the forest of sword 17
"Lannes will be back soon," said John to Carstairs and Wharton, "and
he'll tear you away from your friends here. You think, Carstairs, that
you're an Englishman, and you're convinced, Wharton, that you're an
American, but you're both wrong. You're Frenchmen, and you're going back
to the French army, where you belong. Then Captain Daniel Colton of the
Strangers will want to know from you why you haven't returned sooner."
"But how are we to go?" said Carstairs.
"And where are we to go?" said Wharton.
"I'd go in a minute," added Carstairs, "if the German army would let
me."
"So would I," said Wharton, "but the Germans fight so hard that we can't
get away."
"Lannes will attend to all those matters," said John. "I'll rest until
he comes, if I have the chance. Is that your artillery firing?"
"It's our big guns out in front," said Lord James Ivor. "Jove, but what
work they've done! A lot of our guns have been smashed, one half of our
gunners maybe have been smashed with 'em, but they've never flinched.
They covered our retreat from Belgium, and they've been the heralds of
our advance here on the Marne! Listen to 'em! How they talk!"
The heavy crash of guns far in front and the thunder of the German guns
replying came back to their ears. It was a louder note in the general
and ceaseless murmur of the battle, but the young men paid it only a
passing moment of attention. Carstairs presently added as an
afterthought:
"Unless Lannes returns soon I don't think we'll hear from him. That
blaze of the guns in front of us indicates close fighting again, and
we'll probably be ordered forward soon."
"I don't think so," said Lord James Ivor. "Our guns and the German guns
will talk together for quite a while before the infantry advance. You
can spend a good two hours with us yet, and still have time to depart
for the French army."
It was evident that Lord James Ivor knew what he was talking about,
since, as far as John could see, the khaki army lay outspread on the
turf. These men were too much exhausted and too much dulled to danger to
stir merely because the cannon were blazing. It took the sharp orders of
their officers to move them. Shells from the German guns began to fall
along the fringe of the troops, but thousands slept heavily on.
John, after disposing of the excellent rations offered to him, sat down
on the grass with Wharton, Carstairs and Lord James Ivor. The sun was
now waning, but the western sky was full of gold, and the yellow rays
slanting across the hills and fields made them vivid with light. Lord
James handed his glasses to John with the remark:
"Would you like to take a look there toward the east, Scott?"
John with the help of the glasses discerned the English batteries in
action. He saw the men working about them, the muzzles pointing upward,
and then the flash. Some of the guns were completely hidden in foliage,
and he could detect their presence only by the heavy detonations coming
from such points. Yet, like many of the English soldiers about him,
John's mind did not respond to so much battle. He looked at the flashes,
and he listened to the reports without emotion. His senses had become
dulled by it, and registered no impressions.
"We've masked our batteries as much as possible," said Lord James. "The
Germans are great fellows at hiding their big guns. They use every clump
of wood, hay stacks, stray stacks and anything else, behind which you
could put a piece of artillery. They trained harder before the war, but
we'll soon be able to match 'em."
While Lord James was talking, John turned the glasses to the south and
watched the sky. He had observed two black dots, both of which grew fast
into the shape of aeroplanes. One, he knew, was the _Arrow_. He had
learned to recognize the plane at a vast distance. It was something in
the shape or a trick of motion perhaps, almost like that of a human
being, with which he had become familiar and which he could not mistake.
The other plane, by the side of Lannes' machine, bothered him. It was
much larger than the _Arrow_, but they seemed to be on terms of perfect
friendship, each the consort of the other.
"Lannes is coming," announced John. "He's four or five miles to the
south and he's about a quarter of a mile up, but he has company. Will
you have a look, Lord James?"
Lord James Ivor, taking back his own glasses, studied the two
approaching planes.
"The small one looks like your friend's plane," he said, "and the other,
although much bigger, has only one man in it too. But they fly along
like twins. We'll soon know all about them because they're coming
straight to us. They're descending now into this field."
The _Arrow_ slanted gently to the earth and the larger machine descended
near by. Lannes stepped out of one, and an older man, whom John
recognized as the aviator Caumartin, alighted from the other.
"My friends," said Lannes, cheerily, "here we are again. You see I've
brought with me a friend, Monsieur Caumartin, a brave man, and a great
aviator."
He paused to introduce Caumartin to Wharton and the Englishmen, and then
went on:
"This flying machine in which our friend Caumartin comes is not so swift
and so graceful as the _Arrow_--few aeroplanes are--but it is strong and
it has the capacity. It is what you might call an excursion steamer of
the air. It can take several people and our good Caumartin has come in
it for Lieutenant Wharton and Lieutenant Carstairs. So! he has an order
for them written by the brave Captain Colton of the Strangers. Produce
the order, Monsieur Caumartin."
The aviator took a note from a pocket in his jacket and handed it to
Lord James Ivor, who announced that it was in truth such an order.
"You're to be delivered to the Strangers F.O.B.," said John.
"What's F.O.B.?" exclaimed Carstairs.
"It's a shipping term of my country," replied John. "It means Free on
Board, and you'll arrive among the Strangers without charge."
"But," said Carstairs, looking dubiously at the big, ugly machine,
"automobiles are my specialty!"
"And the wireless is mine!" said Wharton in the same doubting tone.
"Oh, it's easy," said John lightly. "Easiest thing in the world. You
have nothing to do but sit still and look calm and wise. If you're
attacked by a Zeppelin, throw bombs--no doubt Caumartin has them on
board--but if a flock of Taubes assail you use your automatics. I
congratulate you both on making your first flight under such auspices,
with two armies of a million men each, more or less, looking at you, and
with the chance to dodge the shells from four or five thousand cannon."
"Your trouble, Scott, is talking too much," said Wharton, "because you
went up in the air when you had no other way to go, you think you're a
bird."
"So I am at times," laughed John. "A bird without the feathers. Come
now, brace up! Remember that the solid earth is always below you, a long
way below, perhaps, but it's there, and Friend Caumartin is bound to
deliver you soon to your rightful master, Captain Daniel Colton, who
will talk to you like an affectionate but stern parent."
"For Heaven's sake, let's start and get away from this wild Yankee,"
said Carstairs.
"But you won't get away from me," rejoined John. "Lannes and I in the
_Arrow_ will watch over you all the way, and, if we can, rescue you,
should your plane break down."
Caumartin supplied Wharton and Carstairs with suitable coats and caps,
and they took their places unflinchingly in the big plane. Their hearts
may have been beating hard, but they would not let their hands tremble.
"I suppose the _Omnibus_ starts first, Philip, doesn't it?" asked John.
"Yes," replied Lannes, smiling, "and we can overtake it. _Omnibus_ is a
good name for it. We'll call it that. It looks awkward, John, but it's
one of the safest machines built."
Plenty of willing hands gave the _Omnibus_ a lift and then did a like
service for the _Arrow_. As they rose, aviators and passengers alike
waved a farewell to Lord James Ivor, and he and the Englishmen about him
waved back. But the thousands lying on the grass slept heavily on, while
the cannon on their utmost fringe thundered and crashed and the German
cannon crashed and thundered, replying.
The _Arrow_ kept close to the _Omnibus_, so close that John could see
the white faces of Wharton and Carstairs and their hands clenching the
sides. But he remembered his own original experience, and he was not
disposed to jest at them now.
"They're air-sick--as I was," he said to Lannes. "Call to them to look
westward at the troops," said Lannes. "Great portions of the French and
English armies are now visible, and such a sight will make them forget
their natural apprehensions."
Lannes was right. When they beheld the magnificent panorama spread out
for them the color came back into the faces of Carstairs and Wharton,
and their clenched fingers relaxed. The spectacle was indeed grand and
gorgeous as they looked up at the sky, down at the earth, and at the
line where they met. The sun was now low, but mighty terraces of red and
gold rose in the west, making it a blaze of varied colors. In the east
the terraces were silver and silver gray, and the light there was
softer. The green earth beneath was mottled with the red and silver and
gold from the skies.
The German army was yet invisible beyond the hills, although the cannon
were flashing there, but to the west they saw vast masses of infantry,
some stationary, while others moved slowly forward. Looking upon this
wonderful sight, Wharton and Carstairs forgot that they were high in the
air. Their hearts beat fast, and their eyes became brilliant with
enthusiasm. They waved hands at the _Arrow_ which flew near like a
guiding friend.
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