"Let's go back to the village," he said. "We'll barricade ourselves while we wait."
[Pg 82]But there was a sudden noise behind a wooded hill that interrupted the road in the Corvigny direction, a noise that became more and more definite, until Paul recognized the powerful throb of a motor, doubtless a motor carrying a quick-firing gun.
"Crouch down in the ditch," he cried to his men. "Hide yourselves in the haystacks. Fix bayonets. And don't move any of you!"
He had realized the danger of that motor's passing through the village, plunging in the midst of his company, scattering panic and then making off by some other way.
He quickly climbed the split trunk of an old oak and took up his position in the branches a few feet above the road.
The motor soon came in sight. It was, as he expected, an armored car, but one of the old pattern, which allowed the helmets and heads of the men to show above the steel plating.
It came along at a smart pace, ready to dart forward in case of alarm. The men were stooping with bent backs. Paul counted half-a-dozen of them. The barrels of two Maxim guns projected beyond the car.
He put his rifle to his shoulder and took aim at the driver, a fat Teuton with a scarlet face that seemed dyed with blood. Then, when the moment came, he calmly fired.
"Charge, lads!" he cried, as he scrambled down from his tree.
[Pg 83]But it was not even necessary to take the car by storm. The driver, struck in the chest, had had the presence of mind to apply the brakes and pull up. Seeing themselves surrounded, the Germans threw up their hands:
"Kamerad! Kamerad!"
And one of them, flinging down his arms, leapt from the motor and came running up to Pauclass="underline"
"An Alsatian, sergeant, an Alsatian from Strasburg! Ah, sergeant, many's the day that I've been waiting for this moment!"
While his men were taking the prisoners to the village, Paul hurriedly questioned the Alsatian:
"Where has the car come from?"
"Corvigny."
"Any of your people there?"
"Very few. A rearguard of two hundred and fifty Badeners at the most."
"And in the forts?"
"About the same number. They didn't think it necessary to mend the turrets and now they've been taken unprepared. They're hesitating whether to try and make a stand or to fall back on the frontier; and that's why we were sent to reconnoiter."
"So we can go ahead?"
"Yes, but at once, else they will receive powerful reinforcements, two divisions."
"When?"
"To-morrow. They're to cross the frontier, to-morrow, about the middle of the day."
[Pg 84]"By Jove! There's no time to be lost!" said Paul.
While examining the guns and having the prisoners disarmed and searched, Paul was considering the best measures to take, when one of his men, who had stayed behind in the village, came and told him of the arrival of a French detachment, with a lieutenant in command.
Paul hastened to tell the officer what had happened. Events called for immediate action. He offered to go on a scouting expedition in the captured motor.
"Very well," said the officer. "I'll occupy the village and arrange to have the division informed as soon as possible."
The car made off in the direction of Corvigny, with eight men packed inside. Two of them, placed in charge of the quick-firing guns, studied the mechanism. The Alsatian stood up, so as to show his helmet and uniform clearly, and scanned the horizon on every side.
All this was decided upon and done in the space of a few minutes, without discussion and without delaying over the details of the undertaking.
"We must trust to luck," said Paul, taking his seat at the wheel. "Are you ready to see the job through, boys?"
"Yes; and further," said a voice which he recognized, just behind him.
It was Bernard d'Andeville, Elisabeth's brother. Bernard belonged to the 9th company; and Paul had[Pg 85] succeeded in avoiding him, since their first meeting, or at least in not speaking to him. But he knew that the youngster was fighting well.
"Ah, so you're there?" he said.
"In the flesh," said Bernard. "I came along with my lieutenant; and, when I saw you getting into the motor and taking any one who turned up, you can imagine how I jumped at the chance!" And he added, in a more embarrassed tone, "The chance of doing a good stroke of work, under your orders, and the chance of talking to you, Paul… for I've been unlucky so far… I even thought that… that you were not as well-disposed to me as I hoped…"
"Nonsense," said Paul. "Only I was bothered…"
"You mean, about Elisabeth?"
"Yes."
"I see. All the same, that doesn't explain why there was something between us, a sort of constraint…"
At that moment, the Alsatian exclaimed:
"Lie low there!… Uhlans ahead!…"
A patrol came trotting down a cross-road, turning the corner of a wood. He shouted to them, as the car passed:
"Clear out, Kameraden! Fast as you can! The French are coming!"
Paul took advantage of the incident not to answer his brother-in-law. He had forced the pace; and[Pg 86] the motor was now thundering along, scaling the hills and shooting down them like a meteor.
The enemy detachments became more numerous. The Alsatian called out to them or else by means of signs incited them to beat an immediate retreat.
"It's the funniest thing to see," he said, laughing. "They're all galloping behind us like mad." And he added, "I warn you, sergeant, that at this rate we shall dash right into Corvigny. Is that what you want to do?"
"No," replied Paul, "we'll stop when the town's in sight."
"And, if we're surrounded?"
"By whom? In any case, these bands of fugitives won't be able to oppose our return."
Bernard d'Andeville spoke:
"Paul," he said, "I don't believe you're thinking of returning."
"You're quite right. Are you afraid?"
"Oh, what an ugly word!"
But presently Paul went on, in a gentler voice:
"I'm sorry you came, Bernard."
"Is the danger greater for me than for you and the others?"
"No."
"Then do me the honor not to be sorry."
Still standing up and leaning over the sergeant, the Alsatian pointed with his hand:
"That spire straight ahead, behind the trees, is Corvigny. I calculate that, by slanting up the hills[Pg 87] on the left, we ought to be able to see what's happening in the town."
"We shall see much better by going inside," Paul remarked. "Only it's a big risk… especially for you, Alsatian. If they take you prisoner, they'll shoot you. Shall I put you down this side of Corvigny?"
"You haven't studied my face, sergeant."
The road was now running parallel with the railway. Soon, the first houses of the outskirts came in sight. A few soldiers appeared.
"Not a word to these," Paul ordered. "It won't do to startle them… or they'll take us from behind at the critical moment."
He recognized the station and saw that it was strongly held. Spiked helmets were coming and going along the avenues that led to the town.
"Forward!" cried Paul. "If there's any large body of troops, it can only be in the square. Are the guns ready? And the rifles? See to mine for me, Bernard. And, at the first signal, independent fire!"
The motor rushed at full speed into the square. As he expected, there were about a hundred men there, all massed in front of the church-steps, near their stacked rifles. The church was a mere heap of ruins; and almost all the houses in the square had been leveled to the ground by the bombardment.
The officers, standing on one side, cheered and[Pg 88] waved their hands on seeing the motor which they had sent out to reconnoiter and whose return they seemed to be expecting before making their decision about the defense of the town. There were a good many of them, their number no doubt including some communication officers. A general stood a head and shoulders above the rest. A number of cars were waiting some little distance away.