"Great Scott! He"ll burn to death in there!" Hal cried.
"Well, why didn"t the big chump come out?" said Chester.
"Maybe he was. .h.i.t by a bullet and killed," said Hal.
"Yes; or perhaps he is wounded, and unable to drag himself out,"
said Chester.
"By Jove!" said Hal. "I never thought of that!"
Quickly he unstrapped his sword belt and drew off his coat.
"What are you going to do?" cried Chester in alarm.
"I"m going in after him," replied Hal grimly.
"But you"ll be killed!" expostulated Chester. "You couldn"t live in that seething ma.s.s of flame!"
"Nevertheless, I am going to try and bring him out," said Hal quietly.
He drew his handkerchief from his pocket, and quickly wetting it from his canteen, tied it over his mouth and nose. Then, brushing aside the protests of Chester and the men, he plunged through the door of the burning building.
Inside he could dimly make out his surroundings. Quickly he scanned the floor for a sight of the occupant, but saw no sign of him. Then, at one side of the barn he made out a ladder, leading to a loft. He ran to it quickly, and as quickly mounted it to the floor above. Once more he turned his eyes upon the floor and peered about.
The heat was intense, and the lad now got his breath with difficulty, so dense was the smoke. He likewise realized that the floor, already blazing, must give way in a few moments, in which event he would be buried in the fiery ruins.
Glancing quickly about he saw there was no window nor opening from which he could jump. He must go out by the way he had come in.
Suddenly his eye lighted upon an object on the floor at the far end of the barn. Quickly he ran toward it and stooped over. The object was a figure of a man, lying upon his face, apparently unconscious. The lad wasted no time in thought. Exerting his utmost strength, he succeeded in hoisting the limp body across his shoulder.
Carrying his human burden he staggered to the ladder and began his descent. It was slow work, for the lad was near exhaustion. He realized that a slip would probably mean death, and in spite of the fact that he realized the necessity for haste, descended slowly.
At last his feet touched the bottom, and turning toward the open door he staggered on.
As he reached the open door the barn behind him collapsed with a terrible crash; but before he lapsed into unconsciousness he saw the face of the man he carried.
"Anderson!" he cried, and tumbled over in a dead faint.
CHAPTER IV.
CAPTAIN HARRY ANDERSON.
When Hal returned to consciousness he lay upon the hard ground and Chester was bending over him. Shifting his position slightly the lad saw what was left of his troop standing idly about. At the same moment he felt a hand grasp his and heard a well-known voice exclaim:
"I owe my life to you, Hal. It seems that you bob up wherever you are needed most."
Hal turned and gazed at the speaker. He was Captain Harry Anderson, of His British Majesty"s Royal Dragoons, whom the lad had last seen in the hands of the Germans. Then the fight, the burning barn, and his recognition of Anderson just before he had lost consciousness, all came back to him in a flash, and he pressed the hand that grasped his.
"Lieutenant--I mean Captain Anderson!" he exclaimed. "I thought you were safe in the hands of the Germans."
The lad arose slowly to his feet, supported by the captain"s arm. He staggered a trifle; but, after inhaling a few breaths of the cold, invigorating air, was soon himself again.
"And I," said Captain Anderson, answering Hal"s exclamation, "thought you also were safe in the hands of the Germans."
"Well," said Hal, with a faint smile, "it seems that the enemy did wrong to believe they had any of us safely."
"It does, indeed," the captain smiled back; "but come, tell me how you escaped. I have asked Chester, but he has been so worried about you that he has failed to do so."
"We haven"t time now," replied Hal. "We are on a reconnaissance, and must proceed immediately."
"It will be unnecessary," replied Anderson dryly. "I have just come from that way and am in a position to tell you, or General French, either, for that matter, all you desire to know."
"Are you sure?" asked Hal.
"Positive," replied the captain briefly.
"In that event," said Hal, "we may as well return, for we shall be wasting time and possibly sacrificing men, to linger here longer."
He turned to his men. "Mount!" he ordered.
The troop sprang to the saddle. Ordering them to face about, the lad commanded:
"Forward!"
The troop set off at a quick trot, Captain Anderson on a spare horse riding between Hal and Chester at their head.
"Now," said the captain, "you can tell me about yourselves as we ride along."
The two lads did so, and when he learned that the lads had seen active service in the eastern theater of war, the captain was greatly surprised.
"And still I shouldn"t be surprised at anything you do or may do," he said. "You see I know you well."
"Come now, captain," said Chester, "tell us something of your own experiences."
"Well," said Anderson, "I have had about as strenuous a time as you can imagine, and I have been at the threshold of death more than once."
"Let"s hear about it!" exclaimed Hal.
"You remember, of course," began the captain, "how we were captured, and how badly I was wounded? You remember, also, that we were separated in the German camp?"
The lads signified that they did, and the captain continued:
"All right, then. It seems that my wounds were more serious than was at first supposed. A fever set in, and my German physician told me that I was a dead man. I laughed at him. I told him I had too much work to do to die yet awhile. He wanted to know what that work was and I told him it was killing Germans. This made him angry, and--"