The Khaki Boys over the Top Part 24

"Go ahead!" was the grim reply.

They had hardly taken a dozen paces when from the ground all about them dark forms suddenly arose, and from what were afterward found to be sh.e.l.l holes, and the remains of trenches, other forms leaped. There were commands in German, and, in less time than it takes to tell it, Jimmy and his two companions were seized by several German soldiers, their arms taken away, and, after being beaten and kicked, they were rushed over toward the Hun lines. Dazed, wounded and sick at heart, Jimmy could hardly understand what had happened. Then it was borne to him that he and his rescue party--or what was left of it--had been the victim of a trick. They had run into an ambuscade of Germans who were hidden among the holes and ruined trenches, and had risen up to capture more prisoners.

Rousing himself, and determining to find out how many of his fellow soldiers were in the same disastrous position as himself, Jimmy cried:

"Any of the Five Hundred and Ninth here? I'm Sergeant Blaise and--"

"Great guns!" cried a voice Jimmy well knew. "It's Blazes! We're here, Jimmy!" went on the voice in a half sob. "Bob and I are here--prisoners!"

"Then we're in the same boat!" answered Jimmy, who had recognized Roger's voice. "I'll try and get to you, and then--"

"Shut up--American pig!" cried a Hun in fairly good English as he struck Jimmy in the face. And then the Sergeant knew how he had been betrayed. It was by a German who spoke English.

CHAPTER XX

THE CAPTAIN AGAIN

Worried over the possible fate in store for them, sick at heart, smarting with wounds and bruises, and with Jimmy regretting the deaths of the men he had led out to help rescue Bob and Roger, it is no wonder that the three Brothers hardly knew what happened in the next hour. All they remembered was that they were pushed, dragged and fairly punched along in the darkness that was, every now and then, lighted by gun flashes or the star-sh.e.l.ls. The fighting was still going on, though it was growing less intense, and it seemed evident that the attacking party of raiding Germans had been beaten back.

But it was at a heavy cost, for many Americans had been killed or wounded, and several taken prisoners, including our three friends.

Later, however, they learned that the losses of the Huns had been heavier, except in the matter of prisoners. Only two had been captured as against perhaps a score of Americans. The raid had been a surprise, and this quality of it led to its success.

For a time, after he had learned of the presence of his two chums in the raiding party of Huns, Jimmy was separated from them in the darkness and confusion. He could not locate them by calling their names, for each time he tried this he was struck by one of his captors, which led him, finally, to desist. He realized that if he exasperated the Germans too much they would not hesitate to kill him, even though he was a prisoner.

But later on, when it seemed as though he had been pulled and dragged over miles and miles of rough country, Jimmy was aware that the party of men who had him in charge had been joined by another squad of the Boches. And to his delight he heard some one say:

"Wonder what became of Blazes?"

It was Bob's voice, and Jimmy at once answered:

"Here I am! Is Roger there?"

"Yes," came a voice out of the darkness, and it ended in a gasp of pain, as if the words had been stopped by a blow.

Jimmy felt as though he could tear himself loose and hurl himself on the cruel captors, but he was held fast.

There was rapid talk in German among the members of the raiding party, and it could not be doubted that they were exulting over the success of the sortie, such as it had been.

A little later Jimmy was prodded forward again by the b.u.t.ts of German guns, and he was aware that Roger and Bob were advancing along with him. Whether there were any other Americans in that party Jimmy could not tell, as it was dark now, since the "fireworks" had ceased.

"Tough luck!" murmured Bob, as he limped along beside Roger.

"You said it," answered Jimmy. They spoke in low voices so as not to incur the further enmity of their captors.

"What do you think they'll do with us?" asked Roger.

"Try to get information," was Jimmy's answer. "But don't give them any! Keep stiff upper lips and let 'em ask all they want to. Don't answer!"

"We won't!" murmured Roger and Bob, but they did not realize how hard it was going to be to keep that resolve.

Forward in the darkness they stumbled, being pushed and shoved when they were not roughly seized and dragged, and at last they seemed to have been brought to a place where they were to be detained for some time. They were led down into a trench and along this in single file, a German preceding and following each of the three captives, so they were thus separated. They discovered that the German trenches were not much better as regarded mud and water than their own, and they did not have the protection of "duck boards" except in a few places. So that the progress of Bob, Roger and Jimmy was through mud that came nearly to the knees.

Suddenly their captors halted. They had reached a wider part of the trench, and in the dim light from a small electric bulb, which indicated this place to be one of the more permanent German positions, the three Brothers saw a concrete dugout.

The door of this was kicked open, and after the three Khaki Boys had been hurriedly searched, and all their personal belongings taken from them, they were thrust inside in the darkness and the door was closed.

And then, clinging together in their pain and woeful state, they told each other what had happened--Roger and Bob relating how they had been cut off and captured, and Jimmy telling of his leading the rescue party, only to be betrayed into going in the wrong direction, deceived by the call of some Hun whose English was good enough to do the trick.

"And now we're here," sighed Bob. "What's to become of us?"

"I think they'll take us before some officer and question us," said Jimmy. "They'll wait until morning, though, to give us a longer taste of misery."

"Morning!" gasped Roger. "Will morning ever come to a hole like this?"

and his eyes tried to pierce the blackness.

"There may be a window to it, or some way of letting light in, unless it's away down underground," Jimmy went on. "I couldn't tell what it was from the outside."

"Me, either," admitted Bob. "Well, this sure is tough luck!"

"Don't be downhearted!" advised Roger. "Our boys may attack in a few hours and rescue us."

"Yes, they may," a.s.sented Jimmy, and this cheered them up for a time.

How long the hours seemed! Would morning ever come, and would they see a gleam of light when it did? Or would they still be in blackness?

This question was answered for them some time later, when, after being sunk in painful silence, they were aroused by a faint gleam coming in through what proved to be a small opening in the roof of the dugout.

It was a little gleam of sunshine, and it cheered the boys almost as much as if it had been news from home.

"We're not in an underground dungeon, anyhow," said Jimmy.

The light grew stronger, and presently the door of their prison was opened. "I hope it's breakfast," gasped Bob. "Even if it's only a gla.s.s of water."

But it was not even that. Several burly, brutal Germans leered in the faces of the boys, and one, who spoke fairly good English, ordered them to come out.

"Where are you taking us?" demanded Jimmy.

"You'll see," was the enigmatical answer.

They did not have long to wait, for, presently, they were taken before a German officer, whose rank they were unable to determine, though he seemed to wield considerable authority.

He was seated at a table in a dugout most comfortably fitted up.

Before him was a ma.s.s of papers, and at his side stood a bottle of wine from which he poured a gla.s.s now and then, as he puffed at a pipe. There were several others in the room, some officers and others, clerks or secretaries.

I shall not relate what followed. Suffice it to say that the reason for the night of misery inflicted on the boys, and the failure to give them breakfast, was soon evident. It was to break their spirits, and cause them to answer and give information as to their own forces opposed to the Huns.