"Right," agreed Chester. "Therefore, to my way of thinking, the sooner we make a start the better."
Without further delay the lads stepped cautiously from the hut. Keeping out of the glare of the small fires on the outside they stole away in the darkness.
At the far end of the camp, toward the river, they came upon a troop of horses picketed. Silently Hal crept forward, and with his penknife slashed the ropes with which two of the horses were tied. Leading the animals quietly some distance away, he gave the bridle of one to Chester.
Quickly both lads leaped to the saddles.
Chester now pa.s.sed one of the weapons he had taken from Captain Eberhardt to Hal, and, grasping a bridle in one hand and a revolver in the other, the lads urged their mounts silently forward.
They pa.s.sed close to several bodies of moving troops, but were not challenged.
Hal rode his horse close alongside of Chester.
"We had better bear off to the east or west," he said. "We may not have so much difficulty in getting across the river there."
"Right," Chester agreed. "They will probably be keeping a careful watch along here, as the result of to-day"s doings."
The lads turned their horses" heads to the right, and headed in a direction that eventually would bear them to Coucy, on the French side of the Aisne, should they be able to get through the German line.
Consequently they did not approach the river bank for upward of two hours.
Perhaps a mile from the river the lads came upon thousands of sleeping men, housed in little tents. Here and there sentries flitted about in the dark and campfires blazed merrily.
Keeping their horses well out of the glare of the fires, and going very slowly, so as to make no sound, they drew nearer and nearer to the river.
The Germans were some distance back from the water"s edge, to escape the danger of being bombarded by the heavy guns of the French during the night, and consequently there was quite an open s.p.a.ce between the river and the most advanced German outpost.
Their horses made no sound, and they crept between the sleeping thousands, evading, by careful vigilance, the eyes of the enemy"s sentries.
At last they were beyond the German line. Urging their mounts on with low words, they at length reached the edge of the little stream.
Without a moment"s hesitation they forced the animals into the icy water, and the big German chargers, after shivering once or twice, struck out for the opposite sh.o.r.e.
The water was bitterly cold, and the lads drew themselves out as much as possible, holding their arms aloft, weapons in hand, that they might keep the revolvers dry.
There was no sound from the German side of the river until they were in midstream. Then one German sentry, chancing to cast his eye over the distant water, made out the two forms in the moonlight.
Instantly he brought his rifle to his shoulder and fired.
But the distance was too great for accurate shooting and he missed. At the sound of the shot the lads urged their horses to even greater efforts, and soon were upon the opposite sh.o.r.e, in comparative safety.
"Well, we are over here at last," said Chester gleefully, in spite of the fact that he was shaking with the cold.
"Right," said Hal; "and the thing to do now is to find a fire before we freeze to death."
They rode forward.
Suddenly in the moonlight a squad of armed men sprang up before them as though by magic.
"Halt!" rang out a command.
The lads drew up their horses and raised their hands above their heads.
"Who are you?" came a voice.
"British officers," replied Hal, "on our way to Soissons with a dispatch for General Joffre."
"Advance!" came the command, and the two lads obeyed.
An officer approached and looked at them closely. At sight of their civilian clothes he stepped back.
"How do I know you are British officers?" he asked.
"Because I say so," replied Hal angrily. "Take us to your commanding officer at once. We have just come across the river. Do you want us to freeze to death here in the cold?"
"But he was not to be disturbed," replied the officer hesitatingly.
"Well, you lead us to his tent and we"ll do the disturbing," said Chester gruffly. "Hurry up, man."
Without further words the young officer motioned for the lads to follow him, and, dismounting, they did so. At the entrance of a rather large tent the officer halted.
"I don"t like to disturb him," he said, "but--"
"We might possibly be German spies," said Chester, "so you had better arouse him at once--unless you want to take the responsibility upon yourself and find us quarters for the night."
"Oh, I couldn"t do that," was the quick reply.
"Well, then, get your commanding officer out here immediately," ordered Hal. "We are officers of General French"s staff, and we are ent.i.tled to some consideration, if we have to fight for it."
The French officer finally entered the tent, and returned a few moments later followed by the officer in command of the outpost. To him the lads explained the mission and recent difficulties, and the officer soon had them fixed up with comfortable quarters, where, safe once more and perfectly easy in their minds, they turned in for the night, and soon were sleeping the sleep of the exhausted.
On the opposite sh.o.r.e the German camp was in confusion. The escape of the prisoners had been discovered, and Captain Eberhardt, held responsible for his prisoners" disappearance, was under arrest.
CHAPTER XII.
A n.o.bLE SACRIFICE.
"You say Captain Eberhardt is to be shot? What for?" demanded Hal.
"For allowing his prisoners to escape," was the reply of the German soldier, captured the following morning by a squad of French troopers, who had picked him up on their side of the river, where he had been on scout duty.
The conversation was taking place in the tent of the French officer in charge of the outpost. Questioned upon various topics the German had volunteered the information that Captain Eberhardt, from whom Hal and Chester had escaped the night before, was to be put to death.
"Tell us more about it," said Chester.
"Well, there isn"t much to tell," said the soldier. "During the night a shot gave notice of the escape of two prisoners. General Steinbach, suspecting the cause of the shot, went himself to Captain Eberhardt"s tent. There he found the captain bound and gagged. He immediately ordered him put under arrest, and commanded that he be executed at noon to-day for allowing the prisoners to get away. That is all there is about it."