Jack remained silent for a full minute after his companion had delivered himself of this startling statement. He was evidently thinking it over. Perhaps up to then Jack had not even suspected the tramp of being anything more than he seemed, a well-grown lad who was far away from home—and hungry.
Presently Jack spoke again, and from his manner it became apparent that he now shared in some degree the alarm that Josh seemed to be laboring under. Really, the conditions were suspicious enough to demand an investigation. They were next to unarmed, and if four desperate young fellows raided their camp they would find it difficult indeed to keep from losing everything they possessed, from boat to supplies.
“I hate to think that such a thing can be possible, Josh,” he said slowly, “but, as you were remarking, the circumstances force us to be on our guard. Before we start to eating supper, which must be nearly ready now, I’ll try and strike up a conversation with the fellow and learn something about him.”
“But how on earth can you do that, Jack, when neither of you seem able to understand one word of each other’s tongue?”
“Oh, leave that to me, Josh. There are ways, you know, even if I have to come to paper and pencil and use the picture writing of the Indians. What with signs and nods and looks we may get a fair understanding.”
“No harm trying, that’s a fact,” admitted Josh. “But I’ll watch my chance and put the others wise. Every one of us ought to have some sort of club handy so as to protect the camp and the boat if there’s going to be a raid.”
Apparently the more Josh considered the subject the stronger became his belief that he had hit the truth in making that guess. In his eyes the dark face of the young stranger now began to assume a threatening appearance, whereas before it had only seemed hungry and eager and almost sad.
Jack watched his opportunity and soon found a chance to drop down beside the stranger. He saw that there was intelligence in the face of the other. It could also be seen in his flashing eyes. If Jack had only been able to understand and speak the other’s language he felt sure he could induce him to tell his story.
He took out a pencil and a pad of paper and began to draw. As Jack was a master hand at this sort of thing, he quickly produced a sketch that represented four boys, all dressed alike, and in the costume which the young stranger wore.
This he held before the other, and then pointed to him as he nodded. After looking at the drawing intently the boy shook his head. It was evidently intended for a denial that he had three companions, but then Jack could hardly have expected him to admit it openly.
One thing sure, he did not seem to be alarmed, as though suspecting that his secret had been discovered; only puzzled.
As if governed by a sudden impulse, he motioned for the pencil and paper, just as Jack expected he would do, and in his turn began to draw something. When he handed the pad back it was seen that he had actually made a pretty accurate map of the enlarged Serbia of to-day; doubtless every schoolboy in that country was early taught to be able to do this, on account of the great pride the Serbian people took in their recent victories over Turkey and Bulgaria.
He had even written in bold letters the magical word “Serbia” across this map, as if determined to remove all doubt as to what it was meant for. Such frankness made Jack begin to believe that the other could not possibly be the desperate character Josh suspected; had he been, it would only have seemed natural for him to deny his nationality lest he be arrested and put in an Austrian dungeon.
Jack went a step further, after the boy, first pointing to his map, smote his own chest proudly and smiled, as if to proclaim that he belonged in that country. By various gestures he tried to ask the other what he was doing here in a hostile land.
The other watched his every gesture and seemed to be reading even the expression on Jack’s face. It is surprising how much can be learned that way. Whole conversations may be carried on by instinct and intelligence. One who does not know a single word of Italian may be able to sense the general meaning of many paragraphs in a newspaper war item by the similarity of words. Try it, and you will see that this is really so.
By slow and laborious degrees Jack began to pick up something of what the other was trying to tell him. The further he proceeded the more intense did the boy seem to become. Buster, glancing that way from time to time, filled with curiosity, considered that they were using their hands almost as cleverly as a couple of mutes did whom he had once watched talking in the sign language.
Of course, Josh had before then managed to whisper to each of the other two what a “mare’s nest” he believed he had unearthed, so that both George and Buster had begun to look on the intruder in the light of a dangerous fellow. George kept caressing a stout cudgel of which he had become possessed, as though determined not to be caught entirely defenseless in case of a sudden raid.
“Do you suppose Jack’s really finding out anything?” Buster whispered to Josh when the other leaned down as if to ascertain how the supper was coming on.
“Sure he is,” replied the other, “though chances are the cub’s giving him taffy just to keep him quiet.”
“But Jack seems to be interested a whole lot,” objected Buster.
“I think Jack means to join us presently, from the way he nodded to me just then,” Josh went on to say hastily, “so don’t hurry on the supper more than you can help. For all we know we may have to share it with four instead of one.”
It proved to be just as Josh had predicted, for presently Jack left the side of the dark-faced young stranger and come over to the fire.
“Well, how did you manage to get on with him?” asked Josh impetuously.
“It grew easier as we went on,” said Jack. “He knows just a little bit of English, after all. When that failed he resorted to the paper and pencil, or else made gestures. When I shook my head to tell him it was all a mystery to me, he would try again in a different way, and we always succeeded in getting there by one means or another.”
“Did he own up in the end, Jack?” asked Josh.
“If you mean about being one of the four Serbian youths we thought he might be, he denied it absolutely,” came the reply.
“H’m! What else could you expect, since their game had been knocked on the head by the breaking out of the war and they found themselves being hunted like rats in a hostile territory, afraid to ask for anything to eat because they’d like as not be grabbed? No wonder he looks hungry, say I.”
Jack looked at the other and shook his head.
“This time you’re away off, old fellow,” he told Josh. “He didn’t come up into Austria-Hungary on an errand of blood, but one of mercy.”
“As how, Jack?” asked Buster, already deeply interested.
“He has a little sister,” the other went on to say. “She seems to be just so high,” and he held his hand about three feet from the ground, “from which I’d judge she might be something like six or seven years old.”
“A sister, eh?” George remarked skeptically.
“Listen, fellows,” continued Jack, “here’s the story he told me as near as I was able to make it out, for lots of times I had to just guess at things; but it ran fairly smooth, after all. He lived in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. There was his mother, a widow with some means, and one little sister. This girl, it seems, was blind and the pet of everybody who knew her.”
“Gee! that sounds interesting,” muttered Josh.
“Some time ago the mother learned of a celebrated surgeon up in Budapest who had performed wonderful cures with people afflicted just as the little child was. It was determined to take the girl to him, and an appointment was made; but just then the mother had the misfortune to sprain her ankle and could not walk a step.”
“Tough luck,” said Buster, “and I can see what the boy did. He looks like he had the grit to carry anything like that out, sure he does.”
Apparently Buster was taking stock in Jack’s story and changing his opinion again with regard to the dark-faced young stranger.
“Yes, there was nothing for it but that the boy go to Budapest with his little sister and stay there while the operation went on. From what he tells me he was in the Hungarian capital nearly a month. The surgeon operated, and the thing turned out a splendid success. You ought to have seen how his face lighted up when he told me in sign language that she could see now just as well as any one.”
“Then why didn’t he start home right away, knowing how anxious his mother must be?” asked George incredulously.
“First the surgeon would not allow it for a certain time after the bandages were taken off. Then, as luck would have it, just when they were about to start, a thief broke into their apartment and stole every dollar, or whatever money the Serbians use.”
“Oh, how tough that was!” exclaimed Buster sympathetically.
“A likely story, I call it,” muttered George.
“On top of it all the war broke out, and he knew that unless they hurried off from Budapest the Hungarian authorities might arrest them. So they sold a few of their things and get enough money together to carry them part of the way to the Serbian border. Then they had to leave the train and start to tramp the rest of the way. Neither of them have had a bite this whole day. Seeing us land, he became desperate and determined to appeal to us to help him, if we looked as if we were kind people. Then I chanced to run across him. That’s what he told me, as near as I could make it out.”
Jack saw that while Buster and Josh were disposed to believe the young stranger, George still hung back.
“It makes a pretty interesting story, that’s right,” was what George said, “but there’s a fishy part to it. That little sister sounds like an invention to get our sympathy. Where is she at, I’d like to know; let him produce the kid, say I.”
“That’s so, Jack; unless he can produce the little sister we’ve got to believe his fine yarn is all a fraud,” Josh observed seriously.
“Did you say as much to him, Jack?” questioned George.
“I did,” came the ready reply.
“And what was his reply to that?” asked Buster.
“I gathered from his gestures and actions,” explained Jack, “that he stood ready, yes, and anxious, to go into the woods near by and get his sister, if only we gave him permission. So I thought I’d put it up to the rest of you first.”
“Oh, tell him to go and fetch her along,” sneered George. “If he really has got a little sister, and she’s hungry, why, I’d be willing to go on half rations myself to help out. I may be suspicious of him, but there isn’t a stingy bone in my whole body.”
“We know that, George,” Jack told him quickly, “and since you seem willing I’ll let the poor fellow know about it right away. You can see how eagerly he’s watching us now, because he understands what I’m telling you.”
“Tell him supper’s about ready, and that he ought to hurry,” explained Buster.
Jack had another short interview with the young Serbian. Then the other sprang hastily to his feet and ran off, looking back once or twice, and smiling as he waved his hand toward Jack.
“Good-by!” called out George derisively, and then, turning to the others, he added: “Because I hardly expect to see him again, unless he comes back with the other three. Chances are he knew we’d got on to his game, and means to slip away now so he couldn’t be nabbed by the authorities.”
“Shame on you, George, you old unbeliever!” cried Buster.
“Wait and see who’s right,” warned the other sturdily, for George always clung to his belief until convinced that he was wrong, when he would frankly confess his error of judgment.
A minute, two of them, passed, and still the boy did not return. It would really seem as though he had had time to go to where he left his sister concealed at the time he crept toward the landing spot of the cruising party in the motorboat, and come back again.
George was grinning with that important air of his, which, being interpreted, meant the usual “I told you so.”
Then Josh, whose sharp eyes had detected a moving figure in the semi-gloom, exclaimed:
“There they come over yonder, I do believe!”
“Two or four?” questioned Buster.
“It’s all right, boys,” Josh continued, for he was standing on a stump, and in this position could see what was invisible to the others.
“Then he’s got his little sister along with him, has he?” asked Buster.
“Sure thing,” reported Josh, “and as for you, old croaker George, it’d be doing the right thing for you to beg everybody’s pardon, and especially the boy’s, for thinking such mean things about him.”
“Who was the first to guess that he must be one of that band of desperate Serbian youths, tell me?” demanded George. “I was wrong, I’ll admit, but an ounce of prevention is always better than a whole pound of cure.”
With that he threw away the club which he had been gripping, as though in company with it went all his suspicions.
Presently the Serbian boy came into camp, holding by the hand a pretty dark-eyed little maid of about seven. The boys were immediately smitten with her charms, and no longer wondered that her brother had so openly boasted she was the prettiest little girl in all Belgrade.
Apparently that noted surgeon had done a splendid job, for never had they looked into brighter and more roguish eyes than she possessed. If they had been dulled by cataracts, as Jack suspected was the case, then the curtains had been skillfully removed.
Buster immediately announced that supper was all ready, and would be spoiled by any further waiting; so they sat down, places being prepared for the guests of honor.
While they ate the boys kept up a conversation among themselves. Jack from time to time would hold communication with the Serbian youth, whose appetite proved the truth of his assertion that no food had passed his lips during the whole of the preceding day.
Later on Buster amused himself trying to talk with the little girl and teach her a few words in English. Jack and Josh and George got their heads together, being desirous of settling on what they ought to do with regard to the pair cast adrift in a strange and hostile land.
“They can stay with us all night, anyway, and have breakfast in the morning,” suggested Josh.
“And we could make up a little purse among us,” added the now penitent George, “enough to carry them across the border and into their own country.”
“That’s fine of you to mention that, George,” Jack told him, “but you are forgetting something. Serbia is at war with Austria, and so you see no trains can be running to the border that would allow a Serbian young fellow to pass. If he ever gets across the river to Belgrade it must be with our help.”
“You’ve got a plan fixed, I guess, Jack?”
“I’ve been thinking it over, and wanted to hear what your ideas might be before I mentioned it,” the other explained. “But, now that you ask me, I’ll tell you what I’d like to do. We can find room for them aboard the boat when we start in the morning. Unless we are overhauled on the way there’d be little danger on account of our having Serbians with us, a boy and a child at that.”
“I agree with you there, Jack,” said George, now evidently seeking to make all amends possible for having allowed himself to believe the stranger a desperate character, when in truth he was only a kind and protecting big brother.
“Ditto here,” added Josh glibly, as though he were a parrot.
“We will have to tie up by the time another night comes along,” continued Jack, “and if it’s cloudy we can hope to try and pass the hostile batteries by keeping in the middle of the river and just floating with the current, never showing a single light. But before that we might make a landing on the Serbian side and put the brother and sister ashore.”
Josh and George exchanged looks, nodding their heads as if in approval.
“Now, I call that a good scheme, if you want to know it,” declared the former.
“And as Buster is always ready to agree to anything Jack says,” George remarked, “I move we call it unanimous.”
The readiness of his chums to fall in with his proposition, of course, pleased Jack. He always made it a point to invite the fullest discussion when offering any plan of campaign, because it was better that all of them should feel that they had a hand in engineering matters.
So it was settled, later on Buster being told the arrangements. As George had prophesied, the fat boy had not the slightest objection to make; indeed, he was enthusiastic over the idea of helping the little Serbian girl get back home to her anxious mother.
Arrangements for sleeping were soon effected. As their guests had no blankets, George and Buster insisted on loaning them one each. They said they could go without easily enough; though Jack finally induced George to share his covers, while Josh compelled the fat chum to crawl under with him.
The night passed without anything occurring to disturb them. Everybody slept after a fashion, though doubtless the boys were not as comfortable as though each possessed his own blanket.
It made them feel that they were suffering in a good cause, however, when they saw how happy both the boy and his sister seemed in the morning. The dark clouds that had of late been hanging over their heads had apparently taken flight, and with the rising sun they smiled, and seemed contented with having found such good friends.
After breakfast they started down the river again. It might prove to be the last day of peace for them for some time, since Jack figured that by another sunset they would very likely have reached the scene of hostilities, when danger might be lying in wait for them at every turn.
Of course, all of them were more or less concerned about the prospect of being held up again by some Austrian river war vessel. The presence of Serbians aboard the motorboat would look suspicious in those trying days, and might get the boys into trouble. Nevertheless, not one of them so much as hinted at any desire to be rid of their guests.
The little girl was so winsome that she had captured all their hearts by storm, and they could not do too much for her.
As the afternoon began to pass Jack looked earnestly ahead many times. He wondered what awaited them in that mysterious region whence they were headed. All sorts of strange things might crop up to confront them as they proceeded on their dangerous course; still, no one even gave the idea of turning back a thought.
He had managed to let the Serbian boy know what they meant to do about getting his sister and himself on his native soil. How those black eyes snapped as the plan was unfolded to him! Jack fancied he could see unshed tears there also, showing how their generosity must have affected the other. He could not express his gratitude by repeating that one word “thank” again, but he did display it by almost fiercely seizing Jack’s hand and actually kissing it, an act that made the American boy feel exceedingly queer, because he was not accustomed to such things.
They kept, as a rule, closer to the right bank of the river, for that would in time prove to be the one on which the Serbian capital was located. Besides, Jack believed it would answer their purposes better in case circumstances forced them to make a hurried landing, so that their passengers might conceal themselves in the brush.
The sun was hot again, and as the afternoon began to wear along they found that the breeze created by their own swift passage was the only invigorating thing to be met with.
“But it’s beginning to cloud up, you can see,” Josh remarked, when Buster complained that he was melting away with the heat; “and once the old sun gets out of sight it’ll be a whole lot more comfy.”
“I’ve been watching those clouds,” remarked Jack, “and they please me a whole lot, because we must have a cloudy night if we’re ever going to run past the batteries on both sides of the river.”
“Whew! that sounds as if we might be away back in the civil war, trying to pass Memphis on a gunboat, with the Confeds whanging away at us to beat the band. But, of course, you don’t expect to have any real trouble getting by, do you, Jack?”
“So far as I can see, there’s no reason why we should meet up with any,” the skipper informed him.
“And once we’re well by Belgrade the worst will be over,” cheerily observed Josh. “You see, the railroad runs down through Serbia from the capital, and any invasion must, of course, follow the Morava River, because Serbia is a mountainous country, and there are passes through which troops have to go if ever they hope to reach Nisch down near the middle of the nation.”
“Seems like you’ve been reading up on Serbia, Josh,” ventured George.
“I have, all about the last war between the Balkan States,” Josh admitted. “And let me tell you right here, if the Austrians and the Germans ever try to invade that little country of born fighters they’ll find they’ve bitten off more than they can chew. The Serbians know every foot of ground, and can lay in ambush on the heights, dropping rocks down on the enemy, and using all sorts of quick-firing guns to cut them down in windrows.”
“If only all these Balkan countries were agreed on a single policy,” said Jack, “they could snap their fingers at the Teuton alliance, for no force could ever be brought to bear against them that would smash their defenses. But petty jealousies keep them apart, and may be their undoing in the end.”
The sun vanished about this time, the clouds having risen far enough to cover his blazing face.
“That feels a heap better,” announced the panting Buster; “and it looks like we mightn’t glimpse old Sol again to-day. For one I’m glad. Sunshine is all very well in winter time, but when it’s hot summer I prefer the shade.”
The others laughed at his odd way of putting it, for Buster often expressed himself in a peculiar fashion. Josh said he “mixed his metaphors,” though Buster was never able to get him to explain what he meant by saying that.
Just then something came stealing to their ears that caused the boys to exchange meaning glances. It was a distant grumbling that died away almost as soon as it reached them, a sort of complaining, reverberating boom that brought a thrill with it.
“Another storm coming, worse luck!” grumbled George.
“Going to spoil all our fine plans in the bargain,” added Josh; “for if it turns out to be anything as bad as that other whooper, excuse me from wanting to be out on the river in the middle of the night.”
“Listen again!” said Jack, with a meaning in his manner.
“There she goes, and I must say it’s kind of queer thunder, after all,” Buster advanced; “each growl is separate and distinct, and not like anything I ever heard before.”
“Sure enough,” continued Josh; and then, as though a sudden light had dawned upon him, he turned to Jack to add: “Say, you don’t imagine now, do you, that can be the booming of big guns we are listening to?”
Jack nodded his head in the affirmative.
“It must be,” he said positively.
“Sounds just like blasts,” continued Josh, “up in the quarry near our town, when they let the same off by electricity at noon, when the men are all out of the workings. Boom! boom! boom! boom! Let me tell you they must be making things hum over there now, with all that firing going on.”
“What do you suppose they’re doing, Jack?” asked George.
“For one thing sending shells into Belgrade,” came the reply.
“Look, the Serbian boy has caught on as well as the rest of us,” said Josh, “and it frets him a whole lot, too, you can see by his face. Now he’s talking with the little sister, and pointing, as if he might be explaining what that sound means.”
“Well, can you blame him for feeling that way?” burst out Buster; “when you must remember that their mother is somewhere in Belgrade, and with those shells bursting in the city they may get home only to find that they have been left orphans. I guess war is all that General Sherman said it was.”
“Oh, shucks! We haven’t seen hardly anything of its horrors yet. Wait till you read what is happening in Belgium about this time, and then it’ll be time to talk,” George told him.
“But why didn’t we hear the cannonading before?” asked Buster; “it seemed to hit us all of a sudden.”
“Because there was a shift of the wind,” explained Jack. “You know it was on our right before, and since then has changed, so that now it seems to be coming straight from the south.”
As they kept on down the river the sounds, reaching their ears every once in so often, increased gradually in volume.
Every time the suggestive sound came to their ears it could be seen that the two young Serbians would start and listen eagerly. Undoubtedly their thoughts must be centered on the home they had left in Belgrade, and they were wondering if the latest shell could have dropped anywhere near that dearly loved spot.
“Honest, now,” said Josh presently, “after that last shot I could hear a second fainter crash, which I take it may have been the shell exploding in or over the city.”
“It may have been a Serbian gun, after all,” George asserted, “and if so, then the shoe was on the other foot, and the shell burst in the fortifications on the Austrian side of the Danube, perhaps scattering guns and soldiers around as if they were so many logs.”
“That’s what our friend here is hoping deep down in his heart, you can be sure,” Jack mentioned, with a glance toward the boy passenger.
“Look away down yonder and tell me if that isn’t one of those monitors like my cousin Captain Stanislaus commands,” said George just then.
Josh tested his eagle eye and admitted that, while the surface of the river was misty, which fact made seeing difficult, he believed the other was right, and that the object they were looking at did resemble a “cheese-box on a raft” in marine architecture.
“Then we can’t be so very far above Belgrade,” Jack concluded.
“You mean the monitor may have been doing some of that shelling, do you?” questioned Buster.
“I don’t know about that, for none of us have seen any sign of firing aboard the boat; but she’s evidently anchored there to take part in protecting the Austrian troops that will soon be attempting to cross to hostile territory. So we must expect to haul in somewhere along here and wait for night to settle down.”
“It would be too risky to try and pass the monitor, I reckon you mean?” George asked.
“You remember how we were brought up with a round turn the other time,” he was reminded; “and if we refused to obey the summons to come alongside a second shot would sink us like a stone.”
“Whee! if one of those big shells ever struck this chip of a boat there wouldn’t be enough of her left for firewood,” asserted Josh. “So I say just as you do, Jack; we mustn’t be too brash and take chances. We can’t expect to fight the whole Austrian navy on the Danube. The word for us is diplomacy, remember that. We’ve got to play the Napoleon style of strategy if we hope to win out in this game.”
Jack allowed the boat to continue on her course for some little time longer. He did not mean to take unnecessary chances, but at the same time the further they were down the river before night set in the better, since it would shorten the time they expected to be in the danger zone.
He kept a wary eye on the anchored monitor, for all of them could by this time plainly see that it was one of those strange looking vessels, believed by Austria to be just suited to the waters of the Danube for offense and defense.
When not employed in this fashion Jack was watching the near-by shore for a favorable landing spot. They could proceed to make a fire and act as though fully intending to spend the night there. If by accident they had visitors from the monitor early in the evening they could arrange it so that nothing suspicious would be seen.
The firing had now ceased for the time being, as though enough had been accomplished on either side for the day.
It was not long before they found themselves up against the bank. Jack had picked out a good landing place, for there were trees in plenty, under which they could make themselves comfortable.
“Do you think they have noticed us across there on board the monitor?” Buster asked, as they stepped ashore.
“It would be strange if they hadn’t,” Josh told him. “Of course, they can see all that goes on up and down the river, and we were in plain sight. Jack, did you expect they might have a pair of field glasses leveled on us, and was that why you had the brother and sister keep inside the cabin lately?”
“Well,” replied the skipper, “I saw something flash over there while the sun was shining through that rift in the clouds, and I got the idea they might be using their binoculars. You see, if they should send over to interview us, and the two Serbians were absent from the camp, as we mean they shall be, what could we say if asked about them? That was why I wanted them to keep out of sight, while the four of us remained in full view.”
Josh did not say anything further, but the look of admiration he gave Jack told what his thoughts were. In his mind the other could not be equalled when it came to covering the whole ground and laying out extensive plans, for Jack seemed to be able to grasp everything.
“We must keep a watch out on the river and try to be on our guard,” continued the leader. “If they send a boat over here to investigate, we ought to know about it before the men have a chance to land and spy on our camp.”
The boat was tied up, and Buster had already taken ashore all he needed for the evening meal; while Josh was making a fire in the midst of some stones he had collected in a sort of cairn.
The day had ended in a dismal fashion for one starting out so bravely with blue skies and plenty of warm sunshine. Out over the water the haze was thickening, so that when George gave place to Josh later on it was next door to impossible to tell where the Austrian monitor was anchored.
“I’ve lined it up with this stone here and that tree out on the little point,” George explained; “the boat lies almost directly with the two, so if you happen to see any light over there you’ll know what it means, Josh,” he told the other, as he gave up his post.
“As long as you could see the monitor, were there any signs of a boat leaving?” he asked; but George shook his head and told him he had seen nothing suspicious.
Some time later, when George again relieved Josh at the outlook post, the latter came strolling up to the little fire to get his supper, of which he was in need, for Josh had a pretty healthy appetite that seldom went back on him.
“One thing sure,” he remarked, as he sat himself down and prepared to have Buster wait on him, “when you told me, Jack, to build this fire so it couldn’t be easily seen from out on the river, you knew what you were talking about.”
“Well,” remarked the commodore simply, “my idea at the time was to avoid having the light noticed too easily by any one who happened to be on the water. Yes, and I hoped to keep the people on that monitor a mile and more away from wanting to pay us a visit too early in the night.”
“It might break up our plans all right if they did come,” agreed Josh, lifting his tincup to his lips and proceeding to let some of the fine coffee pass down his throat as a “bracer” or opening of ceremonies.
“As long as you stayed out there at the point, did you see or hear anything suspicious, Josh?” Buster wanted to know, when he handed the platter, heaped up with good things, to the late-comer.
“Never a sign all the time I stood sentry,” came the reply, though Josh had a little difficulty in talking and eating at the same time. “But please let me take the edge off my ferocious appetite before you throw any more questions at me, fellows. I’ll be in a more angelic humor then, mebbe.”
“Angelic—that’s pretty rich for you, Josh,” gurgled Buster; but, having enough sympathy for a hungry chum to know how Josh felt, he maintained a discreet silence after that.
Jack walked over to the near-by shore. He wanted to find out for himself how matters seemed to be going.
“Hello! That you, Jack?” said a voice suddenly, when he found himself close to the brim of the river.
It had become so dark by this time, the moon not having as yet arisen behind the clouds, that seeing was next to impossible. George, however, had heard footsteps somewhere close by, and guessed who was coming.
“Yes, where are you, George? Oh, I see you, now that you move. That’s the boat just beyond you, too. Everything lovely with you?”
“I heard something across the river that sounded as if it might be a boat being lowered that struck against the side of the monitor. Then there were voices, too. You know how queer sounds come across a mile or more of water, Jack?”
“Yes, of course I do. But if it was a boat being lowered we’ll have to change our plans somewhat,” Jack continued.
“By that you mean get away from here sooner?” queried the vidette.
“Just what I do, George.”
“Suppose now it was a boat being put in the water that I heard, though I may have been mistaken; how long would it take them to row over here, do you think?” George asked next.
“That depends on how hard they handled the oars,” said Jack. “It could hardly be less than half an hour at the best, I should say. You see, the monitor lies down-stream from here, so they’d have to first of all work against the strong current before crossing.”
“Yes, and then again it might be they’d try to keep us from hearing them coming all they could, Jack, which would mean they couldn’t put all their strength into the work.”
“You’ve got the right idea, George; so we can have something like half an hour to get away in. It may turn out to be a false alarm after all, but we can’t afford to take any chances.”
“That’s so,” agreed the other briskly, for a wonder, never dreaming of offering any objection. “The sooner we’re abroad on the river the better. Then again, before the old moon comes up behind the clouds, we’ll have it pitch dark. That ought to help us a lot about slipping past without getting caught.”
“Stay here, and keep on listening, George.”
“Are you going back to get the rest of the crowd, Jack?”
“Yes. As soon as Josh has finished his supper we had better go aboard again and shove off,” he was informed.
“But say, tell me how you expect to work it, please Jack, before you go.”
“If you mean the boat, that’s a simple thing,” the skipper told him. “You know we’ve got a strong push-pole that’s a pretty good length? Well, I took soundings as we came in toward the shore, and found that the river is fairly shallow around here. With that pole we can push out into the stream quite a little distance. Then we’ll just lie low and let her float on the current.”
“Well, now, I sort of expected that would be the programme,” said George; “and I certainly agree with you there. Silence is our best asset in a game like this. We’d feel pretty cheap and small after getting well started if all of a sudden some one called out of the darkness: ‘Tag—you’re it!’”
George, finding Jack had slipped away meanwhile, and that he was merely talking to empty space, drew the line at wasting his breath in this manner, and relapsed into silence.
When Jack got back to the little fire he found that, short though the time had been, Josh had made rapid headway with his supper. The pannikin was already more than half empty, and that must be his third cup of coffee Buster was pouring out for him.
Everybody looked up as Jack came into camp.
“You’ll have just five minutes more, Josh, to finish your supper,” was the first thing the other said as he joined them.
Josh looked surprised.
“What! so soon?” he exclaimed, and then started in to devour his food ravenously, as though determined to make the best of the limited time.
Buster laughed softly.
“Josh, you make me think of that old, old fellow who had his gravestone cut, and kept it in the house for about thirty years. The neighbors were wild with curiosity to know what he had put on the same, leaving a blank for the date of his departure. After he was buried every one flocked to the cemetery to read it. And this was what they found chiseled in the stone: ‘I expected this—but not so soon!’”
Josh did not make any reply. He was indeed too busy to even laugh just then, for in his mind the seconds were trooping past, and it went against his grain to waste good food.
When three minutes had passed he was ready. Meanwhile Jack had glanced around to make sure they left nothing behind them in the shape of a blanket or cooking utensil, none of which he felt they could spare.
“There, I’m all ready for business!” announced Josh, climbing to his feet, for he was really too full of supper to move with his accustomed agility.
“Everybody get hold of something, then,” said Jack, “and we’ll head for the boat. I’ll scatter the fire last of all. That’s the true hunter way, you know, never to leave a fire burning behind, because a wind may come up and scatter the red ashes among the dead leaves. Many a forest fire has sprung from just that folly. But in our case we’ve got another reason for wanting to kill the blaze; it may keep some people guessing to know what’s become of us.”
Presently all this had been accomplished, and they were heading, Indian file, toward the river bank. Josh led the way, laden down with things. Then came the Serbian boy, and his little sister, who clung to him through it all; after them Buster stumbled with his customary awkwardness, while Jack brought up the rear to make sure that no one strayed from the line.
They soon arrived at the edge of the bank, where George joined them. Buster, as he looked anxiously out at the bank of gloom marking the river, felt a strange sensation taking possession of him. It was not fear, though possibly the feeling could be likened to awe.
“Makes me think of the smugglers landing on the coast of England, and trying to evade the revenue officers with their casks of spirits,” he whispered to Josh.
Somehow, although as yet Jack had said nothing on that score, even Buster seemed to realize that there was great need for caution, which was why he lowered his voice in the way he did.
The next thing was to get aboard the boat. Jack saw to it first of all that the brother and sister were safe, and then urged Buster to follow suit.
“Josh, I’m going to appoint you to the honor task,” he went on to say softly.
“Good for you, Jack,” came the low reply; “just tell me what I’m to do?”
“George will go aboard with me, for we want to get the push-pole handy. When I give a whistle, unfasten the cable and shove her off, climbing over the side yourself the best way you can. Get that, Josh?”
“Just my style, boss,” he heard the other say as he started toward the tree to which the strong rope was attached.
Jack had examined his chart many times lately, so that he knew just where they must be on the river. The Danube takes a sharp turn toward the east at Belgrade, and here the Save River empties into the larger stream. On the same shore that the little party had chosen for their landing lies the Austrian town of Semlin; and here on the heights strong fortifications have long menaced the Serbian capital, as well as other batteries further along the Danube.
It would be impossible for them to land above Belgrade in order to let their passengers go ashore, so on this account it was necessary that they take the two with them while running the batteries.
Jack had regretted this, because he did not like the idea of that innocent child sharing their danger; still, so far as he could see, there was nothing else to be done. The Serb begged him not to think of abandoning them while on hostile territory. He had explained by gestures and pictures that his father had been a general in the Serbian army, and on account of the hatred borne for his family by the Hungarians he felt sure something terrible would happen if they fell into the hands of the enemy and their identity were discovered.
When Jack had everything in readiness for their hasty departure he gave the low whistle for which Josh on shore was impatiently waiting. They could hear him pulling the cable from around the tree trunk; then it came aboard, and Josh started pushing the boat off.
This required no great effort, for the water was sufficient to float such a small craft comfortably. Having managed to get the boat started, Josh clambered aboard and, being a nimble fellow, even though far from himself after that hearty supper, he contrived to accomplish this without any particular noise.
“We’re off!” said George softly, but with considerable satisfaction, as he felt the motorboat moving under the impetus Jack was giving to the push-pole.
“Bully!” echoed Buster, though at the time he probably hardly knew whether he could call himself satisfied or not; for he realized that they were taking more or less desperate chances in trying to slip down the river when two hostile armies were spread along the opposite banks watching for any sign of a surprise and doubtless ready to start a hot fire at the first indication of a crossing being attempted.
This was especially true of the Serbians, for they knew that an invasion of their territory was planned by the Austrian army, backed by heavy artillery.
Jack continued to handle that pole with more or less ability. It was no new task for him. Any one who goes much upon the water in motorboats learns the value of a good pole, especially when the cruise leads through swampy sections, where it is no uncommon thing to be mired and need other help than that afforded by the unreliable engine.
The current began to make itself felt almost immediately they were off. It was Jack’s intention to keep on using his pole until he could no longer touch bottom. When that time arrived they would have to let the boat drift with the current, under the belief that it was apt to stay fairly well out in the river.
“Listen, everybody,” said Jack about this time; “from now on silence is going to be the golden rule aboard this craft. Don’t say a single word unless you have to, and then whisper it. That applies to every one.”
The night was fairly quiet about this time, at least there was no firing from the batteries on the banks of the Danube, though thousands upon thousands of armed men kept watch there, ready to lock arms in a fierce battle when the time came.
Long had this feeling of bitter enmity lain deep down in the hearts of Austrian and Serb. The dual monarchy had for many years looked upon the smaller kingdom as a tempting morsel that some day she hoped to engulf into her capacious maw, just as had been done in the case of Bosnia and other countries now forming parts of the Austrian patchwork of many tongues and many people, all under the rule of Francis Joseph. And now at last war had actually broken out, so that the scores of many years would all have a chance of being settled before peace came again to distracted Europe.
Deeper grew the water, so that Jack was beginning to find some difficulty in reaching bottom. This meant that presently there would be no further need of the push-pole, for they would have gotten out far enough to let the stream carry them along.
It was about this time that sounds came stealing over the water, causing fresh alarm. All of them could make out the distinct creak of oars in rowlocks, being worked with a steady rhythm that told of experienced hands in the unseen boat.
Then the next thing they heard was a low muttered word of command, which came from exactly the same quarter as the other noise.
A boat was passing toward the shore they had recently left. It must have come from over the river, and, as the monitor lay in that quarter, evidently those who had been sent out to investigate the status of the motorboat party had seen fit to pull straight across first, intending to follow the trend of the shore up to the camp.
Jack had reason to believe they would pass down before the hostile boat drew close enough for any one to make them out; nevertheless, his heart seemed to cease beating for the moment, such was the intense anxiety that seized upon him.
Jack did not even dare attempt to draw the push-pole up out of the water, lest he manage in some fashion to strike it against the side of the boat, and in this way draw the attention of the enemy.
Everything depended on luck—and the current of the river. If this latter proved strong enough to draw the motorboat far enough away, so that its outlines could not be distinguished by those in the rowboat, all might yet be well. Certainly if hearty wishes could accomplish anything this end was likely to be achieved, for every one aboard was hoping it would come to pass.
Jack soon began to breathe easier. He felt sure the boat would pass back of them, and at a sufficient distance to avoid discovery, unless something unexpected came about to betray their presence. A sneeze just then would have ruined everything; and Buster felt a cold chill pass over him when he had such an inclination. He managed to ward the desire off by rubbing both sides of his nose violently, just as he had been taught to do by his mother when in church.
So the sounds died out, and they now heard nothing save the gurgle of the water or the sighing of the summer breeze among the treetops on shore.
Far away across the river he caught sight of a light. It was low down and close to the water, so Jack could easily guess it marked the spot where the Austrian monitor lay anchored.
Upon making another trial with the pole Jack found it possible to still touch bottom. As it was his desire to keep on pressing out as far as they could go, so as to approach near the middle of the river, he continued to exert himself. Every yard gained counted for just so much, and now was the time to do it. Later on the opportunity would have passed, and it might be too late.
When they arrived at the point where the Save joined forces with the Danube it was expected that the influence of this new flow of water would add to the swiftness of their passage.
Jack knew that it would be an hour of greatest anxiety while they remained in the region dominated by those big guns. At any minute they might be discovered by some unlucky accident, such as the moon coming out from her concealment, or the breeze rising so as to carry away the gathering fog.
He had everything ready so that the engine could be started up instantly should they have reason to believe they were seen from the Austrian shore. As a last resort he was intending to make for the Serbian bank, in hopes of finding shelter there. At least, if captured by the Serbs, they would be treated decently, once the identity of their passengers had been learned.
The minutes crept slowly past.
All they could do was to sit there and turn their heads to look eagerly first this way and then that.
Feeling a tug at his sleeve, Jack turned toward Josh, who was closest to him.
“Look yonder; there are lights, Jack!” whispered the other in his ear.
Jack guessed that this must be Belgrade, though at the time the Serbian capital, being the subject of bombardment, lay almost in darkness, so that the vigilant foe across the river might not have the range.
Somehow it interested Jack deeply to see those few meager lights where at other times the sky might have blazed with the electric glow, for Belgrade was always a little Paris of the Balkans. It seemed to speak of the terrible results that must follow in the train of a brutal war, civilization giving way to barbarity.
And there off to the right must be the Save River, flowing from far up in the region between the Croatian and the Bosnian provinces of Austria.
Back of this stream he knew there were heavy fortifications dominating the distant Serbian capital. It would seem that Austria had taken particular pains to threaten her fiery little neighbor on the south, possibly in hopes of some day stirring up another hornets’ nest in the Balkans, through which she might attain her selfish ends and annex new territory.
As their course did not lie in that direction Jack bothered himself not at all in connection with the Save batteries. He was, however, deeply interested in the ones he knew were located upon the lower heights. What peril they must face would spring from this source.
It was perhaps only natural that just then Jack should suddenly remember what had been said about searchlights. He wondered whether any were in use in this section of the fighting zone. Germans, French and British would certainly have carried such necessary appliances with them, but it was uncertain whether the Serbs or the Austrians had seen fit to install them here.
Now they seemed to be sweeping around the bend in the river. Jack could feel a new motion to the boat, which he believed must come from the addition of the Save waters to those of the Danube.
He watched both shores alternately. It was almost impossible to make out anything except where some height was dimly outlined against the clouded sky line. Then he turned his eyes aloft. The moon had risen, for in the east it was light compared to the west, though nothing of her silvery disc could be discovered.
Would the clouds continue to befriend the fugitives of the Danube through the dangerous passage of the batteries? If there came a break above even for a brief interval it might spell ruin for their hopes. And so Jack hoped most fervently that the clouds would prove merciful and keep on shutting off that light which, coming at an unfortunate moment, might mean their betrayal.
Without the slightest warning there came a sudden fearful sound. At the same instant they saw a vivid flash far back on the Austrian heights. Seconds followed, marked by the accelerated pulsations of their hearts. Then followed a crash and a flash over the place where the boys knew the capital lay in darkness and gloom.
The bombardment of Belgrade had begun again. Some plan of campaign was being followed out that had to do with either the utter destruction of the city or else the rout of its defenders, so that a hostile army could make the crossing in safety, something they did not dare attempt as long as the Serbs remained in their trenches awaiting their coming.
The mere fact of its being night made no difference. Long ago the Austrians had undoubtedly platted everything out and secured the range for their big guns on the heights back of the river. They could fire just as accurately in utter darkness as in broad daylight, for the shells were hurled with mathematical precision, each one being timed to explode at a certain second.
As if that first shot were looked upon as a defiance, several Serb guns took up the challenge. It was inspiring to see the shells burst like giant skyrockets far up on the heights. Evidently others besides the Austrians had occupied their spare time in getting distances all down to a fine point, for the Serbian gunners managed to drop their projectiles in given places, where they threatened to smash some of the tremendous war engines of the enemy.
The boys knew that it was much too late for them to think of turning back now. In fact, such a thing was utterly impossible, much as they might have wished it. All they could do was to keep on floating down the river, trusting in their customary good luck to escape harm.
They could hear strange noises as the reverberations died out, which Jack knew must be made by the whizzing shells far above them. It gave him a thrill to realize the fact that he and his three chums were thus brought into the very whirlwind of war, with deadly engines of destruction busy on all sides of them.
Even the anchored monitor several miles up the river joined in the music, for that partly muffled roar seemed to come from the direction they knew her to be in.
The two passengers had remained perfectly silent all this while, though their faces kept turned toward the spot where they knew the darkened city must lie. It was easy for Jack to imagine what their thoughts must be at such a time as this. No one could say how long this bombardment had been going on, or what sort of damage the terrible shells exploding may have done among the numerous fine buildings of the Serbian capital.
By now it might be lying a mass of ruins for aught they knew; and somewhere in the midst their mother had been living the last they heard from her. Yes, Jack could easily appreciate what agonies of mind the couple must be enduring as they crouched there in each other’s arms, and with throbbing hearts listened to the hoarse crash of the opposing guns, the one friendly and the other freighted with hatred and animosity.
There was, of course, no danger to the party on the motorboat from the shells that were passing so high overhead, describing a parabola in their flight, something after the manner of a rainbow. Jack’s fears were along other lines.
If, as he suspected, this night bombardment on the part of the Austrian batteries was meant to occupy the attention of their foes while a force of troops was being ferried over the river or a temporary bridge made of pontoons and planks thrown across, it would mean that sooner or later the fugitives must be brought up with a round turn and find themselves caught in a trap.
One shell burst prematurely, and almost overhead, giving them a severe shock, for the sound was deafening. All of them involuntarily dropped down and held their breath in suspense. Then they heard missiles striking the water all around with an angry hiss, some of them terribly close.
“Nothing doing!” muttered Josh, when the fusillade had stopped and it became evident that they had escaped being struck.
“It was a narrow escape, all the same,” said Jack, with deep gratitude in his voice, though at the same time he remembered to keep his tones low.
All of them were fervently hoping there would be no more short fuses with the shells that were screaming overhead. It was bad enough to be passing underneath such a rain of fire without incurring the added peril of being unintentionally struck.
Back and forth the duel continued. The Serbian gunners were evidently bent on giving as good as they received. They also hoped, no doubt, to make things so warm up there on the heights that the Austrians would cease firing in order to save their guns from being dismounted.
Every yard counted for the fugitives. Hope grew stronger in the heart of Buster as they continued to glide along on the bosom of the river and nothing happened to disturb this feeling of increasing confidence. He really began to believe, perhaps for the first time, that they were going, after all, to float beyond the dangerous zone and find safety below.
As he afterwards declared, Buster lived years during that period of suspense. It seemed to him that minutes must be hours, for each one was fraught with such unlimited possibilities of evil that such things as seconds were not to be reckoned with at all.
The friendly clouds still held the moon from coming forth to betray them, and it was undoubtedly true that they were passing the worst of the line of bombardment. Given just a certain amount of time and they could count themselves safe from that source of danger.
There remained the possibility of coming upon the Austrian forces below starting to bridge the river or cross on boats.
Jack believed that it was not wise for a white man to shout until he was fully out of the woods. While the prospect certainly looked hopeful, he would not allow himself to believe the danger was over until many more miles had been passed.
Between Belgrade and the Iron Gate, which latter is situated at the junction of Austria, Serbia and Rumania, there is a stretch of river nearly a hundred miles in extent. Here the Danube makes another sharp turn amidst wonderful scenery, and for a long distance forms the boundary between Serbia and Rumania.
Jack realized full well that they could not count themselves free from peril until they saw the shore of Rumania on their left. He hardly knew whether it would be wise for them to try and make progress during daylight, for they might be picked up at any time by Austrian soldiers afloat on the river, or made the target of concealed guns ashore, under the impression that the motorboat must belong to Serbs.
Josh, being an ardent chap and easily influenced by outer appearances, actually believed everything was going the right way, and that they had escaped from the jaws of another dilemma. Only for Jack’s caution he would very likely have been inclined to voice his delight in some boisterous way; but he did not dare give his feelings full sway.
So far the current had done all they could have asked. It had swept the boat onward persistently, and without any sound to betray them. Before now, doubtless, those men from the anchored monitor must have found where they had built their little cooking fire and learned that the mysterious motorboat had vanished, either down the river or back again whence it came. Jack was not bothering himself in the least about the things that were gone. The wheel of the mill would never turn again with the water that was past, according to his notion.
He kept looking ahead all the time. Something was bothering him, undoubtedly, for Josh discovered that the skipper had his hand up to his ear, as though trying to add to his powers of hearing.
“What is it, Jack?” he whispered.
“I saw lights below, moving lights, and something is going on, I’m afraid,” Jack told him. “The sound of the guns deadens everything. I believe it is being kept up on purpose to hide something else. See, you can catch the lights I spoke about now.”
“Say, I thought I caught something like hammering just then, Jack,” said the other in fresh excitement. “Do you think the Austrians can be trying to get some of their troops across the river under cover of the darkness and fog?”
“I’ve been afraid we’d find that was the meaning of all the firing,” Jack answered. “The Austrians don’t dare try it in broad daylight, but hope to push enough men over to-night to hold a bridge-head, and then follow with their field artillery.”
“But what would they try to do, cross on boats, Jack?”
“If that was hammering we really heard,” came the reply, “then it means they are trying to spread a pontoon bridge across the Danube. Long before dawn they could land thousands of men with many guns on the Serbian side of the river.”