Chapter 14. _Mobilization_
The two nomads stood glaring and snarling before the drawn revolversthat pointed at them from the doorways of the room. For an instant itlooked as if they were going to draw their own weapons and make apitched battle of it right there in the Council chamber. Then theirglances fell on their comrade, writhing in pain on the floor. Theyraised their hands in slow surrender.
"If we're not back by sundown, you'll be wiped out!"
"When will the attack begin if you do go back?" asked Hilliard bitterly."Two hours before sundown? We thank you for the information about yourtimetable, at least. We have 3 hours to prepare a defense of the town."He nodded to the policeman. "Take them away. Put them in cells and tiethem up until this is over."
When they had been removed he turned back to the group. "I've hadnightmares," he said, "and this has been one of them. I guess if I hadbeen the Mayor some people think I ought to have been, we would havebeen drilling and rehearsing our defenses for weeks. I had planned to doso soon. I thought we'd have more time; that's my only excuse.
"The Sheriff and I have done a little preliminary planning and thinking.We've made an estimate of weapons available. From what Jack Nelson andDan Sims report on hunting licenses issued locally a year ago, theremust be about two thousand deer rifles in town. They also guess aboutfour or five hundred 22's. We're lucky to live in hunting country.
"Dan and Jack have about two hundred guns of all kinds and sizes intheir rental and selling stock, and they've got nearly all theammunition in the valley. They had stocked up for the hunting season,which we never had this year, so their supply sounds as if it would bepretty good. You've got to remember the difference in requirements forbagging a deer and carrying on a war. We have very little ammunitionwhen you consider it from that angle.
"The police, of course, have a few guns and some rounds. I'm placingSheriff Johnson in full charge of defense. The police officers will actas his lieutenants." The Mayor stepped to a wall chart that showed thedetailed topography of Mayfield and its environs. "This is your battlemap right here, Sheriff. Come up and start marking off your sectors ofthe defense perimeter and name your officers to take charge of each. Ihope somebody is going to say it's a good thing we've got thebarbed-wire defense line before this meeting is over!
"I want a rider to leave at once to bring back the wood detail. Alltheir horses will be turned over to the police officers for use in theircommands. I want fifty runners to go through town and notify one man ineach block to mobilize his neighbors, with all weapons available, andlead them to the sectors which the Sheriff will designate. Each man willbring all the ammunition he owns. Additional stores will be distributedby wagon to the sectors. Above everything else, each man must be warnedto make each shot count."
The room was silent, and there was no protest or disagreement. MayorHilliard, the man who had made fancy speeches, seemed to have vanished.Hilliard, the dynamic, down-to-earth leader had taken his place. For amoment no one in the room was more surprised than Hilliard himself.
"There's one thing I want to make absolutely clear," he said after apause. "You people who are working at the laboratory on College Hill areto keep away from the front-lines and away from all possible danger.That's an order, you understand?"
"No," said Professor Maddox abruptly. "It's our duty as much as anyoneelse's to share in the defenses."
"It's your duty to keep your skins whole and get back into thelaboratories as quickly as you can and get things running again! Wehaven't any special desire to save your necks in preference to our own,but in the long run you're the only hope any of us has got. Rememberthat, and stay out of trouble!"
The Sheriff made his appointments in rapid-fire sequence, naming manywho were not present, ordering messengers sent to them. Ken volunteeredto ride after the wood detail.
"I guess it's safe enough to let you do that," the Mayor said. "Make itfast, but don't break your neck."
"I'll take it easy," Ken promised.
Outside, he selected the best of the three police horses and headed upout of town, over the brittle snow with its glare ever-reminding of thecomet. When he was on higher ground, he glanced back over the length ofthe valley. The nomads were not in sight. Not in force, anyway. Hethought he glimpsed a small movement a mile or two away from thebarrier, at the south end of the valley before it turned out of sight atthe point, but he wasn't sure. Once he thought he heard a rifle shot,but he wasn't sure of that, either.
As he appeared at the edge of the forest clearing, Mark Wilson, foremanof the detail, frowned irritably and paused in his task of snaking a logout to the road.
"You'll ruin that horse, besides breaking your neck, riding like that inthis snow. You're not on detail, anyway."
"Get all your men and horses up here right away," Ken said. "Mayor'sorders to get back to town at once." He told briefly the story of whathad happened.
Mark Wilson did not hesitate. He raised a whistle to his lips andsignaled for the men to cease work and assemble. One by one they beganto appear from among the trees. The horses were led along, theirdragging harnesses clanking in the frozen air. "We could cut for 2 morehours," they protested. "No use wasting this daylight and having to cutby lantern."
"Never mind," said Wilson. "There's something else to do. Wait for therest."
When all had assembled he jerked his head toward Ken. "Go ahead," hesaid. "You tell them."
Ken repeated in detail everything that had happened. He outlined theMayor's plan of defense and passed on the order for them to take allmounts to City Hall, to go by their own homes on the way and pick upsuch weapons as they owned. "You'll get your further orders there," hefinished.
The group was silent, as if they could not believe it was actuallyhappening. Mark Wilson broke the spell that seemed to be over them."Come on!" he cried. "Get the lead out of your shoes and let's get downthere! Sunset's the deadline!"
There was a rush of motion then. They hitched up the necessary teams andclimbed aboard the half-filled sleds. There was no excitement orswearing against fate and their enemies. Rather, a solemn stillnessseemed to fill each man as the sleds moved off down the hard, frozenroadway.
Almost, but not quite the same pervading stillness was present in thetown when Ken returned. There was a stirring of frantic activity likethat of a disturbed anthill, but it was just as silent. The runnersmoved from block to block. In their wake the alarmed block leadersraced, weapons in hand, from house to house, arousing their neighbors.Many, who had already completed the block mobilization, were moving inragged formations to the sector ordered by the block runner according toSheriff Johnson's plan.
Ken did not know what was planned for the many weaponless men who werebeing assembled. They would be useless at the frontline. There was needfor some at the rear. He supposed Johnson would take care of that laterwhen every weapon was manned at the defense barrier.
He stopped at his own house. His mother greeted him anxiously. He couldsee she had been crying, but she had dried her tears now and wasreconciled to the inevitable struggle that was at hand.
"Your father came in a few minutes ago, and left again," she said. "He'sbeen placed in charge of distribution of medical supplies under Dr.Adams. He wants you and the other boys of the club to help in arranginglocations for medical care. Meet him at Dr. Adams' office."
"Okay, Mom. How about packing a load of sandwiches? I may not be backfor a long time. I don't know what arrangements they are making forfeeding the people on duty."
"Of course. I'll make them right away." She hurried to the kitchen.
Maria said, "There must be something I can do. They'll need nurses andaides. I want to go with you."
"I don't know what they've planned in that department, either. Theyought to have plenty of room for women in the food and nursing details."
His mother came with the sandwiches and placed them in his hands. "Becareful, Ken." Her voice shook. "Do be careful."
"Sure, Mom."
Maria got he
r coat. Mrs. Larsen let her go without protest, but the twowomen watched anxiously as the young people rode toward town on thepolice horse.
At the doctor's office, Ken found his father surrounded by an orderlywhirl of activity. "Ken! I was hoping you'd get back soon. You can helpwith arrangements for hospital care, in assigned homes. The rest of yourfriends are out on their streets. Take this set of instructions Dr.Adams has prepared and see that arrangements are made in exactaccordance with them at each house on the list."
"I can help, too," said Maria.
"Yes. Dr. Adams has prepared a list of women and girls he wants toassign as nurses and aides. You can help contact them. Get the ones onthis list to meet here as quickly as possible and they'll be assigned tothe houses which the boys are lining up."
The comet was setting earlier now, so that its unnatural lightdisappeared almost as soon as the sun set below the horizon. In theshort period of twilight, tension grew in the city. Everything possiblehad been done to mount defenses. An attack had been promised if thenomad emissaries did not return. Now the time had come.
Darkness fell with no sign of activity in any direction. It seemedunreasonable that any kind of night attack would be launched, butHilliard and Johnson warned their men not to relax their vigilance.
The pace of preparatory activity continued. Blankets, clothing and foodwere brought to the men who waited along the defense perimeter. Medicalarrangements were perfected as much as possible.
Ken and his father made their quarters in another room of the buildingwhere Dr. Adams' office was. There was no heat, of course, but they hadbrought sleeping bags which were unrolled on the floor. After thesandwiches were gone their rations were canned soup, to be eatendirectly from the can without being heated.
Maria was quartered elsewhere in the building with some of the women whowere directing the nurses' activities.
Through the windows could be seen the campfires which Johnson hadpermitted to be built at the guard posts. Each had a wall of snow readyto be pushed upon it in case of any sign of attack.
"We'd better get some sleep," Professor Maddox said finally to Ken."They'll take care of anything that's going to happen out there tonight.We may have a rough day tomorrow."
Ken agreed, although he did not feel like sleeping. After hours, itseemed, of thrashing restlessly he dozed off. He thought it was dawnwhen he opened his eyes again to the faint, red glow reflected on thewalls of the room. He was unaware for a moment of where he was. Then hesaw the glow was flickering.
He scrambled to his feet and ran to the window. In the distance the glowof burning houses lit the landscape. The rapid crack of rifle fire camefaintly to his ears.
Professor Maddox was beside him. "How could they do it?" Ken exclaimed."How could they get through our lines and set fire to the houses?"
On the southern sector of the defense line Sheriff Johnson's mencrouched behind their improvised defenses. The glow of the fire blindedthem as they attempted to pierce the darkness from which the attack wascoming.
From a half-dozen different points fireballs were being lobbed out ofthe darkness. Ineffective on the snow-laden roofs, many others crashedthrough the windows and rolled on the floors inside. Such targets becameflaming infernos within minutes.
They were all unoccupied because the inhabitants had been moved closerto the center of town for protection.
A fusillade of shots poured out of the darkness upon the well-lighteddefenders. They answered the fire, shooting at the pinpoints of lightthat betrayed the enemy's position, and at the spots in the darknessfrom which the flaming fireballs came. It was obvious that the attackerswere continuously moving. It was difficult to know where the launchingcrews of the fireball catapults were actually located in thatoverwhelming darkness.
Sheriff Johnson was on the scene almost at once. He had once been aninfantry lieutenant with combat experience. His presence boosted themorale of the defenders immediately.
"Hold your fire," he ordered the men. "Keep under cover and wait untilyou can see something worth shooting at. Try to keep the fire fromspreading, and watch for a rush attack. Don't waste ammunition! You'llfind yourselves without any if you keep that up."
Reluctantly, they ceased firing and fell back to the protection of theirbarricades. Patrolman John Sykes, who was lieutenant of the sector, hadbeen in the National Guard, but he had never seen anything like this."Do you think they'll rush us?" he asked. "Tonight, I mean, in thedark."
"Who knows? They may be crazy enough to try anything. Keep your eyesopen."
The flames quickly burned out the interiors of the houses that had beenhit. As the roofs crashed in, their burden of snow assisted in puttingout the fires, and there was no spreading to nearby houses.
In his room, Ken dressed impatiently. It was useless to try to sleep anymore. "I wish they'd let us go out there," he said. "We've got as muchright as Johnson or any of the rest."
His father remained a motionless silhouette against the distantfirelight. "As much right, perhaps," he said, "but more and differentresponsibilities. Hilliard is right. If we were knocked down out therewho would take over the work in the laboratory? Johnson? Adams?
"In Berkeley there are thousands fighting each other, but with Frenchand his group gone, no one is fighting the comet. I don't think it isselfish to say we are of infinitely more value in the laboratory than wecould ever be out there with guns in our hands."
He turned and smiled in the half-darkness. "That's in spite of the factthat you have the merit badge for marksmanship and won the hunting clubtrophy last year."
After an hour the attack ceased, apparently because the defendersrefused to waste their fire on the impossible targets. Sheriff Johnsonsent word around for his men to resume rotation of watch and get all thesleep possible before the day that was ahead of them.
The fires burned themselves out shortly before dawn. Their light wasfollowed soon by the glow of the comet rising in the southeast. Kenwatched it and thought of Granny Wicks. It wouldn't be hard, he thought,to understand how a belief in omens could arise. It wouldn't be hard atall.
The sky had cleared so that the light of the comet bathed the entirecountryside in its full, bitter glory. At sunrise the faint trickles ofsmoke rose from hundreds of wood fires, started with the difficult greenfuel, and stringent breakfasts were prepared. A thought went throughKen's mind and he wondered if anybody was taking note of the supply ofmatches in town. When they ran low, coals of one fire would have to bekept to light another.
It was 9 o'clock, on a day when ordinarily school bells would have beensounding throughout the valley. The first war shouts of the attackingnomads were heard on the plain to the south. About thirty men onhorseback raced single file along the highway that bore the hard, frozentracks of horses and sleds that had moved to and from the farms downthere.
Patrolman Sykes watched them through his glasses. His command rang outto his company. "Hold fire." He knew the nomads would not hope to breakthrough the barbed wire on such a rush. It looked as if they planned anIndian-style attack as the line began breaking in a slow curve somethingless than 100 yards away.
"Fire!" Sykes commanded. Volleys of shots rang out on both sides almostsimultaneously. The lead rider of the nomads went down, his horsegalloping in riderless panic at the head of the line. The hard-ridingcolumn paralleled the barrier for 200 yards, drawing the fire ofadjacent guard posts before they broke and turned south again. It was,evidently, a test of the strength of the defenses.
"Every shot counts!" Sykes cried out to his men. As the attackers rodeout of effective range he sighted four riderless horses. Beside him, inthe barricade, one of his own men was hit and bleeding badly. Atourniquet was prepared until two men of the medical detail arrived withan improvised stretcher.
Sykes sat down and rested his head on his arms for a moment. The air waswell below freezing, but his face was bathed with sweat. How long? heasked himself silently. How long can it go on? First the comet, thenthis. He roused at a sudden cry besi
de him.
"They're coming back," a man shouted. Sykes stood up and raised hisfieldglasses to his eyes. From around the point a fresh group of riderswas pouring toward the town. At least three times as many as before.
In a flash, he understood their intent. "They're going to come through!"he cried. "They're going to come right through the barrier, no matterwhat it costs them!"