The Children of France Part 3

"'Francois! What do you here?' she exclaimed.

"'I come to see my grandmother. But I see none of the enemy.'

"'Unhappy child, there are thousands of them over yonder. Do not go on, I beg of you. You surely will be shot.'

"'I go to see my grandmother. Good day, madame.' Francois plodded on across the fields in the direction indicated by the farmer's wife.

Suddenly he saw a troop of Prussian cavalry approaching him at a gallop.

"'Halt!' commanded the captain of the troop when they drew up near the boy. 'What do you here?'

"'Walking, sir. I go to see my grandmother who is ill.'

"The Prussian laughed. 'Do you not know that the villagers have been ordered to remain at home and that he who disobeys this order will be shot?' questioned the commander, sternly.

"'Ah, sir, that is well for the grown men and women, but for children who go to see their sick grandmothers--'

"'The order is for all. About face! March! You will be shot for your disobedience.'

"'But I must see my grandmother,' insisted the lad. 'She is ill, I tell you.'

"Two soldiers swung him about and marched him to their camp. As he neared the camp he saw many cannon and machine guns, large numbers of cavalrymen and infantry. He estimated as best he could how many of them there were. He saw, too, that the cannon were being placed so their muzzles pointed toward the river. Francois nodded wisely.

"'It is to shoot over to our side of the river,' he said to himself.

'One would not think they could shoot so far as our village. But they shall find our fine French cannon can shoot farther.'

"His reflections were broken in upon rudely when he was thrust into what proved to be the guardhouse. In reality he was _thrown_ in by the two soldiers who had picked him up and sent him sprawling on the floor. 'What less could one expect from a Boche?' he muttered. For aught he knew, he soon would get worse. A sentry was posted at the door and Francois was informed that if he tried to escape he would be shot then and there.

"The guard house also was used to store equipment in. There were, as he observed, many rifles stacked in rows and heaps of knapsacks, helmets and blankets. The only light in the cell-like room into which he had been thrust came in through a narrow window high up and far out of his reach, a window small like those in a prison cell.

"It was not a pleasant situation in which little Francois found himself, but what fears he had were for the people of his village and the French troops there. He already had used his eyes to good advantage, and now had a very clear idea of the size of the German force and its equipment. 'I shall make my escape and hasten back to tell our brave captain what I have seen,' he promised himself.

"Escape, however, was not so easy. The window was too high by several feet for him to reach and to go out through the door meant that he surely would be shot or bayoneted. His bright little eyes swept the room and instantly he saw a way of escape.

"'The bags!' he exclaimed, and straight-way began piling the knapsacks and blankets underneath the window. The pile grew slowly. At last it was high enough to permit the boy to reach the window sill with his finger tips by standing on tip-toe on the pile he had built up.

"He drew himself up easily, for Francois was strong, and peered out.

"'It is well that Francois is little, for the window is small even for a dog to squeeze through,' he muttered.

"Peering out to see what lay before him, he saw a garden in the rear of the building and beyond that fields with hedges and bushes, but there was not a soldier in sight on that side. The Prussians were busy on the other side of the building preparing for action.

"'All is well,' said Francois. A new idea came to him. He would take a German rifle and helmet with him as souvenirs and to prove to the French captain that Francois really had been in the camp of the Prussians. He helped himself to a rifle and a helmet, both of which he threw out into the garden. After a keen, sweeping glance about, the boy crawled out head first and let himself go. Francois nearly broke his neck in the fall to the ground, landing as he did on his head and shoulders. For a moment he lay where he had fallen, then staggered to his feet, dizzy and a little weak from the jolt. He started away without, as yet, having a clear idea as to which was the right direction for him to take. The boy dodged from bush to bush and, reaching a hedge, bored his way through it and skulked along the other side of it, dragging the rifle behind him, the German helmet tightly clutched under one arm.

"'Where am I? Ah! The village is to the left. I must turn back and start again,' he decided. This was risky, but there seemed no other course for him to follow. Retracing his steps for some distance he finally struck off in the right direction. When he came in sight of the stream he discovered that the bridge was so far away that he could not hope to reach it without being discovered.

"'But Francois can swim,' he told himself. 'He shall yet fool the Prussians. Look out! There they go!' German soldiers already were running toward the bridge, and he knew that his escape had been discovered. He believed, however, that he was far enough away so they would not see him.

"Francois swung the rifle over his shoulder and secured it there by its carrying strap, jammed the helmet tightly over his head and rolled down the bank into the river. The water was warm and the child was full of joy that he had outwitted his captors.

"Fortunately the river was not wide at this point, and on the opposite side was plenty of cover in the way of trees and bushes. But discovery came at about the time he reached the middle of the river. The sun, reflected from his bright metal helmet, had attracted the attention of the soldiers. A bullet splashed in the water to the right of him.

"'Huh!' he grunted. 'The Boches cannot shoot. Francois could shoot as good as that with his eyes shut. Bah! Shoot again.' O-u-c-h! A bullet had gone through the helmet, so low that it raked the top of his head.

It felt like a red-hot iron being drawn across the top of his head, and made his head swim dizzily.

"'It was a chance shot,' observed the boy. 'No Boche could shoot so true on purpose. I shall yet fool them.'

"Reaching the opposite sh.o.r.e he ran up the bank, not trying to conceal himself there. A bullet struck him in the shoulder, spun him around and laid him flat on the ground. He was on his feet almost instantly, shaking a fist at the Germans.

"'Shoot! I fear not your bullets,' he shouted. The boy then ran skulking from shrub to shrub until he reached the forest, into which he dashed. Both wounds were by now bleeding freely and his face was covered with blood from the scalp wound. He dashed on, not wholly certain of his direction, but, reaching the other side of the forest, found himself not far out of his way. From then on he trotted, keeping himself up by sheer pluck, for he was getting weak.

"Francois saw nothing more of the enemy, and finally he staggered into his village. A sentry, recognizing the German helmet, halted him some distance away, and after questioning him sent the lad to the captain.

"'Here, monsieur le Capitaine, see what I have taken from the Boches,'

he cried, upon espying the commander. 'Thick-heads, all of them! It is easy to fool the Boches.'

"'But, my boy, you are wounded. What has happened?' demanded the captain.

"'It is nothing; it was an accident. The Prussians. .h.i.t me by mistake.'

"The officer called a surgeon and while the lad's wounds were being dressed Francois related to the captain all that he had seen in the Prussian camp.

"'And they plan to come here soon,' he added.

"'What makes you think that?' asked the commander.

"'Because they have made the villagers stay in their homes. For what reason other than that do they wish to keep the villagers in? Again, they are fast making preparations to go into battle!'

"'You are a clever boy and a brave one,' cried the captain, enthusiastically. 'You may keep the rifle. You will be proud some day that you own it.'

"'I am proud now, monsieur le Capitaine, but I shall be more proud after you have whipped the Boches.'

"'That is good, but what can we do to reward you?'

"'Whip them quickly, that I may go to see my sick grandmother. I am much put out, sir, that I did not see her.'

"There was loud laughter at this, and at the earnest way in which it was said, but Francois never changed the sober expression of his face.

"'It shall be done. Reinforcements are coming and early this evening we shall go out to meet the Prussians. I promise you that you shall soon see your grandmother, Francois.' And he did, for, acting upon his information, the French forces were enabled to inflict heavy losses upon the Germans and drive them from that part of the country. A few days later Francois made the trip again, and this time did see his dear grandmother, but she was not so ill but that she could work in her garden.

"And that, my dear little friends, is the story of another little hero of France," concluded Captain Favor.

CHAPTER V

THE SACRIFICE OF LITTLE PIERRE