Part 14 (1/2)

Gaining the courtyard of the inn, the lads made sure that the German cavalrymen had, no doubt reluctantly, ceased to pester the troubled host with their attentions.

”Your motor-cycles are safe, messieurs,” announced the innkeeper.

”Ciel! Once those Bosches get wedded to the bottle----” and he threw up his hands and raised his eyebrows with a gesture of utter dismay.

Refusing any payment for his services, and charging only for the coffee, the landlord escorted the two British dispatch-riders to yet another door, opening into a deserted street.

”Take the third turning to the right, messieurs,” he directed; ”it will bring you on the high road. Yet I accept no responsibility; so take care. The Uhlans--le diable les importe!--may be prowling about.”

Having walked their cycles till they felt fairly certain that the noise of the engines would not reach the ears of the German raiders, the dispatch-riders set off at a furious pace towards the position occupied by their regiment.

Suddenly Kenneth raised his hand, at the same time stopping his motor.

Rollo likewise dismounted.

”Uhlans!” whispered Kenneth.

A mile or so ahead were hundreds of cavalry, the men standing easy, while the horses were picketed in lines. Apparently the enemy had thrown a strong wedge far into the position held a few hours previously by Belgian troops.

”If those fellows are acting as supports to the crowd that entered Tongres, we are nicely trapped, by Jove!” remarked Kenneth. ”The best thing we can do is to risk cutting across the fields, although, frankly, I don't relish the idea of making towards that wooded district. It is too jolly favourable for an ambush.”

”Half a minute,” rejoined Rollo, unstrapping the case of his binoculars. ”Let's make sure. Kenneth, old man, it's all right.

These chaps are Belgian lancers.”

In his excitement Kenneth almost s.n.a.t.c.hed the gla.s.ses from his chum.

”You're right!” he exclaimed joyously, after a hasty view. ”Let's push on and tell them the position of affairs. They might be able to get a little of their own back.”

Three minutes later the two dispatch-riders were making a brief yet concise report to the Colonel commanding the Belgian cavalry. As soon as they had finished, a bugle call, equivalent to the British ”boot and saddle”, rang out, and the lancers were soon cantering along the highway, followed by a mounted machine-gun section.

”We may as well see the fun, considering what we've done in the matter,” said Kenneth, to which proposal Rollo raised no objections.

Following at a discreet distance, they waited until the lancers halted; then, leaving their cycles by the side of a haystack, they overtook the Belgian troops.

Thanks to his intimate knowledge of the locality, the Colonel made his dispositions skilfully. At this spot the road from Tongres to Liege entered a shallow defile through which the returning Germans were practically certain to pa.s.s. At a distance of two hundred yards on either side of the road were clumps of trees and patches of thick undergrowth, affording admirable cover for a considerable number of troops.

The machine-gun detachment was split up, an equal number of mitrailleuses, screened with torn-up undergrowth, being placed on the rising ground on each side of the road, their line of fire sweeping the approach to the defile. With the guns were posted strong bodies of dismounted lancers, armed with carbines. In a steep dip in the road, the hollow of which was invisible beyond a distance of a hundred yards, shallow trenches, sufficient to wreck the armoured motor-cars, were dug, the excavated earth being carefully removed so as not to betray the presence of these obstructions.

The bulk of the lancers, posted out of sight, were ready at the word of command to swoop down upon the rear of the German column and complete the work of destruction that the quick-firers and the rifles might leave undone.

Hardly were these preparations made when the Belgian vedettes reported the approach of the raiders from Tongres, and that the column was preceded by four men forming an advance-guard.

The Belgian Colonel gave vent to an exclamation of annoyance. He had reckoned upon the Germans making use of their armoured motor-cars for that purpose. Bagging these would be a material loss to the enemy, whereas the capture of a few scouts would be of very little value, and the main body would be warned.

He immediately detached a dozen dismounted men, ordering them to lie in ambush close to the road, and if possible to capture the scouts without having recourse to the use of fire-arms. The men quickly took up their positions in a ditch lined with tall gra.s.s, and so closely did they lie concealed that they were invisible even to their comrades on the rising ground behind them.

Presently the German advance-guard entered the defile. They had dined not wisely but too well, and, jubilant over the result of their successful raid, were sadly lax in the exercise of their military duties. Two of them had removed their helmets, which were dangling from their saddles. All of them, almost overcome with wine and the heat of the day, were drowsy.

Suddenly the Belgian ambush sprang to their feet. The startled Germans were confronted by a row of rifles, levelled from a distance that would make a miss almost an impossibility.

The lances fell from the nerveless hands of the astounded Teutons, and with machine-like precision they raised their hands above their heads.