CHAPTER IV. THE BLOCKED WAY TO THE BORDER.
They passed over a second and even a third mile without having anytrouble. Now and then they overtook or met people on the road butalthough the natives stared at seeing four boys in khaki riding in thatdilapidated old car they did not offer to molest them.
Thad knew, however, that they had a rocky road to travel, for many timesthey must run up against soldiers, who would not be apt to let thingspass so easily.
"We're coming to a bridge ahead there, that spans the river," he toldthe other three presently.
"I wonder will it be guarded," remarked Giraffe; "I've heard so muchabout the wonderful way every little thing has been mapped out in caseof war being declared by Germany, that I reckon each man, young and old,knows just what his part is to be, and has rushed off to do it the firstthing when the news came."
"Yes," added Thad, "we were told that the older men of the Landstrumwould stay at home and guard bridges, water plants, Zeppelin sheds, gunfactories and all such places. And unless my eyes deceive me I caughtthe glint of the sun on steel at that bridge right now."
"Yes, that's a fact, Thad; I see soldiers, and they're watching us comeon," Allan observed, with a tinge of disappointment in his voice.
It was with more or less anxiety then that the scouts approached thebridge.
"I don't suppose it would be wise to risk rushing it!" said Bumpus, andthe idea of such a thing was so ridiculous that Giraffe laughed aloud.
"Just imagine us bearing down on the guard in this wheezy old trap!" heexclaimed; "why, old Don Quixote on Rosenante wouldn't be a circumstanceto us. He fought windmills, and we'd have to tackle German soldiersarmed with guns. Well, our only chance would be to _scare_ them nearlyto death, so they'd be unable to shoot."
"We'll not think of taking any such risk," said Thad, severely, thoughof course he knew very well Giraffe was only joking.
With many a groan the car was brought to a stand at the bridge. Threemiddle-aged men in uniform stepped up, and one who seemed to be anon-commissioned officer addressed them in German.
Of course it devolved on Giraffe to do the honors, and so he proceededto tell just who they were, how they came to be on the Rhine, and hownecessary it was that they get back to Antwerp so as to take the sicklady away.
All this had been arranged between Giraffe and Thad beforehand; andpossibly the former had practiced his speech at a previous time, so thatthere might be no hitch.
Meanwhile Bumpus was waiting and listening, hoping for the best. Thegruff old German soldier looked at their passports, and then at thelittle American flag which each one of them had fastened to the lapel ofhis khaki coat.
He shook his head, and it was in the negative, Bumpus noticed, with aspasm in the region of his heart.
Then followed some more conversation between Giraffe and the soldier;after which the former turned to his comrades with a look of pain on hislong face.
"He says we've got to turn and go back to Cologne again, boys," Giraffeinformed them. "He has his orders to not let a single person cross thebridge who doesn't live around here, and is known."
"But we are Americans, and he might have some consideration for us,"complained Allan, though he knew just as well as anything, from thesevere look of the soldier, that talking would be useless.
"It makes no difference," Giraffe said, "orders are orders with him. Ireally believe if the Kaiser himself should come along he'd have to goback again. He says we might as well give over our foolish scheme ofgetting across the border into Belgium, now that war has been declared,and the fighting is going on."
Poor Bumpus looked heart-broken.
"Then we'll have to give up this beautiful car, and just when we weregetting so used to it, too," he fretted, as though that were the worstand most cruel blow of all.
Thad knew it was folly to think of trying to swerve that old man, whohad an iron jaw, and may have been with the army many years ago whenParis was taken and France humbled.
"Well, we must make out we're going to do what he suggests, anyway," hesaid, in a low tone to the others.
Then he began to maneuvre so as to make the turn. It required somedexterity, for the old car did not respond to the wheel very readily. Inthe end, however, the turn was negotiated successfully, without anyaccident. Bumpus had been clutching the side nearest him as thoughfearful lest they might be precipitated down the embankment into theriver.
It was with despondent faces that the boys started back along the roadwhich they had so recently traveled in such high spirits. Bumpus,however, believed that things were not utterly hopeless. He had caughtthe words spoken by Thad, and to his mind they could have but onemeaning.
"Do we give up the ship at the first storm, Thad?" he asked plaintively.
"We have to make a show of doing what they ordered, you know," explainedthe pilot at the wheel; "but I noticed on that little map I bought inMainz that there's another good road leading to that Belgian border. Wecan try that and see what luck we have."
"Was that it about a mile back, leading off to the right as we camealong?" asked Allan, quickly, showing that he, too, had kept his eyesabout him, as every wide-awake scout should at all times.
"Yes," Thad told him.
"And you mean to take it, do you, Thad?" demanded Bumpus, oh! soeagerly.
"We can make the try, and see what happens," he was told. "Of course, ifevery bridge and culvert on the road has its guard, we'll not be apt toget very far before we're hauled up again."
"Well, let's all hope that if that happens it'll be a man without thatiron jaw, and one who might listen to reason," Giraffe ventured, for hewas feeling badly over the utter failure of his attempted negotiationswith the guard.
They rode on in silence for a short time, and then Allan cried:
"There's your road ahead, Thad; and we've lost sight of the bridge longago, so they couldn't see us dodging into the same. There are somepeople coming along, but they'll not notice what we're doing."
"I hope you haven't changed your mind, Thad?" remarked Bumpus,anxiously.
"Certainly not, Bumpus," he was informed, and that satisfied the stoutchum, for he sank back again into his place with a grunt.
It turned out that the second road was almost as good as the other, afact that caused the boys to congratulate themselves more than once.
"They certain sure do know how to make roads over here in the Rhinecountry," Giraffe declared; "fact is, they do about everything in athorough way that makes a Yankee sit up and take notice. No slip-shodbusiness will answer with these Germans."
"Yes, they even turn you back when your passport is O. K., and you'vegot rights they ought to respect; they're thorough all right, but it'stoo much red tape to suit me," Bumpus complained.
"No kicking yet awhile, Bumpus," Giraffe warned him; "you notice thatwe're still on the move, and headed for the upper corner of Belgium'sborder. If we've got any decent sort of luck at all we ought to make theriffle."
"I'm afraid we're coming to some sort of town," Thad told them, "and asthere's no way of turning out here we'll have to take our chances."
"I did see a side road back a piece," remarked Allan.
"Yes, and running to the northwest in the bargain," added Giraffe.
"That would mean if it kept on straight it would finally bring up at theHolland border, wouldn't it?" Bumpus wanted to know.
"I don't suppose we're twenty miles away from Holland right now," saidAllan.
"If we had to come to it, would you try to get across the line there,Thad?" asked the stout boy, and when he was told that "half a loaf wouldbe a lot better than no bread," he seemed to be satisfied that all wasnot lost.
As they proceeded the evidences of a town ahead of them became more andmore evident. Neat houses, each with its well kept garden, could be seenon both sides of the road. Women and children, many of them wearingwooden shoes, stared at the car as it wheezed past, bearing the fourboys.
Doubtless the sight of their khaki uniforms caused a general belief thatthey must in some way be attached to the army, for several boys venturedto give them a salute, which the pilgrims hastened to return in everyinstance.
"Even the kids over here have got the military spirit born in 'em,"remarked Bumpus, after a very small specimen had waved his hand in realsoldierly fashion.
They were now entering the town, though it could hardly be called by sopretentious a name, since there was really but the one main streetrunning through it, with others cutting across.
"Too bad!" they heard Thad say; "but we're going to be held up again."
Several soldiers stepped out in the road. One seemed to be an officer,from his uniform, though he did not carry a sword. He held up his handin the manner of an autocrat who must be obeyed, and of course Thadstopped the car just before coming to the little squad. The other threesoldiers carried guns, and with such an array of weapons it wouldcertainly have been the height of folly for the boys to think of runningthe gantlet.
To the surprise of Thad, the officer spoke in excellent English. Perhapshe had at some time been stationed in England, or else in the UnitedStates, though that did not necessarily follow, as undoubtedly manyGermans were proficient in other languages.
"You must turn back!" he said, severely; "I do not know that I would beexceeding my authority if I ordered your detention under arrest."
"But we are American tourists, as our passports will show you, sir,"Thad explained; "and all we want to do is to leave the country. One ofmy comrades here has an invalid mother in Antwerp and he is wild to getto her, so he can take her back home to America. Surely you will notwant to keep us here against our will, where we would be a burden onyou, and with four more mouths to fill?"
"It is sad," said the officer, with a shrug of his shoulders, "but nowthat war has been declared, and we do not know what will befall theFatherland, we must do many things that would never happen in times ofpeace. So while I am sorry for the boy with the sick mother, it must notinterfere with my orders, which were that no one should be allowed topass on toward the Belgian border unless he showed proof that he was inthe service of the Central Government."
"I am sorry to hear you say that, sir," Thad told him.
"There is still more," continued the other, sternly; "this is the secondwarning you have had to turn back. We received word by telephone fromthe bridge to look out for four American boys in scout uniforms. Becareful how you risk a third offence, for I fear it would result in yourbeing thrown into prison. And remember, it is a long way from thecountry of the Rhine to your Washington."
What he said gave the four chums a cold feeling. They knew he meant thatno matter how innocent of any intention to do wrong they might claim tobe, if they persisted in breaking the rules laid down by the GermanGovernment for war times, why they must take the consequences, whichcould not be very pleasant.
All of those castles in the air which Bumpus had been conjuring upduring their short ride now came tumbling in ruins to the ground.
"I guess we'll have to give it up, fellows," he groaned, "and take ourmedicine the best way we can. We've tried our hardest to get out of thisbeastly country; and no one can blame us for not succeeding. But I hateto think of my poor sick mother over there, waiting and waiting for meto come to help her, that's what!"