"I should say not," was Chester's reply.

CHAPTER IX.

TO THE RESCUE.

"It looks rather awesome, doesn't it?" said Chester.

"It certainly does," was Hal's reply.

The object of the boys' conversation was a long armored train, which stood on a siding. It was late in the afternoon, and the two lads, after having taken a long rest, and being relieved from active duty by the express command of General French, had strolled up to the temporary siding, where the huge engine now stood puffing and snorting.

It was the first time either of the two boys had ever seen this rapidly moving vehicle of warfare. The open flat cars were protected by thick sheets of steel, behind which were mounted many small guns and rapid-firers.

These armored trains already had given good accounts of themselves in other parts of the long line of battle, particularly in Belgium, in the earlier days of the struggle, and were things of terror to the German troops.

The train beside which the two lads now stood was ready for instant action. The gunners were at their posts, ready to go forward at a moment's notice. The engineer and firemen stood beside the huge engine.

In the distance the sound of firing could be heard, and occasionally a sh.e.l.l burst close to where the boys were standing. But they had been through their baptism of fire, and paid little heed to these messengers of death.

"They say that these trains have proven immense factors in sudden raids on the enemy," said Chester.

"Yes," agreed Hal, "and it is easy to see that among light armed troops they could do great execution. It would even take very heavy artillery fire to make an impression on those steel sides.

Besides----"

He broke off with a sudden exclamation.

"Look out," he cried, and leaped back, pulling Chester forcibly along.

A second later and there was a terrific explosion. A German sh.e.l.l had burst within a few feet of where the two lads had been standing.

A crowd of troopers, who had been idling about a few yards from the train, disappeared with the deafening report, and when the smoke had cleared away they were nowhere to be seen. They had been blown to atoms.

The boys rushed forward, but, even as they did so, they halted at the sound of a sudden cry, and, turning their faces up the track, they beheld a mounted officer galloping swiftly toward them. An officer dropped off one of the cars of the train, which, fortunately, had not been touched by the explosion, and hurried to meet the newcomer.

"Who is in charge of this train?" demanded the horseman, throwing himself from his mount without waiting for the animal to come to a stop.

"I am," was the officer's brief response.

"You are ordered to proceed forward at once under full speed," was the command. "The Tenth Royal Dragoons are hemmed in by at least 10,000 Germans two miles ahead, and unless you arrive in time they will all be slaughtered."

The officer in command of the train looked hurriedly about.

"Hicks!" he called loudly. "Hicks!"

There was no reply, and the officer shouted again. Then Hal stepped forward.

"If Hicks was your engineer," he said, "there is no use calling him.

He is dead."

"Dead?" exclaimed the officer.

"Yes; that sh.e.l.l struck right beside him. The fireman also was killed."

"Great Scott!" exclaimed the officer. "Then what am I to do? Hicks was the only engineer with us right now. The others have gone to their quarters, and by the time I could get them here it would be too late."

"Well," said Hal quietly, "if you want a volunteer, I am willing to tackle it for you."

"You?"

"Yes; I have made some slight study of a locomotive, and, while I have never run one any great distance, I have ridden many miles in the cab of an engine in lumber camps in the United States."

"And I can fire the engine," Chester broke in.

"Well," said the officer, "something has to be done at once; and, if you are willing to take a chance, so am I. Get aboard."

He turned and rushed hurriedly back to his car, while Hal and Chester leaped aboard the locomotive. In response to a signal, Hal released the brakes, gently opened the throttle, and the great engine began to forge slowly ahead.

Gradually the lad opened the throttle wider, and the huge locomotive commenced to gain momentum, until at last it was rushing along like some mad thing. Chester, in the meantime, was busy with a shovel.

A moment, it seemed to the two lads, and the sound of firing rose above the roar of the locomotive, and the spat spat of bullets against the armored sides could be heard. But Hal did not falter. Rather, the engine seemed to leap ahead with even greater speed.

From the rear came the signal to slow down, and, under Hal's firm hand, the terrific speed of the train was checked. Then also from the rear there came the sound of firing. The rapid-firers on the train had been unloosed, and their leaden messengers were spelling death in the ranks of the Germans, of whom the train was now in the middle.

Chester poked his head out the window of the cab, only to withdraw it quickly, as a bullet struck a quarter of an inch from his ear. But in that one brief glance he had taken in the situation.

A short distance ahead he could make out a small knot of British, almost surrounded by Germans. The British had taken their stand directly on the railroad track, the most strategic point for miles. A clump of small trees screened them from the enemy on one side, but from the other three directions the Germans were pouring in their deadly fire.

The British troops stood gallantly to their work, and returned volley for volley. They fought on doggedly. Suddenly the armored train shot up the line which the British were holding, and Hal brought it to an abrupt stop.

Right and left the train poured in broadsides of machine-gun fire, mowing down the Germans at every yard. The Germans fell in heaps, and, as if by a miracle, both sides of the track were suddenly lined with high piles of the dead.

The little troop of British received this unexpected aid with a great cheer, broke from cover and dashed in pursuit of the great ma.s.s of Germans, who now were fleeing on all sides.

But the success of the British was destined to be short-lived. Hal and Chester, in the cab of the locomotive, had just raised a loud cheer when there was a terrific explosion, followed by a thundering crash, and both lads were hurled violently to the floor of the cab.

Chester, with blood flowing from a gash in his forehead, was the first to pick himself up. In falling his head had come in contact with a sharp projection of some kind. He was terribly dizzy, but his head was still clear.

He stooped over Hal, and at that moment the latter raised himself on his elbow and then got to his feet unsteadily.

"Great Scott! What was that?" he gasped.

Chester did not reply. Instead he swung out from the cab and glanced back over the train--or rather where the train had been. And what a sight met his gaze!

The train of armored cars was gone. Alongside the track lay pieces of wreckage, and many bodies and pieces of what had once been machine guns.