Fighting in France Part 19

"How can they? They can't leave that tower by any other means than these stairs. They can't possibly escape."

"We must drive them out of there," insisted Armande.

"We will," exclaimed Jacques. "We want to plan the best way to do it though."

"You stand guard at the door," Armande directed one of the men. "Let us know if you see any sign of a German out there."

The soldier took his place and Armande advanced cautiously towards the foot of the stairway. The men were huddled together on the ground floor, irresolute as to what course they should now pursue.

Suddenly a hand-grenade came flying down the stairs, b.u.mped along on the last two steps and then came to rest in the center of the little group gathered there. It was plain to be seen that it was about to explode and that if it did so, practically the entire hand would be killed.

Quick as a flash one of the men threw himself down upon the deadly bomb. Hardly had he done so when it exploded. There was an ear-splitting roar and the soldier, Fische by name, was literally blown to pieces. No one else was harmed.

"He saved our lives," exclaimed Jacques feelingly. "Who was that?"

"Fische," replied one of the men.

"Well, we'd all be dead now if it hadn't been for his nerve and quick action. What a brave man he was!"

"That mustn't happen again," exclaimed Armande. "We must clean those rats out of the tower before it will be safe for us here."

"How are you going to do it?" inquired Jacques.

"Go up after them of course. Who will go with me!"

"I will, I will," cried a half-dozen voices eagerly.

"Come along then," exclaimed Armande, and advancing to the stairway he placed one foot on the bottom step and glanced up.

CHAPTER XV

THE FIGHT FOR THE TOWER

As Armande's foot touched the stairs, a bullet from above struck his steel helmet a glancing blow. The helmet was knocked from his head and he staggered back against the wall. Jacques sprang to his side at once.

"I'm all right," exclaimed Armande quickly.

"Are you hurt?" demanded Jacques.

"Not at all; it merely stunned me for a second," and Armande rubbed his head dazedly. "I'll be all right directly."

"You musn't try to go up those stairs again," exclaimed Jacques, as he spoke handing Armande back his helmet, which he had picked up from the floor.

"But we must get them out of that tower," insisted Armande.

"I know," agreed Jacques, "but we'll have to find some other way to do it."

"But how?"

"I think I know how," said one of the men stepping forward.

"What is your scheme, Lippen?" asked Jacques eagerly.

"If we only had a machine-gun we could soon bring them down."

"But how could we carry a machine-gun up those stairs?" demanded Jacques. "They'd shoot us down at their leisure."

"We won't take it upstairs," said Lippen quietly.

"What is your plan?"

"Send two men for a machine-gun. When they have brought it back we will set it up here and point it at the ceiling. When we have sent a few thousand bullets through the floor the Boches will come down fast enough."

"Why will they?" demanded Jacques. "I don't see just what you mean."

"They'll come down because they won't be able to help it," said Lippen grimly. "We'll blow a hole through the floor and they'll fall down."

"I believe you're right," exclaimed Jacques suddenly. "Who will go after a machine-gun?"

Several men immediately offered their services and two were quickly dispatched on the quest. It was a dangerous mission, as the Germans from their position in the tower could shoot from the windows and have anyone below almost at their mercy. In order to divert their attention from the two messengers the men in the chateau started a lively demonstration. A half-dozen hand-grenades were hurled up the stairs by the daring soldiers and a fusillade of rifle and pistol shots was directed towards the same spot.

Under cover of this bombardment the messengers slipped out of the chateau and in safety gained the shelter of the woods. The French attack had now carried the second line of German trenches so that the chateau was in territory held by them. The Germans, trapped in the tower, were cut off from their troops.

"They got away safely," Jacques, who had been watching the two messengers, reported to Armande.

"Good," exclaimed Armande. "I hope the scheme will work."

"What else could we do?"

"I should like to rush the stairs," said Armande. "We can do it."

"You saw what happened to you a moment ago when you tried it," Jacques reminded him. "Probably we could do it but what's the use in getting a lot of men killed when we can accomplish the same result in some other way?"

"Probably you 're right," Armande agreed. "I hate to wait though."

The men had now withdrawn to an alcove off the main hall. This new position afforded them control of the stairway without exposing them to the fire of their enemies. The piano was dragged over to their place of refuge and a barricade built in front of it in case the Germans should try to rash them.

"How many of the Boches do you think are up there?" asked Armande.

"No matter," laughed Lippen. "They'll all be down pretty soon and then we can count them."

At this moment the guard who had been set to watch for the return of the two men with the machine-gun signalled that they were in sight.

"Good," exclaimed Jacques. "Now let's let them have a few more grenades upstairs there just to show them that we're still alive."

This plan was carried out and a series of violent explosions from the room above showed that the grenades were effective. At the same time the sentry signalled the two messengers to advance. One of them carried the tripod of the gun and the other the barrel. At top speed they set out from the shelter of the trees and started across the open s.p.a.ce leading up to the entrance of the chateau.