"What are they saying, Rod?" asked Hanky Panky.

"Asking each other who can be the owners of these wonderful machines,"

replied Rod, at the same time taking a step forward, as though meaning to enter the potato cave.

"Messieurs," he said, "pardon me, but those machines belong to us; and we are friends of France, we beg you to believe."

CHAPTER X.

MORE NEWS FROM THE FRONT.

Three men who wore the uniforms of French soldiers, one of whom was evidently a lieutenant, looked hastily up when Rod entered the vegetable cellar, and addressed them in the words we have given. The ordinary soldiers carried guns, and these weapons they half raised, as though wishing to be ready for any emergency.

Of course, it was immediately manifest to the officer that these three wideawake lads were not of the enemy. Like most other people he at first suspected them to be English boys. That would mean they were allies of the French; but nevertheless those splendid wheels were a great temptation; and the Grand Army was in sore need of all such means of rapid locomotion it could commandeer.

"You are English, then?" he asked, politely, returning Rod's salute.

"No, American, monsieur," replied the boy, promptly; "we were making a trip down the Rhine on our motorcycles when the war broke out. We had just managed to get across the line into poor Belgium when the Germans came. You can well understand that we have seen much of what happened in that unfortunate country, for we were compelled to go to Antwerp on business."

"But--this is France," interrupted the lieutenant, as though puzzled; "and here close to the firing line it is peculiar that we find three American boys mounted on such wonderfully fine motorcycles."

Rod smiled blandly.

"You wonder how we managed to retain possession of them through it all,"

he went on to say; "but the secret lay in a certain magical paper which we carry, and which you shall yourself be permitted to examine."

With that he once more carefully extracted the doc.u.ment given to them by the brave king of the Belgians, and which had proved to be worth a thousand times its weight in gold.

So the French lieutenant, by the light of the flickering lanterns, also read the brief but forceful sentences penned by King Albert. He was of course greatly impressed, as who would not have been, remembering what a prominent figure the royal writer of the "pa.s.s" had already become in the world war?

"It is plain to be seen, young monsieur," the officer hastened to say as he very carefully folded the precious paper, and with a bow returned it to the owner, "that you and your brave companions have found occasion to lend a helping hand to the grand cause for which all loyal Frenchmen are ready to shed their last drop of blood. But I notice that here the writer speaks of _five_ young Americans, and I see but three."

"That is easily explained," replied Rod; "two of our chums were compelled to return hastily to America, having received a cable message.

They sailed from Antwerp for London, and by now are far on the way across the Atlantic."

"But what possessed you three adventurous boys to wish to come once more to the scene of battle and carnage? It is hardly a fit place for lads of your age, I should think?"

"But American boys are full of the spirit of adventure, monsieur," urged Rod; "and the opportunity would surely never come to us again. Still, it was not merely curiosity that caused us to decide to make this trip. We have come on an errand of mercy; to a.s.sist one of your countrywomen who was in great trouble."

He thereupon hastily sketched the situation in which Jeanne D'Aubrey was placed, with a chance of securing a competence could her husband be communicated with, and allowed to sign the important paper within the specified time limit.

A Frenchman is always filled with a love for anything that borders on the dramatic. He also has the greatest respect for such heroism as these three boys were now exhibiting in undertaking the dangerous mission for the sake of the poor woman at whose humble home they had been temporary guests.

Impulsively he stretched out his hand to Rod, and then to each of the other two boys.

"I am proud to meet you, young messieurs," he announced; "and while these magnificent mounts would be put to a glorious use in the grand army that needs many such so badly, I could not have the heart to deprive you of your property. On account of what you have already done for the cause, and stand ready to aid any further attempt if the occasion arises, here then we hand you back your beloved motorcycles."

While Josh and Hanky Panky could not understand much that was spoken, still it was possible for them to read the signs aright. Josh grinned as though greatly tickled over their good luck; and Hanky on his part doubtless felt like offering thanks because the searching party had turned out to be friends instead of foes.

When further conversation took place between Rod and the lieutenant the boy was given to understand that the French had learned of the presence of a German spy in that neighborhood, and several patrols were searching every farmhouse and cottage within a radius of three miles, as well as the patches of woods that lay between.

After considerable more talking the lieutenant explained that as there was more country which he and his detail had been directed to search, he must linger no longer.

When the Frenchmen had departed the boys once more sought their room in the new wing of the farmhouse. They had hardly reached their quarters than a timid knock on the door was heard, and the good woman of the house appeared, to ask with more or less trepidation if they had suffered any loss from the visit of her countrymen, whose uniforms she must have recognized.

Rod a.s.sured her that all was well with them, at which she seemed particularly pleased, and vanished from the scene.

"Well, after all it turned out to be a false alarm," ventured Hanky Panky, giving an exhibition of one of his fancy yawns; and really no boy could excel him when it came to stretching his mouth wide open, so Josh always declared.

"But it might have been serious, all right," a.s.serted the latter. "Our luck only caused them to be French instead of German. It was what you might call a narrow squeak, Hanky Panky; and only for my waking up when I did we'd have lost our property anyway."

"We owe you our best thanks for your wakefulness, Josh," Rod told him.

"Oh! that's all right," laughed the other; "thanks to a bad dream I chanced to arouse myself, and caught the flicker of some sort of moving light out there. So of course I just tumbled out and made for the window. When I saw lanterns moving this way and that I began to think we were going to be in the soup; so, knowing you ought to be put in touch with the situation, I wakened you, Rod."

"By the way," Hanky Panky continued, "what was the lieutenant telling you all the time he kept on talking, Rod?"

"That's so," echoed Josh immediately; "whatever it could have been it seemed to give him a whole lot of pleasure to be able to inform you, for he was smiling like everything, and I could see the pride sticking out of his face."

"Oh! I was asking him for the latest news from the battle front,"

replied Rod, "and what he told me was great stuff, to be sure. It seems that what we heard before was part of the truth."

"You mean how the German General Von Kluck, swinging down to attack Paris from the northwest, didn't get within gunshot of the outer forts before he found he had exposed his flank, and it was in danger of being turned--was that it, Rod?" and Josh, who was intensely interested in all military matters, eagerly waited to hear the answer to his leading question.

"Just what happened," Rod explained. "You see, a new army was hastily gotten together by General Gallieni, the Governor of Paris, consisting for the most part of the regiments meant to defend the city. This, a.s.sisted by the British forces, was threatening the exposed flank of Von Kluck. If it struck hard it would throw his whole army into confusion, and start a rout. So instead of attacking the forts as he had intended, Von Kluck made a swift swing, and pa.s.sed Paris on the north."

"And what did Joffre do then?" asked Josh.

"The whole French army had been held for just such an opening. It was sent forward with impetuous speed to strike like an avalanche. The lieutenant said that already the blow had started to fall, and that there could be no doubt about the Germans being in retreat, heading north again to positions they must have arranged for along the Aisne River."

"Hurrah! that makes me sing for joy!" cried Josh, exultantly; "then Paris isn't going to fall like a ripe plum into the hands of the _invincible_ German army. They counted without their host that time, I guess."

"Much of the praise for what has happened goes to Joffre because he kept his army intact and refused to risk a general engagement until he believed the time was ripe. When Von Kluck exposed his flank, and that new army came out of Paris to threaten it, Joffre knew the fatal hour was at hand. Then he struck home, and already they are pushing the Germans back along the Marne with frightful slaughter."

Josh was so pleased with hearing this wonderful news that he went around and insisted on shaking hands with each of his chums.

"Why, I'm nearly as tickled over it as if it was Washington that had been spared from the hand of the despoiler," he went on to say, hilariously; "those Germans are learning something, it seems to me. They believed their army couldn't be beaten, but by now their commanders know there are others just as brave as Germans--French, British, Belgians, Russians, yes, and Americans too among the lot. I'll sure be able to sleep better after hearing that glorious news, Rod."

Somehow they seemed to feel that their machines would not be disturbed again during the balance of that particular night, so fraught with big events for the people of imperiled France. All of them managed to get to sleep again without much trouble, and really knew nothing more until the sun shining in Rod's face awoke him.

They were soon dressed, and on entering the other part of the farmhouse found that breakfast was already under way. Rod had to explain a lot of things to the old Frenchman, who it seemed had not been awakened by what had occurred in the night, but had heard something of the event from his daughter.

It was worth while to see how both of them smiled when they heard about the sudden change of plans of the German general, and that even then, when the big guns were once more commencing to speak in the distance, it marked the retreat of the rash invaders who had expected to take Paris as easily as they had battered down the defences of Liege and Namur in Belgium, with their wonderful forty-two centimetre cannon.

The incident of the night, while at the time it had been quite thrilling, was already relegated to the past. Rod and his chums had really been through so much that was exciting during the time they owned those motorcycles, that events of this type were only so many reminiscences, once they had pa.s.sed.