CHAPTER VII A NARROW ESCAPE
It was an inspiring spectacle. The French field battery had done itsutmost to inflict more or less damage upon the advancing German hosts,but evidently the time had come for discretion to take the part ofdesperate valor.
They had no orders to stick it out until every gun was smashed or theenemy had come swarming up to bayonet each reckless gunner. “Those whofight and run away may live to fight another day”; and the policy ofthese clever Frenchmen was to pester and annoy the oncoming invaders asmuch as possible in order to delay their progress, since every hourcounted in the gathering of a force to defend Paris.
The boys hastened to step aside in order to let the galloping horses andthe swinging guns and caissons sweep past. Bumpus looked at the wild wayin which they were hastening along the dusty road and gave it up. Itwould take a much better athlete than he professed to be to manage sucha thing as boarding one of those hurrying guns, even though they wereinvited to climb aboard. If the others tried it he, Bumpus, would haveto keep going afoot, that was all.
But of course Thad had no such scheme in his mind.... Far in the rear hehad sighted a caisson on which there was but a lone Frenchman. Doubtlesshis companion must have met with some catastrophe, one of the burstingshells having “got him” in the wild flight.
The horses drawing this caisson did not seem capable of equalling thespeed displayed by the other animals. Perhaps they, too, had sufferedfrom particles of a bursting bomb, and, being sorely wounded, they couldnot exert their customary strength.
The man was using a whip vigorously. Apparently he did not fancy beingleft in the lurch by his mates, nor could it be pleasant to have allthose explosions taking place so near by.
Thad believed he saw a small chance, if only the driver displayed heartenough to stop and allow poor Bumpus to climb aboard. He meant to do allin his power to influence the man, and for that purpose commenced makingmotions with his hands as the other drew near.
Of course it did not require any wonderful degree of sagacity to enablethe driver to understand what was wanted. Anybody would wish to get awayfrom that region if such a thing were at all possible. And, being aFrenchman, and a gallant fellow in the bargain, what did he do but holdhis frightened horses in as he reached the spot where the four boysstood in a bunch.
He also shouted something at them in French. They may not have knownjust what the exact meaning of the few words were, but understood hisgenerous act. He was inviting them to get up beside him and have a ride.
Bumpus almost frantically climbed aboard amidst much grunting, which,however, could not be heard, such was the terrific din all around them.And hardly had he managed to get a seat than the driver whipped hishorses into another mad gallop.
Those boys would never forget that furious race. It was impressed ontheir memories after a fashion that time could not efface. The straininghorses, speeding through the cloud of dust raised by the other units ofthe field battery; the detonations of exploding shells, which stillcontinued to drop around them as though the unseen German gunners hadthe range down to a fraction; the difficulty of keeping their seats onthe jumping caisson—all these things conspired to form a species ofexcitement that kept their nerves tingling with a constant dread lestsomething would suddenly happen to bring about disaster.
Once only through a miracle did they escape from death. A shell droppedupon the road back of them not ten seconds after they had passed. Hadthey been delayed just that length of time it must have blown caissonand all aboard into atoms; for, of course, the ammunition in the chestwould also have exploded.
No one tried to talk, which was somewhat strange on the part of Giraffe,who always wanted to be heard. With all that fierce jolting knocking thewind out of them, even he realized the folly of wasting any breath.
Besides, it could do no good. They were in a position where the utmostthat was possible would be to grimly hold on and trust to good fortuneto presently carry them out of range of the German guns. Perhapspresently, too, they might reach the advance line of the French army,where they could hope to find shelter behind the bristling defense guns.
Down along the dusty road Thad stared. He fancied that he could see whatlooked like a covered bridge crossing some branch of the river. Yes, nowthe first gun was starting to pass over it, with the others, as well asthe caissons, following swiftly behind. And higher rose that billow ofdust, betraying their location to the eyes of the enemy doubtlessthrough field-glasses and by means of aerial scouts hovering aloft.
Thad saw that one gun was missing, and he discovered it alongside theroad almost at the same moment. Horses lay there with the shatteredcarriage supporting the gun and a human leg protruding from underneaththe mass told of the terrible fate that had overwhelmed the driver. Thesecond man was not in sight, and Thad had a suspicion that he might havebeen picked up by one of the other teams in passing.
Bumpus, too, caught a passing glimpse of this terrible sight, and hisface was lacking its customary rosy hue; still he had as much grit asthe next one when it came down to a showing, and uttered no sound toindicate his dismay, only clinched his jaws together and set the musclesof his fat cheeks as if summoning all his resolution to the fore.
They were now approaching the bridge.
Once across it and there was some hope that they might find themselvesin less peril. Surely there must be a limit to the range of the gunsthat were sending all those bombs around them, and the stream might markthis. Thad hoped so most certainly, as he mentally counted the secondsthat must elapse before they could gain the bridge.
The horses did not run as they should, and Thad knew they had beeninjured, for there was a perceptible limp to the gait of both animals.Only that constant lashing on the part of the driver caused them to keepgoing; and even that must fail before a great while.
What would happen then he knew not. At the most, they would findthemselves no worse off than before they were taken aboard the caissonby the obliging driver. Afoot they would have to seek some sort ofshelter and try to hide until that rain of shells had ceased.
Several times they had other narrow escapes. Once Giraffe gave aperceptible start, and Thad saw him clap a hand to his shoulder. It gavethe scout leader a chill, for he, of course, believed the tall chum musthave received a wound that might prove more or less serious.
“Are you hit, Giraffe?” he shouted in the other’s ear, for the din madetalking in ordinary tones utterly out of the question.
“Oh, I guess it didn’t amount to much,” came the reply; “but somethingstruck me on the arm. Still, I can’t see any sign of blood.”
Thad himself took a look.
“Your coat sleeve is torn, Giraffe,” he told the other, “and I expectyou’ve had a wonderfully close shave of it. You’re in great luck, let metell you!”
Indeed, it even seemed as if the German gunners far away wereconcentrating all their fire upon the vicinity of that covered bridgeacross the stream, for the bursting shells were more numerous than ever.It would be next door to a miracle if they were allowed to run thegantlet unscathed. At any second something might happen, and Thad didnot like to imagine what this was apt to be like.
It would be only natural if all of the boys realized just then that theyhad been overbold in trying to reach Paris from the northwest instead ofgoing on down the coast to Boulogne and approaching from the rear, wherethey might only have met swarm of fugitives fleeing from the capital andno German armies closing in.
Now they were drawing close to the bridge. The balance of the batteryhad vanished beyond somewhere. No doubt they had a place in view whereanother stand was likely to be made, with the idea of again opening fireupon the enemy should he come within range of their guns.
Looking closely, Thad could see no sign of life around the bridge, andyet somehow he seemed to have a queer suspicion that there was somethingwrong about it, though if asked he could not have explained his feeling.
They we
re so close that in another minute the staggering horses musthave pounded upon the planks with their hoofs. Then came a staggeringblow. It seemed to stop the advance of the tired team as though they hadsuddenly dashed against a barrier, such was the impact of air.
The bridge, where was it? A bewildering sweep of smoke and fitfulflashes of dimly seen flame; a rending of planks and beams, many ofwhich rose high in the air; a terrific din of crashing wood, and then,only a great gap remained.
The bridge was gone!