CHAPTER XVII
AMIDST BURSTING SHELLS
Jack did not even dare attempt to draw the push-pole up out of thewater, lest he manage in some fashion to strike it against the side ofthe boat, and in this way draw the attention of the enemy.
Everything depended on luck--and the current of the river. If thislatter proved strong enough to draw the motorboat far enough away, sothat its outlines could not be distinguished by those in the rowboat,all might yet be well. Certainly if hearty wishes could accomplishanything this end was likely to be achieved, for every one aboard washoping it would come to pass.
Jack soon began to breathe easier. He felt sure the boat would pass backof them, and at a sufficient distance to avoid discovery, unlesssomething unexpected came about to betray their presence. A sneeze justthen would have ruined everything; and Buster felt a cold chill passover him when he had such an inclination. He managed to ward the desireoff by rubbing both sides of his nose violently, just as he had beentaught to do by his mother when in church.
So the sounds died out, and they now heard nothing save the gurgle ofthe water or the sighing of the summer breeze among the treetops onshore.
Far away across the river he caught sight of a light. It was low downand close to the water, so Jack could easily guess it marked the spotwhere the Austrian monitor lay anchored.
Upon making another trial with the pole Jack found it possible to stilltouch bottom. As it was his desire to keep on pressing out as far asthey could go, so as to approach near the middle of the river, hecontinued to exert himself. Every yard gained counted for just so much,and now was the time to do it. Later on the opportunity would havepassed, and it might be too late.
When they arrived at the point where the Save joined forces with theDanube it was expected that the influence of this new flow of waterwould add to the swiftness of their passage.
Jack knew that it would be an hour of greatest anxiety while theyremained in the region dominated by those big guns. At any minute theymight be discovered by some unlucky accident, such as the moon comingout from her concealment, or the breeze rising so as to carry away thegathering fog.
He had everything ready so that the engine could be started up instantlyshould they have reason to believe they were seen from the Austrianshore. As a last resort he was intending to make for the Serbian bank,in hopes of finding shelter there. At least, if captured by the Serbs,they would be treated decently, once the identity of their passengershad been learned.
The minutes crept slowly past.
All they could do was to sit there and turn their heads to look eagerlyfirst this way and then that.
Feeling a tug at his sleeve, Jack turned toward Josh, who was closest tohim.
"Look yonder; there are lights, Jack!" whispered the other in his ear.
Jack guessed that this must be Belgrade, though at the time the Serbiancapital, being the subject of bombardment, lay almost in darkness, sothat the vigilant foe across the river might not have the range.
Somehow it interested Jack deeply to see those few meager lights whereat other times the sky might have blazed with the electric glow, forBelgrade was always a little Paris of the Balkans. It seemed to speak ofthe terrible results that must follow in the train of a brutal war,civilization giving way to barbarity.
And there off to the right must be the Save River, flowing from far upin the region between the Croatian and the Bosnian provinces of Austria.
Back of this stream he knew there were heavy fortifications dominatingthe distant Serbian capital. It would seem that Austria had takenparticular pains to threaten her fiery little neighbor on the south,possibly in hopes of some day stirring up another hornets' nest in theBalkans, through which she might attain her selfish ends and annex newterritory.
As their course did not lie in that direction Jack bothered himself notat all in connection with the Save batteries. He was, however, deeplyinterested in the ones he knew were located upon the lower heights. Whatperil they must face would spring from this source.
It was perhaps only natural that just then Jack should suddenly rememberwhat had been said about searchlights. He wondered whether any were inuse in this section of the fighting zone. Germans, French and Britishwould certainly have carried such necessary appliances with them, but itwas uncertain whether the Serbs or the Austrians had seen fit to installthem here.
Now they seemed to be sweeping around the bend in the river. Jack couldfeel a new motion to the boat, which he believed must come from theaddition of the Save waters to those of the Danube.
He watched both shores alternately. It was almost impossible to make outanything except where some height was dimly outlined against the cloudedsky line. Then he turned his eyes aloft. The moon had risen, for in theeast it was light compared to the west, though nothing of her silverydisc could be discovered.
Would the clouds continue to befriend the fugitives of the Danubethrough the dangerous passage of the batteries? If there came a breakabove even for a brief interval it might spell ruin for their hopes. Andso Jack hoped most fervently that the clouds would prove merciful andkeep on shutting off that light which, coming at an unfortunate moment,might mean their betrayal.
Without the slightest warning there came a sudden fearful sound. At thesame instant they saw a vivid flash far back on the Austrian heights.Seconds followed, marked by the accelerated pulsations of their hearts.Then followed a crash and a flash over the place where the boys knew thecapital lay in darkness and gloom.
The bombardment of Belgrade had begun again. Some plan of campaign wasbeing followed out that had to do with either the utter destruction ofthe city or else the rout of its defenders, so that a hostile army couldmake the crossing in safety, something they did not dare attempt as longas the Serbs remained in their trenches awaiting their coming.
The mere fact of its being night made no difference. Long ago theAustrians had undoubtedly platted everything out and secured the rangefor their big guns on the heights back of the river. They could firejust as accurately in utter darkness as in broad daylight, for theshells were hurled with mathematical precision, each one being timed toexplode at a certain second.
As if that first shot were looked upon as a defiance, several Serb gunstook up the challenge. It was inspiring to see the shells burst likegiant skyrockets far up on the heights. Evidently others besides theAustrians had occupied their spare time in getting distances all down toa fine point, for the Serbian gunners managed to drop their projectilesin given places, where they threatened to smash some of the tremendouswar engines of the enemy.
The boys knew that it was much too late for them to think of turningback now. In fact, such a thing was utterly impossible, much as theymight have wished it. All they could do was to keep on floating down theriver, trusting in their customary good luck to escape harm.
They could hear strange noises as the reverberations died out, whichJack knew must be made by the whizzing shells far above them. It gavehim a thrill to realize the fact that he and his three chums were thusbrought into the very whirlwind of war, with deadly engines ofdestruction busy on all sides of them.
Even the anchored monitor several miles up the river joined in themusic, for that partly muffled roar seemed to come from the directionthey knew her to be in.
The two passengers had remained perfectly silent all this while, thoughtheir faces kept turned toward the spot where they knew the darkenedcity must lie. It was easy for Jack to imagine what their thoughts mustbe at such a time as this. No one could say how long this bombardmenthad been going on, or what sort of damage the terrible shells explodingmay have done among the numerous fine buildings of the Serbian capital.
By now it might be lying a mass of ruins for aught they knew; andsomewhere in the midst their mother had been living the last they heardfrom her. Yes, Jack could easily appreciate what agonies of mind thecouple must be enduring as they crouched there in each other's arms, andwith throbbing hearts listened to the hoarse crash of the opposing gu
ns,the one friendly and the other freighted with hatred and animosity.
There was, of course, no danger to the party on the motorboat from theshells that were passing so high overhead, describing a parabola intheir flight, something after the manner of a rainbow. Jack's fears werealong other lines.
If, as he suspected, this night bombardment on the part of the Austrianbatteries was meant to occupy the attention of their foes while a forceof troops was being ferried over the river or a temporary bridge made ofpontoons and planks thrown across, it would mean that sooner or laterthe fugitives must be brought up with a round turn and find themselvescaught in a trap.
One shell burst prematurely, and almost overhead, giving them a severeshock, for the sound was deafening. All of them involuntarily droppeddown and held their breath in suspense. Then they heard missilesstriking the water all around with an angry hiss, some of them terriblyclose.
"Nothing doing!" muttered Josh, when the fusillade had stopped and itbecame evident that they had escaped being struck.
"It was a narrow escape, all the same," said Jack, with deep gratitudein his voice, though at the same time he remembered to keep his toneslow.
All of them were fervently hoping there would be no more short fuseswith the shells that were screaming overhead. It was bad enough to bepassing underneath such a rain of fire without incurring the added perilof being unintentionally struck.
Back and forth the duel continued. The Serbian gunners were evidentlybent on giving as good as they received. They also hoped, no doubt, tomake things so warm up there on the heights that the Austrians wouldcease firing in order to save their guns from being dismounted.
Every yard counted for the fugitives. Hope grew stronger in the heart ofBuster as they continued to glide along on the bosom of the river andnothing happened to disturb this feeling of increasing confidence. Hereally began to believe, perhaps for the first time, that they weregoing, after all, to float beyond the dangerous zone and find safetybelow.
As he afterwards declared, Buster lived years during that period ofsuspense. It seemed to him that minutes must be hours, for each one wasfraught with such unlimited possibilities of evil that such things asseconds were not to be reckoned with at all.
The friendly clouds still held the moon from coming forth to betraythem, and it was undoubtedly true that they were passing the worst ofthe line of bombardment. Given just a certain amount of time and theycould count themselves safe from that source of danger.
There remained the possibility of coming upon the Austrian forces belowstarting to bridge the river or cross on boats.
Jack believed that it was not wise for a white man to shout until he wasfully out of the woods. While the prospect certainly looked hopeful, hewould not allow himself to believe the danger was over until many moremiles had been passed.
Between Belgrade and the Iron Gate, which latter is situated at thejunction of Austria, Serbia and Rumania, there is a stretch of rivernearly a hundred miles in extent. Here the Danube makes another sharpturn amidst wonderful scenery, and for a long distance forms theboundary between Serbia and Rumania.
Jack realized full well that they could not count themselves free fromperil until they saw the shore of Rumania on their left. He hardly knewwhether it would be wise for them to try and make progress duringdaylight, for they might be picked up at any time by Austrian soldiersafloat on the river, or made the target of concealed guns ashore, underthe impression that the motorboat must belong to Serbs.
Josh, being an ardent chap and easily influenced by outer appearances,actually believed everything was going the right way, and that they hadescaped from the jaws of another dilemma. Only for Jack's caution hewould very likely have been inclined to voice his delight in someboisterous way; but he did not dare give his feelings full sway.
So far the current had done all they could have asked. It had swept theboat onward persistently, and without any sound to betray them. Beforenow, doubtless, those men from the anchored monitor must have foundwhere they had built their little cooking fire and learned that themysterious motorboat had vanished, either down the river or back againwhence it came. Jack was not bothering himself in the least about thethings that were gone. The wheel of the mill would never turn again withthe water that was past, according to his notion.
He kept looking ahead all the time. Something was bothering him,undoubtedly, for Josh discovered that the skipper had his hand up tohis ear, as though trying to add to his powers of hearing.
"What is it, Jack?" he whispered.
"I saw lights below, moving lights, and something is going on, I'mafraid," Jack told him. "The sound of the guns deadens everything. Ibelieve it is being kept up on purpose to hide something else. See, youcan catch the lights I spoke about now."
"Say, I thought I caught something like hammering just then, Jack," saidthe other in fresh excitement. "Do you think the Austrians can be tryingto get some of their troops across the river under cover of the darknessand fog?"
"I've been afraid we'd find that was the meaning of all the firing,"Jack answered. "The Austrians don't dare try it in broad daylight, buthope to push enough men over to-night to hold a bridge-head, and thenfollow with their field artillery."
"But what would they try to do, cross on boats, Jack?"
"If that was hammering we really heard," came the reply, "then it meansthey are trying to spread a pontoon bridge across the Danube. Longbefore dawn they could land thousands of men with many guns on theSerbian side of the river."