"What is this, Corporal?" he cried. "It was to be my business to get you over the frontier. I don"t agree with your attacking the Germans here."
"That"s all right, sir," replied Shaw, still pressing on. "We know what we"re about. We"ve reconnoitred the place, and can clear out the whole lot without turning a hair. Come along, lad, and lend a hand."
"No, Shaw, I"m not going to have this. I"ve breached the wire a few yards away yonder and put the sentry out of action. All we have to do is to walk through and we are safe. This mad attack right on the frontier will----"
"No, no; our fellows will be disappointed if they don"t get one more fling at the Germans!" cried Shaw, pressing on as though anxious to get away from Max"s protests. "It"ll all be over in----"
At this moment the German sentry in front of the building which housed the frontier guard caught sight of dark shadows approaching. He challenged, and almost simultaneously brought his rifle up to his shoulder.
There was a flash and a report, and one of the men just behind Max gave a gasp and staggered. He recovered himself, however, and with the rest of the band charged madly down upon the sentry and the guard, who were now rapidly tumbling out of the entrance of the building, rifle in hand.
The fight that ensued was to Max the most desperate he had ever seen.
The French and British soldiers, after all their discomforts and privations and the terrible sights they had witnessed, were burning with the desire to get to close quarters with the Germans and to try conclusions with them. Like a whirlwind they flung themselves upon the hated foe, and, scarcely firing a shot, stabbed and bayoneted with wild and desperate energy.
The Germans who had poured outside the building were cut down in a remarkably short s.p.a.ce of time, and, without a pause, the men dashed into the pa.s.sage and up the stairs, every man striving to be the first to close with the enemy. Against such reckless valour as this the German Landwehr, although they outnumbered their a.s.sailants at least two to one, could do nothing, and it could not have been more than eight minutes from the first onrush before the last German had been cut down.
"Set a light to it, boys," commanded Shaw, highly excited with the success of the combat. "Let"s have a blaze to light our way across the frontier, and to tell the Germans we bid them farewell."
"Now, boys, three good cheers for the Allies and down with the Germans!"
The huzzas were heartily given as the fire promptly kindled within blazed up. Round the burning house the soldiers danced, flinging into the fire the arms and equipment of their foes. Across the frontier, only a few yards away, the soldiers of the Dutch guard had turned out, and they watched the strange scene with an interest that to one at least of the band of British and French was far from pleasing.
"Fall in!" commanded Shaw, and the men obeyed. "Form fours--right! Now, boys, we"ve seen our last of Germany for a time, and are going to march into Holland. Soon we shall be back in the armies of the Allies, ready to take part in another march through Germany. Now, then, by the right, quick----"
"One moment, Shaw," cried Max quickly. "You are making a big mistake if you think you can march thus into Holland and also be free to join the armies of the Allies."
"Why so?" cried Corporal Shaw impatiently. "Why can"t we? Who"s to stop us?"
"The Dutch soldiers will stop you quick enough," replied Max. "Do you think they will treat us as they do escaped prisoners or fugitives after a battle at their very frontier?"
"Well, what will they treat us as?" cried Shaw sharply.
"As belligerents, of course. We shall be disarmed and interned, and our fighting days will be over."
"Yes, Shaw," interposed Peck. "The lad"s right, and we have played the fool in lashing out at the Germans right agin the frontier. You"re too headstrong, Shaw. The lad was running this show. Why didn"t you leave him alone?"
"Pooh! If we drop our tools, and march across, the Dutchmen will let us go," replied the discomfited Shaw apologetically. "Let"s try it on anyway."
"Nay, nay, Shaw," cried the Scot in a deep voice. "Ye"ve spoiled this business, and ye"d better let be. The lad has the best heid, and let him have his way over it. Come, lad, what say ye--what"s oor next move?"
It was certainly time for a move of some sort. On both flanks of the party desultory firing had commenced. The sentries posted along the frontier had doubtless been attracted by the sound of the fighting at their head-quarters and were straggling inwards, exchanging dropping shots with the men on the outskirts of the band. As their numbers increased, a regular battle would ensue, finally compelling the band to surrender, or to cross the frontier and be interned.
Max had no mind to be interned, whatever Shaw felt on the subject. His great task of guarding the Durend workshops was still waiting for him to complete, and were he put out of action it was certain that no one else would carry it on. Shaw had made a great mistake, but it was possibly not irretrievable. At any rate, Max believed it could be set right by prompt and resolute action.
"Come, then," he said firmly. "If you still wish to fight again for your country, follow me, and I will do my best to keep you from losing the chance. You must be silent and watchful and make the best speed possible. Exert yourselves to the utmost for three or four hours, and then I hope we may be safe again. Come--fall in in single file, with the prisoners in the centre, and follow me. Exchange no shots unless I give the word. If you are attacked, use the bayonet, and the bayonet only."
There was a murmur of general a.s.sent and a quick bustle as the men fell in. Several were slightly wounded, but only two sufficiently so to need any a.s.sistance. Two men took their stand by each of these, and as Max led the way inland from the frontier, through the open country, these a.s.sisted them to keep up with the others.
Max kept the German farmer close by his side. The man knew the country well, and Max gave him to understand that his comrades would be very glad indeed of an excuse to strafe him. The man certainly had no reason to disbelieve him. The wild, fierce looks of the men, the a.s.sured way in which they marched through an enemy"s country, and the pitched battle, ending in the burning of a German post, just fought were enough to convince him that he had to deal with men who were nothing if not determined. At any rate, Max had no trouble with him, and found him a ready and reliable guide all through the night.
For nearly two hours the band moved obliquely inland. Then Max turned and aimed once more at the frontier at a point at least ten miles away from the place where the previous attempt had been made.
The German patrols were fewer here, and with only one mishap they reached the frontier. This mishap took place while the party was crossing a high road. Scouts had reported all clear, and all had crossed except the men at the rear, who were helping the wounded along. These were in the middle of the road, when a motorcar, moving at high speed, turned a corner a short distance away and ran rapidly down upon them.
The powerful headlights of the motor of course revealed the little group of men in the roadway. Brakes were applied, and the machine came to a standstill a yard or two away.
"Who are you? What do you here?" came in the deep peremptory tones of a man who was evidently a German officer.
For the moment the party in the road, half-blinded by the powerful lights, stopped stupidly where they were. None of them understood what was said, and none made a move either to fly or to resist capture.
Max, the instant he saw the headlights approaching, ran back to the roadway and was just in time to hear the officer"s demand. It was too late for flight--too late for anything but attack--and, calling to the men nearest him, he sprang towards the car.
Two revolvers flashed in the darkness. One of the bullets cut through the side of his jacket and grazed his side. The other missed altogether.
In another moment he was alongside the car and using the rifle and bayonet he carried with hearty goodwill.
The car contained four German officers and a soldier chauffeur. For a fraction of a second Max attacked them single-handed. Then other men sprang to his a.s.sistance, and from both sides of the car the Germans were a.s.saulted with an energy they doubtless had never experienced before. It was quickly over. All the men were bayoneted, and left for dead, and, without waiting to do more than dash out the headlights and overturn the car in a ditch, Max again led the band forward to the frontier.
Day was breaking as the band neared the frontier, at a point where it was crossed by a railway. In a little copse at the side of the track Max halted his men and allowed them a short rest while he went with Shaw to reconnoitre and determine the best means of making the actual crossing.
They found, of course, the line well guarded, and with a strong post at the frontier to watch the gap necessarily left in the great barbed-wire fence. The post consisted of about thirty men of the Landwehr, and the band of British and French fugitives could have rushed and destroyed it with the greatest ease. But, should they do this, Max feared that they could not cross into Holland and retain their freedom. They would, he felt sure, be treated as soldiers and be interned for the duration of the war. None of them had any desire for that; all wished to be free to strike again at the foe.
From the frontier back to a busy little station, two miles inland, Max and Shaw continued their search. Then they returned to the place where they had left the rest of the band in hiding.
"Well, Max, what do you think of it?" asked Dale. "D"ye think we can get through anywhere about here without too much of a rumpus?"
"I hope so. I"ve thought of something that seems to promise."
"What is it, old man?"
"Take forcible possession of yon station in the middle of the night and collar the first train that arrives _en route_ to the frontier. We ought then to be able to run her successfully through the Dutch frontier guards."
"Phew!" cried Dale in amazement.
Shaw gave a prolonged chuckle of intense delight. "Train-s.n.a.t.c.hing--eh?"
he cried at last. "That"ll suit the boys, I give you my word."
"It"s not so easy as it sounds," responded Max soberly. "It needs careful planning, for it must be done like clockwork if we are not to make a mess of it."
"Well, we can do that, I suppose?" replied Shaw confidently. "You found the clockwork all right in that raid on the railway? You plan it out and you"ll find we shan"t fail you."
"No, I don"t think you will, Shaw. Well, it must be done about an hour after nightfall, so we must lose no time. This is how I think it ought to be done," and Max unfolded the plan as it had so far framed itself in his mind.
For an hour or two the three discussed the affair earnestly together.
Then they broached the scheme to their waiting comrades. As they antic.i.p.ated, it met with rapturous approval, and it was in a fever of impatience--for the hour of their deliverance or their defeat was close at hand--that the whole of the band awaited the closing in of night.
CHAPTER XX