suggested Bart.
"Perhaps it is," agreed Frank. "The Hun has got to start his drive some time, and this would be just the kind of morning for it. See how heavy that mist lies on the ground? We couldn"t see the Germans at a distance of fifty yards."
"It"s mighty thick for a fact," observed Bart. "But I guess our advanced posts are on the job. They"ll give us warning in plenty of time."
"Not that we need much warning as far as I can see," said Billy.
"We"ve been ready for a long time to fight at the drop of a hat. I"ll bet the Hun doesn"t carry a foot of our line."
"That"s where you"re wrong, Billy, old scout," warned Bart. "It stands to reason that he"ll get away with something at first. You take any one man, no matter how strong he is, and if ten fellows rush him all at once they"re bound to drive him back at the start. The Huns have got the advantage of knowing where they"re going to strike. We don"t know and so we have to spread our forces out so as to be ready to meet him at any point. Then, too, the man who comes rushing in has the advantage of the fellow who"s standing still because he"s got momentum.
That"s why generals would rather fight on the offensive than on the defensive. They"re able to pick the time and place and the other fellow has to follow his lead."
"I don"t see why the Allies can"t take the offensive," grumbled Billy.
"It gets my goat to let the Huns. .h.i.t first."
"It does mine too," admitted Frank, "and if it hadn"t been for Russia quitting, we"d be looking now at the coattails of the Kaiser"s generals as they scooted back to Berlin. But that"s a bit of hard luck that we can"t help. Russia"s back-down has taken ten million soldiers from the Allies" strength. But America will make that all up in time and then you"ll see us doing the chasing."
"It can"t come too soon to suit me," said Billy. "I only wish Uncle Sam had started sooner to get ready."
"So do I," replied Frank. "But there"s no use crying over spilt milk.
We"re getting ahead now with leaps and bounds. I was talking to Will Stone the other day, and he"d just got back from a flying trip to one of the French seaports. He says it simply knocked him stiff to see the transports coming in loaded to the guards with American troops. And he says the roads are fairly choked with doughboys moving this way.
They"re coming like a swarm of locusts. And there"s millions more where they came from. Oh, Uncle Sam is awake now, all right, and don"t you forget it! And when he once gets started there"s nothing on earth can stop him."
"Right you are!" said Bart.
"We"ve won every war we"ve ever been in and it"s got to be a habit,"
grinned Billy.
The old Thirty-seventh was stationed on the second line, or what is called in military terms, "the line of resistance." In modern fighting, when a heavy attack is expected the defending army is usually arranged in three lines. The first is the advanced line, and this is hardly expected to be held very long. Its chief aim is to hold back the enemy for a while and weaken him as far as possible. Not many troops are employed on this line nor many big guns. The chief reliance is on rifle fire and machine guns, which are so placed as to deliver a withering cross-fire and cut up the enemy divisions.
By the time the first line is driven back the defending army knows where the enemy has chosen to strike and is ready for him on the second line or "line of resistance." Here the battle is on in all its fury.
If here again the enemy advances, there is still a third line of "battle positions." This is practically the last entrenched position that the defenders have. If they are driven back from this into the open country beyond, it becomes a serious thing for the retreating army, as many of their big guns will have been lost, and their forces are apt to be more or less disorganized, while the enemy is flushed with the victory he has so far gained.
The cannonade kept on with increasing fury all through the early morning.
"Heinie must have plenty of ammunition," remarked Frank. "He"s spending it freely."
"It beats anything we"ve been up against since we came to the front,"
observed Billy.
"It seems to be coming nearer and nearer all the time," said Bart. "I guess this is going to be our busy day."
There was intense activity all through the lines. Orderlies galloped from place to place with orders. Big motor cars rumbled up, loaded with troops who were hastily placed in position. The big guns of the Allied forces had opened up and were sending back sh.e.l.l for sh.e.l.l over the enemy lines.
For over two hours the artillery kept up the t.i.tanic duel. The fog was lifting, though still heavy in some of the low-lying sections. The Thirty-seventh was resting easily on its arms, ready for whatever might happen.
"We may not see so much fighting after all," remarked Billy, after a while. "The fellows in front seem to be holding pretty well. Perhaps they"ll throw the Huns back right from the start."
"Don"t kid yourself," replied Frank grimly. "That first line is almost sure to go. It"s expected to. It"s only a forlorn hope anyway. We"ll get our stomachs full of fighting before the day is over."
Even while he spoke there were signs of confusion up in front. Groups of men came in sight evidently retreating. Machine gun crews, bringing their weapons with them, were hurriedly setting them up in new positions. There would be a few discharges and then they would be forced to retreat still further. They were fighting splendidly, and putting up a dogged resistance, yielding ground only foot by foot, but to the experienced eyes of the boys there was no mistaking the signs.
The enemy had broken through the first line positions.
"Well, it"s nothing more than we knew would happen," remarked Frank, as his frame tingled with the excitement of the coming fight which he knew would soon be upon him.
"That"s so," agreed Bart. "But what gets me is that the line was broken so quickly. I thought it would be afternoon at least before the Huns got as far as this."
The lines opened up to let the newcomers through so that they could go to the rear and re-form.
"How about it?" Frank asked of a machine gunner whom he knew, as the man limped by him, supported by a comrade. "We didn"t expect to see you fellows so soon."
"It was the mist," was the reply. "The Huns got within thirty yards before we tumbled to it. We did the best we could but they just swamped our position before we could get our cross-fire going. Even at that we mowed them down in heaps with our rifle fire, but they kept on coming. For every dead man there were twenty live ones to take his place. We put up a stiff fight, but there were too many of them. It seemed like millions. They"re coming now like a house afire and you boys want to brace."
"We"re braced already," muttered Billy through his clenched teeth, as he gripped his rifle until it seemed as though his fingers must leave their imprint on the stock.
There was a short period of waiting, more trying by far than any actual fighting.
Then the storm broke!
In front of them rank after rank of gray-clad troops came in sight, stretching back as far as the eye could see. The mist had wholly vanished now and the boys could see their enemy. It seemed as though the machine gunner had not exaggerated when he said that there were millions. They were like the waves of the sea.
But the stout hearts of the American boys never quailed. Time and again they had met these men or their fellows and driven them back at the point of the bayonet. They had outfought and outgamed them. They had sent them flying before them. They had seen their backs.
The blood of heroes and of patriots ran in the veins of the defenders.
Their ancestors had fought at Bunker Hill, at Palo Alto, at Gettysburg.
Above them floated the Stars and Stripes, an unstained flag, a glorious flag, a flag that had never been smirched by defeat.
Their eyes blazed and their muscles stiffened.
Then like an avalanche the enemy struck!
CHAPTER XV
FURRY RESCUERS
The satisfaction that Tom felt at having in his pocket the confession of Martel helped to make his imprisonment much more bearable in the week that followed. His heart warmed at the thought of the delight Frank would feel in clearing up the matter that had long laid heavy upon his mother"s mind.
For the conviction never left him that some time he was going to put that confession in his friend"s hand. He had escaped before from German captivity, not once but twice. What he had done then he would do again. And every minute of his waking hours found that active brain of his working hard at the problem.
He confessed to himself that the solution would not be easy. The guards were many and were changed frequently. The windows of the old barracks where he slept were fortified with steel bars, and the open camp where the prisoners were employed in outside work was surrounded with wires through which a strong electric current ran. To touch them would mean instant death, and they were so close together that it would be impossible to squeeze through without touching.
He fell to studying the routine of the various conveyances that were constantly arriving and departing. Some of them brought bales of goods, others barrels. The latter were especially common. They were in a part of the country that abounded in vineyards, and great hogsheads of wine were being constantly brought in to supply the demands of the division stationed there.
They did not stay full long. The German officers were notoriously heavy drinkers, and there were days when there were great drayloads of empty hogsheads ready to be taken away to be refilled.
Tom developed a great interest in these hogsheads. The work of loading them on the drays was performed by prisoners, and he managed to be in the vicinity as often as possible to help. He was stronger than most of the prisoners and he worked with such good will at loading the bulky hogsheads that little by little it became a habit with the guards to a.s.sign him to this work whenever it was to be done.