Part 24 (1/2)
”That is true, Monsieur.”
”Could you not find out?”
”I do not think so, Monsieur. Since that last affair of ours there have been too many sentries in the yards, especially at night. It would be impossible to dig anywhere.”
”We ought to do something, Dubec.”
”Yes, Monsieur?”
”But the job is to know what,” Dale struck in. ”We can't tunnel underground, I suppose, and get at them that way, so we must find out by spying where the wires are run to--eh, Max?”
”Tunnel?” e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Max. ”That's an idea, Dale. Those old mines we were tracing in the plans the other day! Why not?”
”Why not what?” asked Dale a little testily.
”Why, you know we noticed that one of them ran right up to the outskirts of the city? Well, why shouldn't we continue it secretly, until we get beneath the yards, and then burrow upwards to the workshops? Then we can remove the mine-charges from below, and sit still and hold tight until the great day arrives.”
”Hurrah!” cried Dale enthusiastically. ”The very thing. Phew! what a coup it will be!”
”We shall, of course, have to get Dubec here and one or two others to arrange it for us. They must go to work in the Durend mines, and take it in turns to spend a night down there. Each man, as his turn comes, must go into the old workings, and continue the gallery fixed upon in the direction of the Durend works. Narrow seams of coal, not worth working, did run in that direction according to the plans, and they will have no difficulty in getting rid of the coal of course. The rock they hew out must be taken away and dumped in remote, abandoned workings, where it is not likely to be found or understood.”
”'Pon my word, it sounds like the real thing,” cried Dale with fresh enthusiasm. ”But it'll take a long time I should think, so we must make a start at once. What do you think, Dubec?”
”Yes, Monsieur, it will take much time. But we will work hard, knowing that we are working for our country. It will make our hearts light again to feel that we are once more of use, and some who might give way will keep on and on, refusing to bend the knee to the German tyrants and to work their will.”
”Yes, it may well do that,” said Max thoughtfully. ”And if any object that they will be helping the Germans by sending coal up to the surface, tell them that I say that the other work they are doing far outweighs that. If we can secure the Durend works intact, ready to make sh.e.l.ls and guns for the Allies when the Germans are driven out, we shall have struck a strong blow--aye, one of the strongest--for our side.”
”I will tell them, Monsieur, though I do not think it will be necessary.”
”Any money and tools that will be required I will supply. And I will occasionally come down into the mine and correct the direction in which you are driving the gallery. We must be exact, or all our work will be wasted.”
After a few days' more planning, and another consultation with Dubec, the details of the scheme were settled to everyone's satisfaction, and the work commenced. The direction of affairs on the spot was left to Dubec, and to him was also left the responsibility of deciding to what men the secret should be imparted. Then Max and Dale left the district and went on with their own special work, satisfied that the last and final stratagem for defeating Schenk was in good hands, and likely, in the course of time, to be brought to a successful issue.
It is not here that we can describe the many adventures that befell Max and Dale while in the British Secret Service. They were numerous and exciting enough, but this tale deals primarily with the fortunes of the great Durend workshops and their influence in the war. A long, tedious period of trench fighting now began on the Western Front. There were no big territorial changes, although there were many attacks on a grand scale at Ypres, at Verdun, on the Somme, and in the plain of Flanders.
But this period, tedious though it was, came to an end at last in the great German retreat. Then came for Max and Dale the crucial period of all their long and patient scheming to outwit their own special enemy, Otto von Schenkendorf, the manager of the Durend works.
When the great retreat began, Max and Dale were at Liege, on the spot.
At the gates of the works they watched the serried ranks of workmen and workwomen as they trudged out in response to the manager's orders that the works must be closed and that all workers of German nationality or sympathies must retire across the frontier. The anger and consternation in their faces were a treat to see, after the long years of their arrogance towards men and women of Belgian nationality. The war was virtually over--so said their faces--and many of them were doubtless dreading lest infamies, similar to those wreaked on the helpless Belgians, might be perpetrated in _their_ towns and villages.
As the crowd thinned, Max and Dale caught sight of the manager, accompanied by a German officer, seated in a great grey motor just inside the gates, apparently waiting for the last workman to file out and away. The guard of soldiers was still there, standing stiffly to attention, and it seemed to Max that there was an air of tension about them all, as though something was about to happen. He could well guess what. Suddenly, in the distance, there came the sound of dropping rifle-shots.
”They've cut it pretty fine, if those shots mean the advance guard of the Allies,” remarked Max in a voice tense with excitement. ”The works are clear of the workmen; now for the last great act. Then the curtain!”
Herr Schenk--as we shall continue to call him--stood up in his car and shouted to the officer of the guard:
”You have your instructions, Lieutenant. Act upon them now without delay.”
The officer saluted, turned about with military precision, and strode into the guard-room.