"Oh! I wouldn't say that!" declared Hanky Panky; "there are other ways of doing it, you can wager. That hill yonder isn't the only pebble on the beach. What'll we do now, Rod?"

"Get out of this, and in a hurry, too," snapped the other instantly.

"We certainly can't keep on going forward, for a fact," admitted Josh, still filled with gloom and disappointment; "those chaps'd gobble us up like fun, and it'd be good-bye to our bully wheels."

"Course they'd take us for Britishers, from our khaki uniforms,"

admitted Hanky Panky; "and say, if they once got their hands on us they'd s.n.a.t.c.h all our papers away in a hurry. I'm counting on keeping that one our friend Albert gave us, to show the boys over in old Garland when we get back home; because they'll never believe half we expect to tell 'em if we don't have _some_ evidence to prove it."

"Huh! That isn't the worst by a long shot," continued Josh. "Don't you see our having those papers on our precious persons would make it look like we might be spies, working in the interest of Belgium and France?

You just better believe we don't want to be nabbed by the Kaiser's men, not if we know what's good for us, and I reckon we do."

"The worst is yet to come!" exclaimed Rod just then; "look off there to the left and tell me what you see moving across those fields toward the road back of us."

Hardly had he said this than loud outcries arose from his two companions.

"Why, Rod, they're whole regiments of the Germans, and they're deploying so as to cut off our retreat, you see!" cried Hanky Panky, in a near panic.

"I don't expect they've even noticed us as yet," Rod went on to say; "but all the same if ever they do reach the road we'll be caught like rats in a trap."

"Looks like we might be between two fires," said Josh, frowning savagely; "what can we do about it, Rod?"

It was second nature for the other fellows to depend on their leader whenever a knotty problem arose that needed solving. And seldom did Rod disappoint their expectations. He came up smiling on the present occasion.

"Get turned around in a hurry!" he called out; "we've one chance in three to slip past before they get near the road. Are you both game to try for it?"

"Sure!" bellowed Josh; "try anything once, is my motto!"

"I'll go where you lead, Rod," was the simple but eloquent tribute which Hanky Panky paid the other; and Rod must have felt deeply gratified to know he was able to inspire the hearts of his chums with so much confidence.

"Then let's get busy!" was all he told them.

The rattle of the machines' exhausts instantly announced the start. Rod led the way, with the others close behind him. He did not dread the soldiers who were upon the hilltop, even though every movement made by the fleeing motorcycle boys must be plainly seen by their observing eyes; for the distance was too great for them to expect to damage the mounts of the escaping enemy by any gunfire.

It was the forces coming up on the double-quick to reach the road over which the three boys had so lately pa.s.sed that aroused Rod's greatest fears. He knew that with the speed of which the machines were capable they could manage to sweep past before the troops reached the road; but should the Germans open fire on them the result might be disastrous indeed.

Hoping for the best, and ready to accept the desperate chances, they dashed along, every fellow bending low in his saddle from some instinct of self-preservation. It was a serious time for them, and with set teeth they hastened into the danger zone. Now they approached the place where there would be the most peril from a volley fired by the oncoming soldiers, who of course ere now had seen them, and perhaps judged that they must be British scouts caught in a trap.

Rod had changed his mind. He suddenly remembered that there was a branch road leading off from the one they had come along. Of course it was a blind move, because none of them could even give a guess where it went to; but if they took it they might manage to slip out of the dilemma into which the fortunes of war had thrown them.

"Be ready to follow me when I turn into a side road!" he called to the others.

Undoubtedly they heard him, though they gave no answering shout. It would have availed little, however, because just at that moment there was a savage burst of firing back in the direction of the hill, and many spent bullets dropped all around them, some even kicking up little clouds of dust as they fell on the road.

Rod turned in the saddle to see if there was any sign of his chums having been struck. So far all seemed well, for they were coming right along after him, and without any indication of having received even the slightest damage.

The forks of the road were now close at hand. Rod was never more delighted in his life than to realize this, for once they turned into this lesser thoroughfare he believed they would be protected by friendly trees from the gaze of those on the hilltop.

A dreadful crash gave him another chilly feeling. He understood that it must be the explosion of a shrapnel sh.e.l.l, not more than fifty feet behind them. The gunner may have been on the hill with the gathering troops; but in calculating the distance he had failed to take into consideration the speed which the escaping boys were making.

Perhaps if given an opportunity to try a second shot he might be able to correct this error of judgment, and the next sh.e.l.l would burst directly over their heads.

Rod almost held his breath. He felt as though so much depended on the next twenty seconds of time, perhaps even the lives of his two brave comrades, as well as his own.

Then he arrived at the forks, and, making a detour, left the main road to plunge into the smaller thoroughfare. Again Rod looked back to a.s.sure himself that both of the other boys were as successful in turning as he had been.

Yes, there was Josh, safe and sound, and Hanky Panky, wabbling a bit to be sure, but keeping a firm grip on his speeding machine had now managed to accomplish the deal.

Rod saw something suddenly explode on the road exactly where the forks came. He knew full well it must be that second shrapnel sh.e.l.l, and only for their sudden change of base, which the gunner had not calculated on, it must have burst so near Hanky Panky that he might have suffered seriously.

The outlook was better, though it seemed as yet too early to count on security. Rod kept a keen watch on what lay before him. He would not have been greatly surprised to discover more of the invading hosts appear in view at any second; for they were undoubtedly in the midst of a turning movement that had to do with the great battle opening up. When an army of between two and three hundred thousand men, like that of Von Kluck, the German commander, attempts a gigantic movement, it covers many miles of territory, Rod understood.

After proceeding in this manner for several miles his hopes grew stronger, and he actually felt as though there was a good chance for them to elude the enemy. Josh was growling to himself, keenly disappointed because they seemed to be running away from where momentous things were taking place.

The night was not far distant, and Rod had to bear this fact in mind.

Where were they to secure anything to eat in the midst of all this turmoil and confusion? So far as a bed went they could do without, nor would it be the first time such a thing had happened in their eventful career.

"Looks as if we might have outrun the Boches, Rod," called Josh, using a term he had heard some of the Frenchmen apply toward the Germans, though no one seemed able to explain where it had originated, or just what it meant, save that it was intended as a term of derision, the same as "Yanks" and "Johnny Rebs" pa.s.sed current during the Civil War between the States.

"Yes, that's all very well," replied Rod, "but it doesn't cut any figure when we try to run across a house where we're going to get our suppers, and find a place to sleep."

"Oh! we're sure to come to some sort of French farmer's place sooner or later!" declared the confident Josh; "and if they're anything like the little woman who took care of us this noon it'll be a picnic."

Ten minutes later, as they were negotiating a bad section of the road, Rod made an announcement that sent a wave of thanksgiving through the hearts of his chums.

"Farmhouse ahead half a mile or so," was the burden of his call; "I glimpsed it against that bright place in the sky. As the sun's already gone down we'll have to take our chances, and apply for lodging there."

"I'm with you, Rod!" called out Josh immediately, while Hanky Panky added:

"I only hope none of the enemy slip up in the night and gather us in, that's all."

CHAPTER IX.

THE NIGHT ALARM.

Their arrival at the dooryard of the roadside farm was signalized by a frantic clatter. Dogs barked, chickens squawked on their way to their roosts, ducks quacked, and even a calf tethered to a stake in the rear of the house set up a pitiful bleating, as if under the conviction that the dreaded butcher's cart had arrived, and the last hope of life now hung by a slender thread.

"One thing I'm glad to see," announced Josh, as they came to a halt amidst all this bustle and clamor.

"What's that?" asked Hanky Panky, in duty bound.

"The terrible Germans have not come this way so far, that's sure,"

remarked the observing one.

"I'd like you to tell us just how you know that?" demanded the other.