CHAPTER I

NEAR THE FIGHTING FRONT

“Phil, where is Roger?”

“I don’t know, Dave. I haven’t seen him for the last quarter of an hour.”

“You don’t suppose he got lost somewhere in that gully we crossed?” continued Dave Porter, with an anxious look on his bronzed face.

“It wouldn’t be surprising, Dave,” answered Phil Lawrence. “I almost got lost myself, the tangle of underbrush was so thick.”

“Yes, and don’t forget that we had to hide once or twice when the Boches sent over those big shells,” broke in another member of the engineering party, that was working its way through some scrub timber not a great distance back of the American fighting front in France.

“I’m not forgetting that,” answered Dave grimly.

He well remembered how he had heard the whining of a shell, had dropped down into a shell crater, and then heard the missile explode some distance away. His left shin had been barked, and likewise his shoulder, but to these small hurts he was just then paying no attention.

“We might set up a call for him,” said another of the army engineers, a rather stout individual.

“No, don’t do that, Buster!” cried Dave hastily. “Some of those Boches may be closer than we imagine. I heard a report from somebody yesterday that they thought the Germans had some machine-gun nests in the upper end of this wood.”

“Say, talking about machine-guns puts me in mind of a story I heard last night,” broke in a tall, lanky-appearing engineer. “Two men of a gun company had a--”

“For the love of beans, Shadow! don’t start to tell a story now,” broke in Phil Lawrence. “Keep those for to-night, when we get back to our shelter.”

“It wasn’t a very long story,” grumbled the would-be story-teller. “However, it will keep,” he added resignedly. “But say! it sure is funny about Roger. The last I saw of him he was crossing that gully about a hundred feet away from where I was.”

“You saw him go down, I suppose, Shadow,” remarked Dave. “But did you see him come up?”

“I did not. I was busy looking out for myself. I was afraid the minute I showed myself some sharpshooter or machine-gun crowd would fire on me.”

“It’s too bad we couldn’t go forward and finish that road we started,” said another of the young engineers, Ben Basswood. “I don’t understand it at all.”

“Well, orders are orders, Ben; and they must be obeyed,” answered Dave, with a smile. He was now a sergeant and in command of the detail which was making its way through that section of the wood on the American front.

“Oh, I know that!” responded Dave’s former school chum quickly. “I suppose there must be a good reason for stopping the work. By the way, it looks to me as if a storm was coming up.”

“Gee! we’ve had nothing but storms lately,” grumbled Phil Lawrence. “At least five in the last two weeks! You’d think there wouldn’t be any more water left in the sky.”

Over to the eastward a heavy mass of clouds had appeared. There had been but little wind, but now the leaves began to stir, and then a breeze sprang up, while the heavens began to grow dark rapidly. Far off to the north there had been a constant booming of heavy artillery, punctuated occasionally by the rattle of smaller firearms. Now the booming of the cannon on the German, front commenced to extend southward.

“Say, that sounds as if we might get in the direct line of fire before long!” cried Phil.

“Perhaps that’s the reason we were ordered to go back,” answered Dave. “Come, boys, we’ll have to hurry a bit. Hike up.”

The young civil engineers were well loaded down, not only with full soldier kits, including guns, but also with various tools, including picks, shovels and axes. Consequently, to “hike up” over the uneven ground and through the scrub timber and rank undergrowth was by no means easy.

“This traveling sure does get a fellow’s wind,” grumbled Buster, as he stopped for a moment to catch his breath and run the perspiration from his forehead with the side of his finger. “Talk about exercise--this beats anything I ever did in the Oak Hall gym.”

“Wow! wouldn’t old Oak Hall look good to us now?” cried Shadow, his eyes shining. “Think of that comfortable mess-hall, with those beautiful tables all set with clean linen and chinaware, and the smoking hot meat, not to say anything about the mashed potatoes, green corn, lima beans, and that beautiful pie, and--”

“Say! if you keep on talking that way, I’ll drown you in the first shell-hole full of water we come to!” burst out Phil. “I’m hungry enough now without your making me worse.”

“Never mind, boys, I guess there will be a good hot mulligan waiting for us when we get to camp,” said Dave, with a grin.

The detail of which Dave Porter was in command consisted of twelve army engineers. The majority of them were young men, four of whom were Dave’s personal friends and old school chums. All had been tramping through the wood for the best part of an hour, trying to reach their headquarters, located among some hills farther to the southward.

“Say, Dave, did Roger tell you anything about his gas mask?” questioned Phil, while the two were walking side by side, with the others behind.

“He told me yesterday that he didn’t think it was in very good working order,” was the reply. “He said he wanted to have it fixed when he got back to camp.”

“Well, he tried to fix it himself this morning, and in doing it broke the mouthpiece.”

“Didn’t he get it fixed at all?” questioned the young sergeant of the engineer quickly.

“I don’t think he did. He didn’t have time.”

“That’s too bad! He ought to have taken time. It’s dangerous to be out in this neighborhood without a mask that is in good working order.”

“That’s what I told him. But he said he guessed it would be all right.”

The young civil engineers now reached a portion of the wood where the ground was very uneven and interspersed with many jagged rocks. Here, in some places, the shell-fire of a former battle had thrown up the ground and the growth in violent fashion, so that they were often at a loss how to progress. Once Dave stepped into some undergrowth and went down into a hole up to his knees, and a moment later came a stifled cry from Buster Beggs.

“Hello! there goes Buster!” cried Shadow.

“Where did he go?” questioned Dave, turning around.

“Slid off through those bushes on the left.”

“Help me! Somebody pull me out, or I’ll drown!” called the hapless engineer.

Working their way through the bushes, the others saw Buster floundering around in a shell crater which was about ten feet in diameter and of unknown depth. It was almost filled with dirty water, and in this the young engineer was struggling, the load on his back dragging him downward.

Standing on the edge of the shell-hole, Dave extended the stock of his gun, and Phil did likewise, and, grasping both of these, Buster was dragged to the edge of the hole, and then willing hands assisted him once more to his feet.

“What’s the matter, Buster? Didn’t you see the hole?” questioned Dave.

“I did, when it was too late,” was the answer. “The ground on that side is all wet and slippery, and I went down on it like on a toboggan-slide. Say! I’m some wet and muddy, eh?” and he looked at himself dolefully.

“Never mind. You’ll not mind the storm that is coming up,” remarked Dave. “Unless I miss my guess, we’ll all be soaked to the skin in a few minutes.”

To the rumble of the distant guns was now added the rumble of thunder. Then came several sharp flashes of lightning, and the wind came rushing through the wood.

“It’s coming, all right enough!” cried Phil.

“Come! Hike up and follow me!” cried Dave. “I think I know where we can get a little shelter if it becomes too bad.”

Carrying their heavy packs and engineering implements as best they could, the engineers hurried along through the wood at Dave’s heels. The young sergeant was headed for a small hill, to one side of which was something of a cliff that he thought might offer at least slight protection from the on-coming storm. He had visited the cliff some days before, and had noticed that there was more or less of a hollow beneath it, a hollow screened by a number of trees and some dense underbrush.

As they advanced, Dave could not but think of his chum, Roger Morr.

“He should have kept close to us,” said Dave to Ben. “There is no use in taking chances by straying away in such a dangerous locality as this.”

“Maybe Roger was hit by a stray bullet and we never knew it,” was the reply. “You know every once in a while some poor fellow is knocked out that way.”

“Oh, don’t say that, Ben!” answered Dave, and then he became exceedingly thoughtful. Roger was engaged to Dave’s sister, and what would Laura say if the young civil engineer should be thus laid low?

The engineers came in sight of the cliff just as the first big drops of the on-coming storm came beating down on the leaves. Without hesitation, Dave led the way through some heavy underbrush until the foot of the cliff was gained.

“Well, this is some shelter, but not a great deal,” remarked Shadow.

“Better than being out there in the open,” returned Buster.

He had scarcely spoken when there came a vivid flash of lightning, followed by a deafening crash of thunder. Then came another crash not a great distance away.

“Gee! that lightning struck a tree pretty close to us!” gasped one of the engineers.

“There it is--right up on the top of the cliff!” exclaimed Phil.

“Look out! It’s coming down!” announced Dave. “Come in close to the rocks, all of you!”

The engineers did as directed, and a moment later they heard the big tree rolling and crashing through the underbrush some distance away. Then came another crash of thunder, followed by a tremendous downpour of rain.

Keeping close to the foot of the cliff, Dave and the others of his party began to search around among the rocks. Presently one of the young fellows set up a shout.

“Here is an opening! I don’t know how deep it is, but it looks to be pretty roomy.”

Dave carried a pocket flashlight with him, and this was turned on to dispel the gloom, for the sky was now completely overcast, and under the cliff it was quite dark.

“It’s a regular cave,” announced the young sergeant, after a hasty examination. “Here, Phil, give me your hand and I will let myself down and look around.”

The opening under the cliff proved to be amply large to shelter all of them, and the army engineers were glad enough to get into it and relieve themselves of their packs. Then they sat down to rest and to talk over the situation.

“I’d feel a good deal better if Roger were with us,” remarked Dave to Phil, as he and his old school chum peered forth from the opening of the cave-like shelter.

“You’ve said it, Dave!” was the low reply. “Gee! if anything happened to Roger--” Phil did not finish, but shook his head gravely.

“I’m going out to look for him just as soon as the storm lets up.”

“You’ll let me go along, won’t you, Dave?” questioned the other quickly. Phil himself was only a corporal, so he must obey any order from a superior.

“Of course,” was the ready response.

The engineers had emergency rations with them, and they lost no time in satisfying their hunger as best they could, building a small fire for the purpose of making some hot chocolate and drying out Buster’s water-soaked garments.

The rather scanty meal finished, Dave, followed by Phil, crawled out of the shelter and walked forward to where the base of the cliff came to an end. Here they could still hear the booming of the distant artillery.

“Looks to me as if the storm was letting up,” remarked Phil. “And the wind is dying down, too.”

To this remark Dave made no answer. He was listening intently, and now to hear better he placed his hand to his ear.

“What do you hear?” questioned Phil, after a moment of silence.

“Listen for yourself, Phil.”

The other young engineer did so, and then a look of alarm came into his face.

“Is that a gas attack warning, Dave?”

“That’s just what it is, Phil! The Germans must be launching such an attack!”

“That’s bad!”

“Notify the others at once, Phil. Tell the men I want them to take no chances, but get their masks on and keep them on until they are dead sure it is perfectly safe to take them off.”

“But what are you going to do?”

“I’m going out to look for Roger. If he’s lost in the woods, or if he’s been wounded and is without a mask that will work, he’s in danger of his life.”

“But you said I could go along!”

“All right, then, follow me. But warn all the others first,” answered Dave; and then hurried off through the rain-soaked wood on the hunt for his missing chum.