Joseph Alexander Altsheler

“ Apparently the house itself is abandoned by all save ourselves."
"I don't know the answer, but my watch tells me it's far in the night. We've had our sleep and rest, and we must try to slip by the Uhlans and get away. Now's the time too."
"Right you are, John," said Wharton, as he felt once more of his precious pocket. "We can't linger, and risk being caught in a trap here."
"But I hear somebody still moving about the chateau," said Carstairs. "Wait a minute, boys." ”

“ You mayn't have noticed it, but the chateau stands on a hill, with a clear sweep, and our wireless here is having a big talk with distant stations. We've been sleeping, but the Germans never sleep."
"I suppose you know what you're talking about, Wharton, and you're sure it's a wireless outfit," said John.
"It's impossible for me to be wrong. I could never mistake the sound of the wireless for anything else."
"And it's there on the roof of this chateau, which belongs to us by right of occupancy, chattering away to German forces elsewhere 1" said Carstairs in an indignant whisper. ”

“ A French force of more than one hundred thousand men, of which we have had no report before, faces our right. It is prepared to strike our line just where it is thinnest."
Another silence, and Wharton's heart beat hard and fast. John standing near him, did not know what was being said through the dark, but he knew by the look on Wharton's strained face that it must be momentous. The wireless was silent, and now he heard the measured tread of horses' hoofs, as the Uhlans rode back and forth, guarding the wireless station against the coming of any foe. ”

“ I'm going up there. All who are afraid can turn back."
"You know that if you're resolved to go mad we'll go mad with you. What do you want us to do?"
"John, club your automatic, and hit that officer on the back of the head with it. Hit hard. Don't kill him, but you must knock him unconscious at the first blow. Carstairs and I will choke all but a spark of life out of the operator."
The three emerged from the stairway upon the flat portion of the roof where the wireless plant had been installed not more than four or five feet away. ”

“ Riding with his comrades at night along the front he saw again the flashing of the German searchlights, and now and then came the mighty boom of the great guns.
Belgian refugees told them that the advance of the Germans was like the rolling in of the sea. Their gray hosts poured forward on every road. They would be going through a village, for hours and hours, for a day, a night and then the next day, an endless gray tide, every man perfectly equipped, every man in his place, hot food always read} for them at the appointed time, cavalry in vast masses, and cannon past counting. ”

“ They explored the rear of the house and found a door opening upon a narrow flagged walk, lined on either side with pines, and leading straight to the vineyard about thirty yards away. They could make a dash for it, and a Uhlan might or might not see them.
"And if they should see us," said Carstairs, "we could probably get away in the garden and the darkness."
"But we don't want 'em to discover what's happened on the roof," said Wharton. "Then they might send a new wireless. If we can slip away without being seen maybe they won't know what's happened to the wireless, until morning." ”

“ The skull isn't fractured at all, and he'll be reviving in a few minutes. He's a powerful fellow, and we'd better truss him up as we have his friend here."
While Carstairs and Wharton were binding and gagging von Boehlen, John went to the railing about five feet in height that surrounded the central or flat part of the roof, the rest sloping away. The railing would hide what was passing there from the Uhlans below, but he wanted to take a look of precaution. ”

“ The bridge was not broken down, and they inferred that it was within the lines of defense. An hour later they learned from a peasant that a British force was camped about fifteen miles north and west, and they induced him with good gold to drive them nearly the whole way in his cart. ”

“ The preceding night the three received places in wagons and slept heavily. By morning their strength was fully restored and pending the arrival of the Strangers, with whom they intended to remain they served as aides. ”