CHAPTER XV
LEFT BEHIND
The Germans had drawn off again.
The last assault had met with no better success than had the attacks thathad gone before. True, the defenders had suffered considerably, for theGerman fire had been accurate; but the losses of the French had been asnothing compared with those of the Teutons.
This last assault had been more severe than the others. The Germans hadshown even greater tenacity and courage than before. In vain had theirofficers sought to hold them to the attack. Once, twice, thrice had thehuman sea surged against the farmhouse, only to be thrown back; so atlast the Germans had withdrawn.
Dead and wounded men strewed the floor. There were still some who had notbeen touched by the bullets of the foe, but the majority of the defendersof the top floor lay prone.
Hal shook his head sadly.
"Don't believe we can withstand another such charge," he said aloud.
"How long yet, sir?" asked the grizzled old veteran, Francois, who,though he had kept his place at the window through the last attack, hadescaped the German bullets.
Again Hal gazed closely at his watch.
"Twelve minutes to go," he said quietly.
The face of Francois brightened.
"Then we are all right, sir," he said. "They will hardly attack again inthat time, sir."
Hal shook his head.
"They are likely to attack at any moment," he replied slowly. "Besides,if we do succeed in beating them off once more, there is nothing toassure us that we will be relieved then."
"Nothing sir," returned Francois, "except Captain Leroux's word that wehave only to hold this house two hours, sir."
"True," said Hal, brightening visibly. "I shouldn't have spoken as I did.We must trust to the others, and if they fail, why, we'll know it is nottheir fault."
"Right, sir," said Francois. "If they fail, it will not be their fault."
He returned to his place at the window.
On the floor below Captain Leroux also had taken account of hiscasualties. Merely a handful of men remained unwounded. Some of themen who had felt the effects of the German fire were still incondition to continue the fight should their services be necessary,but their number was few.
The captain shook his head dubiously as he glanced at his watch.
"Ten minutes," he muttered. "Well, we'll hold it that long, butafterwards I can't be held accountable, there will be none of us left."
In the basement Chester and his five men still were unmarked. Though theyhad stood at the small windows and fired at whatever German forms camewithin view, they had had little work to do, the men were beginning tomurmur among themselves.
"We're not needed down here," said one. "We should be upstairs where thefighting is being done. No Germans will seek to come in here."
"That's right," said another, "we might do some good above. Here we aredoing nothing at all. Why, we have hardly seen a German. I don't believeany of the enemy have spotted this opening yet, either."
"Nor I; wish they had let me stay upstairs."
"What's all this?" demanded Chester, suddenly. "You men have been in theranks long enough to know better than to question your officers' orders.You have been posted here and here you shall remain until I get orders tothe contrary."
"But, sir," said one of the men, "we would like--"
"Silence!" said Chester. "Back to your places."
The men obeyed, though they continued to murmur. Chester softened a fewminutes later and again addressed his men.
"I have no doubt you fellows will have all the fighting you want beforethis thing is over," he said quietly. "As nearly as I can make out fromhere the men upstairs must be about done for. I question whether theywill be able to beat off another attack."
"And are the two hours up, sir," asked one of the men.
Chester glanced at his watch.
"Not quite," he returned.
"How much to go, sir?"
"A little more than five minutes."
The man's face darkened.
"And we'll be relieved at the end of that time without having done anyfighting," he said. "Here we sit down here in the dark and the otherfellows have all the fun."
"You're liable to get yours yet," said Chester. "If I mistake not,the Germans are returning to the attack. I hear the sounds of firingfrom above."
Chester was right. The Germans again had advanced to the charge.
Above, Hal and Captain Leroux were issuing orders to their men for whateach believed would be the final effort. Should this attack be repulsed,both had some slight hopes that they would not be compelled to faceanother--that French reinforcements would arrive before the Germans couldadvance again. But, also, neither was sure in his own mind that theapproaching attack of the foe could be beaten off.
And this time the Germans seemed to be advancing in even greater numbersthan before.
"Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!" came the spatter of German bulletsagainst the side of the house; and occasionally a bullet struck home andleft no sound, unless it was the sound of a man toppling over backwardsto the floor, or a man as he clapped his hand to his head. The riflebombardment was having its effect.
The sharp crack of French rifles answered the challenge of the Germans,though, because of the fact that the ranks of the defenders had beensadly depleted, their weapons spoke not so often. But when they didspeak, men fell; for, at this crucial stage of the battle, they weremaking every shot count.
But this time, it seemed, the Germans were not to be denied. Men aswell as officers understood the slowness of the French fire. TheGermans were flushed with the spirit of victory, despite the fact thatthe field on all sides of the farmhouse was covered with their own deadand dying. The German soldiers realized, as did their officers, thatthe end of the courageous defense was near. Another effort and thefarmhouse would be theirs.
For some reason, in spite of the fact that the German troops appeared tobe making fair progress, their advance was suddenly stayed. At somedistance they halted and continued to pepper the house with riflebullets, doing little damage at that distance.
Horses dashed suddenly into view, dragging behind them a rapid-fire gun.
Hal guessed the answer.
"That's to mow us down when we try to run," he told himself. "Well--"
He broke off and shrugged his shoulders.
Now the Germans came on again, the rapid-fire gun covering theiradvance. A moment later the side of the farmhouse resembled a sieve, itwas so full of holes. For a man to stick his head out the window meantinstant death.
But as the Germans drew closer, the rapid firer became silent, for,without risking the lives of Germans as well as French, it was of novalue now. At the same moment the heads of the defenders againappeared at the windows and renewed the work of picking off theGermans as they charged.
For some reason Hal took the time to glance at his watch once more.
"Time's up!" he told himself gravely, "and no help in sight."
But the lad was wrong; for, could he have looked from the rear of thehouse at that moment, he would have seen advancing several columns ofFrench cavalry, coming to their relief.
The Germans saw the approach of reinforcements and redoubled theirefforts to gain the farmhouse before the reinforcements could arrive. Butit was too late. With wild cries, the French cavalrymen swept down andabout the house. Cheers from the defenders greeted them. The men lefttheir places at the windows and ran from the house. Hurriedly the woundedwere carried out and the retreat begun.
And at that moment the Germans, also reinforced, charged again. Greatlyoutnumbered the French retreated, firing as they went.
Then, for the first time, Hal noticed Chester's absence.
"Great Scott!" he exclaimed to Captain Leroux, "we have come away withoutnotifying the men in the basement."
Quickly the two made their way to the French commander and laid thesituation before him. The latter shook his head sadly.
"It'
s too late now," he said quietly. "Look at the number of the foe. Wecould not make headway against them."
He was deaf to all Hal's entreaties that he make the effort.
In the basement, Chester and his five men had been unable to ascertainthe cause of the increased firing at one moment and the lull a momentlater. Chester had about decided that the defenders had given up and thathe and his men in the cellar were all that remained.
From his window he could see the Germans only when they came into acertain position; and what went on above he had no means of telling. Butthat the others would go and leave him and his men behind had not enteredhis head. Therefore, he decided to remain quiet with his men.
But when an hour had passed and there came no more sounds of firing fromabove, Chester decided it was time to investigate. Accordingly, heascended the steps quietly.
There was no one above. The lad gazed about quickly. Except for the dead,there was no Frenchman in the house. Bloodstains on the floor showed thatthe wounded had been removed.
Then Chester realized what had happened.
Quickly he ran to the door and peered out. Far in the rear he could seethe French retreating, pursued by the foe. Chester uttered an exclamationof dismay and called to his men. He explained the situation to them. Allwere dumbfounded.
At that moment Chester espied an object a short distance from thefarmhouse. There was no living form near. With a sudden cry of hope,Chester dashed from the house.
"Come on, men!" he called over his shoulder.