第 12 页

the great affair. Once destroyed, there would be no repairing it,

for many weeks. My proposition is, therefore, that we turn our

attention at once to that point."

There was a general murmur of assent.

"The best course would be for Hardin's company to march direct to

the other end of the tunnel, seize it, and prevent interference

from that end; while the others then seize the Saverne end, and

hold it while preparations are made for blowing it up. Then, when

the match is lighted, fall back--if possible--before the arrival of

heavy bodies of the enemy."

"Nothing could be better," Lieutenant de Maupas exclaimed, and the

other officers agreed with him.

"What day do you propose for the movement?"

"The day after tomorrow, at daybreak," Major Tempe said. "That will

give us plenty of time to send orders to the other two companies;

and the sooner it is done, the better."

The conference was about to break up, when the surgeon--who had

listened in silence--said:

"The general plan is simple enough but, tell me, how do you propose

to set about blowing the tunnel up? You may be able to hold it for

half an hour, at most. How do you think of proceeding?"

Major Tempe and his officers looked at each other. They had not, as

yet, thought the matter over; but the instant it was put plainly

before them, they saw the difficulty.

"Oh," Lieutenant de Maupas said, confidently, "we shall, of course,

put the nitroglycerine somewhere in the middle of the tunnel, and

blow the whole affair up."

Lieutenant de Maupas had been a sailor; and his quickness of

decision and go-ahead, straight-forward way of doing everything

made him, at once, a favorite and an amusement to the men; who had

nicknamed him "Grande Vitesse," or, as we should say in English,

the "Express."

"I am afraid the matter is rather more difficult than you imagine,

De Maupas," Major Tempe said, with a smile. "This is in

Ribouville's way; as he was in the Engineers, he will know all

about it."

The officer named, however, did not reply for some little time; but

sat with his head on his hand, in deep thought.

"I feel ashamed to own it," he said, at last; "but I really do not

know how one could set about the matter so as to have a chance of

really destroying the tunnel, after so short a time for

preparation. Were the tunnel an ordinary, brick-lined tunnel, the

proposition of De Maupas--slightly modified--would no doubt have

the effect of bringing down the brick lining, and the earth behind

would fall in, of itself; but with a tunnel cut in the solid rock,

it would be difficult. The natural strength of the tunnel would be

so great that the force of the explosion would simply be lost,

through the ends. It might or might not bring down a few masses of

rock, but one could not rely upon it doing even that.

"If I had time, the matter would be easy enough. I should make a

deep chamber in the solid rock, at the side of the tunnel; insert

my charge, and then tamp or fasten it in, with masonry. This would

ensure its destruction, at the point of explosion; but I have no

hope of any great damage being done, by merely putting two barrels

of nitroglycerine down upon the line, and then firing them. I can

assure you the point mooted by the doctor is more serious and, as

far as I see at present, I could do nothing in half an hour which

would, in any way, ensure the destruction of the tunnel. To make

such a chamber as I speak of to hold two barrels of nitroglycerine

would be the work of four or five days, working night and day--even

with the aid of powder--and of course, it would be out of the

question to hope for as many hours."

There was a pause of consternation, as Lieutenant Ribouville spoke.

Here was the end of the grand scheme, from which they had expected

so much. At this time, the Germans had no other line of rail at

their command; and the destruction of the tunnel would have been a

disaster, equal to that of the loss of a pitched battle.

"There would be no chance, would there, of our hiding in the woods

under which the tunnel runs; so as to bore down to it, and blow it

in from above?" Major Tempe asked.

"None whatever. The depth to be bored would be considerable. The

stone is hard, and it could not be pierced without the use of

powder, which would betray our presence; and even could we use it,

and were the men all good miners, it would be a work of months, at

the very least."

There was a silence for some minutes, and then the commandant said:

"We cannot give it up, without a trial. Think it over, Ribouville,

for the next three or four days. You may be able to pitch upon some

plan. If you cannot do so, we must at least try the experiment of

exploding our nitroglycerine in the middle of the tunnel--or, at

any rate, as far in as we can carry it--and make our retreat in the

half hour, which is all the time we can calculate upon holding the

entrance."

Chapter 7: A Baffled Project.

Before leaving the headquarters of the commandant, the young

Barclays asked if he wished that they should continue to keep

silence upon the subject of their expedition. The commandant

replied that he did not see that it could do any harm, provided

that they impressed upon their comrades the necessity of

maintaining an absolute silence upon the subject, when any of the

people of the neighborhood were present. Although the villagers

might appear to understand no language but German, they might yet

know enough French to glean what was said and, if traitorously

inclined, to warn the Germans, and thus enormously increase the

danger when the Barclays should again go down to the town.

Their cousins had already heard of their return; for the boys, upon

sitting down to dinner at the commandant's, had requested leave to

send a line to their cousins, who would be anxiously expecting

them.

"Hallo! You Barclay, where have you been to, all day?" was the

general exclamation, as they entered.

"On duty," Ralph said.

"On duty--yes, but what duty? The Duburgs have been mysterious, and

would say nothing. The sergeant here knew nothing about it, except

that our lieutenant told him that you had leave; and Irish Tim has

been hanging about all day, as restless as a cow that has lost its

calf."

"We have been down to Saverne," Ralph said.

There was a general exclamation of astonishment. Those of the men

who had already lain down upon their straw for the night sat up

again, and all crowded round to hear Ralph's story, which he at

once told at length; and which, when finished, gave rise here--as

it had done at the officers' table--to an animated discussion.

Several of the men shook hands warmly with the Barclays,

congratulating them on their offer to undertake this dangerous

service, and upon the valuable--though unfavorable--information

which they had obtained.

From this time forward, the men ceased to attempt to pass jokes at

the expense of any of the boys. When the corps was first raised,

many of the young men had been inclined to protest against boys

being accepted, when the list could have been readily filled with

men but, by this time, the boys had proved that they were quite as

capable of supporting fatigue as were the men. They had behaved

equally well in action; and now the enterprise of the Barclays

testified to the fact that, in a dangerous expedition requiring

coolness, presence of mind, and nerve, they were equally to be

relied upon. Henceforward there was no distinction, or difference,

between the various members of the corps.

Another four days passed and--as the ex-officer of Engineers could

suggest no certain plan, for the destruction of the tunnel, which

could be carried out in the time which a surprise of the sentries

at its mouth would give them--Major Tempe resolved upon delaying no

longer; but on sending four men into the tunnel, under Lieutenant

Ribouville, with instructions to go as far as they could in a

quarter of an hour, to set down the barrels against the rock, to

light a fuse cut to burn a quarter of an hour, and then to return

at full speed to the mouth of the tunnel.

One company was to seize the other end, to tear up seven, eight, or

ten rails, and to retire at once into the woods; as the delay in

getting the rails into their places again would prevent any train

entering, from that end, in time for its occupants to see and

extinguish the burning fuse.

The other company--which was absent--was to join the headquarters,

the evening before the attempt; and it was hoped that the three

companies would be able to keep the enemy at bay for half an hour,

so as to give time to the party with the nitroglycerine to take it

to the required position, and rejoin their comrades. Immediately

upon their doing so the retreat was to commence; as the enemy could

not possibly penetrate the tunnel, and extinguish the fuse, before

the explosion took place.

The attempt was not to be made till the following evening; in order

that the Barclays might go down, and see that all was as before at

Saverne, and along the line. The next day, accordingly, the boys

again put on their disguises and started; as before, taking the

precaution to change in the wood, so as not to be seen by any of

the villagers. Upon reaching the spot from which a view of the

tunnel was obtainable, they stopped, with a simultaneous

exclamation of dismay. Not only were two sentries stationed near

the entrance; but some fifteen or twenty German soldiers were

sitting or standing by a small building, at a short distance, which

had evidently been turned into a guard house.

"This looks very much against us, Ralph. One would think that they

had got information of our being near."

"It looks bad, indeed, Percy. Let us go on into the town. We shall,

perhaps, learn something about it, there."

A sharp walk soon brought them to Saverne. A sentry was on duty at

the entrance to the town, and several of his comrades stood near.

The sentry looked as if about to stop them; but seeing, when they

came up, that they were only boys, he let them pass without

question.

"Worse and worse, Percy. Something is up, sure enough."

This became more evident at every step they took, for the little

town was absolutely crowded with German soldiers.

"Unless they are merely halting here, upon their march through, it

is all up with our plan, Percy. There must be over two thousand men

here, at the very least."

Upon questioning a lad of the town, of about their own age, they

found that the fresh troops had arrived upon the preceding day; the

infantry--two thousand strong--coming in by train, late in the

evening before; and three hundred cavalry marched in, only half an

hour before the boys' arrival. They were all quartered upon the

inhabitants, and there appeared to be no sign of their early

departure.

For some time the boys walked about, without obtaining any

information; although they entered a dozen cabarets, and drank

considerable quantities of beer. At last, before one of the

principal cafes, they saw ten or twelve German officers sitting,

talking. None of the inhabitants were sitting at the cafe; and the

boys dared not go in to ask for anything, there, as it would not

have been in accordance with their appearance.

"How are we to get within hearing, Percy?"

"Look here, Ralph; I will limp along, as if I had something in my

shoe which hurts me. Then I will sit down on a doorstep, close to

them, and take off my boot. You can sit down, too, and take some of

the bread and cheese which we put in our pockets, because we could

not eat it at the last place we went in. I will keep my boot off,

to ease my foot; and we can eat our bread and cheese, as slowly as

we like."

"That will do capitally, Percy."

In another couple of minutes the two lads were sitting, as agreed,

upon the step of a door close to the cafe. They could not hear all

that was said; but could catch the sense, as the German

officers--as is their custom--spoke in a very loud voice. They

belonged to the infantry; and were, it appeared, in ignorance of

the reason of their sudden move to Saverne.

Presently a captain of the cavalry came along the street.

"Ah, Von Rausen," a major in the infantry exclaimed, "are you here?

I have not seen you since the day you marched from Coblentz."

"No, indeed, major," the other said, saluting--as a Prussian

officer always does, to his superior in rank--the other infantry

officers all rising, and saluting in turn. "We have just come in

from Hagenau."

"Are you in a hurry?" asked the major. "If not, sit down and let us

talk."

The cavalry officer accepted the invitation and, for a few minutes,

their talk ran upon mutual friends. Then the major said:

"By the way, do you know what we are here for? We were bustled off

at a moment's notice; no one knows why, except of course the

colonel, and he has not thought necessary to tell us and,

naturally, we have not asked him."

"Do you not know?" Captain Von Rausen said. "It is no secret--at

least, no secret from us, but a secret from the people here. I will

speak in French; no doubt there are plenty of spies about."

"There is no one in hearing," the major said, "except those two

stupid-looking lads, munching bread and cheese."

"The more likely to be spies," Von Rausen said. "Fellows who look

like fools are just the people chosen."

"Well, speak in English then, Von Rausen," the major said; "we both

understand it, and we should be safe, then, if all Saverne were

listening."

"Yes, that will be safe.

"Well, then, the general received information, yesterday, that that

corps of franc tireurs who cut up our cavalry near Blamont, the