Part 21 (2/2)
THE THUNDER OF OPPOSING BATTERIES
Standing there they used their eyes to the best advantage, though none of them felt fully satisfied with their position Josh looked enviously at a spot only a short distance away It was so of a small elevation, and he felt positive that if only they couldall that went on would be ih for the others to hear hi to be in the thick of that desperate battle for the possession of the ford across the Marne”
”Do you mean Andre?” demanded Hanky Panky, instantly
”Just who I meant,” came the reply
The others knew that as Rod spoke French, and had talked with a number of people as well as soldiers on the road, he must be primed with information such as had not fallen to their lot Hence it never occurred to either of theht say
”That would be too bad for all of us,” reot within stone's-throw of hi?”
”What makes you ask that, Josh?”
”Well, you see, there's a whole lot better place over yonder, if only we could reach it; but I'round would be too big a job”
At that Rod took a glance, and of course saw the advantages to be attained by a shi+ft in their position
”It ht be done,” he told the anxious Josh, ”if we cared to try and conceal our wheels somewhere near by, and walked or ran over to the rise”
”Would that be safe?” asked Hanky Panky, fearful lest they after all lose theiran occasional lift fro in the direction of Paris
”Reasonably so, I think,” adan to cast about in the hope of discovering a hiding place that would stand the test This he speedily succeeded in doing, for Josh had sharp eyes, and could see things in a flash that it would take another a long ti out
So they made haste to hide the trio of ht by accident force a way through just at that particular point, and discover what had been left there
”Now let's whoop it up for the rise!” suggested the eager Josh, for the sound of the battle had grown so insistent that he was fairly wild to see everything going on
They all ran in a bunch, for Rod held Josh in, so that Hanky Panky ht not be left too far behind When they arrived at the place picked out for their station they found that, just as Josh had guessed, it was adh the tiht had evidently progressed beyond the preliuns on either side of the Marne were thundering fearfully, and every tiers of death the very earth seemed to treazed with their hearts fluttering in their breasts like those of frightened birds when held in the hand
The Ger detachment of their forces behind to defend that particular ford, which evidently assumed an important position in the eyes of the commander The Marne could not be crossed with heavy artillery in all that section without the building of a bridge to replace those destroyed by the retreating Teutons, which would take a certain et the guns across here at the ford, for that hat the Ger here in force wouldcolumns of the French uns which the Ger in their power to save froht be sacrificed in this endeavor, but what of that?
Huh, but it took nificent forty-two centimetre mortars hich they meant to batter down the defences of Paris, and win the war
At the s were rapidly drawing near a crisis The French troops were undoubtedly getting wild to be let loose upon the waiting enemy; only their commander knew that the chances were as two to one they would not be able to get across the river so long as that one battery in particular commanded the ford Its shells were able to sweep over every yard of the crossing, and could cut down those ading desperately through the waist-deep water, as though they were helpless flies