The wagon rumbled heavily along the road. The two men stood just within the wood, watching the driver and the soldier, looking up and down the road with a half-formed fear that more troops would come in sight. They allowed the wagon to pass them; then, running behind it on tiptoe, they leapt up, and plunged into the hay, which was loosely piled, just as it had been pitched down from a looted rick.
They burrowed their way through the scented mass, drawing it closely behind them to cover their tracks. The creaking of the cart wheels, the loud tramp of the big Flemish horses, the sleepiness of the men in front were all in their favour. They reached the forepart of the wagon without having attracted attention. Kenneth's nostrils itched. It was lucky, he thought, that the hay was dry and the season far advanced, or a fit of sneezing would have betrayed him.
To get air, and to enable them to see down the road, they made little gaps in the hay, scarcely broader than two fingers. Then they lay still, happy in their escape from the Uhlans, but desperately anxious about what might come.
The wagon was travelling towards Luxemburg. Presently, muffled by the hay, the sound of men's voices reached their ears. These continued for some minutes; no doubt they proceeded from the Uhlans in the wood. After about twenty minutes they heard a louder voice, close at hand. The wagon stopped.
"Have you seen two officers?" asked a man in German. "Dressed as Germans. One a lean ugly fellow, the other a round moon-faced baby. They are spies."
The soldier, pulling himself together, answered briskly "No!" Conscious of having been dozing on duty he went further.
"We have seen nobody for the last three miles," he said. "The whole country is deserted. What is doing about here?"
"The spies came down in that aeroplane yonder, and escaped into the wood."
"Teufel! I see no aeroplane."
"It is in ruins; the fellows blew it up. It was one of ours, too, a Taube. They stole it."
"There will be fine shooting when they are caught. These Belgians are the very deuce. Half my regiment are down. My horse was shot. I'm going to take one of these cart horses when we get to Spa. They are rather heavy, but one must take what one can get. Horses are scarce."
The Uhlan who had spoken came round to the back of the wagon, and pulled out an armful of hay for his horse. The fugitives shivered. If others of the troop did the same thing, their screen would be removed, detection was inevitable.
"Not too much," called the trooper in front, standing up and peering round the corner of the load. "Don't get me into trouble. I was ordered to bring back a full load, and the Herr Major is a terrible man in his anger."
"Where did you get it from?" asked the Uhlan, now joined by several of his comrades who had been left in charge of the horses of those searching the wood.
"From a farm about two hours' journey back, somewhere about Theux, I think they call it. It's an out-of-the-way place, but we got the tip from a Hussar who lodged with the farmer for a year or two; there wasn't much he didn't find out; and he knew exactly how much fodder he had."
"Did you leave any?"
"Two good ricks. Are you short?"
"Yes, our supplies haven't come up. Plenty of beer on the farm?"
"Not so much as there was," replied the man with a laugh. "But enough to get properly drunk on if they give you time."
"That's the place for us. How do you get there?"
"Up the road about five miles, turn down a by-road on the right; there's a row of poplars on one side; you can't miss it. We must move on. I hope you'll catch the spies. Good luck!"
The wagon jogged on.
"Whip up your horses," cried the soldier to the driver. "We have been too long on the road."
The fugitives, on tenterhooks all this time, breathed more freely when they had passed the spot where the Uhlans were grouped on the grass, guarding the horses and the ruins of the aeroplane. But they realised that they were escaping one danger only to fall into another. The destination of the wagon was Spa, no doubt filled with Germans. They must leave the wagon before it reached that town.
They were thinking of slipping out at a quiet stretch of the road, and taking their chance of bolting across the fields, when the wagon was met by another Uhlan patrol, who after questioning the trooper, wheeled their horses and rode alongside.
"You are just in time, Schmidt," said one of the newcomers.
"What for?" asked the trooper, who evidently belonged to the same regiment.
"To see how we reduce the population. There's a big farm in a hamlet a quarter-mile up the road. Rumpelmeyer was shot near there, so we routed out all the men in the place except the farmer, who escaped. As soon as he is rounded up we are going to shoot the lot."
They rumbled on into the hamlet, and pulled up at the gate of the farm. The terrified villagers were penned up like cattle in the farmyard, guarded by a dozen Uhlans. A few women at the wall, imploring the Germans to have mercy, were answered with brutal jeers.
"A dirty herd!" said the trooper on the wagon. "Why don't you shoot them at once?"
"The Wachtmeister thinks that would be too good for them. First dinner, and then sport, says he. He is a humorist, our Wachtmeister. Here he is."
"Thank goodness I needn't go any further on this lumbering wagon," said the trooper. "Is the whole regiment coming up from Spa?"
"In the course of the day. Fifteen of us came in advance. Two are hunting for the farmer."
"Well done, Schmidt," said the sergeant, coming up to the wagon. "You've a good load there."
"Shall I unload, and give the horses a feed?" asked the trooper.
"They can wait. There's a hot dinner ready, prepared by our kind friends the Belgians. They entertain us; afterwards we shall entertain them. Poor Rumpelmeyer has gone. But a dozen Belgians are waiting yonder to join him. A dozen Belgians are not worth one good German, but it's something to go on with. We shall find others; it would be a pity to leave too many to bother us when the country is ours."
Kenneth, under the hay, was squirming. Pariset, knowing no German, was not aware of what was coming, but his apprehension was all the greater for his ignorance. Kenneth whispered that the wagon was not to be unloaded yet; he dared not say more at the moment, with so many enemies within hearing.
The sky was becoming overclouded. The wagoner took the horses out, and led them to loose boxes in the stables. The trooper Schmidt had sprung down and entered the house, where all the Uhlans except three left on guard over the prisoners had assembled for the good dinner prepared by the women of the farm under the eye of their truculent visitors.
The wagon having been left standing at the gate, Kenneth ventured to repeat to Pariset the gist of the conversation he had heard. The Belgian swore under his breath.
"We must get out while they are at dinner," Kenneth whispered.
"Those three brutes would see us," said Pariset, eyeing the three Uhlans savagely through his peephole.
"I'm afraid they would," Kenneth agreed. "But we are bound to be discovered when they unload."
"Well, we'll get away if we see half a chance. We must wait. I wish we could do something for those poor wretches in the yard. These Germans have much to answer for, Ken; and they shall pay--they shall pay!"
They lay in their stuffy shelter, listening to the sounds of merriment--heavy-hoofed merriment--from within the house, the grumbles of the Uhlans who had been left outside and were losing the fun, the sobs of the women at the wall. The sky grew blacker and blacker, rain began to fall. The Uhlans on guard turned up their collars and swore.
Presently there was a diversion. The two Uhlans who had been out rounding up the missing farmer had caught him and a second man, and were bringing them along at a trot, prodding them with their lances to make them keep up with the horses. There were cries of dismay from the herded prisoners, and of pity from the women. The attention of the Uhlans on guard was somewhat diverted from the prisoners to the newcomers, as these were marched through the gate and across the farmyard to the hurdles within which their fellow villagers were confined.
"Now's the time!" whispered Kenneth. "Creep behind the cart and round by the stables. There's just a chance."
They slid out of the wagon, slipped into the yard, and ran to the stables, being screened from the guards' observation by the horses of the Uhlans who had just returned. Behind the stables there was a barn, with a ladder reaching to its high loft.
"Up there!" whispered Pariset. "We should be seen if we ran across the fields."
They clambered up, and panting with excitement and haste threw themselves on the floor of the loft.
"Perhaps we can remain here until night," said Pariset. "The place is empty; they've no reason for visiting it again."
They heard the newly-arrived troopers lead their horses to the stables and address some one there in loud peremptory tones. Then their spurred boots were heard clanking over the cobbles, and they went into the house. Shouts of applause followed their entrance; no doubt they had reported their capture.
"I wish we could do something!" murmured Pariset restlessly. "But we can't tackle twelve or fifteen."
A few minutes later, when the tremors of excitement had ceased, Kenneth got up.
"We can at least go and see who is in the stables," he said. "Perhaps we could make off with a couple of horses."
"Anything rather than lie here idle," said Pariset.
They crept down the ladder, and stole round the outbuilding towards where they knew by the sounds the door of the stable was. It was on the side remote from the corner where the prisoners were herded. Peeping in at the door, Kenneth saw the driver of the wagon sitting disconsolately on an upturned pail, and beckoned to Pariset to precede him. They slipped into the stable. The wagoner jumped up with a start when he saw two Germans, as he supposed.
"Hist! I am a Belgian," whispered Pariset hurriedly in Flemish. "My friend is an Englishman."
The man looked at them narrowly, only half believing.
"It is true," said Pariset. "We want to save the prisoners. Do you know the place? Will you help?"
Convinced by their appearance and by Pariset's Flemish the man said:
"My word! will I help! One of them is my brother; two are my cousins. Only tell me what I can do, mijnheer. But not here; it is not safe; come to the back."
"Wait!" said Pariset, pointing to a door at the further end of the stable. "Where does that lead to?"
"Into the harness room."
"And beyond that?"
"The kitchen."
"Who are in the kitchen?"
"I do not know; maybe the mistress and the women servants. They cook the meals for those hogs."
"Is the door unlocked?"
"Most likely; it is never locked during the day."
"Then creep into the kitchen and tell the women we are here. Quickly! We will hide in the harness room. And find out where the Germans have stacked their rifles, and how many there are."
The man passed through the door, followed by Pariset and Kenneth, who remained among the harness while the wagoner went on to the kitchen.
"It's a frightful risk, Remi," whispered Kenneth.
Pariset set his teeth.
"I'm a Belgian," he said. "It's not your job. Go back to----"
"Rubbish!" Kenneth interrupted. "We sink or swim together.... Here he comes!"
"I saw the mistress," said the man. "They have caught the master; she is frantic. There are ten Uhlans in the big room; the sergeant is alone in the parlour beyond. The maids are serving them."
"The rifles?" said Pariset.
"They are not stacked, mijnheer. There is no room between the wall and the big table. They are laid anyhow in the corner near the kitchen door."
For a minute or two Pariset and Kenneth conversed in rapid whispers. While they were speaking the farmer's wife, a large capable Flamande, came to the door, an expression of mingled agitation and hope on her broad red face.
"We try it?" said Pariset to Kenneth.
"Yes."
The three men entered the kitchen.
"If you can save my husband and my son--" began the good woman imploringly.
Pariset cut her short. She had the appearance of abundant energy.
"We want your help, meffrouw," he said. "Courage! Can you smuggle some of the rifles out of the room? Not all."
"I will try, mijnheer," she said quietly, with the firm look of the Flemish housewife.
There was much noise from the room beyond. The troopers were eating and drinking hard. Pariset and Kenneth stepped behind a large Dutch clock when the women pushed open the door, carrying a dish of steaming stew. They saw her recoil a little when the Germans hailed her appearance with boisterous shouts. She beckoned to her two maids, stout Flamandes like herself, then disappeared towards the right.
The two airmen waited anxiously. Would the housewife's nerve fail? Would the Germans detect her? They had fallen gluttonously on the new dish, praising Belgian viands after the short commons of the days preceding.
Presently the woman reappeared at the door. Her face was pale; she was grimly pressing her lips together, and when she had entered the kitchen and closed the door she took from the folds of her gown a rifle.
"The maids stood in front of me," she murmured.
"Take the rifle into the harness room," said Pariset to the wagoner. "Another, meffrouw."
The poor woman trembled, but summoning her courage she passed again into the room. The door at the further end was now open, and the sergeant stood in it. He had consulted his dignity by dining alone in the parlour.
"More wine!" he shouted. "It's poor stuff, mother, but I must make the best of it till we get to Champagne. Then we'll break a few necks--of bottles and Frenchmen."
Roars of laughter from the men greeted this sally. One of the maids carried a fresh bottle into the parlour. Meanwhile the housewife had taken advantage of the diversion caused by the sergeant's pleasantry to remove another rifle. Three more she brought out at intervals; then Pariset said it was enough; to abstract more might lead the men to notice the diminution of the pile. Pariset examined each of the five; there were cartridges in all.
"Do your maids know German?" he asked the woman.
"Katrinka knows a little," she replied.
"Ask her to take some wine to the men on guard outside--it is by the sergeant's orders. You and the other maid each take a bottle too. Supply the Uhlans in there with plenty of food first, to keep them occupied. They will gorge themselves so long as you please."
While the women carried into the room dishes loaded with cakes and patties, Pariset and the two others held a whispered conversation in the harness room. On the return of the women, Pariset asked the mistress to give the carrier a bottle of wine. The man took it in his left hand; his right held a knife.
The inner door of the kitchen was closed. They moved quietly to a side door opening directly on the farmyard. Rain and mist threw a murky gloom over the scene. The women, carrying bottles, moved quickly towards the discontented Uhlans, who uttered guttural exclamations of pleasure when the girl Katrinka gave the message with which Pariset had primed her. Behind them slouched the wagoner, lifting his bottle to his lips with ostentatious enjoyment. Within the shadow of the door Pariset and Kenneth stood with levelled rifles, their eyes fixed on the scene in front, their ears alert for sounds in the rear.
The women had given the Uhlans a bottle each. The good wife had a second in reserve. Turning their backs upon the prisoners, the guard broke the necks of the bottles, and drank with great gulps. Unnoticed, the wagoner slipped round behind them, cut the cords that bound the nearest prisoner, handed him the knife, and edged towards the Uhlans, still taking pulls at his bottle.
Five of the prisoners had been released by their companion before one of the guards, half-turning, noticed a commotion within the pens, and at a second glance saw with amazement what was happening. Dropping his bottle with a furious oath, he seized his rifle, but before it reached his shoulder the wagoner swung his uncorked bottle with all his force and broke it on the Uhlan's head, stretching him on the ground in a crimson pool of wine. He caught the man's rifle as it fell, and bayoneted the second German, who had turned at his comrade's cry. The third, evading a blow aimed at him with her bottle by the sturdy housewife, shouted for help, and was lifting his rifle when it was wrenched from his hands by the villager who had been first released, and he fell beside the others, stunned by a blow from the butt end.
Kenneth and Pariset, who had followed every movement with breathless anxiety, felt that the party outside would give no trouble for a time, at any rate. They turned sharply round on hearing a commotion from the inner room, where the guzzling Uhlans had heard, through their own noise, the shout from the farmyard. Jumping to their feet, they crowded towards the rifles in the corner, and had just discovered that the weapons would not go round, when the door was thrown open, and they saw standing in the doorway two German officers.
"Achtung!" cried Kenneth, in the short sharp tone he had many a time heard in a German drill yard.
The men sprang to attention, clicked their heels, and saluted. They had no time to think; they acted with mechanical obedience. Standing thus rigid they were amazed to see the officers cover them with their rifles, and to hear a peremptory summons to surrender. Fuddled, astounded, they threw up their hands.
At this moment the door of the parlour was flung open, and the sergeant, red with wine and rage, before he had taken in the scene, demanded what the noise was about. His voice dropped at the end of the sentence, when he saw, as he thought, a captain and a lieutenant before him. A sound of rushing feet behind him caused him to swing round hastily. With a startled cry he raised his revolver, and fired; but he was immediately hurled backward to the floor by a dozen sturdy peasants, the foremost of whom held a knife.
There was a great silence in the farm.