Belgians to the Front Read online

  CHAPTER II

  THE MARKED PLANS

  The fierce shouting of the man as he called on them to stop did notterrify either of the scouts, but it did confirm Paul's guess. Therecould no longer be any doubt that his presence meant mischief; that hewas indeed a spy. Or else why should he have such papers? Why, again,should their loss so greatly disturb him?

  There was not a chance for him to catch them. Well as he might knowthe country, they knew it better. They had played in these fields andwoods since they had been able to walk at all. Every hollow, everyridge, every tree, almost, was familiar to them. Circling about, theysoon reached the garden of their summer home, a fine, spacious house,with ample grounds surrounding it, that belonged to their Uncle Henride Frenard, whose wealth was derived from his considerable holdings ofcoal land around Liege.

  "Did you get a good look at him, Paul?" gasped Arthur, when at lastthey felt that it was safe for them to stop running. "I couldn'treally make sure of him--"

  "I think I'll know him again, Arthur. What I'm wondering is if he'llknow us."

  "I don't see what difference that makes, except that if he saw usbefore we saw him, it would give him a chance to escape--"

  "We're more likely to be trying to escape from him than he from us, I'mafraid, Arthur, for a little while. If the Germans are spying asopenly as all that, it must mean that they're getting ready to comeinto Belgium. They wouldn't take such chances unless they felt that itdidn't make any difference now."

  "Don't you think we could find him, Paul? If we could, we could havehim arrested, I think."

  "Don't say a word--yet," cautioned Paul. "Uncle Henri would only laughat us. Let's wait until we can look at his papers, and see what therereally is there besides the sketch of Fort Boncelles. If that's allthere was in the papers, I don't see why he was so awfully anxious toget them back. Perhaps we've done even better than we know, Arthur."

  "All right, I won't say anything," said Arthur. "But you are going todo something about it, aren't you, Paul?"

  Paul laughed. He knew that Arthur was a little disappointed at theidea of having to keep what they had done secret, especially as he hadprobably rehearsed already the astonishment with which all those at thedinner table would greet the startling announcement of the discovery ofthe spy.

  "I certainly hope we're going to do something about it, Arthur," hesaid. "We'll slip away from the table as soon as we can, and then whenwe're alone, we'll see exactly what it is we've got."

  But at the table there was a great surprise for them. Their uncle(though they both called him uncle the relationship was not really soclose) was not in his accustomed seat, and Madame de Frenard's eyeswere suspiciously red. She had been crying.

  "Uncle Henri may not be back for two or three days," she said, gravely."He is a member of parliament, as you know, and he has been called toBrussels on account--on account of what we all hope may not come."

  "War?" asked Arthur, in a hushed voice.

  "It looks terribly as if war must come," she said. "And if it does, Iam afraid our poor Belgium must suffer as well as the lands that arereally concerned. We have done nothing; we want nothing except to beleft alone. If they will only do that! But I am afraid we must nothope for that. Your uncle expects to join the army at once if there isan invasion."

  "Then we'll stay here and look after you," proposed Arthur, promptly."Won't we, Paul?"

  "For as long as we are needed," Paul said, gravely.

  It was easy enough for them to cut their dinner short that night. Thehouse was uneasy, stirring with a strange foreboding of what was tocome. Servants, everyone, indeed, seemed to look always toward theeast. There were the Germans. Often during the summer they drove toAix-la-Chapelle, the first city over the German border--Aachen, as theGermans called it. Paul remembered, with a smile, as he thought of theGerman city, how indignant he had been when he had first discoveredthat the Germans invariably spoke of Liege as Luttich, and how he hadbeen appeased when he was told that he and most people outside ofGermany refused to adopt the German name for Aix-la-Chapelle.

  No one in the house, least of all their aunt, had time that night tothink of the two boys. As a matter of fact, it was that now famousSaturday upon which Germany finally cast the die by declaring war uponRussia in the interest of her Austrian ally, whose quarrel with Serviashe thus made her own. France, as the ally of Russia, was bound tofight Germany. Belgium lay between the two huge powers on either sideof her, well-nigh certain to be caught in the disaster that war meant.But the news that war had actually been declared had not yet come.Madame de Frenard was waiting with the utmost anxiety for a telephonemessage from her husband in Brussels, who had promised to send her wordas soon as there were any important developments.

  And so Paul and Arthur slipped out to the garage, which was a favoritehiding place. Now it was especially safe, since Marcel, the chauffeur,had gone to Brussels with their uncle, and there was no likelihood ofany unwelcome interruptions. They repaired, therefore, to the roomabove the one in which their uncle's automobile was kept, and spreadout the papers they had captured from the German spy. First there wasthe sketch they had already seen of the Boncelles fort; then, equallydetailed, they found sketches and maps of the other forts--Flemalle,Embourg, Chaudfontaine, Fleron, Evegnee, Pontisse, Liers, Lanlin,Longin and Hollogne--the great chain of detached forts that made Liege,in the opinion of military engineers, one of the strongest fortifiedtowns in Europe.

  These forts were not immediately in the town; they were about fivemiles, on an average, from the old citadel, long since disused as aplace for actual fighting. The connections between the various forts,intended, as both boys knew, for the greater facility of their defenceby means of troops fighting more or less independently, were carefullytraced on another map, in which the contour of the land and the naturalshelter were shown. And on this map, at certain spots, there werestrange marks--well beyond the perimeter of the forts themselves, thatis, outside the line that might be drawn around Liege and passingthrough each of the forts.

  "Look at those crosses," said Paul. "What do you suppose they mean,Arthur?"

  "I don't know," said Arthur, frowning. "But we can find out, you know."

  "You mean by going to one or two of these places? They're somedistance off."

  "But we ought to find out--don't you think so?"

  "Yes, you're right, of course. We can find them easily enough."

  "Yes. All we've got to do is to take the map along with us. Then whenwe get near we can make sure by looking at it."

  "We could do that, but I think we won't, Arthur. Suppose we ran intothe man it belongs to again? We might not get away from him anothertime, and I think it would be just as well to leave these maps here.We can hide them, and then write a note and leave it where it will befound in the morning, telling them where we hid the maps."

  "What's the use of hiding them if we tell some one where they are,Paul?"

  "Can't you see? Suppose something happens to us, so that we can't getback? We'd want the maps to be found and taken to the commander of theforts, wouldn't we?"

  "Of course. I didn't think of that, that's all. But if we come backwe can get the note back before anyone sees it. Is that what you mean,Paul?"

  "Yes. Now study that map very carefully. I think we can rememberwhere the cross marks are, all right."

  "I can remember this one," said Arthur. "It's exactly on the spotwhere that new house was built last summer, near the Ourthe. Don't youremember? We stopped and got some milk there, and we wondered how afarmer could build such a solid looking house when he didn't seem tohave much money or much of anything else. A stupid fellow, he was. Hescarcely knew enough to give us the milk we wanted."

  "Yes, I remember now," said Paul, looking at the map again. He wasthinking hard, trying to fathom the connection between what they bothremembered of that house and the strange, significant cross on the map.There was a connection; the cross did have some sign
ificance. Of somuch he was sure. But for the life of him that was all he could guess.It was a perplexing problem.

  "Come on," he said, at last, impatiently. "I may be very stupid, but Idon't understand. The only way we'll find out will be by going there."

  "All right," agreed Arthur, grinning. "I'm wiser than you for once,Paul. I haven't even tried to find out. I know I can't guess, so I'mnot wasting time trying to. I think we'll be lucky if we find out whenwe do get there."

  "So do I, come to think of it," said Paul. Somehow he felt better;before he had been inclined to blame himself for being stupid. "Afterall, you know, Arthur, even if they didn't expect anyone like us to gethold of these maps and sketches, that doesn't mean that they would makeeverything on them so plain that you could guess it at first sight.That sort of mark is awfully easy to understand when you have the key,but it's as bad as a cipher if you haven't."

  It was quite dark, of course, when they finally set out. Though it wasSaturday night few people were about, and the locality was a lonelyone. Then, too, all of those who could had gone into the town. It wasthere that news of what was going on in the great world outside wouldfirst be had; it was there that the country people could count upongetting the first hint of the intelligence that was to have sofrightful a meaning for them.

  The course the two scouts took carried them along the bank of theplacid Ourthe, flowing peacefully, calmly along toward its confluencewith the more important stream of the Meuse at Liege. Behind them onestrange thing proved that all was not quite normal. From FortBoncelles a searchlight began to play. They had seen that lightbefore, but only when it was being tested or when there were manoeuvresin progress. Now it seemed to have a sinister meaning.

  "I think that means that there is war," said Paul. "They are keepingthe searchlight going so that they may be sure to escape a surprise."

  "I think it's the Germans who will get the surprise," said Arthur,confidently.

  But most of the time they walked on in silence. Both were thinking agood deal; thinking of what war might mean, and wondering what partthey themselves might play if it came. Of one thing they were sure.All Belgium would rise to repel the invader, no matter what the pretextfor the invasion might be.

  "Here we are," said Arthur, suddenly. "That's the house, Paul."

  "It looks quite dark, Arthur. But let's go along toward it. Not bythe road--we'll cut through this field here."

  This they proceeded to do. But suddenly, as they neared the house, theground seemed to give way beneath Paul. He suppressed a cry, and thenext moment he was vigorously turning back the treacherous ground withhis foot. Arthur turned on his light. And there, beneath the softloam, they saw a plate of shining steel.