"Stick together, fellows," murmured Frank. "Get your rifles ready. We can"t miss at this distance. When I say the word, give them a volley and make a break for the road. It"s our only chance, for they"d surely round us up in these bushes."
"We"re with you, boy," replied Bart, and the little party crouched lower with their fingers on trigger.
Frank waited until the nearest hors.e.m.e.n were not more than ten feet away. Then he sprang to his feet with a shout.
"Fire!" he cried, and a stream of flame leaped from the bushes.
Two of the riders threw up their hands and pitched from their saddles. A third seized with his left hand the rein that dropped from his right.
There was a moment of confusion, and Frank and his comrades took instant advantage of it.
With a rush they reached the road and tore down it for dear life, while behind them thundered the Uhlans in hot pursuit!
CHAPTER XVII
THE BROKEN BRIDGE
The Army boys had no idea where the road led to. It might be to the American lines or to the German lines. But they knew that certain death was behind them and possible life in front of them, and they ran as though their feet had wings.
But swift as they were, the horses were of course swifter, and before long they knew that their pursuers were gaining.
"Throw away your rifles," panted Frank. "We"ll still have our knives and grenades."
They threw the heavy rifles aside, and, relieved of their weight, they bounded ahead with renewed speed.
For a short time their desperate efforts held their pursuers even, but soon the gap again began to close.
At a turn of the road they halted, gasping for breath.
"Give them the grenades," ordered Frank, getting his own ready. "They won"t be expecting them and it may upset them. Throw yours at the same time I do mine."
They waited until the hors.e.m.e.n were within fifty feet. Then four stalwart arms hurled the grenades against the front ranks.
There was a tremendous explosion as the sh.e.l.ls all seemed to go off at the same instant, and the first rank of hors.e.m.e.n went down in a heap.
Those behind drew their beasts back on their haunches so as not to override their fellows, and in that moment another volley came among them with deadly effect.
Without waiting any longer, the boys renewed their flight. They knew that the Germans would be mad with rage at their check by so small a force, and they were not foolish enough to believe for a moment that the chase would be abandoned.
But a new exultation was in their hearts as they ran. They might be killed, but they would at least have sold their lives dearly. There would be little that the Uhlans would have to boast of in their story of that night"s work.
Their breath came in short gasps and their laboring lungs felt as though they were ready to burst. Frank, a little in the van, reached out a warning hand and they slowed up.
"We"ll make faster time if we give ourselves a minute"s rest," he panted. "When we start in again we"ll have our second wind. They haven"t got out of that mix-up yet. Besides, they"ll come on more cautiously now. They won"t know how many grenades we have left."
"I haven"t any," gasped Tom.
Billy was too far gone to speak, but he drew his last grenade from his sack. Bart and Frank also were down to their last one, for the work on the previous day had almost used up the stock with which they had started out. They had a chance for one last throw, and then if it came to a hand to hand fight they had nothing to rely on but their knives.
They rested for a minute or two, and then again upon the wind came the sound of hurrying hoofs.
Instinctively the boys reached out and grasped one another"s hands.
There was no need for words. They knew what it meant. To some of them this might prove the last lap of the last race they would ever run.
On came their pursuers, and the boys, summoning up every ounce of strength they possessed, set out at the pace of hunted deer.
Not two minutes had elapsed before their feet struck the boards of a bridge. Below they saw the gleam of the moon in the dark water that ran beneath.
They took heart at the sight and put on a new burst of speed. Who knew but what the American troops were camped on the further side?
Twenty feet further they stopped abruptly. The bridge was broken. The boards had been torn up, though the shattered timbers of the sides projected a few feet further over the current. But fully a hundred feet of black water stretched between them and the farther sh.o.r.e.
They stopped, panting and perplexed. And just at that moment they heard the hoofs of horses on the wood of the bridge.
They were trapped. To turn back was certain captivity or death. To plunge into that black current might also mean death. Their choice was made on the instant.
"Over we go, boys!" shouted Frank, throwing off his coat. "But we mustn"t waste those last grenades. Let them have them."
They turned and threw, and without waiting to see the result dived headforemost into the stream. The roar of the explosion was in their ears as they struck the water.
They were all good swimmers, and when they came to the surface they found themselves within a few feet of each other.
"To the other bank, fellows!" exclaimed Frank, as he shook the water from his eyes. "And keep as low in the water as you can. They"ll send a volley after us."
They struck out l.u.s.tily for the farther sh.o.r.e while, as Frank had predicted, bullets zipped around them. But in the darkness their foes could take no aim and they reached the sh.o.r.e unscathed.
The bank was steep, with long reeds growing down to the water"s edge.
The fugitives grasped these and rested before they attempted to climb the bank.
"I"m all in," gasped Tom.
Frank reached out a supporting hand.
"I guess we all are," he replied. "It"s lucky this river isn"t wider.
But we"re safe now."
"I don"t know about that," said Bart. "Listen!"
There was a tramp of many feet upon the bank.
"They"ve heard the shooting," whispered Billy. "If it"s our boys we"re all right. If it isn"t----"
The sentence was never finished. Above the bank they saw a crowd of helmeted figures. A light was flashed into their faces, nearly blinding them, and a hoa.r.s.e voice cried:
"_Wer da!_"