Produced by Sean Pobuda
THE BOY ALLIES WITH HAIG IN FLANDERS
Or The Fighting Canadians of Vimy Ridge
By Clair W. Hayes
CHAPTER I
A NEW USE FOR A DICTAPHONE
The rain fell in torrents over the great battlefield, as Hal Paine andChester Crawford, taking advantage of the inky blackness of the night,crept from the shelter of the American trenches that faced the enemyacross "No Man's Land."
In the trenches themselves all was silence. To a spectator it wouldhave seemed that the occupants were, either dead or asleep; yet suchwas not the case.
It is true that most of the men had "turned in" for the night, sleepingon their arms, for there was no means of telling at what moment theenemy might issue from his trenches in another of the night raids thathad marked this particular sector for the last few weeks; but the evervigilant sentinels stood watch over the sleeping men. They would soundan alarm, should occasion demand, in ample time to arouse the sleepersif an enemy's head appeared in the darkness.
Hal and Chester, of course, left the American trenches with fullknowledge of these sentinels; otherwise they might have been shot.
Once beyond the protecting walls of earth, they moved swiftly andsilently toward the German trenches less than a hundred feetaway--just the distance from the home plate to first base on a baseballdiamond, as Hal put it--ninety feet.
These two lads, who now advanced directly toward the foe, werelieutenants in the first American expeditionary force to reach Franceto lend a hand in driving back the legions of the German Emperor, whostill clung tenaciously to territory he had conquered in the earlystages of the great war. These boys had, at one time, been captains inthe British army, and had had three years of strenuous times andexciting adventures in the greatest of all wars.
Their captaincies they'd won through gallant action upon the field ofbattle. American lads, they had been left in Berlin at the outbreak ofhostilities, when they were separated from Hal's mother. They madetheir way to Belgium, where, for a time, they saw service, with KingAlbert's troops. Later they fought under the tricolor, with theRussians and the British and Canadians.
When the United 'States declared war on Germany, Hal and Chester, withothers, were sent to America, where they were of great assistance intraining men Uncle Sam had selected to officer his troops. They hadrelinquished their rank in the British army to be able to do this. Nowthey found themselves again on French soil, but fighting under theStars and Stripes.
On this particular night they advanced toward tile German lines soonafter an audience with General John J. Pershing, commander-in-chief ofthe American expeditionary forces. In one hand Chester carried alittle hardwood box, to which were attached coils of wire. In theother hand the lad held a revolver. Hal, likewise, carried hisautomatic in his hand. Each was determined to give a good account ofhimself should his presence be discovered.
It was unusually quiet along the front this night. It was too dark foropposing "snipers"--sharpshooters--to get in their work, and thevoices of the big guns, which, almost incessantly for the last fewweeks, had hurled shells across the intervening distance between thetwo lines of trenches, were stilled.
Hal pressed close to Chester.
"Rather creepy out here," he said.
"Right," returned Chester in a whisper. "I've the same feelingmyself. It forebodes, trouble, this silence, to my way of thinking.The Huns are probably hatching up some devilment."
"Well, we may be able to get the drift of it, with that thing you haveunder your arm," was the other's reply.
"Sh-h!" was Chester's reply, and he added: "We're getting prettyclose."
They continued their way without further words.
Hal, slightly in advance, suddenly uttered a stifled exclamation.Instantly Chester touched his arm.
"What's the matter?" he asked in a whisper.
"Matter is," Hal whispered back, "that we have come to a barbed-wireentanglement. I had forgotten about those things."
"Well, that's why you brought your 'nippers' along," said Chester. "Cutthe wire."
Hal produced his "nippers." It was but the work of a moment to nip thewires, and again the lads advanced cautiously.
A moment later there loomed up before them the German trenches. Halstood back a few feet while Chester advanced and placed the littlehardwood box upon the top of the trench, and scraped over it severalhandfuls of earth. The lad now took the coil of wire in his hand, andstepped down and back. The lads retraced their steps toward their ownlines, Chester the while unrolling the coil of wire.
The return was made without incident. Before their own trenches theboys were challenged by a sentinel.
"Halt!" came the command. "Who goes there?"
"Friends," returned Hal.
The sentinel recognized the lad's voice.
"Advance," he said with a breath of relief.
A moment later the boys were safe back among their own men.
"If the Germans had been as watchful as our own sentries, we would havehad more trouble," said Hal.
"Oh, I don't know," was Chester's reply. "I saw a German sentinel, buthe didn't see me in the darkness."
"It was his business to see, however," declared Hal.
"Well, that's true. But now let's listen and seen if we can overhearanything of importance."
Chester clapped the little receiver to his ear. Hal became silent.
Ten minutes later Chester removed the receiver from his ear.
"Nothing doing," he said. "I can hear some of the men talking, butthey are evidently playing cards."
"Let me listen a while," said Hal.
Chester passed the receiver to his chum, and the latter listenedintently. For some moments he heard nothing save the jabbering jargonof German troopers apparently interested in a card game. He was aboutto take the receiver from his ear, however, when another voice caughthis attention
He held up a hand, which told Chester that something of importance wasgoing on.
"All right, general," said a voice in the German trenches, which wascarried plainly to Hal's ear by the Dictaphone.
"Stay!" came another voice. "You will also order Colonel Blucher toopen with all his guns at the moment that General Schmidt's men advanceto the attack."
"At midnight, sir," was the reply.
"That is all."
The voices became silent.
Quickly Hal reported to Chester what he had overheard.
"It's up to us to arouse Captain O'Neill," said Chester. He hurriedoff.
Hal glanced at his watch.
It was 10 o'clock.
"Two hours," the lad muttered. "Well, I guess we'll be ready forthem."
A few moments later Captain O'Neill appeared. He was in command of theAmericans in the first line trenches. These troops were in theirpresent positions for "seasoning" purposes. They had been the first tobe given this post of honor. They had held it for several days, andthen had been relieved only to be returned to the front within tendays.
At command from Captain O'Neill, Hal made his way to the south alongthe line of trenches, and approached the quarters of General Dupres.To an orderly he announced that he bore a communication from CaptainO'Neill.
"Mon Dieu!" exclaimed the French commander, when Hal had delivered hismessage. "So they will attack us in the night, eh? Well, we shallreceive them right warmly."
He thought a moment. Then he said:
"You will tell Captain O'Neill to move from the trenches with hisentire strength.
He will advance ten yards and then move one hundredyards north. You may tell him that I will post a force of equalstrength to the south. He will not fire until my French troops open onthe enemy."
Hal returned and reported to Captain O'Neill.
It was plain that the American officer didn't understand the situationfully. However, he simply shrugged his shoulders.
"General Dupres is in command," he said. "I guess he knows what he'sdoing or he wouldn't be here."
Captain O'Neill gave the necessary commands. The American troops movedfrom the trenches in silence. There was a suppressed air ofexcitement, however, for each man was eager for the coming of he knewnot what.