CHAPTER XIV
HAL LEADS A SORTIE
Hal sprang forward and gave a quick look at the enemy.
Apparently, the assault was to be made on the same plan as before. Afterthe last retreat of the enemy, their officers had succeeded in re-formingthem beyond the zone of French fire and now were about to hurl the troopsforward in another grand offensive against the farmhouse. The Germansmoved forward silently and doggedly.
"It'll be a little warmer this time," Hal muttered to himself.
And the lad was right.
Straight on came the Germans at the charge in spite of the withering firepoured in among them by the French; straight up to the side of the housethey rushed, though there were many men who did not get that far; andthen the German troops deployed.
While perhaps a hundred men remained at the front of the house,apparently to seek entrance through the doorway blocked with their owndead, the others divided and dashed round the house, some to the rightand some to the left.
Now, for the first time, French troops who had not been posted at thefront windows came into action.
As the Germans rushed around the house, these French troops leaned fromtheir windows on the side of the house and poured volley after volleyinto the German ranks. They were almost directly above the Germans andthe latter were at a great disadvantage; for they could not return thefire of the French without pausing in their mad rush; and when they didpause and bring their rifles to bear upon the windows above, there wereno French heads to be seen there.
But when they dashed on again, the French heads reappeared and again theGermans fell in large numbers.
But the losses of the French by this time, in spite of the comparativesafety afforded by their position, had been extremely heavy, consideringthe size of the original force. Chester, in the basement, still hadsuffered no casualties, but fully a third of the men on the two floorsabove had been killed or wounded.
And there had been no time to care for these wounded, except for thebrief respites occasioned by the retreat of the Germans. Now that thefighting was on again the wounded were left to shift for themselves; andthe air was filled with moans and groans.
The Germans in front of the house again had tried in vain to force apassage of the doorway, choked with their own dead and dying. This hadfailed, for the French, under the direction of Captain Leroux, had pouredin such a galling fire that the Germans dropped as fast as they appearedin the doorway.
From above, the defenders at the front of the house, also, had done heavyexecution among the enemy below. Again the Germans wavered; thenretreated; and the French mowed them down as they ran.
Suddenly Hal bethought himself of a daring plan. Dashing down stairs heconfided it to Captain Leroux. The latter clapped his hands in approval.
"You shall direct the move," he exclaimed. "I'll take your post and seethat the Germans in front continue to fall back; also I shall be able tocover you to some extent."
He ran quickly upstairs.
Quickly Hal picked fifty men.
"Clear away those bodies," he said, pointing to the German dead thatblocked the doorway.
It was the work of but a few minutes.
"Now," said Hal, "when we go out the door, I want half of you to goaround the house to the left. The others follow me."
He divided the men into two squads.
"We'll catch the fellows who got behind us by surprise," the ladexplained. "They are still engaged with the men at the windows above. Wecan't afford to be surrounded. We must drive them off."
Silently, the men filed from the house.
The strategy of Hal's plan was at once apparent. The Germans who hadcircled the house, after dividing after the grand assault, still wereunaware of the retreat of their fellows. They did not know that thissupport had been lost to them. Therefore, they were sure to be at a greatdisadvantage when attacked from a position that they believed to be heldby their comrades.
Above, the defenders still continued to fire rapidly, seeking to keep upthe delusion.
There was only one thing that worried Hal--one thing that he feltpossibly might bring disaster following his surprise attack. He knew thatthe Germans who had recently retreated from before the farmhouse wouldunderstand his plan the minute he led his men from the farmhouse. Thiswould mean another grand assault. The question in Hal's mind was whetherhe could get his men back inside the house before the main force of theenemy could advance and cut him off.
But he was depending upon the French still within the house to hold thefoe off until he could get back.
As the French dashed suddenly around the house, there came a wild cryfrom the distant German lines to the east. The ruse had been discoveredand Hal realized that the bulk of the enemy would be upon them beforelong. Therefore, he knew he must hurry.
"Quick!" he cried to his men.
The latter needed no urging.
Swiftly they dashed around the house in either direction and fell uponthe Germans, who had sought shelter at the far side, with their bayonets.The enemy, taken completely by surprise, uttered cries of consternationand sought to retreat; for their officers had no means of telling thenumbers of these new foes.
But the French pressed them closely. Although the Germans were taken at agreat disadvantage because of the suddenness of the attack, they,nevertheless fought bravely.
No quarter was asked.
For safety's sake the enemy pressed close to the French, engaging themhand-to-hand. In this was their only hope of success, for every time aman strayed from the struggling mass, a keen-eyed French soldier abovedropped him with a rifle bullet.
But the struggle could have only one end. Bewildered by the suddenappearance of the French, the Germans never gained time to recoverthemselves. The French pushed the fighting; and soon it was all over.
There remained now only half a score of Germans standing.
"Surrender!" called Hal.
With the exception of one, the men threw down their weapons. Theexception was a German officer, who evidently had been in command. Hesprang toward Hal with a cry and thrust with his sword.
The move had been so unexpected that the lad was caught completely offhis guard and the sword must have pierced him had it not been for thequickness of a French soldier who stood near. Without taking thought tohis own danger, this man sprang forward and grappled with the German.
The latter hurled the French soldier from him with a sudden powerful moveand again advanced on Hal. But now the lad was ready for him and hissword met the sword of the German officer neatly.
In vain the German officer sought to break down Hal's guard. Hal foiledhim at every turn. The German was furiously angry, but Hal was smilingeasily. The lad realized that he probably owed his life to the German'sanger, for at the first touch of swords the lad had realized that theGerman was clearly his master. Therefore, the lad jeered at the officeras he fought.
Hal became more certain of the outcome of the duel as it continued, forwith every thrust and parry the German became more and more angry becausehe could not overcome this boy. Perspiration rolled down his face and hepanted with rage.
"I'll get you!" he cried.
"Oh, not for some time yet," Hal grinned back at him.
The German swore.
"Now! Now!" said Hal. "That's no way for a nice German officer to do.What would the emperor say?"
The duel was interrupted at this point by a sudden cry from thefarmhouse.
"Never mind him, Lieutenant! Back into the house quickly!"
It was the voice of Captain Leroux and the tone told Hal how urgent wasthe call. Taking a quick step forward, he caused the German officer toretreat a few paces. Then Hal lowered his sword, and calling to his mento follow him, dashed toward the front of the house.
Behind, the German officer broke into a torrent of abuse and would havecontinued it had not a French soldier, who cared nothing for theetiquette of duelling, put an end to him with a rifle bullet.
To the half score of m
en who had thrown down their arms, Hal cried:
"Back to your own lines quickly or you shall be shot down! No," pausingand levelling his revolver as one of the Germans sought to stoop and pickup his discarded rifle, "never mind the gun. Another move like that andyou'll all be shot down. Move, now!"
The Germans wasted no further time and made for the shelter of their ownlines at top speed.
And their own lines were advancing rapidly to meet them.
"Quick, men!" cried Hal. "Into the house!"
They had now reached the front door again and Hal stood to one side thathis men might enter first.
Above, the fire of the defenders had broken out afresh, but the Germansrushed forward in spite of it. Bullets hummed close about Hal's head ashe stood beside the doorway, but none struck him; and at last all the menwere inside.
Hal went in after them.
From without came a cry of rage as the advancing Germans realized that,for the moment, at least, they had been deprived of their prey.
"Guard the door there, men!" shouted Hal. "Get back and to one side outof the line of fire. Save your bullets until they cross the threshold,then shoot them down."
The men moved into position. Hal glanced quickly around to make surethat all was in readiness and at that moment Captain Leroux descendedthe stairs.
"Good work, Mr. Paine," he said quietly. "If I live, I shall report thispiece of work. I will take command here now. Return to your post above."
Hal saluted and did as commanded.
Hardly had he reached position above when he heard Captain Leroux belowgive the command:
"Fire!"