although every one tried to put the best face on the matter, afterwards more than one of the boys frankly confessed that his heart was beating furiously during that time when waiting for the speed boat to come up.
they were in a strange land, it must be remembered, and the habits of the magyars were unfamiliar to them. more than this, war had just been declared, which was sure to mean that austria-hungary would be at handgrips with not only serbia on the south, but great russia as well.
they gathered at the stern of the boat and awaited whatever fate had in store for them. josh was so much afraid even then that george might be tempted to try his american german on the hungarian officers that he immediately made a suggestion.
“remember, now, everybody keep still but jack. that’s meant for you, buster, as well as george here. the rest of us are apt to get excited and do our case more harm than good if we butt in.”
[44]
“i’m as mum as an oyster, josh,” said buster readily.
“how about you, george?” demanded the other sternly.
“oh, i’ll promise all right,” mumbled george, shaking his head; “but all the same, i do it under protest. you don’t know what you may be missing when you put the muzzle on a fellow that way. but i’m used to being sat on, and i guess i can stand for it again.”
jack himself was pleased to hear josh settle this. he had feared that george, who could make himself more or less of a busybody when he chose, might break in when the negotiations were well under way and possibly spoil the whole business.
but they would at least soon know the worst, for the other boat was coming on at great speed and about to draw alongside.
the man at the wheel knew his part of the business perfectly, for when the craft came together the bump was hardly noticeable.
there were just three of the hungarian officers, all of them dressed in their attractive uniforms, with little capes hanging from their shoulders and their lower limbs encased in shiny boots with tassels. indeed, buster just stared at them in sheer admiration, for he[45] thought he had never in all his life looked upon such handsome soldiers.
apparently the tall one must have been the superior of the trio, for he took it upon himself to do the talking.
all of them were looking curiously at the four lads. they evidently hardly knew what to make of them, for, while outwardly jack and his chums had the appearance of harmless young chaps off for a holiday, nevertheless in such dark times as now hung over the fatherland it was not well to be too easily deceived. spies must be abroad, under many disguises; and if so, why not playing the part of innocent tourists, was no doubt the question uppermost in each of their minds.
then the tall officer said something. his voice was filled with authority and his face frowning, but of course none of the boys could understand a word he uttered, for the magyar tongue was a sealed book to them.
they could, of course, give a pretty good guess that he was asking who they were and what they might be doing there. george sighed as though it nearly broke his ardent heart to be deprived of this golden opportunity to air some of his german. he had perhaps managed to remember certain words that would serve to partly explain the situation;[46] but a savage nudge from josh caused him to shut his teeth fiercely together and get a fresh grip on himself.
then jack tried an experiment.
“we do not understand what you say, because none of us can speak the language. we only know english. we would be glad to explain everything if you could understand what we tell you.”
the tall man listened attentively and then immediately turned to his comrades to say something to them. it was just as if he remarked, “didn’t i tell you they must be english?” for jack caught the concluding word.
then, turning again to them, the officer went on:
“certainly we can speak english as well as is necessary. we have many tourists in our country each summer. i myself have a number of very good friends among the english, though when we meet again it may be as bitter enemies.”
jack saw that there need be no further trouble in explaining matters. he felt decidedly relieved over the sudden change in the situation. only george frowned, for possibly he had been entertaining a forlorn hope that in the end jack might have to call on him to save[47] the day, and now he knew that chance was doomed.
“i am glad you can understand what i want to tell you,” jack proceeded. “in the first place, we are not english at all, but from america.”
again the three hungarians exchanged significant looks. evidently they did not know whether to believe the assertion or not.
“we have great regard for america,” the tall man went on to say, “for many of our countrymen are there, making an honest living and helping to support their kin on this side of the water. of course, then, you can show us your passports?”
“certainly, sir, and with pleasure,” responded jack.
his words served as the signal to the others. every fellow immediately hastened to dive into his breast pocket and produce the necessary paper, which was always kept in an especially safe place for fear of trouble in case of its being lost.
the officer took the sheaf of papers and proceeded to critically examine the passports, as though looking for signs of fraud. buster watched him anxiously. he had heard that when war came upon a country all ordinary protection for tourists is annulled, and even[48] passports may not be worth the paper they are written on.
greatly to buster’s relief he saw that the tall officer did not look at them so ferociously after he had scanned the papers, which he now handed back to jack in a bunch.
“they seem to be perfectly correct, so far as i can see,” he proceeded to say; “but perhaps you would not mind explaining what your object is in coming down the danube in this powerboat?”
“i’ll be only too glad to do that, sir,” jack announced, with one of his winning smiles that always caused people to feel kindly toward him. “over in our own country we have three motorboats, with which six of us in times past have made many exciting cruises along the great rivers, and the coast as well.”
the officer nodded his head, while his face lighted up. evidently he could appreciate the love for adventure that induced these healthy specimens of boyhood to want to be in the open air all they could. perhaps whenever he had the chance for an outing he might have been found off in the mountains, hunting the wild boar, or it might be in pursuit of the nimble chamois.
“when we had a chance to come to europe this summer,” continued jack, “we decided[49] that the thing we would like best of all would be a long trip down the beautiful blue danube. i had just been reading an account of a cruise taken by an englishman from near the source down to the black sea. while we couldn’t spare the time for all that, we could come to vienna, find where a suitable boat could be chartered half-way to budapest, and make our start there. and, sir, that is what we have done. we are now just two days on the way.”
“i admire your courage, as well as your choice of the danube for your trip. many a voyage have i taken on its waters when i was younger. but how long have you been at budapest, may i ask?”
jack knew that there was only one way to treat such a questioner, and that was by being perfectly frank with him.
“we only arrived late yesterday afternoon, to tell the truth, sir,” he admitted.
“but how comes it you are leaving so early the next morning?” asked the officer, with a little fresh suspicion in his manner. “we have a most beautiful and renowned city here, and travelers usually find it difficult to tear themselves away from it, even after a stay of days. you seem to have been in a great hurry.”
“we own up that we are, sir,” continued[50] jack. “you see, the first thing i did on arriving was to hasten to the postoffice for our letters from home. it was then that i realized the city was in a feverish state of excitement. i suspected what must have happened, for we heard rumors when above. i managed to learn that war had been declared by germany on russia, which would mean for austria-hungary, too. and after we had talked it all over we decided that it would be best for us not to waste any time here, but hurry along our way.”
“would you mind showing me those letters?” asked the officer.
“with the greatest of pleasure, sir,” jack told him. “boys, hand him the last ones you received, please.”
the other took them as they were thrust out. he examined the postmarks as if making sure of the dates, and also read each name in turn. then he deliberately opened that belonging to jack and seemed to be glancing over it, though the boy felt rather surprised to see him do this.
still, it was good to find the officer nodding his head as he gleaned something of the contents. at least he could see it was genuine, and that counted for a good deal.
“i am quite satisfied now that you are just what you claim to be—tourists, who have no[51] connection with our enemies, or those who in a short time we must look on as such. you are wondering, no doubt, why i went so far as to pry into the contents of your letter from home, and i believe an explanation is due. to tell the truth, we rested under the belief that you were four desperate young serbian youths, who were said to be on their way up the danube bound for vienna, with the mad intention of trying to assassinate our good kaiser, francis joseph, just as the austrian heir apparent to the throne was killed not long ago.”
buster could not keep from giving a little gasp at hearing this. really never before, so far as he knew, had he been taken for a desperado. he did not know whether to be ashamed or flattered. it would be something with which to thrill those boy comrades at home, if ever they were lucky enough to get safely back again.
“that would be a serious charge against us, i am sure,” said jack; “but it pleases us to know that you are now convinced we are not what you thought. seeing four strangers in a boat, and all young at that, of course made you suspicious.”
“the fact that you were headed down-stream puzzled us considerably,” continued the officer, apparently willing to explain things[52] in order to prove that he and his comrades were only doing their duty; “but we figured that something may have caused a change in plans, perhaps the breaking out of war, and that the four desperate serbians were on the way back to their native land.”
“after all, we should not be sorry for what has happened,” diplomatic jack went on to say, “since it has given us the pleasure of meeting three such excellent gentlemen. i hope, though, there need be no necessity for causing us to alter our plans, since our hearts are set on finishing the voyage, and we will never have the opportunity for visiting your great country again.”
every one of them held his breath while waiting for the officer to make a reply to this question. he looked around at the half circle of anxious faces and smiled indulgently. no doubt just then he put himself in their place and tried to realize how much it might mean to be simply let alone.
“i do not mean to demand that you turn back,” he finally told jack, “for that would really be exceeding my authority; but i would feel that i had not done my full duty if i did not warn you of the perils you will likely encounter below here. by the time you reach the serbian border it is more than likely there[53] will be desperate fighting going on between hungarians and serbians, for they are ready to-day to fly at one another’s throat. you will find yourselves in great danger before you can pass the iron gate and enter rumania.”
jack only smiled reassuringly at him.
“thank you many times, sir, for taking enough interest in us to give that kind warning,” he remarked warmly; “but we have passed through some pretty lively adventures in the past and always managed to come out safely. we will try and be careful how we act when the time comes; and once past the serbian border along the danube we need fear little else.”
“well, i admire your boldness, while at the same time i fear you may be making a mistake. we will wish you a pleasant trip, and that you reach your goal in safety. what are your plans after arriving at the sea, may i ask?”
“we have arranged to send the boat back to the owner at our expense,” explained jack. “then we will find some way of getting to constantinople, where we hope to remain a short time, looking around. from there we go to italy, and then back to london to sail for home about october fifteenth.”
“ah! what wonderful things may happen in those ten weeks!” remarked the officer, as[54] though he might be trying to lift the veil that hid the future. “history will be in the making, i fear, and all europe be torn up with the war clouds. but better so than the armed peace that has existed so long. a storm is necessary once in so often to clear the atmosphere which has become murky.”
he thrust out his hand to jack, who gladly seized it.
“may the best of luck follow you all the way, is the wish of myself and my comrades here,” the tall officer told them as in turn he pressed each boy’s hand, in which genial undertaking he was followed by the other pair, who, although taking no part in all the talking, had been earnest listeners.
then the speed boat backed away, made a sweeping turn, and was soon heading up the danube again. the boys waved their hats to the three gaily dressed hungarian soldiers seated in the other craft, and were in turn saluted by the trio.
after that jack again started the engine, and they began moving with the current at a lively rate.
“well, that was a new experience, now!” exclaimed josh; “and we are mighty lucky to have escaped being taken back to budapest and shut up in a dungeon.”
[55]
“yes, it was easy, after all,” grumbled george; “but who’d think hungarian officers would know english so well?”
“and just to think of our being taken for a lot of desperate serbian youths sworn to get the aged and benevolent emperor francis joseph! ugh! it’ll give me a shiver every time i think of it. i never dreamed before that i looked like a fellow who would take his life in his hand to do such a terrible thing.”
