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buy their own safety by betraying us." Major Tempe was speaking to the other officers, who thoroughly agreed with his opinion. Ralph and Percy had remained in the room, in case any further questions might be asked in reference to the proclamation. They now asked if anything else were required and, upon a negative answer being given, saluted and took
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their leave. It was dusk when they went out and, as they walked towards the schoolroom, they heard a great tumult of voices raised in anger, among which they recognized that of Tim Doyle. "Howld yer jaw, you jabbering apes!" he exclaimed, in great wrath. "Give me a lantern, or a candle, and let me begone. The boys are all
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waiting for me to begin." Hurrying up, they found Tim surrounded by a few of the principal inhabitants of the village, and soon learned the cause of the dispute. Supper was served, but it was too dark to see to eat it; and Tim--always ready to make himself useful--had volunteered to go in search of a light. He had in
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vain used his few words of French with the villagers he met, and these had at last called the schoolmaster, the only person in the village who understood French. This man had addressed Tim first in French and then in German and, upon receiving no coherent answer in either language, had arrived at the conclusion that Tim was making fun
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of them. Hence the dispute had arisen. The boys explained matters, and the villagers--whose knowledge of England was of the very vaguest description; and most of whom, indeed, had previously believed that all the world spoke either French or German--were profuse in apologies, and immediately procured some candles, with which Tim and the boys hastened to the schoolroom. Two candles
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were given to each company and--one being lighted at each end of the room, and stuck upon nails in the wall--the boys were enabled to see what the place was like. Clean straw had been littered, a foot deep, down each side of the room; and fifteen blankets were folded, side by side, along by each wall. Upon pegs above--meant
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for the scholars' caps--hung the haversacks, water bottles, and other accouterments; while the rifles were piled along the center of the room, leaving space enough to walk down upon either side, between them and the beds. At the farther end of the room was a large fireplace, in which a log fire was blazing; and a small shed, outside, had
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been converted into a kitchen. "We might be worse off than this, a long way, Ralph," said Louis Duburg, as Ralph took his place on the straw next to him. "That we might, Louis. The fire looks cheerful, too, and the nights are getting very cold." "That they are, Ralph. "Ah! Here is supper. I am quite ready for that,
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too." The men who officiated as cooks--and who, by agreement, had been released from all night duty in consideration of their regularly undertaking that occupation--now brought in a large saucepan full of soup; and each man went up with his canteen, and received his portion, returning to his bed upon the straw to eat it. "Anything new, Barclay?" one of
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the men asked, from the other side of the room. "Yes, indeed," Ralph said. "New, and disagreeable. Mind none of you get taken prisoners, for the Prussian General has issued a proclamation that he shall shoot all franc tireurs he catches." "Impossible!" came in a general chorus, from all present. "Well, it sounds like it, but it is true enough,"
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and Ralph repeated, word for word, the proclamation which he had translated to Major Tempe. As might have been expected, it raised a perfect storm of indignation; and this lasted until, at nine o'clock, the sergeant gave the word: "Lights out." In the morning, after parade, Ralph and Percy strolled away together and had a long talk and, at the
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end of an hour, they walked to the house where Major Tempe had established his headquarters. "Good morning, my friends," he said, as they entered. "Is there anything I can do for you? Sit down." "We have been thinking, sir--Percy and I--that we could very easily dress up as peasants, and go down to Saverne, or anywhere you might think
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fit, and find out all particulars as to the strength and position of the enemy. No one would suspect two boys of being franc tireurs. It would be unlikely in the extreme that anyone would ask us any questions and, if we were asked, we should say we belonged to some village in the mountains, and had come down to
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buy coffee, and other necessaries. The risk of detection would be next to nothing, for we speak German quite well enough to pass for lads from the mountains." Major Tempe was silent a minute. "You know you would be shot, at once, if you were detected." "No doubt, sir, but there is no reason in the world why we should
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be detected. The Prussians can't know everyone by sight, even within the town itself; and will not notice us, at all. If they do, our answer is sufficient." "I tell you frankly, boys, I was thinking only last night of the matter; but--however much you may make light of it--there is, of course, a certain amount of danger in acting
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as spies; and your father--my friend Captain Barclay--might say to me, if evil came of it: "'I gave you my boys to fight for France, and you have sent them to their death, as spies.' "So I resolved to say nothing about it." "But now we have offered, sir, the case is different," Ralph said. "From our knowledge of the
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language, and from our age, we are better fitted than anyone in the corps to perform this service; and therefore it would be clearly our duty to perform it, were it greatly more dangerous than it is. Our father said to us, at starting: "'Do your duty, boys, whatever the danger.' "We will see about our clothes--there can be no
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difficulty about that, there are several lads in the village whose things would fit us. Shall we come in this afternoon, for instructions?" "Thank you, lads," Major Tempe said, warmly. "I trust, with you, that no harm will come of it. But your offer is of too great advantage to the corps for me to persist in my refusal." Upon
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leaving the quarters of the commandant, the boys went at once to the house of a farmer a short distance from the village where, the day before, they had noticed two boys of about their own size. They explained to the farmer that they wanted to buy of him a suit of the working clothes of each of his sons.
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Greatly surprised at this request, the farmer had inquired what they could possibly want them for; and Ralph--who thought it better not to trust him with the secret--replied that, as the Prussian General had given notice that he should shoot all franc tireurs he might take prisoners, they wanted a suit of clothes, each, which they might slip on in
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case of defeat or danger of capture. The pretense was a plausible one; and the farmer sold them the required clothes, charging only about twice their cost, when new. The boys took the parcel and, instead of returning to the village direct, they hid it carefully in a wood, at a short distance away. They then returned and, in the
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afternoon, received detailed instructions from Major Tempe. It was arranged that the matter should be kept entirely secret, lest any incautious word might be overheard and reported. They were to start at daybreak, upon the following morning. Their cousins and Tim Doyle being--alone--taken into their confidence, their friends regretted much that they could not accompany them, and share their danger.
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The boys pointed out however that--even could they have spoken German fluently--they could not have gone with them as, although two strangers would excite no attention, whatever, five would be certain to do so. The next morning they started together, as if for a walk. Upon reaching the spot in the wood where the peasants' clothes were hidden, the boys
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took off their uniforms--which were wrapped up, and concealed in the same place--and put on the clothes. They fitted fairly; and more than that was not necessary, as peasants' clothes are seldom cut accurately to the figure. Rounding their shoulders, and walking with a clumping sort of stride, no one would have imagined that they were other than they pretended
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to be--two awkward-looking young Alsatian lads. They cut two heavy sticks, exchanged a hearty goodbye with their friends, and started for Saverne. Two hours later they were walking in its streets; staring into the shop windows, and at everything that was going on, with the open-mouthed curiosity of two young country lads. Then they made a few purchases--some coffee, sugar,
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and pepper--tied them in a colored pocket handkerchief, and then went into a small cabaret--where they saw some German soldiers drinking--sat down at a table, and called for some bread and cheese and beer. While they were taking them, they listened to the conversation of the soldiers. The only information that they gleaned from it was that the men seemed
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to have no expectation, whatever, of any early movement; and that they were heartily sick of the monotony of the place, and the hard work of patrolling the line of railway, night and day. Presently the soldiers paid for their beer, and left; and some of the townspeople came in, and took the places they had left. Their conversation, of
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course, turned on the Prussian occupation, and deep were the curses heaped upon the invaders. The only thing mentioned in their favor was the smallness of their number. There were not over two hundred men; and this amount weighed but lightly upon Saverne, compared with the fifty, sixty, or a hundred quartered at every little village along the line of
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railway. The boys had now learned what they most wanted to know and, paying for their refreshment, went out again into the street. Then they walked to the railway station--where they saw several soldiers, on guard--and then set off to a point where they could see the entrance to the tunnel. There two soldiers were on guard; while others were
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stationed, at short distances, all along the line. The boys now went up to a wood whence, unseen themselves, they could watch the trains passing. They came along nearly every half hour; immensely long trains, filled with stores of all kinds. As it became dusk, they saw a body of Prussian soldiers marching down the line; relieving the sentries, and
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placing fresh ones at distances of little more than fifty yards apart. These marched backwards and forwards, until they met each other; then returning, until they faced their comrade at the other end of their beat. "We can be off now, Percy," Ralph said, rising. "Our news is bad, for it will be by no means so easy to cut
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the line as we had expected. These weasels won't be very easily caught asleep." "No, indeed," Percy said. "The idea of cutting the line sounded so easy, when we were at a distance; but it is quite a different matter, now we are here." Upon their return they found--with some difficulty--the place where they had hidden their uniforms; again changed
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clothes, and then--carrying those they had just taken off, made up into bundles--they re-entered the village, and went straight to headquarters. Major Tempe was at dinner with the other officers, and received them with great pleasure; for he had been anxious, all day, lest any misfortune might befall them. Finding that they had had nothing to eat, since early in
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the morning, he at once invited them to sit down to dinner; for military discipline is far less strict in these matters, in France, than it is in England; and among the corps of franc tireurs especially--as among the English volunteers, where the private is in many cases equal to, or superior to, his officer in social standing--the difference of
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rank is very much put aside, except on duty. "And you say that they have a sentinel at every fifty or sixty yards, along the line?" Major Tempe said, when Ralph had given an account of their day's investigation. "That appears, to me, to be fatal to our plans." "Why so?" Lieutenant de Maupas--who commanded the first company--asked. "It seems
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to me that nothing could be easier. Suppose we fell upon any given point, the sentries near it would be at once killed, or made prisoners; and even allowing--as young Barclay says--that there are troops in all the villages, it would be a good half hour before a force, sufficient to disturb us, could arrive." "That is true enough," Major
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Tempe answered. "But what could we do, in half an hour? We might pull up two hundred yards of rail. What real advantage would be gained by that? The line of sentries along the rail would, by firing their rifles, pass the news ten miles, in half as many minutes; and the trains would be stopped long before they arrived
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at the break. Each train carries, I know, workmen and materials for repairing the line; and as it would be impossible for us to carry away the rails, after pulling them up, they would be replaced in as short a time as it took us to tear them up; and the consequence would be that the traffic would only be
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suspended for an hour or two, at most. For a break to be of any real utility, whatever, it must last for days, if not for weeks. "The great coup, of course, would be the destruction of the rock tunnel of Saverne, which was the special object of our presence here. Failing that, we must try a bridge. The tunnel,
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however, is the great affair. Once destroyed, there would be no repairing it, for many weeks. My proposition is, therefore, that we turn our attention at once to that point." There was a general murmur of assent. "The best course would be for Hardin's company to march direct to the other end of the tunnel, seize it, and prevent interference
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from that end; while the others then seize the Saverne end, and hold it while preparations are made for blowing it up. Then, when the match is lighted, fall back--if possible--before the arrival of heavy bodies of the enemy." "Nothing could be better," Lieutenant de Maupas exclaimed, and the other officers agreed with him. "What day do you propose for
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the movement?" "The day after tomorrow, at daybreak," Major Tempe said. "That will give us plenty of time to send orders to the other two companies; and the sooner it is done, the better." The conference was about to break up, when the surgeon--who had listened in silence--said: "The general plan is simple enough but, tell me, how do you
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propose to set about blowing the tunnel up? You may be able to hold it for half an hour, at most. How do you think of proceeding?" Major Tempe and his officers looked at each other. They had not, as yet, thought the matter over; but the instant it was put plainly before them, they saw the difficulty. "Oh," Lieutenant
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de Maupas said, confidently, "we shall, of course, put the nitroglycerine somewhere in the middle of the tunnel, and blow the whole affair up." Lieutenant de Maupas had been a sailor; and his quickness of decision and go-ahead, straight-forward way of doing everything made him, at once, a favorite and an amusement to the men; who had nicknamed him "Grande
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Vitesse," or, as we should say in English, the "Express." "I am afraid the matter is rather more difficult than you imagine, De Maupas," Major Tempe said, with a smile. "This is in Ribouville's way; as he was in the Engineers, he will know all about it." The officer named, however, did not reply for some little time; but sat
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with his head on his hand, in deep thought. "I feel ashamed to own it," he said, at last; "but I really do not know how one could set about the matter so as to have a chance of really destroying the tunnel, after so short a time for preparation. Were the tunnel an ordinary, brick-lined tunnel, the proposition of
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De Maupas--slightly modified--would no doubt have the effect of bringing down the brick lining, and the earth behind would fall in, of itself; but with a tunnel cut in the solid rock, it would be difficult. The natural strength of the tunnel would be so great that the force of the explosion would simply be lost, through the ends. It
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might or might not bring down a few masses of rock, but one could not rely upon it doing even that. "If I had time, the matter would be easy enough. I should make a deep chamber in the solid rock, at the side of the tunnel; insert my charge, and then tamp or fasten it in, with masonry. This
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would ensure its destruction, at the point of explosion; but I have no hope of any great damage being done, by merely putting two barrels of nitroglycerine down upon the line, and then firing them. I can assure you the point mooted by the doctor is more serious and, as far as I see at present, I could do nothing
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in half an hour which would, in any way, ensure the destruction of the tunnel. To make such a chamber as I speak of to hold two barrels of nitroglycerine would be the work of four or five days, working night and day--even with the aid of powder--and of course, it would be out of the question to hope for
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as many hours." There was a pause of consternation, as Lieutenant Ribouville spoke. Here was the end of the grand scheme, from which they had expected so much. At this time, the Germans had no other line of rail at their command; and the destruction of the tunnel would have been a disaster, equal to that of the loss of
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a pitched battle. "There would be no chance, would there, of our hiding in the woods under which the tunnel runs; so as to bore down to it, and blow it in from above?" Major Tempe asked. "None whatever. The depth to be bored would be considerable. The stone is hard, and it could not be pierced without the use
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of powder, which would betray our presence; and even could we use it, and were the men all good miners, it would be a work of months, at the very least." There was a silence for some minutes, and then the commandant said: "We cannot give it up, without a trial. Think it over, Ribouville, for the next three or
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four days. You may be able to pitch upon some plan. If you cannot do so, we must at least try the experiment of exploding our nitroglycerine in the middle of the tunnel--or, at any rate, as far in as we can carry it--and make our retreat in the half hour, which is all the time we can calculate upon
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holding the entrance." : A Baffled Project. Before leaving the headquarters of the commandant, the young Barclays asked if he wished that they should continue to keep silence upon the subject of their expedition. The commandant replied that he did not see that it could do any harm, provided that they impressed upon their comrades the necessity of maintaining an
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absolute silence upon the subject, when any of the people of the neighborhood were present. Although the villagers might appear to understand no language but German, they might yet know enough French to glean what was said and, if traitorously inclined, to warn the Germans, and thus enormously increase the danger when the Barclays should again go down to the
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town. Their cousins had already heard of their return; for the boys, upon sitting down to dinner at the commandant's, had requested leave to send a line to their cousins, who would be anxiously expecting them. "Hallo! You Barclay, where have you been to, all day?" was the general exclamation, as they entered. "On duty," Ralph said. "On duty--yes, but
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what duty? The Duburgs have been mysterious, and would say nothing. The sergeant here knew nothing about it, except that our lieutenant told him that you had leave; and Irish Tim has been hanging about all day, as restless as a cow that has lost its calf." "We have been down to Saverne," Ralph said. There was a general exclamation
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of astonishment. Those of the men who had already lain down upon their straw for the night sat up again, and all crowded round to hear Ralph's story, which he at once told at length; and which, when finished, gave rise here--as it had done at the officers' table--to an animated discussion. Several of the men shook hands warmly with
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the Barclays, congratulating them on their offer to undertake this dangerous service, and upon the valuable--though unfavorable--information which they had obtained. From this time forward, the men ceased to attempt to pass jokes at the expense of any of the boys. When the corps was first raised, many of the young men had been inclined to protest against boys being
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accepted, when the list could have been readily filled with men but, by this time, the boys had proved that they were quite as capable of supporting fatigue as were the men. They had behaved equally well in action; and now the enterprise of the Barclays testified to the fact that, in a dangerous expedition requiring coolness, presence of mind,
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and nerve, they were equally to be relied upon. Henceforward there was no distinction, or difference, between the various members of the corps. Another four days passed and--as the ex-officer of Engineers could suggest no certain plan, for the destruction of the tunnel, which could be carried out in the time which a surprise of the sentries at its mouth
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would give them--Major Tempe resolved upon delaying no longer; but on sending four men into the tunnel, under Lieutenant Ribouville, with instructions to go as far as they could in a quarter of an hour, to set down the barrels against the rock, to light a fuse cut to burn a quarter of an hour, and then to return at
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full speed to the mouth of the tunnel. One company was to seize the other end, to tear up seven, eight, or ten rails, and to retire at once into the woods; as the delay in getting the rails into their places again would prevent any train entering, from that end, in time for its occupants to see and extinguish
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the burning fuse. The other company--which was absent--was to join the headquarters, the evening before the attempt; and it was hoped that the three companies would be able to keep the enemy at bay for half an hour, so as to give time to the party with the nitroglycerine to take it to the required position, and rejoin their comrades.
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Immediately upon their doing so the retreat was to commence; as the enemy could not possibly penetrate the tunnel, and extinguish the fuse, before the explosion took place. The attempt was not to be made till the following evening; in order that the Barclays might go down, and see that all was as before at Saverne, and along the line.
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The next day, accordingly, the boys again put on their disguises and started; as before, taking the precaution to change in the wood, so as not to be seen by any of the villagers. Upon reaching the spot from which a view of the tunnel was obtainable, they stopped, with a simultaneous exclamation of dismay. Not only were two sentries
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stationed near the entrance; but some fifteen or twenty German soldiers were sitting or standing by a small building, at a short distance, which had evidently been turned into a guard house. "This looks very much against us, Ralph. One would think that they had got information of our being near." "It looks bad, indeed, Percy. Let us go on
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into the town. We shall, perhaps, learn something about it, there." A sharp walk soon brought them to Saverne. A sentry was on duty at the entrance to the town, and several of his comrades stood near. The sentry looked as if about to stop them; but seeing, when they came up, that they were only boys, he let them
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pass without question. "Worse and worse, Percy. Something is up, sure enough." This became more evident at every step they took, for the little town was absolutely crowded with German soldiers. "Unless they are merely halting here, upon their march through, it is all up with our plan, Percy. There must be over two thousand men here, at the very
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least." Upon questioning a lad of the town, of about their own age, they found that the fresh troops had arrived upon the preceding day; the infantry--two thousand strong--coming in by train, late in the evening before; and three hundred cavalry marched in, only half an hour before the boys' arrival. They were all quartered upon the inhabitants, and there
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appeared to be no sign of their early departure. For some time the boys walked about, without obtaining any information; although they entered a dozen cabarets, and drank considerable quantities of beer. At last, before one of the principal cafes, they saw ten or twelve German officers sitting, talking. None of the inhabitants were sitting at the cafe; and the
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boys dared not go in to ask for anything, there, as it would not have been in accordance with their appearance. "How are we to get within hearing, Percy?" "Look here, Ralph; I will limp along, as if I had something in my shoe which hurts me. Then I will sit down on a doorstep, close to them, and take
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off my boot. You can sit down, too, and take some of the bread and cheese which we put in our pockets, because we could not eat it at the last place we went in. I will keep my boot off, to ease my foot; and we can eat our bread and cheese, as slowly as we like." "That will
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do capitally, Percy." In another couple of minutes the two lads were sitting, as agreed, upon the step of a door close to the cafe. They could not hear all that was said; but could catch the sense, as the German officers--as is their custom--spoke in a very loud voice. They belonged to the infantry; and were, it appeared, in
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ignorance of the reason of their sudden move to Saverne. Presently a captain of the cavalry came along the street. "Ah, Von Rausen," a major in the infantry exclaimed, "are you here? I have not seen you since the day you marched from Coblentz." "No, indeed, major," the other said, saluting--as a Prussian officer always does, to his superior in
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rank--the other infantry officers all rising, and saluting in turn. "We have just come in from Hagenau." "Are you in a hurry?" asked the major. "If not, sit down and let us talk." The cavalry officer accepted the invitation and, for a few minutes, their talk ran upon mutual friends. Then the major said: "By the way, do you know
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what we are here for? We were bustled off at a moment's notice; no one knows why, except of course the colonel, and he has not thought necessary to tell us and, naturally, we have not asked him." "Do you not know?" Captain Von Rausen said. "It is no secret--at least, no secret from us, but a secret from the
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people here. I will speak in French; no doubt there are plenty of spies about." "There is no one in hearing," the major said, "except those two stupid-looking lads, munching bread and cheese." "The more likely to be spies," Von Rausen said. "Fellows who look like fools are just the people chosen." "Well, speak in English then, Von Rausen," the
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major said; "we both understand it, and we should be safe, then, if all Saverne were listening." "Yes, that will be safe. "Well, then, the general received information, yesterday, that that corps of franc tireurs who cut up our cavalry near Blamont, the other day, are hid up in some village in the woods, four or five miles from here;
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no doubt with the intention of making an attempt to blow up the tunnel. The idea is a daring one and, if the plan had succeeded, it would have done us incalculable harm. As it is, we are safe; and tomorrow night we shall, I believe, make an expedition, and sweep the woods clear of these troublesome gentry. "These franc
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tireurs will be mischievous if we do not give them a sharp lesson. The general's proclamation gave notice that every one of them taken would be shot, and our colonel is just the man to carry out the order." "This is indeed important," the major said. "But how did we get the information? Is it certain?" "Quite certain. A scoundrel
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of a schoolmaster at Grunsdorf--a village somewhere up in the woods--turned traitor; and sent a letter to the general, bargaining that he should be taken on as a spy, at some fabulous salary, and offering to begin by leading the troops to the village where these franc tireurs are hidden." "An infamous scoundrel!" the major said warmly. "Of course, one
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cannot refuse to deal with traitors, when the information is of importance; but one longs to put a pistol bullet into them. Badly as the French have come out in many particulars, since the war began, there is not one which gives me such a mean idea of them as the number of offers which have been sent in to
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supply information, and betray their countrymen." "Put on your boots, Percy," Ralph said, in a low voice. "It is time for us to be off. Don't hurry; and above all, if they should take it into their heads to address us suddenly in French, or English, don't start or seem to notice." The major was, however, so absorbed in the
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information he had received--and so confident that the English, in which it had been told, would be unintelligible to anyone who might overhear it--that he paid no attention to the boys who--one of them limping badly--went slowly down the street; stopping, occasionally, to look in at the shop windows. It was not until they were fairly outside the town, and
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out of sight of the German sentries, that they either spoke or quickened their pace. "The franc tireurs of Dijon may thank their lucky stars that they sent down spies to Saverne today, Percy; and especially that we, of all the members of the corps, were selected. If we had not been where we were, just at that moment, and
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if we had not understood English, it would have been all up with the corps, and no mistake." "What an infamous scoundrel, as the major said, that schoolmaster must be, Ralph! What do you think the commandant will do?" "He has nothing to do but to retreat, as quickly as we can go, Percy; but if it costs him half
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the corps, I hope he will hang that schoolmaster, before he goes." "I hope so, too," Percy said; and scarcely another word was spoken, until they reached the village. It was still early, scarcely two o'clock, and Major Tempe was drilling the whole corps--the two detached companies having arrived that morning--when the boys, having again put on uniform, approached him.
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Major Tempe nodded to them, as they came up. "You are back early," he said. "You are excused from drill. I will see you at my quarters, when it is over." "If you please, major," Ralph said, respectfully, "you had better dismiss the men, at once. We have news of the highest importance to tell you." The major looked surprised
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but, seeing by the boys' faces that the news was very serious, he at once dismissed the men; telling them to keep near, as they might be wanted. Then, calling his officers, he proceeded at once with the Barclays towards his quarters. "Excuse me, major," Ralph said, "but instead of going to your quarters, would you move to some open
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space, where we can speak without a possibility of being overheard by anyone?" Still more surprised, Major Tempe led the way to some felled trees at the edge of the forest, a short distance from the village. Here he sat down, and motioned to the others to do the same. Ralph then told his story, interrupted many times by exclamations
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of rage, upon the part of his auditors; and giving full credit to Percy for his idea of the plan by which, unnoticed, they had managed to get within hearing of the German officers. The fury of the French officers knew no bounds. They gesticulated, they stamped up and down, they swore terribly, they were ready to cry from sheer
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rage. Major Tempe, alone, uttered no remark during the whole narration. When it was concluded, he sat silent for a minute or two; with his lips pressed together, and a look of deep indignation on his face. Then he rose, and said in a solemn tone: "As sure as the sun shines, and as sure as my name is Edward
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Tempe, so sure shall that schoolmaster, of Grunsdorf, be hung before tomorrow morning! "Lieutenant Ribouville, order the assembly to be sounded, and form the men here in hollow square. "Messieurs Barclay, you will fall in with your company." A little surprised--and hurt that the commandant had said no word of commendation to them, for the service they had performed--the boys
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hurried off to their quarters, to get their rifles. "Sure, Master Ralph, and what is the matter, at all?" Tim Doyle said, as they entered. "Sure the major, honest man, must have gone off his head, entirely! Scarcely had we finished our male, and began to smoke the first pipe in aise and comfort, when the bugle blows for parade.
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"'Confound the bugle!' says I, and I shoved me pipe aside, and put on my belt and fell in. "Hardly had we begun the maneuvers when your honors arrived and said a word, private, to the major. The words weren't out of your mouth before he dismisses us from drill. "'Botheration!' says I, 'is there no pace for the wicked?'
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"Back I comes again, and takes off me belt and piles me firelock; and before I had got three draws at me pipe, and was just beginning to enjoy the creetur when, crack! and there goes the assimbly again. Sure and the major, honest man, has lost his head entirely; and it's a pity, for he is an illegant man,
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and a good officer, says I." "Come along, Tim," Ralph said, laughing, "else you'll be late for parade. You will hear all about it in time, I have no doubt." In five minutes the men were all assembled in a hollow square, two deep, facing the officers in the center The men saw at once, by the faces of Major
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Tempe and the officers, that something very serious had happened; and they had no sooner taken their places than there was a deep hush of expectancy, for it was evident that the commandant was about to address them. "My men," he said, after a pause of a minute or two, "a great calamity has happened; and a still greater one
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