Boy Scouts -- Juvenile fiction; Courage -- Juvenile fiction; Spy stories; World War, 1914-1918 -- England -- Juvenile fiction
He gritted his teeth at the thought of it. Perhaps all was fair in love
and war, as the old proverb said. But this seemed like sneaky, unfair
fighting to him. There was nothing about it of the glory of warfare.
He was learning for himself that modern warfare is an ugly thing. He
was to learn, later, that it still held its possibilities of glory, and
of heroism. Indeed, for that matter, he was willing to grant the
heroism of the men who dared these things that seemed to him so
horrible. They took their lives in their hands, knowing that if they
were caught they would be hung as spies.
The truck was well into London now, and the dawn was full. A faint
drizzle was beginning to fall and the streets were covered with a fine
film of mud. People were about, and London was arousing itself to meet
the new day. Harry knew that he was near his journey’s end. Tired as
he was, he was determined to make his report before he thought of sleep.
And then, suddenly, around a bend, came a sight that brought Harry to
his feet, scarcely able to believe his eyes. It was Graves, on a
bicycle. At the sight of Harry on the truck he stopped. Then he
turned.
"Here he is!" he cried. "That’s the one!"
A squad of men on cycles, headed by a young officer, came after Graves.
"Stop!" called the officer to the driver.
Harry stared down, wondering.
"You there–you Boy Scout–come down!" said the officer.
Harry obeyed, wondering still more. He saw the gleam of malignant
triumph on the face of Graves. But not even the presence of the officer
restrained him.
"Where are those papers you stole from me, you sneak?" he cried.
"You keep away from me!" said Graves. "You–Yankee!"
"Here, no quarreling!" said the officer. "Take him, men!"
Two of the soldiers closed in on Harry. He stared at them and then at
the officer, stupefied.
"What–what’s this?" he stammered.
"You’re under arrest, my lad, on a charge of espionage!" said the
officer. "Espionage, and conspiracy to give aid and comfort to the
public enemy. Anything you say may be used against you."
For a moment such a rush of words came to Harry that he was silent by
the sheer inability to decide which to utter first. But then he got
control of himself.
"Who makes this charge against me!" he asked, thickly, his face flushing
scarlet in anger.
"You will find that out in due time, my lad. Forward–march!"
"But I’ve got important information! I must be allowed to see Colonel
Throckmorton at once! Oh, you’ve no idea of how important it may be!"
"My orders are to place you under arrest. You can make application to
see anyone later. But now I have no discretion. Come! If you really
want to see Colonel Throckmorton, you had better move on."
Harry knew as well as anyone the uselessness of appealing from such an
order, but he was frantic. Realizing the importance of the news he
carried, and beginning to glimpse vaguely the meaning of Graves and his
activity, he was almost beside himself.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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