And so they swept forward, dashing swiftly over the few miles of open ground toward the spot where the Germans were known to be entrenched.

The enemy greeted them with a hail of bullets, but they faltered not.

Men fell and horses dropped, but there was no hesitation among those left.

Now a bugle sounded, and they dashed on with greater ferocity than before.

Squadrons of German cavalry issued forth to meet them. They crashed with a terrible shock. The impact was terrific, and horses and riders on both sides reeled back.

But the Cossacks were the first to recover, and they spurred their horses into the thick of the enemy. The sweep of their lances and the fire from their automatics were deadly. There was no pause in the Russian attack.

Cutting and slashing, the squadron to which Hal, Chester and Alexis were attached was soon in the midst of the foe. Not unused to such encounters, the lads nevertheless found themselves hard put to keep their seats and ward off the blows of their foes.

But with each moment they gained confidence, and finally were fighting with the best of them. Hal caught a descending lance on his upraised sword, and raising his revolver took a snap shot at his opponent. The latter threw his arms high, and toppled from his horse. Chester, by a quick move, escaped a revolver shot aimed at him by a German officer, and the lad's own weapon spoke sharply. His aim was true, and the German dropped.

Now the Germans began to give ground. It was impossible to stand in the face of the terrible Cossack charge. The Russians pressed the retreating foe closely.

But now new forces of Germans dashed forward to drive back the Cossacks, or at least to protect the retreat of their companions.

The Cossacks dashed into these fresh troops with the same abandon they had first charged. But this time the result was different. Tired by the furious work, they were thrown back by the German reenforcements, and in spite of heroic efforts, were forced to retire slowly.

Flushed with this success, the Germans pressed on. The fighting was man to man, horse to horse, and hand to hand. Not for once had Alexis left the side of the two lads and none of the three had so far been injured, although men dropped on all sides of them.

Suddenly there came a command from Colonel Bluekoff.

"Charge!" he cried.

Immediately the squadron to which the lads were attached hurled itself forward once more, right into the thickest of the fray, in the face of overwhelming numbers. They dashed forward with the fury of madmen, shouting and yelling as they charged.

For a moment the Germans gave back, so terrible was the charge of this mere handful of Cossacks, but for a moment only; then they came on again. From all sides they bore down on the squadron, now completely cut off from the main body of troops, seeking to annihilate them.

There was no order to surrender from the German commander, nor would one have been heeded for the matter of that. At a quick command, the Cossacks formed a little square, back to back, and awaited the attack of the enemy.

It came upon the instant. Upon the Russian hors.e.m.e.n the Germans hurled themselves bravely, cutting and shooting as they came on. The Cossacks gave blow for blow, and in spite of the fierce charge, maintained their unbroken front, though men fell here and there. Unable to pierce this line of steel, the Germans drew off.

Given this little breathing s.p.a.ce, Hal and Chester, standing side by side, took in the scene about them. Of the little troop of Cossacks there remained now possibly a hundred men. Their support, the lads could see, desperately engaged elsewhere, would be unable to come to their a.s.sistance. It was up to them to fight it out alone.

Colonel Bluekoff was down, having been pierced a few moments before by a German bullet. Among these few men there were, besides Alexis, but two minor officers unharmed. At that moment Alexis himself took command.

His sword raised aloft, he turned flashing eyes upon his men.

"Will we surrender?" he shouted, and answered his own question: "No!"

A wild cheer from his men was the reply. The huge Cossack turned to the two lads.

"We will fight till the last," he said calmly. "Are you with us?"

"We are," said Hal simply.

"You bet!" Chester agreed.

"Good!" exclaimed Alexis.

He turned once more toward the enemy, who, it was evident, were preparing for another attack upon the little band. The latter stood quietly, awaiting the charge; and in a moment it came.

Urging their horses on at a gallop, the Germans came rapidly forward.

There was the clash of steel on steel as the enemy hurled themselves upon three sides of the little square simultaneously. Russians and Germans dropped together, fighting till the last.

But the odds against them were too great. Dense ma.s.ses of the Germans swooped down upon them, engulfing them, overpowering them. Hal, engaged with a big German officer, had just succeeded in parrying a thrust of the other's sword, when someone from behind struck him a heavy blow over the head. The lad fell from his horse without a sound.

Chester, seeing his friend fall, fought his way toward Hal. He was just about to leap from his horse by his chum's side, when a tall German trooper brought the flat of his sword down on the lad's head. Chester also went hurtling to the ground.

And now Alexis, with a few remaining men, was left to fight the enemy alone. His sword whirling around his head in great sweeps, and an empty revolver clutched tightly in his left hand; his teeth bared in a snarl and his eyes flashing angrily, this great Cossack stood off his foes.

Four men sprang upon him at once. Putting spurs to his horse, the giant dashed in between them. Two he cut down with lightning-like slashes of his sword, and a third he disposed of by hurling his empty revolver squarely into his face. The sword of the fourth pierced him through the left arm, but before the German could regain his balance after this thrust, Alexis' sweeping sword had laid him low also.

The giant Cossack was now the last of his troop in condition to fight.

Suddenly his horse staggered, and went to its knees. With a quick move, Alexis freed himself and leaped from the saddle just as the animal, dying from a pistol wound in its head, toppled to the ground.

Alexis leaped up lightly and turned again to face his foes.

A German officer urged his horse forward, seeking to ride him down. As the horse approached, Alexis fell on one knee, and the horse, pierced by his sword, fell to the ground. The officer leaped from the animal's back, but before he could bring his revolver to bear upon Alexis, the latter had pierced him through with a thrust of his sword.

A dozen of the enemy sprang upon him. With his sword sweeping around his head, seeming to make a circle of fire, the great Cossack held them at bay. One ventured to spring at him, and without even stopping the whirl of his weapon, Alexis dropped him at his feet.

More Germans sprang to the attack--ten, twenty, thirty of them.

Hopelessly outnumbered, and believing that the end was near, Alexis gave up his defensive tactics and leaped into the very midst of his foes. For a moment they gave way before him, then closed in again like a pack of hungry wolves. Here and there the giant's sword darted out and men dropped beneath its thrust.

Cutting and thrusting with his dripping sword, and striking out with his naked fist, Alexis fought on. A sword pierced him through the shoulder, but the man who had aimed the thrust paid the penalty with his life. Two men closed in, and as the Cossack struck out at the one on his left with his fist, the second German seized his sword arm.

With a roar like that of an angry bull, Alexis gave a mighty wrench, and the sword came free. At the same moment he felt a sting in his right arm. A bullet had struck him. The giant scarcely felt his wounds, although he was bleeding now in a dozen places. Before him, the ground was full of dark swaying faces. His sword found another human sheath, and being unable to withdraw it quickly enough to meet another of his foes, he left it there and turned upon his enemies with his bare hands.

He s.n.a.t.c.hed a revolver from the ground, and not taking time to aim, dashed it into the face of the nearest man, and then dashed forward, hitting out with his naked fists.

Vaguely he noticed the sameness of the faces about him. A short wiry man sprang at him, and with a broken sword, stabbed him in the left shoulder. Alexis caught him by the throat with his right hand, and the man gave a choking screech as he lifted him clear off the ground.

As he did so, someone behind him struck him a heavy blow on the head with the b.u.t.t of a revolver. With a last furious effort he turned upon his foes, and dashed the man he held by the throat full into their faces; fell forward upon the body and, with a great sob, he shuddered and lay still.

And there, on the battlefield on the plains of Poland, lay the bodies of the two American lads and, a short distance away, that of Alexis, the giant Cossack, their friend.

CHAPTER VI.

MARQUIS.

The Russian cavalry, outnumbered by the Germans, had continued to give ground and the Germans were still in pursuit. But now, from the distance arose a cloud of dust, and a moment later, in a headlong dash to save their companions, came a second body of Cossack cavalry, 5,000 strong, to give battle to the Germans.