The Boy Allies with Haig in Flanders Part 23

"You will ride after your friend," he said, "and present this to General Adamson. Then you had better turn, in for the night. You may stay with General Adamson's command and lend what a.s.sistance there you can."

Chester was soon speeding after Hal.

General Adamson recognized Hal instantly when the lad reported to him, and professed pleasure at seeing him again. He also saluted Chester, when the latter arrived a short time later.

"And so you are going to stay with me, eh?" he said. "Well, I have no doubt I shall be able to make use of you. However, you'd better turn in now. I suppose we'll be at it bright and early in the morning."

General Adamson proved a good prophet.

Hal and Chester met several men whom they had known when they were with the Canadian troops at the capture of Vimy Ridge, and these expressed delight at seeing the lads again. A young officer invited the lads to spend the night in his quarters, and they accepted gratefully.

They followed General Adamson's injunction and turned in early. They were very tired, and they were asleep the moment they hit their cots.

It seemed to Hal that he had just closed his eyes when he was aroused by the sound of a bugle. It was the call to arms, and the lad sprang to his feet and threw on his clothes. Chester also was on his feet, and the two lads dashed from the tent together.

They made their way to General Adamson's quarters, where they stood and awaited whatever commands, he might give them.

The Canadian troops were all under arms. Each and every man was eager for the fray. They had not been in the battle the previous day, but they had heard full accounts of British success and they were determined to give a good account of themselves when the time came.

And the time came soon.

It was just growing light when the British army launched the second day's drive.

Along the whole forty-mile line the troops under General Byng advanced simultaneously. This time, however, the Germans were not caught napping. They antic.i.p.ated the second attack by the British, and a terrific hail of sh.e.l.ls and bullets greeted the Allied troops, as they moved across the open ground.

But these men were not raw troops. Hardly a man who could not be called a veteran. They advanced as calmly under fire as though on parade. Men went down swiftly in some parts of the field, but as fast as one dropped, his place was instantly filled. The lines were not allowed to break or be thrown into confusion.

The Canadian troops advanced calmly and with a sprightliness that seemed strange for men used to the grim work of war. There was something in their carriage that told their officers that they would give a good account of themselves this day.

General Adamson eyed his men with pride, as they moved off in the semi-light. He dispatched Hal with a command to Colonel Brown, commander of one regiment, and Chester to Colonel Loving, commander of another. As it chanced, these two regiments were marching together, so the two lads once more found themselves together in the midst of an advancing army.

Their messages delivered, they did not return to General Adamson, and without even asking permission of their superiors, ranged themselves behind. Colonel Loving, and pressed forward with the troops.

Colonel Loving and Colonel Brown, besides Hal and Chester, were the only mounted men with the Canadian advance. Ten minutes after the lads had gone forward, Colonel Loving dismounted and turned his horse over to one of his men, who led it toward the rear. Colonel Brown followed suit. Hal and Chester did likewise.

"Good idea," commented Chester. "We make too good targets there."

Hal nodded, and looked toward the front.

The British tanks again led the way. Bullets whistled over the heads of the Canadians. Hal saw that the first-line German defenses were less than 200 yards away.

"Good." he told himself. "Now for the battle."

The first British tank nosed into the German trench.

CHAPTER XVIII

TANK FIGHTING

The early stages of the morning fighting were repet.i.tions of the first day's advance. Success perched upon British standards from the first.

Try as they would, the Germans were unable to hurl back the British infantry, which advanced steadily under the protecting wings of countless armored tanks.

Every now and then one of these terrible instruments of warfare burst to pieces, killing its crew, as a German sh.e.l.l struck in a vital spot, but, for the most part, they advanced unharmed.

Over the German trenches they plowed their path, as though there was nothing in the way to bar their progress. Walls, earth, and human bodies were crushed beneath them, and they pa.s.sed on as though nothing had happened. In vain the Germans charged straight up to their sides.

There was nothing they could do when they reached the monsters, except to fire ineffectual rifle shots in an effort to penetrate the apertures and reach the gunners, or to hurl hand grenades, which had no effect.

Each time the enemy charged it was never to return. While they wasted their energies attempting to put the tanks out of commission, British infantry mowed them down with, rifle fire. At length these attempts were given up.

The Germans, after an hour's desperate fighting, deserted their first-line trenches, and sought the shelter of the second; from these they were driven to the third.

Hal and Chester found themselves in the midst of the fighting, alongside the heroic Canadians of Vimy Ridge fame. The part of the field in which they found themselves was to the extreme north of the Hindenburg line, almost opposite Douai.

Time after time the Canadians drove the foe back at the point of the bayonet. The Canadians, it appeared soon after noon, had been the most successful of the entire British army. They had pushed their lines almost to Douai. To the south, General Byng's forces had not advanced quite so far.

Suddenly there was an explosion inside a tank scarcely a hundred feet from Hal and Chester. Great clouds of earth ascended into the air.

The tank stopped stock still. Apparently it was undamaged, but it proceeded no further. A moment later, the armored door swung open, and the half-dozen men who composed its crew got out.

"Something the matter with the engine," one said in reply to a question by a Canadian officer.

Members of the tank's crew secured rifles and joined the advancing infantry. Hal pressed close to Chester.

"I've a hunch I can fix that thing so it will run," he shouted to make himself heard above the din of battle.

"Lets have a try," Chester shouted back.

The boys left their places in the line, and approached the tank. Hal climbed inside first. Chester followed him.

He bent down and tinkered with the engine. It was not the first time the lads had been inside a tank, so they were fairly familiar with the mechanism.

After some tinkering, Hal gave an exclamation of satisfaction.

"She'll go now," he cried.

He opened the throttle, and the machine moved forward. Hal brought it to a stop almost immediately.

"We can't man all these guns," he cried. "We must have a crew."

Chester alighted and approached a captain of infantry who was pa.s.sing at that moment.

"We want a crew for this tank!" he exclaimed. "Can you give me four men?"

"Take your pick," the captain called back.

Chester motioned four stalwart Canadians to follow him. They entered the tank not without some foreboding, for it developed that none had been mixed up in such warfare before. But they were not afraid and took the places Hal a.s.signed them.