some time later, when george again relieved josh at the outlook post, the latter came strolling up to the little fire to get his supper, of which he was in need, for josh had a pretty healthy appetite that seldom went back on him.
“one thing sure,” he remarked, as he sat himself down and prepared to have buster wait on him, “when you told me, jack, to build this fire so it couldn’t be easily seen from out on the river, you knew what you were talking about.”
“well,” remarked the commodore simply, “my idea at the time was to avoid having the light noticed too easily by any one who happened to be on the water. yes, and i hoped to keep the people on that monitor a mile and more away from wanting to pay us a visit too early in the night.”
“it might break up our plans all right if they did come,” agreed josh, lifting his tincup to his lips and proceeding to let some of the fine coffee pass down his throat as a “bracer” or opening of ceremonies.
[183]
“as long as you stayed out there at the point, did you see or hear anything suspicious, josh?” buster wanted to know, when he handed the platter, heaped up with good things, to the late-comer.
“never a sign all the time i stood sentry,” came the reply, though josh had a little difficulty in talking and eating at the same time. “but please let me take the edge off my ferocious appetite before you throw any more questions at me, fellows. i’ll be in a more angelic humor then, mebbe.”
“angelic—that’s pretty rich for you, josh,” gurgled buster; but, having enough sympathy for a hungry chum to know how josh felt, he maintained a discreet silence after that.
jack walked over to the near-by shore. he wanted to find out for himself how matters seemed to be going.
“hello! that you, jack?” said a voice suddenly, when he found himself close to the brim of the river.
it had become so dark by this time, the moon not having as yet arisen behind the clouds, that seeing was next to impossible. george, however, had heard footsteps somewhere close by, and guessed who was coming.
“yes, where are you, george? oh, i see you, now that you move. that’s the boat just[184] beyond you, too. everything lovely with you?”
“i heard something across the river that sounded as if it might be a boat being lowered that struck against the side of the monitor. then there were voices, too. you know how queer sounds come across a mile or more of water, jack?”
“yes, of course i do. but if it was a boat being lowered we’ll have to change our plans somewhat,” jack continued.
“by that you mean get away from here sooner?” queried the vidette.
“just what i do, george.”
“suppose now it was a boat being put in the water that i heard, though i may have been mistaken; how long would it take them to row over here, do you think?” george asked next.
“that depends on how hard they handled the oars,” said jack. “it could hardly be less than half an hour at the best, i should say. you see, the monitor lies down-stream from here, so they’d have to first of all work against the strong current before crossing.”
“yes, and then again it might be they’d try to keep us from hearing them coming all they could, jack, which would mean they couldn’t put all their strength into the work.”
“you’ve got the right idea, george; so we[185] can have something like half an hour to get away in. it may turn out to be a false alarm after all, but we can’t afford to take any chances.”
“that’s so,” agreed the other briskly, for a wonder, never dreaming of offering any objection. “the sooner we’re abroad on the river the better. then again, before the old moon comes up behind the clouds, we’ll have it pitch dark. that ought to help us a lot about slipping past without getting caught.”
“stay here, and keep on listening, george.”
“are you going back to get the rest of the crowd, jack?”
“yes. as soon as josh has finished his supper we had better go aboard again and shove off,” he was informed.
“but say, tell me how you expect to work it, please jack, before you go.”
“if you mean the boat, that’s a simple thing,” the skipper told him. “you know we’ve got a strong push-pole that’s a pretty good length? well, i took soundings as we came in toward the shore, and found that the river is fairly shallow around here. with that pole we can push out into the stream quite a little distance. then we’ll just lie low and let her float on the current.”
“well, now, i sort of expected that would be[186] the programme,” said george; “and i certainly agree with you there. silence is our best asset in a game like this. we’d feel pretty cheap and small after getting well started if all of a sudden some one called out of the darkness: ‘tag—you’re it!’”
george, finding jack had slipped away meanwhile, and that he was merely talking to empty space, drew the line at wasting his breath in this manner, and relapsed into silence.
when jack got back to the little fire he found that, short though the time had been, josh had made rapid headway with his supper. the pannikin was already more than half empty, and that must be his third cup of coffee buster was pouring out for him.
everybody looked up as jack came into camp.
“you’ll have just five minutes more, josh, to finish your supper,” was the first thing the other said as he joined them.
josh looked surprised.
“what! so soon?” he exclaimed, and then started in to devour his food ravenously, as though determined to make the best of the limited time.
buster laughed softly.
“josh, you make me think of that old, old[187] fellow who had his gravestone cut, and kept it in the house for about thirty years. the neighbors were wild with curiosity to know what he had put on the same, leaving a blank for the date of his departure. after he was buried every one flocked to the cemetery to read it. and this was what they found chiseled in the stone: ‘i expected this—but not so soon!’”
josh did not make any reply. he was indeed too busy to even laugh just then, for in his mind the seconds were trooping past, and it went against his grain to waste good food.
when three minutes had passed he was ready. meanwhile jack had glanced around to make sure they left nothing behind them in the shape of a blanket or cooking utensil, none of which he felt they could spare.
“there, i’m all ready for business!” announced josh, climbing to his feet, for he was really too full of supper to move with his accustomed agility.
“everybody get hold of something, then,” said jack, “and we’ll head for the boat. i’ll scatter the fire last of all. that’s the true hunter way, you know, never to leave a fire burning behind, because a wind may come up and scatter the red ashes among the dead leaves. many a forest fire has sprung from just that folly. but in our case we’ve got another[188] reason for wanting to kill the blaze; it may keep some people guessing to know what’s become of us.”
presently all this had been accomplished, and they were heading, indian file, toward the river bank. josh led the way, laden down with things. then came the serbian boy, and his little sister, who clung to him through it all; after them buster stumbled with his customary awkwardness, while jack brought up the rear to make sure that no one strayed from the line.
they soon arrived at the edge of the bank, where george joined them. buster, as he looked anxiously out at the bank of gloom marking the river, felt a strange sensation taking possession of him. it was not fear, though possibly the feeling could be likened to awe.
“makes me think of the smugglers landing on the coast of england, and trying to evade the revenue officers with their casks of spirits,” he whispered to josh.
somehow, although as yet jack had said nothing on that score, even buster seemed to realize that there was great need for caution, which was why he lowered his voice in the way he did.
the next thing was to get aboard the boat. jack saw to it first of all that the brother and[189] sister were safe, and then urged buster to follow suit.
“josh, i’m going to appoint you to the honor task,” he went on to say softly.
“good for you, jack,” came the low reply; “just tell me what i’m to do?”
“george will go aboard with me, for we want to get the push-pole handy. when i give a whistle, unfasten the cable and shove her off, climbing over the side yourself the best way you can. get that, josh?”
“just my style, boss,” he heard the other say as he started toward the tree to which the strong rope was attached.
jack had examined his chart many times lately, so that he knew just where they must be on the river. the danube takes a sharp turn toward the east at belgrade, and here the save river empties into the larger stream. on the same shore that the little party had chosen for their landing lies the austrian town of semlin; and here on the heights strong fortifications have long menaced the serbian capital, as well as other batteries further along the danube.
it would be impossible for them to land above belgrade in order to let their passengers go ashore, so on this account it was necessary that they take the two with them while running the batteries.
[190]
jack had regretted this, because he did not like the idea of that innocent child sharing their danger; still, so far as he could see, there was nothing else to be done. the serb begged him not to think of abandoning them while on hostile territory. he had explained by gestures and pictures that his father had been a general in the serbian army, and on account of the hatred borne for his family by the hungarians he felt sure something terrible would happen if they fell into the hands of the enemy and their identity were discovered.
when jack had everything in readiness for their hasty departure he gave the low whistle for which josh on shore was impatiently waiting. they could hear him pulling the cable from around the tree trunk; then it came aboard, and josh started pushing the boat off.
this required no great effort, for the water was sufficient to float such a small craft comfortably. having managed to get the boat started, josh clambered aboard and, being a nimble fellow, even though far from himself after that hearty supper, he contrived to accomplish this without any particular noise.
“we’re off!” said george softly, but with considerable satisfaction, as he felt the motorboat moving under the impetus jack was giving to the push-pole.
“bully!” echoed buster, though at the time[191] he probably hardly knew whether he could call himself satisfied or not; for he realized that they were taking more or less desperate chances in trying to slip down the river when two hostile armies were spread along the opposite banks watching for any sign of a surprise and doubtless ready to start a hot fire at the first indication of a crossing being attempted.
this was especially true of the serbians, for they knew that an invasion of their territory was planned by the austrian army, backed by heavy artillery.
jack continued to handle that pole with more or less ability. it was no new task for him. any one who goes much upon the water in motorboats learns the value of a good pole, especially when the cruise leads through swampy sections, where it is no uncommon thing to be mired and need other help than that afforded by the unreliable engine.
the current began to make itself felt almost immediately they were off. it was jack’s intention to keep on using his pole until he could no longer touch bottom. when that time arrived they would have to let the boat drift with the current, under the belief that it was apt to stay fairly well out in the river.
“listen, everybody,” said jack about this time; “from now on silence is going to be the[192] golden rule aboard this craft. don’t say a single word unless you have to, and then whisper it. that applies to every one.”
the night was fairly quiet about this time, at least there was no firing from the batteries on the banks of the danube, though thousands upon thousands of armed men kept watch there, ready to lock arms in a fierce battle when the time came.
long had this feeling of bitter enmity lain deep down in the hearts of austrian and serb. the dual monarchy had for many years looked upon the smaller kingdom as a tempting morsel that some day she hoped to engulf into her capacious maw, just as had been done in the case of bosnia and other countries now forming parts of the austrian patchwork of many tongues and many people, all under the rule of francis joseph. and now at last war had actually broken out, so that the scores of many years would all have a chance of being settled before peace came again to distracted europe.
deeper grew the water, so that jack was beginning to find some difficulty in reaching bottom. this meant that presently there would be no further need of the push-pole, for they would have gotten out far enough to let the stream carry them along.
it was about this time that sounds came[193] stealing over the water, causing fresh alarm. all of them could make out the distinct creak of oars in rowlocks, being worked with a steady rhythm that told of experienced hands in the unseen boat.
then the next thing they heard was a low muttered word of command, which came from exactly the same quarter as the other noise.
a boat was passing toward the shore they had recently left. it must have come from over the river, and, as the monitor lay in that quarter, evidently those who had been sent out to investigate the status of the motorboat party had seen fit to pull straight across first, intending to follow the trend of the shore up to the camp.
jack had reason to believe they would pass down before the hostile boat drew close enough for any one to make them out; nevertheless, his heart seemed to cease beating for the moment, such was the intense anxiety that seized upon him.
