CHAPTER FOURTEEN
_Pierre Deschaud Speaks_
Black night had again settled down over Europe. Layers of cloud scud andfog completely hit the stars, and to Dave and Freddy, crouched down on asandy strip of shore not twenty feet from the waters of the ScheldtRiver, it seemed as though they were the only two people alive in thewhole world. All about them was darkness and utter silence. Antwerp wasjust a darker blot a mile or so to their left. And although by staringhard they could catch the flicker of pin point lights, the city was sodark and still that the little points of light could well have beentheir imagination playing them tricks.
It was now exactly eight minutes of nine by Dave's radium dial wristwatch. A little over an hour ago, when the shadows of coming night hadbegun to fall, they had slipped out of their hiding place and started aroundabout trip to the spot where they now crouched. Death had walkedwith them every step of the way, waiting and ready to pounce about themboth and gobble them up. But Lady Luck had also traveled with them. Andalthough on three occasions they had come very close to stumblingheadlong into Nazi black-out patrols, they had avoided them in the nickof time, quickly changed their route and hastened onward. And now theycrouched down on the sandy strip of shore and stared hard at thelopsided darker shadow out there in the water. It was the water-loggedand half sunk houseboat, and by straining their eyes hard they couldjust barely make out the jagged hole stove in the bow on the port side.
Presently Dave turned his head and leaned toward Freddy.
"Deschaud said to meet us inside the thing," he whispered in the Englishyouth's ear, "so I guess we'd better get moving. If anybody is around,he certainly is a darn sight quieter than the night. What do youthink?"
"Same as you," Freddy whispered back. "We'd better get out there. Onlything we can do. Watch the noise you make wading."
"You're telling me?" Dave echoed with a silent chuckle. "You bet I'llwatch out. Sure could use a flashlight, though. Okay, let's go."
The two boys slowly stood up and crept down to the water's edge. Formutual balance and guidance they clasped hands and started wading. Thewater was cold and the bottom was very muddy, making it doubly hard tokeep their balance. Neither of them, however, met with an accident, andeventually they were directly under the gaping hole in the boat's bow.There the water wasn't more than a very few inches above their knees,and it was not difficult to grab hold of the jagged ends of broken hullplanks and pull themselves in through the hole.
It was pitch black inside, and everything they touched was wet andslimy. A thousand different kinds of smells struck them in waves. Inchby inch they crawled forward until Dave found a sturdy cross beam thatwas comparatively dry. He pulled Freddy to it, and together they satdown and turned around so that they could look out the opening towardthe shore. For a moment or so it was like staring at a black curtainhung in a room with all the lights out. Bit by bit, though, shadowsbegan to take shape and they were able to make out the exact shorelineand the tree clumps and building rooftops beyond.
"Well, it's up to Deschaud, now," Dave whispered. "Gosh! I sure hopenothing's happened to him! It's ten minutes after nine!"
"I'm thinking the same thoughts," Freddy whispered back. "But you canbet I sure hope they're all wrong. I--_Dave!_"
Freddy had stopped short and gripped Dave's arm, and was pointing hisother hand toward the shore. Dave said nothing, for he had alreadyspotted the faint shadow moving slowly along the strip of sandy beach.The shadow suddenly stopped, and then whirled as a second shadow seemedvirtually to leap right down out of the black sky. The two shadowsmerged together and swayed back and forth. Then one of them fell backand down onto the sand. Freddy's fingers were digging like steel barbsinto Dave's arm, but he hardly felt the pain. His breath was locked inhis lungs, and all the world seemed to stand still as he kept his eyesriveted on the shadowy scene ashore.
After a moment or so, the shadowy figure remaining on its feet bent overand gathered the fallen shadow in its arms and slung it across ashoulder like a wet sack of meal. Then the shadow moved slowly out intothe water. Hardly daring to breathe, Dave and Freddy watched the shadowcome closer and closer. Presently it was at the opening in the bow. Itpaused there motionless, and it was all Dave could do to choke back theshout that struggled to rise up in his throat. Then suddenly a tinyneedle thin beam of light flashed across his face and went out almostinstantly. Then came a hoarse whisper.
"Give me a hand! Help me lift this traitor inside! Quick!"
The two boys moved forward at once, caught hold of the limp form andpulled it inside the hull of the boat. A second or so later and PierreDeschaud came slithering in like a greased cat.
"Leave him there," he whispered, and touched them lightly on the arms."He will be a traitor to Belgium no more. Follow me, and be careful howyou step. This craft was not built yesterday."
Before either of them could ask a question, the old man snapped on theneedle point of light again and glided past them as silently as an eelin a barrel of oil. They silently followed him deeper into the boat.After a moment or so he pushed open a small bulkhead door and steppedinto a bare cabin that had eighteen inches of water on the deck floor.He paused and waited for them to pass through, then stepped insidehimself and pulled the door shut. There were two empty bunks fitted tothe walls of the cabin well above the water line. Deschaud gestured withhis light for them to sit on one, while he sat down on the bunk facingthem. Then he held his light down at the water, which threw back a faintglow that made it possible for them to see each other.
It was Freddy who spoke first.
"What about that one in the bow?" he asked.
"We can forget about him," Deschaud said, and looked at Dave. "He wasthe reason I was so scared this morning. He was in the next room, andlistening, of course. The Nazis do not suspect me, but they do notoverlook anything, either. We have many traitors here in Antwerp, scumwho would send their mothers and fathers to the firing squad for a fewextra loaves of bread from the Nazi brutes. He was one of them. I haveknown it for a long time, but I did not dare do anything about it.Tonight, it was different, however. I knew that he would report thisboat to his Nazi pay-master. There is far more at stake than his rottenlife. And so, there is one less traitor in Antwerp."
As the old Belgian finished, he shrugged his shoulders in a gesture asif dismissing the thought. Dave shivered inwardly, and there was apounding in his head. So it had been true! A traitor, who could havebought about his death by a single word to his Nazi boss, had beenlurking in the next room all the time. Thank goodness he had not beensuch a fool as to ask Deschaud questions right then and there. Thankgoodness the brave and courageous old Belgian patriot had warned himbefore he'd made a damaging slip of the tongue!
"Tell me your story quickly," Pierre Deschaud's voice suddenly brokeinto his thoughts. "How did you get here? Who sent you? What is it youwish? Were you seen by the Nazis? Were you followed here? Did you meetanybody on the way? Tell me everything quickly; then I will decide if itis best to talk."
Both boys realized instantly that Pierre Deschaud was checking up onthem; making sure that it was safe to tell what he knew. After all, hecarried his life in his hands twenty-four hours of the day. And when youdo that, you have to be sure of everything, no matter how small ortrivial. And so the boys told him everything that had happened to themfrom the time they had stepped in Air Vice-Marshal Saunders' office atthe Air Ministry right up to the present moment. Pierre Deschaud watchedthem closely out of his X-ray eyes. By the time they had finished, theold man had visibly relaxed, and there was an expression of profoundadmiration on his face.
"The world will long remember the gallant men of the British Royal AirForce," he said in a voice deep with sincere feeling. "And you two wellrepresent that splendid organization. In the air or on the ground, yourcourage and your fighting spirit are no less. I salute you from thebottom of my heart. All loyal Belgians salute you. Now!"
The old man paused and leaned forward on the edge of the bunk. As he dids
o, he drew a folded sheet of dirty paper from under his torn andoil-smeared shirt.
"I am convinced you come from the great Colonel Fraser," he said. "Ah,how I admire that man! How I should like to meet him one day."
"And he feels the same way about you, sir," Freddy spoke up.
The old man smiled, and the warm light of great joy glowed in his eyes.
"I pray _Le Bon Dieu_ will bring that day to pass," he said softly."However, it is of the present we speak. Listen carefully, you two. TheNazis are going to attempt to invade England. They are going to attemptto set up a bridgehead on British soil. Not at Dover, or at Hastings, orat Brighton on the south coast. It is to be made at a point, a nine milestrip of shoreline, just north of Harwich on the east coast. And thatattempt will be made on the night of the sixteenth after a terrificbombardment by the _Luftwaffe_ on the fifteenth."
"The sixteenth?" Dave gasped excitedly. "Three days from today?"
"That is correct," the Belgian said solemnly. "But the _Luftwaffe_ raidson the fifteenth will be directed at the _south coast_. It is a trickto make the British believe that an attack will be made there, whileactually the attack will be made much further north on the east coast.Close to seventy-five thousand troops will be used in the first attack.If they gain a foothold in England, three times that number willfollow."
Dave unconsciously tried to check the question, but it popped right outof his mouth.
"How do you know this to be true?" he asked.
For an instant he expected to see anger flare up in the Belgian's eyes.No such thing happened, however. Pierre Deschaud simply smiled andslowly nodded his white head.
"Naturally, you ask that question," he said quietly. "It is of coursestrange that I, an old man, should know the one thing the Nazis wish tokeep secret. I do know, nevertheless. I have known all about it for overa month."
The old man paused, lifted a bony hand and pointed in the direction ofAntwerp harbor.
"The day they first set foot in Antwerp, they started taking charge ofevery boat in the harbor, as well as every place where boats are made,"he said. "Those of us who were not blind or stupid knew at once thereason. They were starting to prepare even then for the coming invasionof England. I have been a marine engineer all my life. I know how tobuild boats as well as the next man. The Germans needed men to buildbarges--long high-sided barges that could be powered by Diesel enginestaken from tanks and armored cars. They put hundreds of us to workbuilding those boats. I was one of those men, and the Germans soonrealized I knew how to build boats. I acted grateful and overjoyed thatthey had come. I let them know my hatred toward England for starting thewar. I played right into their dirty hands at every turn. It is hard onyour heart to strike down a friend, a brave soldier, when you hear himsay something against the Germans. Many times, though, I was forced todo that. It was hard, terribly hard, but there was nothing else but toact as I did. There was more at stake than the love and affection of afew dear friends. There was Belgium, and Europe, and England--andperhaps the entire Christian world."
Pierre Deschaud stopped talking and brushed a hand across his eyes,which glistened with tears. Dave wanted to reach out and touch him, andso did Freddy. But they didn't move. They knew in their hearts that thebrave old man did not want sympathy. He had done his duty, and theknowledge of that was far, far greater than all the sympathy in theworld.
"It was hard, yes," he continued after a moment, "but it was something Ihad to do. I wormed my way into the good graces of my Nazi jailers. Theydid not know that I spoke and understood German perfectly. Nor did theyknow I can remember words spoken for the rest of my life. No, it was notso easy as all that. The Germans did not discuss the invasion much. Theyhad received their orders from their superiors to keep their mouthsshut. However, a word was spoken here, a word was spoken there, and Ifiled every word in my memory. All dates, all names of towns, all namesof boats, and a hundred other little items. Alone, not one of them meansa thing, but after weeks of collecting and remembering words spoken,slips of the tongue, I was able to gain complete knowledge of what wasplanned."
The old man paused again and held up the folded sheet of dirty paper.
"It is all here, written down in detail," he said as triumph rang in hisvoice. "Every move they plan to make. When, where, and how. Theircomplete plan. Get this paper back to England, and the Nazi murdererscan be given a smashing blow from which they will not recover for a longtime. Get this paper back to your superior officers, and Adolf Hitlerwill think twice about sending his forces against the British Isles.Mark you, smash this attempt, and Hitler will leave England alone andlook eastward for new nations to conquer, not westward toward England."
Pierre Deschaud stopped talking and held out the paper. Dave started toreach out his hand for it, then quickly drew it back. He turned toFreddy.
"We're both R.A.F., Freddy," he said. "But you're _England_, too. Youcarry the paper, and I'll just tag along with you."
Freddy tried to speak, but his throat was too choked up. He pressedDave's knee hard with one hand, reached out the other and silentlyaccepted the paper.
"There can be no greater friendship than this!" Pierre Deschaudwhispered softly.