As Frank Sheldon deduced, they had not considered the possibility of an attack from above.
Opening the trap door, the four friends descended the short length of ladder that led perpendicularly downward. So far they had heard no sound to apprise them of the presence of a lurking enemy, and they began to think that possibly the house was deserted. Then stopping and listening intently, they heard the m.u.f.fled sound of voices, apparently coming from the floor below.
Here was something of a problem presented to the boys, for they had no orders, nor indeed, desire, to molest those peaceably inclined, and were only after revolutionists and rioters who were doing the sniping work. But their doubts were soon set at rest.
From the front of the house came the sharp sound of rifle firing, and the boys hastened in that direction. On the second floor they burst into the large front room, taking completely by surprise a group of some four or five men who were sulking in the shelter of the windows. As the boys burst into the room they whirled about, only to find themselves looking into the muzzles of four vicious looking army pistols.
"Drop those guns and put up your hands," commanded Frank. All obeyed but one man, who raised his rifle to his shoulder. Before he could pull the trigger a spurt of fire flashed from Frank"s pistol, and the man sagged slowly to the floor.
"Downstairs with the rest of you!" ordered Frank, at the same time motioning toward the stairway. "We can"t do much with these men except disarm them," he said in an aside to his companions, as the Germans sullenly prepared to obey. "We"ve got to clean out this house and a lot of others, and we haven"t got enough men to guard prisoners. You break up their rifles, Tom, and then rejoin us in the street."
They herded the Germans downstairs, and at the street entrance propelled them forth with a few hearty kicks. This pleasurable duty had hardly been performed when they were rejoined by Tom, who had smashed the German rifles over the window sills, putting them very effectively out of commission.
Meanwhile, the other parties had been doing good work, and the sniping had to a great extent died down. The boys entered the next house, but met with no opposition, and when they reached the top story an open scuttle giving on to the roof told its own story of flight on the part of the occupants. They went through several houses in this fashion, but when they neared the end of the block resistance began to stiffen. Across the end of the street was a house that commanded it absolutely, and this seemed to have been chosen by the rioters as a last stand. From every window and from the roof snipers were busy, and were inflicting serious damage on the Americans. Already three had been killed, and as many more wounded. The sergeant marshaled the slender force remaining to him.
"Boys," he said, "we"ve got to clean out that hornet"s nest, and then I think we"ll have things pretty much in our own hands. We"ll rush it now, and be sure that every man hangs close to the others, because if we become separated we"re done for. Now, all together, and let them have it plenty!"
With these the little force of intrepid Americans rushed for the door of this last remaining stronghold. The door was of course locked, but when half a dozen vigorous young Americans charged it like so many battering rams, it gave way, and the soldiers surged forward into a large hallway. A wide staircase led upward from one side of this hall, and from an upper landing a spiteful rain of bullets zipped about the Americans. One fell, but the others, led by the big sergeant, rushed up the staircase, emptying their pistols as they went. The resistance met here was the most solid they had encountered that day, and they soon found that they had their work cut out for them.
When they reached the landing and engaged in hand to hand work with the Germans, other doors giving on the landing opened, and more rioters appeared to give aid to their companions. For a time the fight seemed to be in favor of the Germans, as their number told, and then in favor of the Americans, who had the advantage of discipline and team work on their side. Two more of their number had fallen, however, and the remaining Americans fought with the fury of desperation added to their usual dauntless courage. They took merciless toll of German lives, and at last the rioters, astonished and dismayed at their own losses, began to give way.
Suddenly they were seized by panic, and to a man turned and fled through a long hall that ran the length of the house.
"Keep after them, boys," panted Sergeant Dan. "Don"t give them a chance to recover themselves. We"ve got "em on the run now, and we want to keep "em that way."
The Americans followed the rioters down the pa.s.sageway, reloading their weapons as they ran. At the end of the hall a sharp turn gave access to another stairway, and up this the Germans rushed in headlong flight, the Americans close on their heels. Another and last flight of stairs took them up to the roof, and this once reached, they broke and ran in every direction, some disappearing through the roof-scuttles of adjoining buildings, and others hiding behind chimneys and other roof structures.
The Americans paused for breath and consultation, and Sergeant Dan walked to the edge of the roof nearest the street and peered over.
"Guess our job"s done for the present," he said, when he returned to his command. "Everything seems quiet in the street below, and there"s not a soul in sight. Now let"s take stock of damages, and then we"ll hike back to the rendezvous."
As the soldiers were taking stock of each other, a sudden fear gripped at Frank"s heart, and he exclaimed:
"Tom! Where"s Tom?"
Billy and Bart gazed at him and at each other in dismay.
"He was with us when we attacked this house," said Billy. "I remember he was right alongside of me when we b.u.mped that door, and we landed on the floor together when it gave way. But that"s the last I remember of seeing him."
Neither of the others had any later recollection of their friend"s presence.
"He may be downstairs wounded," said Frank. "Come on, fellows, we"ve got to find him," and forgetful of military discipline in their anxiety over their friend, the three comrades dashed through the door leading into the building.
"We"ll all go down," said the sergeant. "Some of our fellows have taken the last count, but others are only wounded, and we want to get them to a hospital just as soon as we can."
Frank, Bart, and Billy made a frantic search of the building, but found no trace of their missing friend.
"He may have been badly wounded but have been able to make his way to the street where he would be picked up and taken to a hospital," speculated Frank. "Or it"s possible that he has been captured," he added. "As soon as we have reported back to headquarters with our detachment, we"ll try to get permission to make a search of the hospitals and see if we can"t find him there."
There was little else they could do, so with heavy hearts they rejoined their companions who had rigged rude stretchers for two of their wounded comrades and were making ready to march back to headquarters.
The sergeant knew of the attachment existing between the four friends, and sympathized with the grief of the three remaining over the loss of their comrade.
"The chances are," he said, "that Bradford has been captured by the rioters, and the military police will find out where he is and get hold of him. Remember that an American soldier takes a lot of killing before he"s actually dead."
But the boys marched in gloomy silence, and their hearts were sad for their friend.
The rioting had been effectually quelled, and the streets were once more quiet. The little party soon reached their headquarters, where the sergeant made his report. The boys could hardly control their impatience until the time came when they were off duty. They immediately secured permission to make inquiries at the hospitals which were taking care of the casualties sustained during the rioting. There were three of these, and each of the boys went to a different one, agreeing to meet in a designated place as soon as they had completed their inquiries. An hour later they a.s.sembled as they had agreed, only to learn that so far their search had been fruitless.
"The only thing left for us to do," said Frank, "is to go back to the barracks, where maybe by this time they will have posted a list of the casualties. If Tom"s name is not there well be pretty sure that he"s been captured, and it will be up to us to try to find him."
Returning to the barracks as Frank had proposed, they found that a list was posted on the company bulletin board, and carefully scanned it for Tom"s name, while fear tugged at their hearts.
Great was their relief when they failed to find it, for if he were only a prisoner the chances were that the authorities would get him back, or that the boys themselves might ferret out the place where he was being held and rescue him.
"Well," said Bart, as the boys turned away from the bulletin board, "there"s not much we can do for poor Tom to-night, but if he"s a prisoner we"ll get word from him sooner or later."
"If he"s a prisoner, I"d hate to be the man who has him in charge," remarked Billy grimly. "Something pretty terrible is apt to happen to that bird most any time."
"Yes, chances are he"ll come marching into camp with a few prisoners on his own account." said Frank. "That is, if he doesn"t catch this new disease they"re talking about,"
"What disease?" asked Billy. "I hadn"t heard anything about it."
"n.o.body seems to know very much about it," replied Frank. "It has appeared at various places in Germany, especially in the occupied zones. It seems to have attacked Germans as well as Americans, and n.o.body knows what to make of it. Of course, remember I"m only telling you what another fellow told me recently, and I give it to you for what it"s worth. It may be just rumor, but he seemed to be so certain of his facts that I felt inclined to believe him."
As it happened, what Frank had heard as a rumor was indeed a fact-- and a fact, moreover, that was proving most puzzling and unpleasant for the American medical authorities. The disease that Frank had spoken of had indeed made its appearance in various parts of the country, and while the doctors had many theories concerning it, they were all only theories as yet, and nothing really definite was known regarding it. The symptoms were much like those of virulent typhus. Men sickened and died within forty- eight hours, and once stricken, the unfortunate victim did not recover in one case out of a hundred.
Some of the doctors were inclined to think it one of the plagues that usually follow in the track of war, due to privation and depression. This theory, however, did not explain why American troops, well fed and victorious, should be affected. Most believed it to be caused by some deadly germ, hitherto unknown, and every effort was being made by the medical corps to isolate the germ and find a remedy for the disease. But the Army Boys were to know more of the source of this strange scourge and make a most amazing discovery regarding it.
CHAPTER XIV
ON THE TRAIL
On the day following that of Tom Bradford"s disappearance, Bart and Billy were a.s.signed to special duty as part of an officers"
escort on a mission to a neighboring town.
After they had left Frank found himself very lonely, especially as he had an afternoon off duty. Mingled with his thoughts of the missing Tom was the thought that had constantly haunted his mind of late--the unsolved mystery of the alley up which hostile Germans could flit and apparently disappear into thin air. He knew there must be some explanation of the mystery, but what was it? He racked his brains to find a plausible solution. But the more he thought about it, the more uncertain he became, until at last he came to a resolution.
"Here I am," he thought, "racking my wits over this matter, and about all I do is just guess work, after all. The best thing I can do is get permission to go to the town, find that alley and see if I can"t run across some clue that was lacking the last time I was there."
Having reached this resolve, he lost no time in acting on it, and readily securing the desired permission, he set off for the town.
This he soon reached, and walked at a smart pace through the quaint, well-kept streets.
Going along one broad avenue he came suddenly face to face with the man from whom he had taken away the cane, whom he had since learned was a famous German physician, a well known character throughout the war. The latter, however, was so preoccupied that he took no notice of Frank. His thoughts, whatever they were, appeared to be pleasant, for as he walked he smiled to himself and softly rubbed his hands together, as one well pleased with the course of events.
"The old codger seems mightily pleased over something," mused Frank, "and I"m willing to bet a reasonable amount it isn"t over any schemes for the betterment of mankind. I may do him an injustice, but I don"t think his genial Hun nature is inclined exactly in that direction."