CHAPTER II
A FRIEND APPEARS
Harry and Jack hastened to cross the room strewn with wreckage left bythe exploding shell. Ned was already kneeling in the corner.
"What is it, Ned?" cried Jack excitedly. "Have you got a gun?"
"No, not a gun," replied Ned in suppressed excitement, "but it mayprove more useful than a gun at this time."
"Oh, I see what it is!" was Harry's exclamation. "Hurrah! We may beable to beat them out after all. Hurry!"
"Huh!" scornfully put in Jack. "Nothing but a trap door into thecellar! I wouldn't give much for that!"
Ned, without replying to either lad, was busily scraping away therefuse from the corner. Almost concealed by the litter, he had seen ahuge ring in the floor and, naturally concluding that it was fittedinto a trap door, had begun an investigation for the purpose ofdiscovering if the door led to a passage that might afford a means ofescape for the lads. The proximity of the approaching soldiers madetheir need of some haven of refuge an imperative one.
Presently Ned discovered the outlines of the trap door, which he hadcorrectly surmised to be in that spot. The location of the debrisfavored the quick plan that had formulated in Ned's fertile brain. Herose to his feet and gave a quick glance about the room.
Without wasting time or effort in conversation, the lad quickly pointedtoward a table that lay upturned not far from the trap door.Signalling to his comrades for assistance, he darted toward the objectand began dragging it to a position directly over the trap door.
Jack and Harry, divining his intention, hastened to assist Ned. Theirunited efforts soon placed the table in position. It was the work ofbut a moment to raise the trap door and prop it up with a short pieceof wood from the wreckage strewn about. Making the well-known signalused by railroad men in the United States as a sign for a fireman toshovel more coal into the firebox, Ned urged the others to descend intothe darkness that yawned mysteriously at their feet.
Jack was first through the opening. He clung to the rim for a momentwith his hands. Then he released his hold and dropped.
Harry and Ned, impatiently waiting for Jack to pass through the door,heard him drop to a floor below and give a startled cry. Then theyprepared to follow just as the tramp of many feet resounded through thepassage outside the room. Harry slipped into the opening and in turndropped out of sight. Ned followed feet first and for an instant hungfrom the sill.
Grasping the stick that had been used as a prop, Ned gave a mightywrench backward and fell. He said afterward that it seemed as if hehad taken a full week to drop from his position to the floor below. Inreality the drop was not a great one. The distance was, however,greater than the height of any of the three boys, and explained theirinability to gain a foothold before releasing their hold upon the floorabove. For a moment Ned was unable to regain his breath.
Presently he sat upright and began to search for his comrades.
"Jack, Harry!" he called softly. "Where are you?"
"Here we are, Ned," came a whisper from the darkness that shut the boysin on every hand. "Can you see us?"
"Can't see a thing!" declared Ned. "Where are you, anyway?"
"Stay right where you are and we'll be there in a moment," was Harry'sanswer. "This is one horrible place or I'm a Dutchman!"
"Come on, then, and be quick about it," urged Ned. "I wonder if wehave dropped out of the frying pan into the fire," he added.
"Impossible," chuckled Jack, in spite of the seriousness of theirpredicament. "Where there's fire there's light, and I can't see asingle ray of light in this miserable place!"
"Hush, Jack!" cautioned Harry. "Not so loud or they'll find us. Can'tyou hear them tramping about in the room above?"
Harry's question brought Ned and Jack to a realization of the fact thatthe room they had so recently quitted was occupied by the soldiers fromwhom they had tried to escape. Footsteps echoed along the stout floor,and the boys could hear sounds indicating that pieces of furniture werebeing hurriedly overturned.
"Uh!" grunted Jack as he suddenly bumped into Ned. "Wonder youwouldn't blow signals when you're going to cross ahead of a fellow."
"Hush!" whispered Ned. "They may hear us! Let's wait a bit!"
All three boys drew close together. They instinctively clasped handsin the darkness, looking for some degree of comfort in the act.
The noises above them gradually lessened. Presently they ceasedaltogether, and the boys could hear footsteps clattering along thefloor in the direction they assumed the door to be. Directly quietreigned in the place.
"They've gone, I guess," Ned said after a moment's wait. "Now whatshall we do? Shall we climb back into the house?"
"I move that we explore this apartment first," said Jack.
"Oh, no!" urged Harry. "This isn't a nice place to go poking aroundin. We have troubles enough already without hunting more."
"What's your objection to looking the place over?" asked Ned.
"Rats!" was Harry's brief but expressive explanation.
"Rats?" queried Ned. "What do you mean? Are there rats here?"
"There certainly are, and lots of them," was the positive answer."When I dropped into this place I think I dropped onto one, and musthave crushed him before he had time to squeal. I heard others running."
"We really ought to make a light," returned Ned. "We can't tell whatthe place is like without some way of seeing it."
"There's a light!" was Jack's sudden exclamation. "See it over thereto the right. Why," he added, "there are two lights!"
"And I see others!" cried Harry. "I believe it's the eyes of the rats.Perhaps they were frightened away and are coming back."
"Have you any matches?" asked Ned. "I haven't a one with me. It'scareless, I know, but not a match can I find in my pockets."
"Where's your searchlight?" inquired Jack. "Haven't you that?"
"No; the Germans took that away from me when they searched us."
"I have two matches," said Harry, "but I don't want to waste them.Perhaps it will be a long time before we get any more, and I feel thatwe ought to save them if possible."
"Maybe we can find some stuff here dry enough to make a fire with, andthat'll give us light!" suggested Jack.
"Good idea!" responded Ned. "The place feels dry enough."
"Let's keep hold of hands and move slowly about," put in Harry. "Inthat way we won't be separated and may find just what we want."
Acting on this suggestion, the boys clasped hands and moved slowlyabout, feeling their way cautiously with their feet. They seemed to bein a cellar with a solid stone floor that had been made quite smooth.
"Here's something!" exclaimed Harry as his foot struck a small object."This feels like a piece of wood."
"Here's my knife; let's whittle some shavings," offered Jack.
In a short time the boy had succeeded in producing the desired shavingsfrom the board Harry had discovered. Gathering these carefully in hishands, he held them ready to receive the flame from Harry's match. Allthree lads eagerly gathered closer together as Harry prepared to strikethe match that would give them the desired ability to see. Harry'shand trembled a trifle in spite of his effort at self-control. Hisfirst effort was unsuccessful.
"Careful, Harry," admonished Ned. "Better strike it on your shoe sole.That makes a better match scratcher than your trousers."
"Correct!" observed Jack. "And go easy," he added. "We have only two,you know. If anything should happen, you understand--"
"Yes, I know," answered Harry. "That's why I'm trying to be extracareful. I'm just as anxious for a light as you are."
"The rats are coming closer," observed Jack, a slight quaverperceptible in his voice. "I don't want them to start anything."
"All right now, Harry; lean on me a bit to balance yourself," urgedNed. "Make sure this time, and get it in your cupped hands."
"Here goes!" announced Harry, lifting one foot and striking the matchupon the so
le of his shoe. "Here comes the light!"
But, contrary to expectations, the light did not come, although the ladtried again and again.
"Try the other match, Harry; maybe this one got wet somehow and won'twork," suggested Jack, stepping closer.
"I have tried them both," declared Harry in a faint voice.
"What's the matter, then?" demanded Jack excitedly.
"I guess they are those safety matches that will light only on thebox," was Harry's explanation. "I haven't the box, either," he addedin a voice scarcely above a whisper. "It's no go, boys!"
"Look through all your pockets," directed Ned, "and see if there isn'ta scrap of box left by oversight. We must have a light!"
Frantically the three boys searched their pockets, but could discoverno shred or vestige of a box on which to strike the impregnated safetymatches held by Harry. At length they gave up the effort.
"That's peculiar!" declared Jack with emphasis. "Just think of all thematches used every day in the United States by thousands and thousandsof people who never think of saving them. We have used a whole lot ofmatches ourselves needlessly, and now we want just one as badly as weever wanted anything. It's fierce!"
"It surely is fierce," agreed Ned, "but we'll have to make the best ofit. It seems peculiar, too," he went on, "that the rats haven't begunanything. They seem to be all about us."
"Yes, but they are not moving about very fast," observed Harry. "Maybethey 're afraid of us yet. Let's make a noise and scare them."
"How shall we do it?" asked Jack. "What will you make a noise with ifyou haven't anything to use? Tell me that!"
"Stamp on the floor good and hard; that'll scare them."
"All right; here goes!" agreed Jack, suiting the action to the word.
All three boys were startled at the result of Jack's stamping. Acrackling sound was heard, followed by a tiny spurt of flame from thefloor under his foot.
"Easy there, easy!" cried Harry, dropping to his knees. "That's justwhat we wanted. Don't move now, but give me those shavings!"
With trembling hands the lad took the shavings from Jack's hand.Carefully shielding the tiny flame from possible draughts of air, theboy held the point of one of the thin pieces of wood over the flare.In a moment it had caught fire. Licking up the curl, the flamegradually leaped from one piece of wood to another until the entirehandful was ablaze. The dancing light played upon the three faces andsent a glow out into the surrounding blackness. Harry deposited theburning shavings upon the floor, where the fire was soon transmitted tothe larger piece of wood Jack had used in whittling.
As the boys saw that the matter of fire was assured, they glanced firstat each other, then let their gaze wander about the apartment.
"Goodness, the rats don't seem to be much afraid of fire!" exclaimedJack, pointing toward a horde of rodents swarming about the place.
"What's that on them?" asked Harry wonderingly.
"I declare it's red!" exclaimed Ned. "It looks like blood!"
"Where'd they get blood from, I'd like to know!" protested Harry.
"There's only one answer to that just now, with all the dead andwounded soldiers about," answered Ned, shaking his head. "It's awful!"
"Let's get out of here as quick as we can," urged Jack. "Come on."
With one accord the lads turned from the swarm of rats.
"Where are you going?" demanded a strange voice from the darkness.
"Who are you?" asked Ned, startled by the sudden question.
"Maybe I'm a friend," was the answer. "Yes, I guess I am."