The Brighton Boys in the Argonne Forest Page 14
CHAPTER XIII
LYING LOW
THE next ten minutes were almost a non-breathing experience for twelvegood men and true; they had decided that their safety lay in at leastkeeping most woefully quiet. A little while after the ordeal hadpassed, Herbert and Donald were telling each other what had been intheir thoughts during those tense moments when the heavy footfalls weredrawing nearer. Herbert had imagined one of his men suddenly sneezingand Don had wished for the chance to turn a good old American skunkloose to scent up the place; this would have surely kept the Germanofficers at a safe distance.
But there proved to be no fear of the one, nor need of the otherdoubtful procedure; the khaki squad was as silent as death and the twoascending German officers no more suspected their presence in the spotthan they would have a herd of elephants. And so they came quite to theedge of the spruces, sat down on a boulder and conversed in low tonesfor about ten minutes; then got up again and as slowly went back totheir camp. Twelve breathing sets of apparatus were in easier workingorder when it was reported that the Germans had gone.
Jennings was heard then to roll over on his improvised couch ofmoss-lined rock and remark, decidedly _sotto voce_:
“Don’t know’s I’m so durned glad they didn’t ketch on to us. They’d’a’ been two more dead Huns right sudden. I could ’a’ got ’em both bymyself before they could ’a’ hollered ’donner vetter!’ and I would ’a’done it, too, soon’s I seen their eyes a stickin’ out when they ketchedsight of us.”
“Sho! You’d been so scared you’d forgot you had a gun,” Gill banteredhis fellow scout and buddy.
“Well, then, I’d ’a’ reached over an’ grabbed ’em an’ fetched ’em inhere an’ held ’em so’s you could ’a’ bit their ears.”
“Quietly there, men, for the love of Uncle Sam! Levity is usuallyadmirable, but this is an exception,” Herbert cautioned, hearing thesubdued laughter that went around.
“It might be a case of being tickled ’most to death,” Don remarked.
“We might vary the monotony of this existence by having a bite to eatall round,” Herbert ordered. “Rations, boys, but limited to half thatyou want. Hard, I know, but perhaps necessary. After ’while we may needfull stomachs to fight on. Literally that, down back of these rocks.”
“If them Jerries is ever goin’ to get me, I’d heap ruther they’d haveme satisfied than hungry,” Jennings remarked.
“I reckon I could eat about a whole Heinie right now! I always waspartial to pork,” Gill declared.
Again the time dragged on; to relieve it in part the men went throughsilent pantomime. Two fellows, on their hands and knees, butting ateach other like rams gave Gill the idea of imitating a dog digging outa field mouse, and four chaps, who were wont to sing together whensilence was not so golden, sat in a row and went through the motions ofvarious musical selections, as dirges, ballads and ragtime, grantingseveral encores in answer to a perfectly silent handclapping.
Through all these trying hours there had been men constantly at bothpeep-holes, all taking turns. The Germans at the bottom of the hillhad simply done little or nothing all day, except to hang around,eating occasionally, cleaning their weapons, some few writing, otherssleeping or lolling on the ground. Only once was there a break inthis monotony, when a group of officers, probably high in command,came through the little valley. Then every Hun got to his feet, withheels together, and saluted for dear life; but unlike the democraticAmericans and Frenchmen, the officers did not appear as though aware ofthe presence of the common soldiers or under officers.
And then once more the shadows grew long and the darkness came slowlydown, with the far distant sounds of occasional firing more distinctand a chill breeze coming up that caused both friend and foe to seeksome covering for the night. The little squad in the rocky hollow onthe hillside again resorted to dry leaves and spruce boughs, both underand over. The watch was detailed to include every man, three acting ata time, and if there was the least suggestion of snoring or of talkingin sleep the offender was to find himself awakened instantly, with ahand placed firmly over his mouth. And one such instance did occur; itwas Don who toward morning began to mumble and then suddenly cry out:
“Go get him! He’s the m-m-m----” The rest of this utterance camethrough the corporal’s fingers; after which the boy chose to remainawake for the remaining hour before dawn.
Jennings had been gone since about eleven o’clock, in the effort tofind an unguarded spot where the squad might sneak through under coverof the darkness. About midnight a single shot was heard not far away,followed by another ten minutes later. It was becoming gray in the eastand, all being awake and the scout’s continued absence being noted,Herbert remarked:
“I hope they haven’t got him. He might have stumbled into a picket,but I can hardly think it of Jennings; he isn’t that careless. Let ushope----” Even while the lieutenant spoke there was a slight stir amongthe spruces above them, on the up side of the hill, and when they allturned that way, some expecting the enemy and having their guns inhand, the grinning face of the Pennsylvania mountaineer peered at them.
“They ain’t no way, Lieutenant. Them Jerries is got the hull groundclear acrosst took up with gun nests an’ some trenches. They’re inthere as thick as hair on a yaller dog; there’s one or two mangyspots, but they’re watchin’ them close. Got to stay here, I reckon, awhile more an’ then some. Me fer sleepin’ a little now, if you don’tobject, Lieutenant.”
“Go to it!” Herb said, laughing, as ever softly. “We’re awfully glad tosee you; thought you might have had bad luck. Did you hear those shotssoon after you left?”
“Rather did.” Jennings grinned again. “But he missed me and when theycome into the brush to look they most stepped on me. Second time Ireckon they thought they heard me again an’ jes’ fired random-like, an’I sneaked out. There was four Heinies together settin’ still on a log,like buzzards waitin’ fer a ol’ cow to croak, or somethin’.”
“The War Cross for you, old scout!” Don said. “And say, boys, ifthe Heinies down there don’t show any more curiosity about theirsurroundings than they did yesterday, we’ll likely pull through anotherday all right.”
“Pull through is right,” remarked the corporal. “It is a pull.”
“If I was the boss of this outfit,” Gill said, with an apologeticgrin at Herbert, “I’d just get up and slip down yonder and take themfellers prisoner and march ’em into our lines. Nerve is what counts; ifthey saw us coming from up out of the earth, they’d all throw up theirhands and holler ‘kamerad’!”
“I’m afraid not, Gill; we won’t risk it, anyway,” said Herbert. “Theinside of a Hun prison camp wouldn’t look good to any of us and unlesswe wanted to commit suicide on the spot, they’d get us. Twelve menagainst a good many thousand makes the odds too great; eh, boys?”
The remarks in reply to Herbert’s were characteristic:
“Stayin’ here is bad enough, but ketchin’ Hun cooties is worse!”
“Me fer layin’ low some more.”
“I’d like to see the good little old United States again if I can.”
“This place looks good enough to me just now, though it might have hotand cold water, real sheets on the beds and a kitchen.”
“If we’ve got to stay here long enough and the Jerries down therewouldn’t object to the noise, we might accommodate you and build ahotel.”
“Reminds me of the Connecticut Yankee they tell about who got wreckedon nothing but a sand bar in the ocean and in two years he had aprosperous seaport going, with two factories and a railroad. Who’s aliar?”
Again the hours took upon themselves snail-like speed and life amongthose rocks became well-nigh unendurable. Imagine, then, the feeling ofrelief when the present watchers of the squad beheld the German companyin the valley, under sharp orders, pick up their accoutrements andmove on toward the south again, out of sight and hearing, to occupy,no doubt, a new and better position. True, the present risk was notlifte
d; messengers from or to the front might pass, or Hun units at anytime approach, though it was not likely that the woods this far back ofthe occupied defenses were picketed.
“We can take a gamble far enough,” Lieutenant Whitcomb declared, “toget out and build up our defenses; pile more rocks all around. Get atit, men, and make them heavy enough to stop machine gun bullets.”
Four of the squad were sent on either side to do picket duty and tokeep an especially sharp watch. It was one of these pickets, throughthoughtlessness while meaning to do his duty fully, that, as Donexpressed it, “spilled the beans.” Farnham went into a large patch ofbushes not quite head high, intending to use it as a screened place ofobservation just as a Boche one-man airplane passed, flying low and sofar to one side that Farnham knew he could not be seen by the pilot.Suddenly there was the sound as of breaking camp again; another unitover the ridge was moving on and Farnham craned his neck, exposingalso his shoulders in order to see ahead. At that moment the airplaneswerved and before the Yank thought to duck down he was seen.
Then the Boche made an error. Had he passed on and signaled to thenearest contingent, they could have sneaked up, surrounded and capturedthe American, but with the usual show of hate dominating, the flierwheeled again and sent a stream of incendiary bullets into the bushes.For a wonder the Yank was untouched; he quickly crawled on hands andknees back toward camp and the birdman, unable to see him longer,headed straight for the nearest Hun signal station. When Farnhamreached the squad the pickets were immediately called in, once againthe crowd lying low. It was now only a question of time when they mustdefend themselves against terrible odds.
“Here they come and on the run, some of them!” announced the corporal,with his eye to the peep-hole. Every man gripped his gun, feeling themoment had arrived for him to do or die. Still a little longer itwas to be postponed. Intent upon reaching the patch of bushes on thehilltop where the airman had signaled that the American was seen, thehalf dozen Boches hastened on, two going directly past the rock basinand never once turning to look it over. Several of the Yanks, thoughlying prone, could see for a moment the helmets of these searchers whobelieved they were on the track of a lone spy, or a lost picket. Theydisappeared up the hill and Farnham, who had been responsible for thisscare, but had received not one word of censure from his commandingofficers, ejaculated fervently:
“Thank the good Lord they didn’t see us!”
But the relief was short-lived. There being no sign of the spy on theridge top, the searchers spread out and two of them came back down thehill and were again about to pass on. And then the possibility of agood hiding place beneath the dark spruces may have occurred to one ofthem, though it can never be known what he thought. With a gutturalexclamation he turned and saw far more than he had expected, but hedidn’t exist long enough to make even a mental note thereof. As hetumbled in a heap the other Hun started to run and he, too, joined hislate companion in the unknown. With admirable coolness the Americanshad met the situation and only one shot for each of these foemen hadbeen used; the ammunition must not be wasted. Farnham’s gun was warmand he was minus two cartridges.
“Get out there and drag those poor chaps under cover, two of you, Kellyand Wilson!” Herbert ordered. “Make short work of it!”
But they could not make that gruesome task short enough. Attracted bythe shots, the four remaining searchers had turned that way and onebegan shooting at Kelly. Lieutenant Whitcomb leveled his rifle at thetree where only the head and arms of the Hun showed, at a distance of ahundred and fifty yards; then no more shots came from behind that tree.Getting an inkling of the situation, though unable to estimate thenumber of men among the rocks, the other Huns retreated and carried thenews to their commander. In twenty minutes thereafter the surroundedsquad was facing all that they had known must come to them.