Both boys seemed as active as cats; and evidently Jack must have looked around him with an eye to a possible hiding-place for he immediately led his companion to a cavity into which they could crawl and remain unseen. They only waited long enough to make sure it was a band of horsemen turning the hill, that they were beyond doubt Uhlans, and that they were now heading in a direct line for the windmill.
“That settles it,” observed Jack, decisively. “They mean to make use of this observation post; so let’s dodge out of sight, Amos.”
A minute later and both boys were huddling under cover at a place where some of the wreckage of the arm of the sail together with other debris had been thrown.
[18]
“Let’s hope none of them think it worth while to stick a sword in here to see what’s under all this stuff,” ventured Amos.
“I hardly think they’ll go to any bother,” his companion observed. “You see, when these Uhlans are riding over hostile territory they are always in a big hurry to cover as much ground as they can. They stir up a hornets’ nest wherever they go, and the quicker they change base the better for them. I reckon a couple of the officers will climb up here with their field-glasses so as to take an observation. Then they’ll be off again, and only hit the high places as they ride away.”
“They can tell easily enough that there’ve been warm times around this windmill a short time back,” suggested Amos. “Let’s hope their powerful glasses show them a bunch of the British forces moving this way. That would help hurry them along, according to my notion.”
“’Sh! keep still now, because they’re getting close up. Use your ears all you want to, but say nothing even in a whisper.”
[19]
Thrilled by the fact that danger was hovering over them, the boys crouched there in their place of concealment and waited to ascertain what would happen. Although Amos did not claim to possess such acute hearing as his chum, he too could by now catch the thud of many horses’ hoofs beating on the earth. The sound grew in volume constantly, showing that the Uhlan party must be heading directly toward the site of the Dutch windmill, just as Jack had figured would be the case.
Suddenly the heavy beat of many hoofs ceased, and the concealed boys could hear a clanking of accoutrements, accompanied by snorts of horses brought to a standstill.
Jack nudged his comrade to signify that the crisis had arrived. Then they caught the sound of heavy voices, and the guttural nature of the utterance, so different from French or even English, told them it was German, though as yet no word came distinctly to their ears.
Some one was undoubtedly climbing the ladder that led to the top of the concrete and stone[20] foundation of the windmill; Jack could tell this from the slight quivering sensation that he felt. As he had anticipated, the Uhlan meant to utilize the windmill as a lookout. He only hoped that a short confinement in their uncomfortable quarters might be the whole extent of the experience to which he and Amos would be subjected.
Louder came the voices. The speakers were now close at hand, and had evidently succeeded in gaining the flat top of the structure without any accident on account of the shaky ladder giving way under their weight.
It happened that both boys had a smattering of the German language. On the way over they had spent many hours on deck brushing up their knowledge from books secured with that very idea in view. Hence they could make out fairly well what was said, though at times the translation might seem a little hazy, and subject to doubt.
The party with the rasping voice seemed to be the leading officer, for he presently ordered some[21] one else to climb further up, using the perpendicular arm of the windmill for the purpose, so as to get a better view of the surrounding country from its apex.
The hidden boys could hear the shaky arm groan under the weight of the climber, while the ragged remnant of the sail flapped in the breeze. Every second they anticipated a crash that would tell of disaster, but it did not come; and Jack realized that nothing was too venturesome for those recklessly hard riders.
Evidently the officer with the glasses must have reached the point which he had been aiming for, since presently he started making his report, the man below interrupting occasionally to ask pertinent questions.
From his lofty eyrie the one on the lookout must have been able to scan considerable territory, for he reported that only in one direction was there any sign of the enemy in force. Off toward the east he could see artillery in motion, accompanied by a regiment or two of British territorials,[22] and evidently heading for the front to take their place in the battle line.
Further questioning revealed the fact that an aeroplane was in sight, apparently belonging to the Allies, and evidently scouting in the interests of the new field battery that was seeking a position where it could do the most damage to the trenches of the invaders.
The presence of this speedy air-craft seemed to make the commander of the Uhlans somewhat uneasy. He knew how easily the birdman could swoop down toward them and drop a few bombs with the intention of doing fell execution in their midst. If the air scout had manifested any interest in their presence there, and headed toward the spot, undoubtedly a hoarse command would have caused a hurried scattering of the rough riders, just as wild ducks separate when the eagle darts down for his dinner.
Now the observer was going down again to join his chief, who possibly would want to ask a few more questions before definitely deciding on[23] the course they must take after leaving the windmill.
Amos was almost holding his breath because of the suspense. The Uhlan captain had seated himself on the pile of rubbish and was now within two feet of where the boys lay in concealment. It seemed to the anxious Amos that the very beating of his heart would betray them, so wildly was it pounding against his ribs.
Once again did the captain fling his queries at the other. Surrounded as they were with hostile forces it meant considerable to the Uhlans that they pick out the line of least resistance. It was also of importance to them that they appear in places where German soldiers were least expected. In this way, by the very boldness of their dash, they might help strike terror to the hearts of the villagers, wherever a collection of houses had still escaped the general destruction that had visited that sadly harassed section of country.
Amos was undoubtedly a better German scholar than his Western cousin, and could[24] therefore understand what was passing between the two men. Jack felt him give a violent start once or twice, from which he guessed the other had caught something said which had seemed to have escaped his ears. It was no time to indulge in a whisper, however, and so he had to possess his soul in patience, and wait for a more fitting opportunity to learn what had upset his chum.
Once the Uhlan captain spoke of the fierce fight that must have taken place at the battered windmill, showing that he had read all the signs aright, even to the freshly turned earth over under the willow tree on the bank of the little brooklet near by.
There was a note of pride in his raspy voice when he spoke of the apparent fact that those who had used the buttress of the windmill for a fort must have held out until every man of them had been slain. In the eyes of a German such devotion to the dearly beloved Fatherland was only what might be expected.
When the captain rose from his hard seat,[25] Amos for one terrible moment feared that the catastrophe he had dreaded was about to descend upon them, for he heard the second man make a remark that brought things directly home.
“Do you think our brave comrades could have found and buried all those who fell here, Captain, after first accounting for scores of the detested British?” was what he said.
Even as he spoke he bent down and tried to see under the pile of wreckage; and certainly both boys held their breath. But Fortune was kind to them, for it happened that the sun was under a cloud, and the man’s eyes could not penetrate the gloom that lay around them.
“Even if they did not, what does it matter?” remarked the commander. “A soldier needs no tomb. It is enough that he has done his duty toward his country and his emperor. If there should by chance be a body uncared for it will soon be buried just the same. Come, let us be going, Lieutenant Krueger. The horses will be all the fresher for this short halt. Twenty[26] miles we should cover before sunset, and strike terror to thousands of French hearts with our passage through the land!”
Yes, thank fortune they were going now. The eyes of the lieutenant had been unequal to the task of seeing what lay under all that piled-up rubbish; and he did not think it worth while to thrust in with his sword. Amos was breathing freely again, though far from easy in his mind.
Now they knew the men were climbing down from the elevation. The horses had become restive, as though eager to be once more on the mad gallop to which they were so accustomed. Amos had reached out his hand and found that of his chum, to which he was clinging, squeezing Jack’s fingers convulsively as though he might be laboring under a tremendous strain.
“In luck again, you see, Amos,” whispered Jack, managing to get his lips close to the ear of his companion. “They’re going off in a hurry, and without finding us. Why, you’re quivering[27] like a leaf, I do believe. What ails you, old chap?”
“Oh! then you didn’t hear what he said, or you wouldn’t be taking it so cool,” replied Amos, in a guarded tone, and trying at the same time to control his voice, which trembled in spite of him.
“Well, I own up I did miss some of his growl, but what of that?” confessed Jack. “Was there anything in particular he said that meant trouble for you and me?”
“Yes, yes,” answered the other, in a gasp. “He told the lieutenant they wouldn’t want to leave such a splendid lookout to be used by the enemy, and that it must be destroyed!”
“What, this windmill, do you mean?” demanded Jack, himself thrilled by the news.
“He said they ought to leave a bomb with a short fuse behind them, and the last man away would put a match to it!” Amos volunteered.
The Western boy may have been startled by what he heard, but it was Jack’s way never to show the white feather. He even whistled softly[28] half under his breath; for the trampling of many hoofs down below served to make it impossible for ordinary sounds to be heard, so there seemed no possible danger of the chums being betrayed by their low conversation.
“That’s a nice outlook I must say,” chuckled Jack, pretending to make light of the threatening peril. “For one, I’m not hankering to climb the golden stairs in such a hurry. I tell you what we’ve got to do, Amos.”
“Wish you would, Jack, and be quick about it,” urged the other. “There, some of them are riding off right now, and the rest will follow on their heels. Then that last man is to touch a match to the fuse and hurry away. They expect to see the mill go shooting skyward in pieces before they get far off.”
“What d’ye reckon we’ll be doing along about that time, I’d like to know?” chuckled Jack. “Let’s crawl out of this in a hurry, so as to be ready to act. Then when we glimpse that last rider whooping it up in a hurry you’ll see how[29] fast I’ll drop down the old ladder and jump on that burning fuse.”
“Then you don’t think we’d better run for it, Jack? You reckon they might see us and give chase? I guess you’re right about that, too. But listen, isn’t that the clatter of a single horse starting off with a rush?”
“Yes, there goes the man who fired the fuse; it’s time we were on the move if we want to stamp out that slow match,” and Jack as he spoke jumped for the ladder.