The Boy Allies with the Cossacks Part 42

Hal slowed the aeroplane down until it was barely moving and turned to Alexis.

"You are wrong," he said. "You are not going to die. In a few hours we shall be in England, where you shall have the best of medical attention."

"It is too late," replied the Cossack calmly. "I shall not live an hour."

His breath came with difficulty.

"There is one thing I should like to know," he said.

"What is it, Alexis?" asked Hal.

"Will you tell me what you meant by 'drawing the long bow'?"

Hal was silent for some moments, and then replied gravely.

"When a man boasts of things he has never done, in America it is called 'drawing the long bow.' I was mistaken in your case. It would be impossible for you to 'draw the long bow.' You have done too much."

"That is true," agreed Chester.

Suddenly the giant frame fell back. Hal turned as best he could while Chester leaned over him anxiously. Alexis extended a hand to each of them, which they grasped.

"This," he said, pressing their hands in a still strong grip, "is the end. I wish that I could have lived to see the outcome of this war."

"There can be but one outcome," replied Chester softly. "You may rest a.s.sured of that."

"True," said the giant, "but I would like to have seen my old home again."

The lads were silent. Finally Hal spoke.

"To think," he said, "that we are responsible for your fate; but for us you would have remained with the army and have lived to the end of the war. We are to blame."

"Sh-h-h," whispered the dying giant. The hand which held Chester's freed itself and groped in his pocket. "But for you lads," he continued, "I should never have won this."

He pulled from his pocket the Cross of St. George, pinned to his breast by the Russian emperor, and gazed at it lovingly.

"It is well worth the sacrifice," he said.

Still holding the medal his hand again sought Chester's and pressed it.

His other hand still gripped Hal's.

"Good-by, boys," he said firmly. "Let the Grand Duke know."

The pressure upon their hands relaxed. The giant frame of Alexis Vergoff, brave man and fighter extraordinary, stiffened and lay still.

He was dead.

And as the aeroplane swept over the sea to the distant coast of England Hal and Chester mourned the loss of a true and stanch friend.

Arrived in England the lads saw the body of Alexis laid to rest with fitting honors, and continued their mission to the continent, where Hal put the doc.u.ment entrusted to his care by the Russian Grand Duke Nicholas into the hands of Field Marshal Sir John French, commander-in-chief of the British forces on the continent.

And so we shall take leave of them for a short time. Their subsequent adventures will be found in a succeeding volume, ent.i.tled: "The Boy Allies in the Trenches; or Midst Shot and Sh.e.l.l Along the Aisne."

THE END.