CHAPTER XII
EXCITING EXPLOITS ON LAND
"That is the place where I live," said the elder of the two men, as hepointed to a low cottage on the side of a hill, "and Raoul here livesbelow the turn. We must approach the house cautiously, for we know spiesto be in this part of the country."
"I will go ahead," said Raoul. "Follow and go up to your house throughthe orchard."
They tarried by the roadside until the signal appeared. Upon reachingthe house they were greeted by Felix's wife, for that was the name Raoulbestowed on his friend. A good meal was soon spread before them, and inthe meantime the lieutenant was plied with questions, as the people inthat section had no opportunities for learning what was really takingplace in the outside world.
Finally the lieutenant asked: "Do you know of any place where we couldget some petrol?"
The men mused for a while, and shook their heads. "You know," Felixsaid, "everything around here is controlled by the Germans, and petrolis one of the things that is kept strictly under guard."
"Do you know the place where they store it?" inquired the lieutenant.
"Yes, but it would be dangerous to attempt to get any of it," saidRaoul.
"I have a plan," said Felix, "but we cannot do anything before night. Iknow every step of the way to the station, and will take you there thisevening."
"Good!" said the lieutenant. "In the meantime, give me a diagram of thestation, and the roads leading to it. That will help me to becomefamiliar with the surroundings."
For the next hour the lieutenant was busily engaged in learning allabout the country, and where the stores and ammunition were kept.
"I think we might as well have some of that petrol," said the lieutenantwith a smile, as he looked at the boys, who nodded their approval, asthey were keen to participate in the plans which the lieutenant hadformed.
That night, after ten o'clock, they appeared at their place ofconcealment, for it was thought wise to keep away from the house in theevent any of the prying neighbors should happen in. Together theycautiously found their way to the railway and walked along the trackuntil the first switch was reached. While waiting there so that Felixcould point out the different objects, Ralph drew the lever, and set itso the first train would take the switch.
The lieutenant saw it and nodded approvingly. Ahead a few hundred feetwas a low building, which was reached by the track which led from theswitch.
"The guards are stationed at that shed across the track, and sometimesthey come over," said Felix.
"But is the building open?" asked the lieutenant.
"There are no doors; only open arches. The tanks can be loaded andunloaded from the tracks," was the answer.
They were carrying three vessels, such as are usually employed fortransporting petrol in small quantities, and nearing the shed thelieutenant said: "Remain here and await my orders. I will go ahead andinvestigate."
With two of the receptacles in his hands he crouched as low as possible,and made his way along the track, but before reaching the structure heleft the track, and approached the shed from the south side. He was gonefor more than fifteen minutes, and when he returned with the receptaclesfilled he immediately seized the other, returning with it also filled ina few minutes.
"Now, take these to the cross road, and out of sight. I will be there infifteen minutes," and saying this he quietly left them.
The boys and Felix carried the cans to the designated place with thegreatest care, for the fluid was precious to them. No sooner had theyhidden the receptacles when something like a flash of lightningilluminated everything about them, and this was followed by anexplosion.
Felix gasped as he gazed in the direction of the sheds, for he divinedthe cause. The boys, too, were startled.
"I wonder if the lieutenant did that?" asked Ralph.
"I have no doubt of it," replied Felix.
"Do you really think he did it? I wonder if he is hurt?" said Alfred,his voice in a tremor.
They waited for more than a half hour. What if the lieutenant had beencaught in the catastrophe? They could see the soldiers at the stationrushing hither and thither, and the people were going toward the stationfrom all directions.
"Mighty good thing we hid in this place," said Felix.
Felix and the boys were now in consternation, and as they had aboutdecided to go up to their former place of concealment, the headlight ofa train approached from the south. It slowed down a little as it nearedthe station.
"The switch!" was Ralph's exclamation. As he said that the train reachedthe switch, and turned to the track leading to the fiercely burningshed. Half of the train ran through a sea of fire before it could bechecked. It was a terrifying sight, and Ralph shook with fear at thesight. Fortunately, it was a freight train, or the toll of death wouldhave been awful.
"This begins to look bad for us. I am afraid the lieutenant has beencaptured. This place is getting to be too dangerous, and we must leaveat once," said Felix, as he seized one of the cans.
"I will go down and see what the trouble is," said Alfred, but Felixshook his head. Nevertheless, although Ralph also remonstrated, andinsisted on accompanying him, Alfred had his way. One would be saferthan two, he thought, and without further words he crawled along thefence, avoiding contact with those who were in the near vicinity.
A few minutes after Alfred left, the lieutenant returned, and wasshocked to learn of Alfred's journey.
"Take these cans up to the house, and I will go back and try to findhim," he told them.
Alfred, meanwhile, had reached the track near the switch, and not farfrom the rear end of the burning train. As he was about to cross thetrack his foot struck an object, and he fell across the track. He wassurprised to see several men appear and gaze at him, and it must beadmitted that he was decidedly nervous over the situation. However, hedid not venture to say anything, but quickly started at the fire, for henow stood with others, in the full glare of the flames. As no one paidany attention to him, it occurred to him that he had as much right thereas the villagers.
All about him he heard criticisms of the calamity, and some onesuggested that the fire and explosion was caused by a French airship,and, in fact, this seemed to be the general opinion.
Alfred wandered about listlessly, now feeling assured that the peopleknew nothing of the lieutenant, for he was certain that the news of thecapture of a Frenchman would cause great excitement. Waiting the firstopportunity, he slipped over the fence, and crawled along in the shadowof some brush for several hundred feet, when, to his consternation, atall man arose in his path.
He turned, and was about to leap the fence, when he heard a familiarvoice: "Alfred."
He immediately recognized the lieutenant, and it is questionable whichof the two felt happier at the meeting. They quickly ascended the hill,where they met a gloomy pair in Ralph and Felix, and the lieutenant toldhis story. He had allowed the petrol to run from one of the tanks afterhe took away the last receptacle, and when he returned he tapped threeof the other tanks, expecting to wait five or ten minutes before firingit.
While thus waiting two of the guards approached, and he hid behind a boxcar on the opposite siding. He feared that his plans had miscarried, forhe felt sure the guards would discover the petrol. They did not,however, go into the sheds, but remained outside, engaged inconversation for more than ten minutes. When they left he lost no timein again crossing the track.
He reasoned that the whole of the interior of the first set of shedsmust have been flooded by that time, and the problem now was to igniteit, and get away safely, so he struck a match and lighted a smallsaturated cloth, which was thrown into the nearest opening. It caughtinstantly, and as the entire shed was now filled with the vapor, theexplosion followed before he could get across the track. It was sogreat in violence that he was hoisted from his feet, so it seemed tohim, and completely stunned. How long he remained in that condition ofhalf stupor he did not know, but he soon heard a babel of voices, andsaw everything about
him as bright as day. Then, to his surprise, atrain came up the switch, and rushed through the fire. It was this whichprobably saved him from being detected.
"You may be sure," he said, "that as soon as my senses returned I knewwhat had happened, and that train started my sluggish brain intoactivity. I ran away from the train, and so did several others. No onecared to follow me, thinking, of course, that I belonged to the crew.That explains my long absence."
"Now, how are we to get the petrol over to the machine?" asked Ralph.
"We must ask Felix about it," said the lieutenant. "Probably you canhelp us out in that direction?"
"I have a light wagon," said Felix, "but we must not venture out with ituntil after midnight; in the meantime I will go down to the village andget all the news."
He returned in an hour. "It is reported that an airship did the damage,"said Felix.
Shortly after two o'clock in the morning the light wagon was on hand,and Raoul accompanied them. After loading the wagon with the cans theystarted on the trip through the forest. Felix and Raoul both remainedwith the lieutenant and the boys until the tanks were repaired, and thesun had appeared. The machine was then turned around, and headed for theopening in the forest through which they had entered. Felix and Raoul,in the meantime, diligently cut away the underbrush and bushes in thepath of the machine so it would be able to make a fair start.
The boys now mounted the machine after shaking hands with the two men,and the lieutenant, reaching into his pocket, drew out a hundred francnote, which he tendered to them. They refused to take it. The lieutenantthen threw it on the ground, saying: "This belongs to Belgium, and youhad better take it."
"Good bye, and God bless you," shouted Felix, as the motor began to hum.The machine gliding down the incline quickly gathered speed, and it wassoon in the air.
After reaching an altitude of a thousand meters, the lieutenant said:"It would be interesting to pay the village a visit after our pleasantexperience there."
Ralph, accordingly, turned the rudder, and the machine swung to theright. It required only a few minutes to reach the scene, and there,notwithstanding the distance, they could see the blackened and stillsmoking ruins in the two immense spaces adjoining the station.
Now, for the first time, they appreciated the fact that a worthy taskhad been accomplished, for this station was one of the most importantoil supply points along that whole line.
The soldiers were rushing wildly about the station grounds, and theofficials there were no doubt now assured, after seeing the machine,that the depot had actually been destroyed by a bomb from that airplane.
The machine was now directed toward Longwy, and after giving that city awide berth, flew directly south, with Verdun as the objective. Thegrounds below and to the west of that city were reached before teno'clock, to the astonishment of the men quartered there, for it had beenreported the night before that the lieutenant and the boys had beencaptured or killed in the fight at Longwy.
The lieutenant won the cross for the exploit, and the boys receivedhonorable mention from the government.