Part 27 (2/2)
He's down there, somewhere by the river!”
Lannes made no reply. The _Arrow_ continued its rise, sharp and swift, and John heard a crackling sound below. Little missiles, steel and deadly, shot by them. One pa.s.sed so close to his face that his breath went again. When he recovered it once more the _Arrow_, its inmates, unharmed, was far above the range of rifles, flying in a circle.
”Look down, John,” said Lannes.
CHAPTER X
OLD FRIENDS
John, obeying Lannes' command, glanced down, as one looks over the side of a s.h.i.+p toward the sea, and he saw many hors.e.m.e.n galloping across the field. He recognized at once the Uhlans, and, for all he knew; they might be von Boehlen's own command.
”Hand me your gla.s.ses, will you?” he said.
When Lannes pa.s.sed them to him he looked long and well, but he did not see any sign of a prisoner among the Prussians. He also searched the woods and other fields near by, but they were empty. The whole Prussian force was gathered beneath them. John breathed a deep sigh of relief.
”It's evident that Weber has escaped,” he said. ”Doubtless this was the very troop of Uhlans of which the Alsatian had caught a glimpse. He is clever and swift and I've no doubt he found a covert.”
”I'm sorry we had to leave him,” said Lannes, ”but there was no other choice. I came to the tree to examine the flag, and being above I saw the Uhlans nearby before you did. Then I heard your shout and dropped down. But as I knew the Uhlans were coming for us I made you jump almost before you knew it, and we got away by a hair. The _Arrow_ was struck twice, but the bullets glanced off its polished sides. There are two slight scars, but I can have them removed.”
John laughed.
”Philip,” he said, ”I believe you love the _Arrow_ as a fellow loves his best girl.”
”Well spoken, Monsieur Jean the Scott, and the _Arrow_ never fails me.
And so you've been with Weber?”
”It's a long tale. I was in a boat crossing the Marne. It was sunk by one of the French sh.e.l.ls, and I escaped. I reached the deserted cottage of a peasant, and Weber, who was wandering around, happened to come there, too. We've been trying to escape today, and we put that flag up in the tree as a sort of signal, while we hid among the vines below, until you should come, as he believed you would. He was right, but he was unlucky enough to be absent when you arrived.” ”Maybe it couldn't have happened in a better way. The _Arrow_ can carry only two, and I don't know what we'd have done with him. He's a clever fellow and he'll make his way back to the army.”
”I hope so, in fact I feel so. But, Philip, it's glorious to be with you again, and to be up here, where the bullets can't reach you.”
”That is, so long as the German flyers don't come near enough to take shots at us.”
”I don't see any in sight, and meanwhile I intend to be comfortable.
Good old _Arrow_! The best little rescuer in the world! Lannes, I believe it's a large part of your business to fly about over fields of battle and rescue me.”
”You certainly give me plenty of opportunities,” laughed Lannes.
”What's been happening? I fancy that a lot of water has flowed under the bridges of the Marne since I left you.”
”We continue to gain,” replied Lannes, with quiet satisfaction. ”We press the German armies back everywhere. Our supreme chief is a silent man, but he has delivered a master stroke. We've emerged from the very gulf of defeat and despair to the heights of victory. We're not only driving the Germans across the Marne, but we're driving them further.
Moreover, their armies are cut apart, and one is fighting for its existence, just as the French and English were fighting for theirs in that terrible retreat from Mons and Charleroi.”
”It's glorious, but we mustn't be too sanguine, Lannes. The powers that overcome the German and Austro-Hungarian Empires will not forget for a hundred years that they had a war.”
”You're not telling me any news, Monsieur Jean the Scott. I've been in Germany often, and like you I've seen what they have and what they are.
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