It was nervous work going through the lower floor of the house, through the garden, trampled by the rush of the Cossack charge, through bushes clipped and torn by bullets. All about was a curious silence, broken only by the sounds that the birds made, and the humming insects, which were not at all disturbed by war and the ruin it left in its wake. It was a relief to both scouts to pa.s.s into the tunnel. There everything seemed normal, strange though the place was. And in a few moments they were back in the great hall of the Suvaroff house, and were being greeted with delight by old Vladimir, though he reproached them, too, for coming back.
Their first thought was for the wireless. Fred sent a brief report of what had happened, describing the escape of General von Hindenburg. And then, as he was about to end the message, Ivan stood beside him. His eyes were shining and he seemed greatly excited.
"Tell them that von Hindenburg has only a masking force here with very few first line troops," he said. "Most of the Germans are far to the south. Their plan is to join the Austrians in an advance from Cracow.
Here they hope to hold the lakes with a few troops. They expect our army to advance. They will give up Johannisberg and Ortelsburg. They will make no stand at all until we come to Allenstein. The whole movement here is a trick. They hope to lead us on here and then drive a great wedge into the heart of Poland, until they can strike at Warsaw."
Fred made no comment. He sent the message, then asked his own questions.
"You know of the raid last night?"
"I heard something of it--and that the old fox Hindenburg escaped. Tell me the rest."
"I"ll be off," he said, when they had done. "Half a mile away I have a cache. There is a motorcycle and the uniform of a German soldier--a man of the cycle corps. I shall follow General Suvaroff."
"Can you catch them?" asked Boris, doubtfully. "They ride fast."
"Not so fast," said Ivan. "There may be fighting to do as well as running, and for fighting you need horses that are not too tired. It would be foolish to save an hour or two by hard riding and lose everything at the end for lack of the power to break through. And a motorcycle can do better than the fastest horse."
"But how did you get one?" asked Fred. "And the German uniform?"
Ivan smiled significantly.
"I met a man of about my size," he said. "I was walking. And I was tired. I took his cycle and his uniform away from him."
There was something about his tone and the look in his eyes that made Fred refrain from asking any more questions. He admired Ivan greatly, but he was a little afraid of him, too. In him he could see what lay behind the general belief that Russia was still a barbarous, partially civilized state, the underlying truth of the old saying: "Scratch a Russian, and you will find a Tartar beneath." He was glad that Ivan was on his side, and was bound to him, moreover, by his loyalty to the name of Suvaroff.
"Listen, now," said Ivan. "Here it is very dangerous. Stay as long as you can, but never let yourselves be caught in the house by any Germans.
Do not let the villagers see you. Take to the tunnel without hesitation if there is an attack upon the house, or a search. I think you will be safe as long as you are watchful, but you cannot be off your guard for even a moment. The Germans will think that you went back with the Cossacks but they will try to make sure."
"We will be careful," said Boris. "You are sure of what you have learned? There will be no more than two army corps in this region?"
"That is certain. I have scouted for twenty miles to the west and I have been along the railway lines. If there were more troops coming, I should have discovered it. I am sure of that."
"And now you are going back toward our lines?"
"Yes. I may be of service to your father. And, in any case, I shall be of more use if I am with the German advanced position than if I stayed here, far in the rear. Good-bye!"
He departed through the tunnel. And then for Fred and Boris began a task almost harder than any that could have been set. They had to wait. There was nothing for them to do except sit in the little turret room. Below, Vladimir and the others kept a sort of guard, but there seemed little reason even for that.
From the turret, whence the wireless waves were sent pulsing out through the air, a fine view of the surrounding country for a good many miles was to be had. For the most part this was a level section, slightly undulating, but with very few high spots. From their vantage point the roads stretched out like ribbons or like lines on a map. Fred opened the wireless and amused himself by listening. At first he could hear only a confused jumble through the receivers that were clamped to his ear. Then he changed his wave length, experimenting until he got a clear series of dots and dashes.
"I think I"ll take this down," he said to Boris. "It"ll be like Greek to us, of course, but it"s all German wireless talk, and it all means something. Perhaps if we"re lucky, we"ll stumble on to the key of the code they"re using, and that might be useful."
After a time Boris, who could receive well enough but was an inexpert sender, relieved him, and Fred, taking the field gla.s.s, began to search the horizon. Soon something caught his eye and held his attention. At first he thought he saw troops moving, coming from the east. It seemed strange that German troops should be in retreat so soon, but in a moment he understood. He did not see soldiers moving along the road, but a company of civilians, with carts that were drawn by men and women. At first the sight puzzled him, but then he understood, and he called to Boris to look.
"They"re clearing out the villages toward the border," he said.
Boris only glanced through the gla.s.s.
"Yes. They were doing it the day after the war began, too," he said.
"It"s better for them, of course. If civilians are about where there is fighting, they are in danger from both sides. The Germans wouldn"t stop a minute at sh.e.l.ling one of their own villages if we were holding it.
Fred, I think they must be going to send our little lot away, too. There are soldiers coming along the road--Uhlans."
Fred looked down and saw a picket of lancers approaching, headed by an officer. And in a few minutes there were signs of great activity in the village. Soon the exodus began. And then the Uhlans turned at the road leading up to the great house, and began to climb.
"Coming to warn our people, I suppose," said Boris. "We"ll make ourselves scarce, Fred. Vladimir can talk to them when they arrive."
But Fred did not go without one more sweeping look about him. And it showed him something that surprised him.
"I"ve got a curious feeling," he told Boris, when they had slipped into the secret pa.s.sage. "I"ve got what we call a hunch in America--a feeling that Ivan has been fooled. You didn"t see what I did just now. I"m perfectly certain I saw troops marching on two roads that aren"t very far apart, to the north."
"Marching east or west?"
"East. I think a real trap is being prepared, Boris. And--I"m going to try to find out the truth!"
"How?"
"I"d better not tell you, Boris. Go back and listen--see what you can hear at the thin wall. I"m afraid that if we both go we might be heard, if they are near there. I want to know where those Uhlans come from."
"All right," said Boris, wondering a little. He went off, and Fred, as soon as he had disappeared, began to make his way very quietly, almost stealthily, indeed, toward the other end of the tunnel--the one that gave to the open air.
"He"d never have let me go if I had told him," he said to himself, feeling the need of justifying what looked like treachery, since his own conscience was accusing him. "And I didn"t lie to him. I didn"t say that I would be there when he came back. I only hope I get out before he finds I"ve gone!"
When he reached the opening he felt safe, and there he stopped and wrote a note to Boris, telling him what he meant to do and why he had not taken him into his confidence before.
"He"s sure to find that," said Fred to himself. "He"ll come down here looking for me, and I suppose he"d go out, too, no matter how dangerous it might be, if I didn"t leave this note."
As he swung the door that let him out, Fred felt the little thrill that always came to him when he opened the way thus to the outer air. Ever since he had come upon the German soldier here the first time, he had had this feeling. This time, however, the way was clear, and he slipped out and made his way swiftly toward the parsonage. He took advantage of every bit of cover for he had no wish to be seen, at least as yet. Soon he reached the vantage spot he sought. From it he commanded a view of the village, and of the entrance to the great Suvaroff house on the hill as well.
The dismal procession from the village had already begun. The place, in fact, was already almost entirely deserted. Orders from the army evidently counted for a good deal here. Fred wondered what Americans would have done in a like case. But the departure of the villagers, who knew him, and might have recognized him even in his German guise, relieved him immensely. Before the house on the hill he could see a mounted Uhlan on guard over the horses. The rest had gone inside. There were only five of them altogether, which made him feel confident that none would be left behind. There were too few for that.
As time pa.s.sed, he wondered why they stayed inside so long. In a way, it was to his liking that they should, but it made him nervous. He was afraid that a real search was being made; afraid that, by some stroke of misfortune, Boris"s hiding-place had been revealed. But at last he saw the solitary horseman outside the house stiffen to rigid attention. Then the others came out, and he almost shouted in his relief when he saw that they brought no one with them. The officer swung to his saddle and in a minute more the little command was cantering down the hill. Fred looked at the village searchingly now. There was no one left. A quarter of a mile away the rear end of the wretched procession of refugees straggled along the road, going west. They were not looking back.
Now it was time to put his plan to the test. The chances of full success, as he understood perfectly, were most remote. And the danger was great. He had not seen these Uhlans; there might well be someone even in that small party who would recognize him. And he knew what would happen then, if he were caught. But his plan compelled him to run that risk, and he emerged from his shelter, and struck out boldly along the road the Uhlans had taken to come to the village. He walked northeast, and he knew that that in itself would be suspicious, but it was all part of his plan.
He had not long to wait for the plan to begin, or at least to work out according to his calculations. Behind him he heard a shout, but, affecting not to hear it, he did not turn. And in a few moments he heard the sound of galloping hoofs behind him. Even then he did not turn until a Uhlan had ridden past him.
"Stop!" cried the soldier. "Where are you going?"
Fred looked at him blankly.
"Stop!" said the German again, for Fred, after having looked at him, had moved on. Still Fred paid no attention, and the man rode up to him and leaned over, dropping a heavy hand on his shoulder and shaking him in no gentle way.
"Where are you going, I say? Answer!" roared the Uhlan.
But Fred only smiled and pointed first to his ears and then to his mouth. By pantomime he pretended to be deaf and dumb. And when the officer came up, Fred was still smiling--and silent. He knew he had never seen this officer before.