"Let"s hope that will prove to be the case with us," ventured Rob cheerily.
They found that they were to be given breakfast; and as all of the boys had a ferocious appet.i.te they soon did justice to the meal set before them.
It was while they were finishing that they suddenly became aware of the fact that something along the line of a battle had broken out not a great ways off. The first intimation they had of this was the deep-throated sound of a heavy gun. It made them jump; and the entire village seemed to become aroused at once, as people began to run this way and that, chattering like magpies, some of their faces turning white with apprehension of what was to come.
They had heard of the fate of Louvain, and dreaded the hour when the German army should come sweeping with irresistible force across that section of the country.
Quick on the heels of that opening gun came other sounds--the long roll of rifle firing in volleys, and the faint cheers of charging men. The boys even fancied they could hear amidst all the confusion the loud singing that was said to mark the advance of the German legions as they went into battle chanting the "Watch on the Rhine." Rob could well believe it, for he knew singing was to the Teuton mind what the bagpipes meant to Scotch Highlanders, or cheers to American boys in khaki.
It was evident that the gallant little Belgian army, determined to resist to the uttermost the pa.s.sage of the Germans across their territory in the direction of Antwerp and Ghent, had again given battle to overwhelming numbers.
Of course the boys had rushed out of the inn and immediately sought the best position from which they could see something of what was going on.
Many of the villagers were cl.u.s.tered there, gazing with deepest concern at the section where the smoke of battle was beginning to spread like a pall over the country.
"Oh! what is that up there, and heading this way?" Tubby suddenly exclaimed.
No sooner had Rob turned his gaze aloft than he was able to give the desired information.
"That is one of the famous German Zeppelins, hovering over the battlefield," he told Tubby.
CHAPTER XVI.
THE BATTLE FOR THE TRENCHES.
By this time everyone was gazing in mixed wonder and awe at the strange dirigible balloon, speeding in great circles far up toward the clouds.
Rob and his comrades had read more or less about these monster airships which the German Count had invented, and which were expected to play a prominent part in this world war. They had even hoped that before they left Belgium they might be given an opportunity to see one of the fleet monsters, which were said to be able to carry dozens of men, as well as tons of explosives, incredible distances.
In Antwerp there had been considerable talk concerning the possibility of these Zeppelins making a concerted attack on the city, and forcing its surrender. All manner of fearful stories were going the rounds, and many timid people had even left the city on the Scheldt for the more hospitable sh.o.r.es of England, just on account of the threatening peril from the clouds.
"So, that"s a real Zeppelin, is it?" Tubby remarked, as they stood there with their eyes riveted on the flittering monster of the air.
"No question about it," Merritt told him, "because the poor Belgians don"t own such an expensive airship, though they have some aeroplanes, I was told."
"But what do you reckon they"re doing up there?" asked Tubby, still seeking to increase his limited stock of knowledge.
"Why," Rob replied, "don"t you see there"s a battle going on below, and from that height men with gla.s.ses can see every little thing that"s happening. They are able to tell how the Belgian forces are intrenched; and by means of signals let their gunners know where to drop sh.e.l.ls so as to do the most harm."
"Whee! what won"t they do next in modern, up-to-date fighting?"
exclaimed Tubby.
"There have been lots of remarkable surprises sprung in this war already," Merritt observed thoughtfully, "but I"m thinking the worst is yet to come. There never was such a war before in the history of the world, and it"s to be hoped this one ends in a peace that will last forever."
"Yes," added Rob, greatly impressed by what he was seeing, "war"s going to cost so much after this that the nations will have to fix up some other way to settle their differences. About that Zeppelin, Tubby; don"t you see how they might be able to drop a few bombs on the enemy"s trenches; or where the Belgians have fixed barbed-wire entanglements to stop the rush of the charging German troops? Just to think that here we are really watching a battle that isn"t like one of the sham rights they have every summer at home. It"s hard to believe, boys!"
They were all agreed as to this, and every little while one of them might be detected actually rubbing his eyes, as though suspecting he were asleep and all this were but a feverish dream.
The cannonading grew more and more furious as the morning advanced. Huge billows of smoke covered sections of the country, some of it not more than a mile away from the village where Rob and his chums had stopped.
"And just to think," said Tubby, with a touch of sorrow in his voice.
"While all this sounds like a Fourth of July celebration to us, safe as we are, it spells lots of terrible wounds for the poor fellows who are in the fight. Why, with all those big sh.e.l.ls bursting, and the shrapnel too, that you spoke about, Rob, right now I reckon there are just hundreds of them wanting to be attended to."
"That"s true enough, Tubby, the more the pity," replied Rob.
"What"s this coming up behind us?" called out Merritt, as loud cheers, together with the rattle of wheels and the pounding of many horses"
hoofs, were heard on the road they had used on the previous night.
"Oh! they"re going to bombard the village; and now we"ll get it!" gasped Tubby.
"It looks like a battery coming from the direction of Antwerp, and hurrying to get in action!" Rob ventured to say, as he discovered that those who were seated on the horses and on the gun caissons wore the Belgian uniforms.
"Just what it is, Rob," added Merritt excitedly. "They hear the sound of the guns ahead, and are crazy to get there. Look at them whip the horses, would you! And how the animals run! They smell the smoke of burnt powder, and it"s fairly set them all wild!"
It was indeed a stirring sight to see that battery come tearing along straight through the little village, and heading directly toward the place where the flashing and roaring of battle seemed fiercest.
The men were all keyed up to a pitch of excitement that made them forget they were about to face danger and death. They shouted as they swept past, and the poor villagers, filled with a momentary enthusiasm, sent back answering cries.
Such enthusiasm is always contagious. Why, even peace-loving Tubby seemed to be infected with some of it. His eyes glowed, and his breath came in short puffs, as he watched the guns and caissons go whirling along until men, horses and all had vanished down the road in a cloud of dust.
"Some of those brave fellows will never come back again, I"m afraid,"
said Tubby sadly.
"It begins to look as if the artillery arm was going to be everything in this war," Rob remarked, as though the sight of those bursting sh.e.l.ls impressed him.
"But what do you suppose all that bombardment means?" Merritt asked.
"I can only give a guess," the patrol leader replied. "From all I"ve read I get the idea that before the Germans order a charge of their infantry they pour in a heavy bombardment from every big gun they can get in line. That makes it so hot in the trenches that the enemy has to keep under cover. Then the infantry manages to get a good start before they are fired on."
"Nothing new about that, I guess," replied Merritt. "It was done in the battle of Gettysburg, where Lee used more than a hundred cannon to bombard, before starting to carry Little Round-top and Cemetery Hill by a.s.sault. I was just reading about it a few weeks ago in a magazine article at home. But if those are their tactics, Rob, we ought to be seeing some movement of troops pretty soon."
"Yes," the patrol leader admitted, "the gun fire is slackening right now; and if we had gla.s.ses I expect we could see the infantry starting forward. Those up in the Zeppelin can watch every move that takes place."
"All the same I"d rather take my chances down here," Tubby announced.
"What"s that moving away over there, Rob?" demanded Merritt. "Seems like a gray looking snake creeping out from the shelter of the woods. I declare if I don"t believe it is a ma.s.s of men charging straight at the Belgian trenches!"
"The Germans all wear a sort of grayish green uniform, you know," Tubby declared, "which is so like the dirt that lots of times you can"t tell the soldiers from the earth half a mile away."
"Look sharp, fellows," said Rob, "because that is where they"re going to shoot their bolt. What we see is a battalion of infantry charging. Now watch how they begin to gather momentum. Yes, and when the gun fire lets up we"ll hear the voices of thousands of men singing as they rush forward, ready to die for the Fatherland."
They stood there with trembling limbs, and continued to watch what was developing right before their eyes. It seemed as though that gray ma.s.s would never cease coming into view. The whole open s.p.a.ce was covered with lines upon lines of soldiers all pushing in one direction, and that where the intrenchments of the Belgians must lie.
"Oh! look! look! they"re opening on them with quick-fire guns, and all sorts of things!" Tubby exclaimed, in absolute horror. "Why, I can see lanes cut in the lines of the Germans; but they always close up, and keep right on! Isn"t it terrible?"
"It is sublime!" said Rob; and that tribute to the unflinching bravery of the German advance was about the limit of a boy"s vocabulary.