“it must be a bridge they’re building,” said josh presently, “because just then i saw a light move along, as if held by some one who was running.”
sounds began to reach them at the same time, which were very significant. on the whole jack realized that there could no longer be the slightest doubt about the fact that the austrians were pushing out a pontoon bridge with all the haste they could throw into the undertaking.
already they seemed to be much more than half-way across the river, having, no doubt, selected a place where it was not unusually wide. and what were the serbs doing all this while? had they been caught napping, so that when the dawn broke the enemy would have secured a firm footing on the southern bank of the disputed river and could move the balance of his forces across at his leisure?
it looked that way, though jack doubted it very much. from what he had read and heard[207] of the people of the smaller kingdom he believed they were too smart not to see through the device of the enemy. he rather fancied they were in force somewhere in the darkness shrouding the southern bank, and that just when the austrians were congratulating themselves on having met with splendid success something was scheduled to happen calculated to give the invaders a surprise.
jack realized that it was folly for them to continue down the river. if the pontoon bridge had already reached a point three-quarters of the way across, the workers on it would quickly discover the oncoming motorboat. indeed, the chances were the craft must bump up against one of the pontoons and could get no further.
this would be bad enough, but jack fancied there was something ten times more dreadful awaiting them if they reached the swaying structure. should the waiting serbs conclude the time had come to put an end to this bridge building, a hurricane of shot and shell would be hurled across the scanty water separating them from the shore, and few there would be who could escape the rain of missiles.
that was no place for neutrals, jack decided. the only thing that remained for them to do was to make speedily for the shore. to accomplish[208] this desired end it would be necessary for them to start up the engine at once, though jack meant to keep the muffler in place and cut out all the noise he could, not wishing to draw attention to that quarter.
that was where the benefit of preparedness came in handy. it took him but three seconds to accomplish what he wanted to do. following the cranking there came a series of explosions that were not very loud, and immediately the boat started off at a lively clip.
every one waited with more or less nervousness to see if anything happened, but not a shot was fired. those at work on the swinging bridge were in too feverish a condition of making haste to bother about a few spluttering sounds like that; while the concealed serbs, if there were really any such near by, did not want to disclose the fact of their presence in the vicinity by doing anything prematurely.
jack immediately swung the boat around and headed up-stream again. he fancied they were a little too close to the pontoon bridge-builders for safety if anything did happen, as he fully expected would be the case.
when he had gone a short distance he headed for the southern shore, meaning to come to the land and stay there until something was decided, one way or the other.
[209]
“slow up, jack!” exclaimed josh, who was shading his eyes with his hand, though more from habit than because he thought it aided him in seeing. “we’re close to the bank now.”
cutting off the power, jack allowed the boat to glide forward. george had taken up the push-pole, and with this he proceeded to help things along. so they presently came into shallow water and ran aground close to the shore, which stood out above them against the gray sky, there being something of a small bluff.
so far everything had worked well. jack felt they had reason to be more than satisfied with the progress made. here they could remain in secret and await coming events. if the bridge were finished, and the austrians commenced passing over, the boys would have to make some new plans looking to the future. everything depended on the next half hour.
the furious hammering up on the distant heights across the river still continued, and serbian guns answered every shot, so that it might not appear they were either lacking in ammunition or courage.
there was a stir in the middle of the boat. jack could easily guess that the two passengers were aware of the fact that they could easily spring over the side and find their feet pressing[210] their native soil. now was the time for them to go ashore. they could either flee to the interior or else risk everything in entering the capital after the bombardment had ceased once more, in search of the mother, who had been last heard from there.
the boy gripped each one of them by the hand. what he said they could not understand, though it was easy to guess the meaning of his warm words of thanks. they had each one of them to kiss the little girl, for josh boldly started it and no one wished to be left out.
after that the serbian lad jumped over the side, standing in water up to his ankles, and lifted his sister to dry ground. the four motorboat chums saw them no more, but they would always remember the incident with pleasure.
after the two had gone jack breathed more easily. he felt that he could face the future, no matter what it had in store for them, with a better spirit, now that the pretty little girl had been removed from danger in their company. besides, it must always be a source of satisfaction to himself and mates to remember that they had been enabled to prove of more or less assistance to those who were in deep trouble, with no way out of the difficulty save by the help of the american lads.
[211]
“i wonder now if the serbs are asleep at the switch while all this thing is going on below here?” george said, after a little more time had passed, and they could hear the working human beavers on the pontoon bridge more plainly than ever.
“don’t you believe it,” josh told him. “look up and see what a splendid ambush this little bluff would make. well, take my word for it, down below there serbs are crouching in bunches, waiting with their machine guns until just when it seems the bridge is going to be joined with the shore. then you’ll hear something drop!”
“my stars!” muttered buster, “i wouldn’t want to be one of those poor fellows at work with those pontoons, not for all the gold in king solomon’s mine i wouldn’t. they won’t have a ghost of a show, i’m afraid.”
“but we’re far enough away from the place not to be in danger—how about that, jack?” george went on to say in a cautious tone.
“only a random shot could come this way, if the austrians on the other shore start things going. i don’t believe they will, because they’ll be afraid of hitting their own men.”
“this is exciting, all right,” ventured josh.
“well, better all keep still again,” jack remarked; “we might attract some attention, you know, and that’s the last thing we want to[212] do right now. if the bridge is destroyed we can wait a while until things cool off, and then try our luck again, dropping down with the current.”
they kept as well behind the side of the boat as possible, acting on jack’s advice, though the thin shell could hardly serve as a means of protection in case a projectile of any sort came that way.
once more the minutes dragged fearfully, though their suspense was hardly of the same personal nature as before. it seemed to buster that there was a mine to be exploded out there on the river, and that those soldiers who were working feverishly to complete the bridge must be directly over it. any second now they might expect to hear a dreadful crash, and catch the shouts of those who were in range of the firing, as well as the rending of the boats under the rain of missiles.
nearer still the austrian bridge builders were coming. they had been well trained in their business, those army engineers, and worked methodically, even while laboring under a tremendous strain both of body and mind.
jack, chancing to come in contact with buster, found the other shivering as if he had the ague. he knew that it was due to agitation[213] consequent upon excitement. doubtless the beads of perspiration were rolling down buster’s cheeks at the same time, even though the night air was rather chilly now instead of being warm.
jack was glad he had been wise enough to come back up the river some little distance before reaching land. if the austrian batteries turned some of their guns on that shore later, the boys would stand less chance of being hit when the mighty shells exploded along the bluff.
“oh! i wish it was all over with!” groaned josh, upon whom the dreadful suspense was telling terribly.
hardly had he said this than the very atmosphere about them seemed to be rent with a tremendous explosion. a gun had been fired not far away, for the fire blazed forth from the little bluff almost over their heads. there was heard a dreadful rending of planks and boats, accompanied by shouts and shrieks.
this was the opening gun.
almost immediately there leaped from the shore below the boys what looked like a long zigzag line of fire. accompanying it came the discordant grinding of numerous machine guns, sending a constant stream of missiles out there upon the swaying pontoon bridge.
[214]
the darkness was for the time being dispelled, and the boys saw with staring eyes such a vivid picture as comes seldom in the lives of any one not a soldier. it fascinated even while appalling them by its horrible reality.
the constant flashing of the rapid-fire guns dazzled their eyes, but at the same time they could see the strange low bridge built upon the aligned pontoons. it had been hastily but fairly well constructed, considering that the workmen had to handle their tools in almost utter darkness. instinct and long practice had to take the place of eyesight.
they were swarming like bees all over the structure even then, some carrying planks and others hurrying back for new burdens. just on the down-river side the boys could catch glimpses of many who seemed to be pushing other pontoons out, by holding on to the part of the bridge already finished. these they expected to use in filling the remaining gap between the present terminus of the bridge and the intended anchorage on the bank.
alas! they were never given the opportunity to carry out their well-laid plans. that hurricane of lead and iron was sweeping everything before it. men were going down by dozens; some plunged from the bridge into the river, seeking to take the chances of being[215] drowned to the certainty of death in that hailstorm of deadly messengers.
every conceivable manner of outcry could be heard. men shrieked, and shouted, and probably swore in their own language. they were sprawled out all over the shuddering bridge, some crawling, others perfectly still. it seemed to be a regular shambles the wide-awake serbs had made of that promising pontoon bridge. instead of being “asleep at the switch,” as one of the boys had hinted, it seemed that they had set a sly trap, and simply bided their time, waiting until the enemy had almost completed his work before setting out to demolish it.
again the boys heard that larger gun somewhere close by give tongue. as they continued to stare as though spellbound they saw that this time the gunner had planned to smash the bridge half-way across. true had been his aim, for the missile cut a passage completely through the pontoons, leaving a gap some four feet or more wide there.
josh gave vent to a cry; he could no longer suppress the emotion that seemed to be overpowering him. unless he did something, or said something, he would begin to believe it must all be a horrible nightmare.
“look, oh! look!” was what he exclaimed[216] shrilly, forgetting all need of caution, for the guns were still grinding forth with that weird strain that, once heard, could never be forgotten; “they’ve smashed the bridge over there with that shell! this half of it is beginning to break up and float away with the current. it’s all going to pieces, i tell you!”
they could see that josh had not overestimated the terrible damage that had been wrought by that cleverly aimed shell. deprived of its supports, the near end of the line of pontoons had already yielded to the drag of the current and was beginning to pass down-stream. as it went it also commenced to break into smaller sections. here a boat sank, having been pierced by some of the numerous bits of flying metal. again others broke away and floated off by themselves, often with dead or living freight.
the whole surface of the water seemed to be dotted with innumerable fragments of what only three minutes before had been a splendid specimen of engineering skill. the serbs had waited until just the right time to strike their blow. they had made it felt, too, for the austrian losses must have been terribly severe. more than that even, the injury to the morale of the dual kingdom’s troops must have counted for a whole lot, while renewed confidence[217] would be the portion of the defenders of the southern bank.
it was almost like a strange dream to some of the boys. buster, who had gazed at the wonderful spectacle with distended eyes, might have been noticed to pinch himself violently on the leg, as though hardly able to believe that he was really awake and looking at such a picture of war’s horrors.
the firing had mostly stopped by now, only that big gun sent another shell over, and succeeded in cutting another third of the pontoons loose, to be carried down-stream in a state approaching chaos.
once again did darkness fall like a merciful curtain upon the scene. the boys were glad to have its horrors shut out from their sight. never so long as they lived would they be likely to forget that smashing of the pontoon bridge.
