LEFT BEHIND IN THE ENEMY"S COUNTRY
Tom appeared finally to be satisfied, for he turned around to Bessie.
"Now if you"re ready we"ll lower you safely," he told her.
The girl showed considerable nimbleness in climbing over the window-sill. Jack insisted in having a hand in dropping her slowly down.
It was not far, and in a few breaths the girl had reached the solid, ground. She understood what was expected of her, and immediately cast off the rude rope, so it might be drawn up and made to serve once more.
Mrs. Gleason showed just as much bravery as her daughter, and was also lowered without trouble.
"You go down next, Tom," whispered Jack. "Then I"ll draw it up, and can join you easily enough without the help of the rope. A white thing like this dangling here would be sure to attract attention, if any one came around the corner of the house, and might cost us dearly in the end."
Tom understood. He preferred being the last to stay, but since Jack had taken that upon himself, and was moreover adept at scaling walls, it was folly to dispute his right.
So down Tom went. He had hardly landed when the sheet-rope was swiftly drawn up, and vanished within the room. After that Jack was seen making his way down over the same route he had taken while ascending.
Soon they were all together again, and their queer exit from the room seemed not to have been discovered, for which they felt very thankful indeed.
Tom led the way into the friendly bushes close by. It was his intention to skirt the carriage-drive, as it might contain elements of danger for them. Once they had pa.s.sed out on the main road to Metz, it would not take them long to reach the field where the big Caudron airplane lay like an exhausted and enormous bat, awaiting their coming to spring into activity.
In pa.s.sing along they were enabled to catch a glimpse of the interior of the dining-room where Carl Potzfeldt was entertaining his distinguished visitor to the best of his ability in those times when scarcity ruled.
Tom managed to get a better look at the general. He was more than ever convinced that the big man with the strong features and all these decorations on his uniform, was in fact Hindenburg, the head of the whole German army, whose opinion carried even more weight with the people just then than that of Kaiser Wilhelm.
It would be something worth while to be able to say they had been within a dozen feet of the famous commander, the Iron Man of Germany. Tom vaguely wished he had some means of capturing the general then and there, and carrying him over the lines to the French headquarters. That would indeed be a feat well worth praise from General Petain; but of course it was utterly impossible.
They gained the gate, and there Tom insisted on looking carefully around so as to make doubly certain that no sentinel had been left on duty while General Hindenburg remained within the house.
When this fact was made clear he led the way forth. The little party of four almost ran along the road, so eager were they to place as much ground as possible between themselves and the seat of danger.
There was always a chance that the flight of Bessie and her mother might be discovered by some one connected with the household, and communicated to Potzfeldt. He, of course, would exhaust every means in trying to overtake the fugitives.
But Tom chuckled while telling himself that they must needs have extraordinary and fleet steeds who could successfully pursue those who had trusted their safety to his care and that of the big Caudron airplane.
Jack hardly knew where the field lay, having become "rattled," as he called it, from the adventures at the chateau. So after all it was fortunate that Tom had taken his bearings as well as he had. He knew just when to leave the road, and start across the open s.p.a.ce. Then the lone tree began to loom up, for the moon had once more thrust her face from behind the enveloping cloud.
"It"s all right, Bessie," said Jack rea.s.suringly. "Our plane lies close to the foot of that tree ahead there. If all goes well you"ll be on your way before many minutes have pa.s.sed."
"Thanks to you, Jack," murmured the girl admiringly.
"Shucks! that isn"t a circ.u.mstance to what I"d be willing to do for you and your mother!" Jack boldly told her.
"But all the same it is very brave of you, Jack, and I can never forget your kindness to us," she insisted. "I hope and pray that nothing terrible will happen to you while we"re gone, and that I"ll soon see you again."
"I hope so too, Bessie," he chuckled, as if amused. "As to anything happening to me, I guess I know how to hide all right. The worst that can knock me is getting a little mite hungry, you know. If that big German general and his staff leave a bite in the pantry I"m going after it, believe me! Then I"ll find a hole, and crawl in, somewhere close by here, so I can watch for Tom"s return."
Apparently Jack had mapped his whole programme out; and it seemed that an adequate supply of provisions occupied the most prominent place in them.
They were now at the spot where the Caudron had been left. Tom"s mind was eased of the secret fears he had entertained when he saw the machine was still where they had left it. So far as he could tell no one had been near to meddle with it.
First of all Bessie and her mother must be fastened securely to the seat where Jack had sat on the trip to Metz. Tom, like a wise general, had provided himself with plenty of the strips of linen from the torn sheets. This he utilized in tying the pa.s.sengers, so that there would not be the slightest chance of their falling out.
Even if Mrs. Gleason should faint through terror on finding herself a mile up in the air, she could not fall out of the machine. But Tom entertained high hopes that both of his pa.s.sengers were going to display extraordinary courage, and give him no cause at all for anxiety.
Jack tried to a.s.sist in the operation, but his hands were trembling so with the excitement that Tom pushed him away.
"Leave the job to me, Jack," he told the other. "Too many cooks spoil the broth, you know. I"ll make everything secure, depend on it."
"Of course I know you will, Tom," the other hastened to a.s.sure him.
"Perhaps it is better only one handled the business. And Bessie--"
"Yes, Jack," said the girl, slipping a hand out toward him, which Jack took in his, and pressed rea.s.suringly.
"Don"t bother your head for a single minute about me, mind. I"ll be all right, and perhaps able to join you again this very night. It"s a great lark for me, and I wouldn"t miss it for a heap. But oh, if only we could kidnap that big commander, and carry him over to have an interview with General Petain, how proud I"d be!"
Tom smiled on realizing that the same idea had occurred to Jack that had flashed through his own mind.
"Here, take my automatic, Jack," Tom said. "You may find occasion to use it before I come back."
The other complied, and apparently he felt more confidence, once he knew he had in his possession the means for defending himself should any ordinary danger threaten. Tom was loath to depart, once he had everything arranged. The truth of the matter was he hated to leave his chum in the enemy country; it seemed as though he were deserting him.
So he "fiddled" around, testing this wire guy, and using his electric hand torch to give him light, so he could once more run his eye over the motor on which he had been working.
"Come, Tom, it"s no use hanging around here a minute longer," Jack had finally to tell him. "Get aboard and I"ll spin your wheel for you and give you a boost for a start. Then I"ll drop out of sight, because some of them may run this way when they hear the clatter and guess the cause."
Tom climbed to his seat and settled himself according to his customary thorough manner. He tried the controls, and was not satisfied until he had tested everything within reach.
"Say when, Tom!" Jack remarked, having finally left Bessie"s side and gone to the propellers of the big plane.
Tom drew in a long breath. He knew he had a risky venture ahead, taking those two inexperienced pa.s.sengers over the hostile lines, possibly amidst showers of exploding shrapnel sh.e.l.ls. But it was not this that weighed so heavily on his spirits. He felt almost like a criminal at leaving Jack behind.
"All right; let her go!" he announced grimly.
There came a sudden whirring sound. Then the loud hum of the motors chimed in, and the big Caudron machine started off.
"Good-bye, Tom! Good-bye, Bessie!" Jack was heard saying, although the noise of the plane almost drowned his voice.
Faster they went now, as the machine gained momentum. Tom paid strict attention to his business of pilot. At just the proper time he must elevate the forward rudder which would cause the plane to leave the ground and start upward at a sharp angle.
Jack stood gazing after the object that was quickly growing more and more indistinct in the dim moonlight, gazing with a strange heaviness in the region of his heart. He had to shut his teeth firmly together to conquer the momentary weakness that threatened to overpower him. But his resolution remained master of the field.
"If only he gets them safely across," Jack muttered to himself, when he could no longer see the airplane, though its noisy working came plainly to his ears, "it"ll be all right. But they"ve heard the racket over at the house, too, I guess, because men are shouting, and I can see lights flashing this way and that."
When he discovered that men with lanterns were actually looking around as if to learn where the departing airplane could have been resting, and what it all meant, Jack concluded it was time to conceal himself.