Part 7 (1/2)

”Well, reckless or no, we may as well move cautiously. Let us keep well under cover of this hedge. Whew! What a row there is!”

As the two friends drew nearer to the cottage they became convinced that not only was the firing taking place quite near the Crofts, but that it was going on in the very garden itself. Closer and closer they crept, their curiosity keenly whetted by this unexpected discovery, until they reached a little clump of thick undergrowth which overlooked the garden.

Here the greatest discovery of all awaited them.

Two big 28-cm. guns were in position in the centre of the garden, and being loaded and fired without a moment's respite. The sight was fascinating--nay, awe-inspiring--enough, but to the two lads the thing that most caught and fixed their attention was the fact that both guns were planted full on their asphalted tennis-court. To Dale this was merely curious, but to Max it had a significance so terrible and nerve-shaking that it was all he could do to prevent himself crying out.

”What's the matter, Max?” cried Dale in alarm, as he caught a glimpse of his friend's pale, drawn face and staring eyes.

”Come away--quick! Let us get away and I will tell you,” cried Max in a hoa.r.s.e voice, and, followed by his friend, he sped swiftly from the scene towards a thick wood a short distance away. Once well within the shelter of its leafy screen, he stopped and faced Dale excitedly, his face aflame.

”That scoundrel Schenk! He is at the bottom of it all. He is a paid traitor and spy of the German Government, and, fool that I was, I never saw it before!”

”Why, what has happened to tell you this? A traitor I dare say he is, but why so suddenly sure?”

”That tennis-court. Do you know that Schenk, when he heard we were thinking of one, pressed us to have an asphalt one for use in all weathers. He saw to it himself, and dug down six feet for the foundations. I asked him why he was doing that, and he said he had a lot of material, concrete or something, over from something else--I didn't take much notice what it was--and that it would make it all the better.

It was all a ruse to lay down solid concrete gun-platforms ready to blow our forts to pieces. The utter scoundrel!”

”Ah! And that was why he replaced the Walloon and Flemish workmen by naturalized Germans! I see. He wanted to have men he could be sure of and to have the works ready for running without a hitch directly the Germans entered. And the sh.e.l.ls----”

”Yes,” almost shouted Max, grasping his friend roughly by the arm, ”yes, their calibre will be that of German, not Belgian, guns! They never were for Belgian guns! That was why they were kept covered up so closely in the yard.”

”Phew! It was a risky game to play; but no doubt he expected the town to fall quickly--perhaps even more quickly than it did.”

”And there are other things,” Max went on in a quieter tone. ”Why was it Schenk persuaded us to go to Germany instead of to Holland for our holiday? Why--why? Simply because he wanted to get us out of the way.

Then do you remember those men who were captured after trying to a.s.sa.s.sinate General Leman in the town? I thought I had seen two or three of them somewhere before. I remember now. They were some of the workmen of the sh.e.l.l-shops, and one was a foreman. The plot was hatched by Schenk, not a doubt of it.”

”Not a shadow of a doubt. The whole business is as plain as a pikestaff.

But who would have dreamed of such devilish forethought? He must have been planning it for years!”

”Yes, he has been my father's right-hand man for nine or ten years at least. He must have come for no other purpose--and my father never knew it! How glad I am my mother is out of it all, safe and sound.”

For some time the two friends discussed the great discovery in all its bearings. Matters stood out in a fresh perspective, and one of the first things to appear prominently was the peril in which both of them now stood. In peril from the Germans they had known they stood, but the peril from Schenk was new and far greater. At any moment he might come to the conclusion that their continued presence about the works or in the town was inconvenient, and denounce them as hostile to the occupation. In fact--and a bitter realization it was--they were only saved from this by the manager's contempt of them as adversaries and his calm a.s.surance that they were really not worth considering one way or the other.

”Well, Max,” said Dale at last, ”what line are we now going to take? It is time we made up our minds once and for all. We are clearly outcla.s.sed by this Schenk--he holds all the cards--and the best thing we can do is to make tracks to join the Belgian army before it is too late to get away.”

”Yes, Dale, that is the best thing--for you. Only _I_ cannot come with you. You go and join the British army. My place is here more than ever, and leave it I will not.”

”Come now, Max, don't be obstinate! There is nothing to be done here.

You are absolutely helpless pitted against Schenk and his friends the Germans. You must recognize it. Come with me and we will see what we can do for the good cause elsewhere.”

Max shook his head decidedly. His face was very downcast, and it was clear to his friend that he felt most keenly the way in which his father's name and resources had been exploited by the enemies of their country; but his lips were firmly set, and in his eyes was the steady look Dale remembered so well during the dark days of the struggle for Benson's. Benson's! The recollection brought back again to Dale the words spoken by the master at the close of the races: ”Fixity of purpose ... there is almost nothing that fixity of purpose will not accomplish.”

”No,” Max said simply, after a moment's pause, ”I am going to keep watch and ward over the Durend workshops. Cost what it may I am going, by all means in my power, to hinder the use of them for the enemy's purposes.

What influence I have--little enough I fear--with the real Belgian workmen, I will exert to keep them from aiding Schenk. The works are mine--I speak for my mother--and I will not hesitate to destroy them if I find opportunity. There must be many ways in which I can make trouble, and I am going to strain every nerve to do so. Let Schenk look out; it is war to the knife!”

”Hurrah!” cried Dale excitedly. Then he went on in a sober tone: ”But it is risky work, Max. Schenk will very soon suspect us--he has agents and spies everywhere, you may be sure.”