CHAPTER X
SENTENCED
Both Fred and Boris recognized at once the hopelessness of flight. Boththought instinctively of the hollow and the concealed entrance to thetunnel, and both knew that to attempt to use that now would not savethem, and would give away a secret that might be supremely important atsome future time, either to them or to someone else among those whoshared the precious secret. The grounds were flashing with light in alldirections; soldiers called to one another; men ran all around, lookingfor them.
And yet, hopelessly caught as they were, neither could give up supinely.Both had the dauntless fighting spirit that must be conquered, that willnever give up, not only while hope remains, but while disaster, be itever so certain, has not actually come to pass. They were in a sort ofthicket, almost as thick as a primeval jungle. At the same moment thethought seemed to come to each of them that the one chance for momentarysafety lay in keeping perfectly still. They were side by side, wedged ina little opening they had made for themselves, and now they went downtogether.
All about them the din of the pursuit continued. Officers were pouringout of the house to join the hunt. Shouts and cries resounded. Fred hadto smile to himself. It seemed to him that the boasted system and orderof the German army could not be what he had always heard about it if theescape of two boys could produce such a disorganization.
And then there was a sudden diversion. The noise seemed to die away. Itdid not cease for there was still a good deal of talking, but there wasno more shouting, until there was a sudden whirring sound.
"An aeroplane!" whispered Boris. "I've seen them for the last few days,flying in all directions. They use them for scouting."
"I knew I ought to recognize that sound!" said Fred.
It seemed fairly safe for them to speak to one another now. For somereason it was quite evident they had been forgotten.
There was an interval of almost complete silence; then came a suddenexplosion of orders. Half a dozen motorcycles sprang into cracklinglife; there was the unmistakable din of a powerful aeroplane engine,which, with no muffler, is noisy enough to wake the dead. Then came thewhirring of its propeller. They were sure that if they only dared toraise their heads, they would see the machine rising near by.
But there was more to follow that was just as inexplicable. Themotorcycles chugged away; then three automobiles started. Their enginesroared for a moment before they subsided to the ordered, steady hum of asmooth running motor. On the first car that got away there was a hornthat made Boris start convulsively as he heard its bugle note, and graspFred's shoulder.
"That horn belongs only to a car used by a full general!" he said. "Itmust be von Hindenburg going, Fred! That flying machine broughtimportant news!"
That had been evident to Fred almost from the first. He wonderedmightily what was going to happen next. It seemed incredible that theGermans, knowing that he and Boris must soon be found, and that onlypatience was necessary if they were to be caught, would so quickly giveup looking for them. And yet--Boris was right, of course. A generalwould not depart with such abundant evidence of haste and suddendecision unless some grave news had come through the air.
One question was soon settled. Scarcely had General von Hindenburg's carstarted, with the musical call of its horn clearing the way for it, whenthe search for the two scouts was renewed with as much vigor as had beenshown before the coming of the aeroplane. And this time it was speedilysuccessful. There was less din and confusion. Fred saw at once that someofficer with a cool and level head had taken charge. The searchers nowdid the simple, obvious thing. They divided the grounds up intosections, and beat over each section thoroughly, with the result that acorporal and a private speedily came upon Boris and Fred, and, raising asort of view halloo, dragged them out into the open, flashing theirelectric torches in their eyes.
"Here they are!" cried the corporal. "Herr Hauptmann, here they are!"
A captain came up quickly, and at the sight of Fred exclaimed sharply inhis surprise.
"You're the boy I chose to help with the work in the house here!" hesaid. His face darkened. "He is a spy! Take him into the guard room andlock him up." He barely glanced at Boris. "Yes, that is the other. Seethat he is taken back to his quarters, corporal, and that a sentryremains constantly on guard."
"He is not a spy! If he is one, then so am I!" Boris broke out in asharp protest. "He must be treated exactly like myself, or I must beused as he is!" throwing caution to the four winds.
"I am giving the orders here," said the German, coldly. "We have nodesire to treat you harshly, Prince. You and your father have won theliking and respect of all your neighbors here, and it is a matter ofregret that we must detain you at all. But you must be able to see foryourself that there is a great difference between an open enemy likeyourself and one who pushes his way among us to get what information hecan--"
"I beg your pardon, captain," Fred interrupted, thoroughly awake by thistime to the danger in which he stood. "It was by your orders, andagainst my own protest, that I came into the house here at all."
"You will have an opportunity to explain all such matters at yourtrial," said the captain. "I can assure you that all will be done in aregular fashion, and that you will have every opportunity to defendyourself. Colonel Goldapp will doubtless arrange for a quick hearingsince we shall not be here much longer."
Fred was quite cool and collected. He was frightened, to be sure, andhe was brave enough to admit that to himself. He had good reason to befrightened. There is no offence more serious than espionage in time ofwar, and by every rule of war he was a spy. He had pretended to be aGerman, which he was not, and had been found within the German lines. Itwas true, of course, that he had been ordered into headquarters, butthat was a trifling point, and, though he had raised it, Fred knew verywell that no technicality would save him if the truth about him cameout.
Boris understood all this, undoubtedly, quite as well as Fred or theGerman captain, but he was beside himself. He felt that Fred had runinto this terrible danger because of him, in order to try to rescue himfrom an imprisonment that, though annoying, was by no means a seriousmatter.
"Take me instead of him!" he cried, forgetting that with every word hewas really making Fred's case worse. "I--"
"I'll be all right," said Fred, with a cheerfulness he certainly didnot feel. "All I want is a fair trial. If I get that, I'll be allright."
Unwillingly enough, Boris let himself be led away. Something in Fred'slook, or in his voice, had warned him not to say anything more. So Fredsaw him go, and was taken himself to the guard room, of which he was theonly occupant save for the impassive Pomeranian sentry. Fred guessed,somehow, that German soldiers in war time did not often do things thatcaused them to be put under arrest. In the little he had seen of them hehad come to understand what it was that made a German army soformidable.
He expected to be brought before the court early in the morning but, infact, he was called out in less than an hour, and taken into thedining-room of the parsonage. Here, at the head of the table, sat anofficer in a colonel's uniform; Colonel Goldapp, unquestionably,presiding over the court, which included four officers beside himself.Fred knew enough of the military law to understand what was going on.He saw a young lieutenant sitting with some papers before him. Anothercame and drew him aside.
"I am to defend you," this officer said, pleasantly. "That is, ofcourse, I am to see that you get fair treatment. You are accused ofbeing a spy. The charge, as I understand it, is that you are a Russian,but have disguised yourself as a German. If this is true, the bestadvice I can give you is to plead guilty and throw yourself on the mercyof the court. Your age will be taken into consideration."
"I am not a Russian," said Fred, quickly. "I am an American. I demand anopportunity to see the American ambassador, or at least the nearestAmerican consul."
"Is that all?"
"That is all I can say. It is true that I am an American, and I believeit is my right, as a foreigner, to ask to
see the representative of mycountry, since America and Germany are not at war, but are friendly oneto the other."
"That would be true if you were charged with an offence in a civilcourt. But in a court-martial there are no such rules. Once more, Ibelieve your best course is to plead guilty. I do not know the evidenceagainst you, but I can tell you that the court might be merciful if youadmitted your guilt frankly, while it would probably treat you moreharshly if you forced it to prove your guilt."
Fred shook his head, however. And so the trial began. It was a realtrial, and fair enough, but a trial by court-martial is not like one ina civil court, especially in time of war. There were no delays. Thejudge-advocate stated the case against Fred very briefly. He called aswitness the officer who had brought Fred into headquarters, who saidthat the prisoner had been entirely willing to come. Then the corporalwho had found him testified. And the third witness, when he was called,was none other than Lieutenant Ernst, who had befriended Fred atVirballen! At the sight of him Fred's heart sank. He began tounderstand what a strong case there really was against him.
At Ernst's first words there was almost a sensation, for the lieutenantbrought out the fact that Fred was related to the Suvaroff family. Thefact that Fred had gone straight to the house of his kinsman came out asa result of Ernst's evidence, and Fred knew that it would be useless tosay that this had been the result of pure chance, and that he had noteven known of Boris's existence. It was true, but it was none the lessincredible. It was easy to see when Ernst had finished giving histestimony, which he did reluctantly, and with a good deal of sympathyfor Fred, that the court had made up its mind.
There were no witnesses for Fred to call. He told his own story, but itwas not believed. The finding of the court was inevitable: "Guilty ascharged!" And Colonel Goldapp, in an expressionless voice, pronouncedsentence.
"The prisoner is old enough, though he is only a boy, to know the fateof a spy. He risked this fate. He will be shot at once. Captain vonGlahn will take charge of the execution of the court's sentence."
Fred passed through the minutes that followed as if he were in a dream.It seemed to him that it was someone else who was led into the garden,placed against a wall, and blindfolded. Von Glahn, a young officer, cameand stood beside him.
"The firing squad will be here at once," he said. "I am sorry. Is thereany message I can deliver for you?"
And then outside a bugle rang out, and there was a burst of wild,frenzied yelling and the next moment a crash of firing.