hold it, and in case of an attack they filledit up with great rapidity. So far the church tower remained standing, asthe Allies wished on taking the town to use it to look out from andobserve any unfriendly actions on the part of the Germans.
"If only," Tish said, "we could have repaired that machine gun andbrought it the affair would be extremely simple. It has from thebeginning been my intention to give the impression of an attack inforce."
She then considered for a short time, and finally suggested that the twosoldiers return to the allied Front and attempt to secure two automaticrifles.
"And it might be as well," she added, "to take Miss Aggie with you. Sheis wet through, and will undoubtedly before long have a return of herhay fever, which with her has no season. A sneeze at a critical timemight easily ruin us."
Aggie, however, absolutely refused to return, and said that by holdingher nostrils closed and her mouth open she could, if she felt theparoxysm coming on, sneeze almost noiselessly. She said also thatthough not related to her by blood Charlie Sands was as dear as her own,and that if turned back she would go to V---- alone and, if captured, atleast suffer imprisonment with him.
Tish was quite touched, I could see, and on the two men departing toattempt the salvage of the required weapons she assisted me in wringingout Aggie's clothing and in making her as comfortable as possible.
We waited for some time, eating chocolate to restore our strength, andattempting to comfort Mr. Burton, who was very surly.
"It has been my trouble all my life," he observed bitterly, "not toleave well enough alone. I hadn't any hope of the success of thisexpedition before, but now I know you'll pull it off. You'll get Sandsand you'll get Weber and send him back--to--well, you understand. It'sjust my luck. I'm not complaining, but if I'm killed and he isn't I'mgoing to haunt that Y hut and make it darned unpleasant for both ofthem."
Tish reproved him for debasing the future life to such purposes, but hewas firm.
"If you think I'm going to stand round and be walked through and sat on,and all the indignities that ghosts must suffer, without getting back,"he said gloomily, "you can think again, Miss Tish!"
When the two men returned Tish gave them a brief talking-to.
"First of all," she said, "there must be no mistake as to who is incommand of this expedition. If we succeed it will be by finesse ratherthan force, and that is distinctly a feminine quality. Second, there isto be no unnecessary fighting. We are here to secure my nephew, not theGerman Army."
The man we had bumped off the step of the ambulance, whose name provedto be Jim, said at once that that last sentence had relieved his mindgreatly. A few prisoners wouldn't put them out seriously, but the Allieswere feeding more than they could afford already.
"But a few won't matter," he added. "Say, a dozen or so. They won't kickon that."
* * * * *
I have never learned where Tish learned her strategy--unless from thepapers she took from the general's cellar.
Military experts have always considered the plan masterly, I believe,and have lauded the mobility of a small force and the greater element ofsurprise possible, as demonstrated by the incidents which followed.
Briefly Tish adhered to her plan of making the attack seem a large one,by spreading the party over a large area and having it make as much noiseas possible.
"By firing from one spot, and then running rapidly either to right orleft, and firing again," she said, "those who have only revolvers mayeasily appear to be several persons instead of one."
She then arranged that the two automatic rifles attack the town from infront, but widely separated, while Aggie and myself, endeavoring to be aplatoon--or perhaps she said regiment--would advance from the left. Onthe right Mr. Burton was to move forward in force, firing his revolverand throwing grenades in different directions. Of her own plans she saidnothing.
"Forward, the Suicide Club!" said Mr. Burton with that strange sarcasmwhich had marked him during the last hour.
I have since reflected that certain kinds of men seem to take love veryunpleasantly. Aggie, however, maintains that the deeper the love thegreater the misery, and that Mr. Wiggins once sent back a muffler shehad made for him on seeing her conversing with the janitor of the churchabout dust in her pew.
In a short time we had passed through the wood and the remainder of theexcursion was very slow, owing to being obliged to crawl on our handsand knees. We could now see the church tower, and Tish gave the signalto separate. The men left us at once, but for a short time Tish was nearme, as I could tell by an irritated exclamation from her when she becameentangled in the enemy's barbed wire. But soon I realized that she hadgone. Looking back I believe it was just before we met the Germans whowere out laying wire, but I am not quite certain. There were about tenof the enemy, and they almost stepped on Aggie. She said afterward thatshe was so alarmed that she sneezed, but that having buried her entireface in a mudhole they did not hear her. We lay quite still for sometime, and when they had gone and we could move again Tish haddisappeared.
However, we obeyed orders and went on moving steadily to the left, andbefore long we were able to make out the ruins of V---- directly beforeus. They were apparently empty and silent, and concealing ourselvesbehind a fallen wall we waited for the automatic rifles to give thesignal. Aggie had taken cold from her wetting, and could hardly speak.
"I'b sure they've taked Tish," were her first words.
"Not alive," I said grimly.
"Lizzie! Oh, by dear Tish!"
"If you've got to worry," I said rather tartly, "worry about theGermans. It wouldn't surprise me a particle to see her bring in thelot."
Well, the attack started just then and Aggie and I got our revolvers andbegan shooting as rapidly as possible, firing from the end of thevillage, and with Mr. Burton's grenades from one side and our revolversfrom the other it made a tremendous noise. Aggie and I did our best, Iknow, to appear to be a large number, firing and then moving to a newpoint and firing again. I must say from the way those Germans ran towardtheir own lines behind the town I was not surprised at the rapidity ofthe final retreat which ended the war. As Aggie said later, we were notthere to kill them unless necessary, but they ran so fast at times itwas difficult to avoid hitting them. They fairly ran into the bullets.
In a very short time there was not one in sight, but we kept on firingfor a trifle longer, and then made for the church, meeting the twoprivates on the way. When we arrived Mr. Burton was already there andhad unfastened a large bolt on the outside of the door. We crowded in,and somebody closed the door and we had a moment to breathe.
"Well, here we are," said Mr. Burton in a quite cheerful tone. "And nota casualty among us--or the Germans either, I fancy, save those thatdied of heart disease. Are we all here, by the way?"
He then struck a match, and my heart sank.
"Tish!" I cried. "Tish is not here!"
It was then that a voice from the far end of the church said:"Suffering' snakes! I'm delirious, Weber! I knew that beer would get me.I thought I heard----"
Some one was hammering at the door with a revolver, and we heard Tish'sdear voice outside saying: "Keep your hands up! _Lizzie!_"
Mr. Burton opened the door and Tish backed in, followed by a figure thatwas muttering in German. She had both her revolvers pointed at it, andshe said: "Close the door, somebody, and get a light. I think it's ageneral."
Well, Charlie Sands was coming with a candle stuck in the neck of abottle, and he seemed extremely surprised. He kept stumbling over thingsand saying "Wake me, Weber," until he had put a hand on my arm.
"It's real," he said then. "It's a real arm. Therefore it is, it mustbe. And yet----"
"Stop driveling," Tish said sharply, "and tie up this general orwhatever he is. I don't trust him. He's got a mean eye."
It has been the opinion of military experts that the reason the enemyhad apparently lost its morale and failed to make a counter-attack atonce was the early loss of this officer.
In fact, a prisoner taken laterI believe told the story that V---- had been attacked and captured by anentire division, without artillery preparation, and that he himself hadseen the commanding officer killed by a shell. But the truth was thatTish, having fallen into an empty trench a moment or so before I missedher, had after recovering from the shock and surprise followed thetrench for some distance, finding that she could advance more rapidlythan by crawling on the surface.
She had in this manner happened on a dugout where a German officer wassitting at a table with a lighted candle marking the corners of certainplaying cards with the point of a pin. He seemed to be in a very badhumor, and was muttering to himself. She waited in the darkness