, and in a moment it was broken up and confused. Harryseized the chance. His bicycle, by a lucky chance, was a high gearedmachine and before anyone knew he had gone he had turned a corner. In amoment he threw himself off the machine, dragged it into a shop, ranout, and in a moment dashed into another shop, crowded with customers.And there for a moment, he stayed. There was a hue and cry outside. Hesaw uniformed men, on bicycles, dashing by. He even rushed to the doorwith the crowd in the shop to see what was amiss! And, when the chasehad passed, he walked out, very calmly, though his heart was in hismouth, and quite unmolested got aboard a passing tram car.
He was counting on the stupidity and lack of imagination of thelieutenant, and his course was hardly as bold as it seemed. As a matterof fact it was his one chance to escape. He knew what the officer wouldthink--that, being in flight, he would try to get away as quickly aspossible from the scene of his escape. And so, by staying there, he wasin the one place where on one would think of looking for him!
On the tram car he was fairly safe. It happened, fortunately, that hehad plenty of money with him. And his first move, when he felt it wassafe, was to get off the tram and look for a cab. He found a taxicab ina short time, one of those that had escaped requisition by thegovernment, and in this he drove to an outfitting shop, were he boughtnew clothes. He reasoned that he would be looked for all over, and thatif, instead of appearing as a Boy Scout in character dress of theorganization, he was in ordinary clothes, he would have a better chance.He managed the change easily, and then felt that it was safe for him totry and get into communication with Dick.
In this attempt luck was with him again. He called for the number of thevicarage at Bray, only to find that the call was interrupted again atthe nearest telephone center. But this time he was asked to wait, and ina minute he heard Jack Young's voice in his ear.
"We came over to explain about the wire's being cut," said Jack. "Dick'sall right. He's here with me. Where are you? We've got to see you justas soon as we can."
"In London, but I'm coming down. I'm going to try to get a motor car,too. I'm in a lot of trouble, Jack--it's Graves."
"Come on down. We'll walk out along the road towards London and meetyou. We've got a lot to tell you, but I'm afraid to talk about it overthe telephone."
"All right! I'll keep my eyes open for you."
Getting a motor car was not easy. A great many had been taken by thegovernment. But Harry remembered that one was owned by a business friendof his father's, an American, and this, with some difficulty, he managedto borrow. He was known as a careful driver. He had learned to drive hisfather's car at home, and Mr. Armstrong knew it. And so, when Harryexplained that it was a matter of the greatest urgency, he got it--sincehe had established a reputation for honor that made Mr. Armstrongunderstand that when Harry said a thing was urgent, urgent it must be.
Getting out of London was easy. If a search was being made for him--andhe had no doubt that that was true--he found no evidence of it. Hischange of clothes was probably what saved him, for it altered hisappearance greatly. So he came near to Bray, and finally met his twofriends.