The Boy Allies in the Baltic; Or, Through Fields of Ice to Aid the CzarHayes, Clair W. (Clair Wallace)
General
The Boy Allies in the Baltic; Or, Through Fields of Ice to Aid the Czar
Hayes, Clair W. (Clair Wallace)
World War, 1914-1918 -- Baltic Sea -- Juvenile fiction; World War, 1914-1918 -- Naval operations -- Juvenile fiction
Jack shouted aloud as he continued to run toward the row of sleighs.
Turning his head, he looked over his shoulder and saw that Boris too had
eluded the men with whom he had been struggling and was running after
him.
"Come on, Boris!" he cried, but Boris needed no urging and his feet
seemed to fly over the ground. For a man of his size his speed was
nothing short of remarkable.
Jack reached the row of sleighs well in advance of Boris. Of these
conveyances there were four in all. Jack slapped the horses attached to
three of the sleighs sharply and they dashed off. The fourth would have
followed, but Jack leaped in, seized the reins and checked the animals.
Then he waited calmly for Boris, who came rapidly toward him.
Jack still held one of General Surgoff's revolvers in his right hand,
his left being sufficient to hold tight the reins. The lad saw one of
the Russian guards stop in his tracks, throw his rifle to his shoulder
and take aim at Boris.
Gripping the reins tighter with his left hand, the lad raised his
revolver and fired quickly. The man who was aiming at Boris fell to the
ground. Panting loudly, Boris now reached the sleigh and jumped in.
Immediately Jack fired his revolver over his horses' heads and shook the
reins over their backs.
"Giddap!" he shouted.
It is extremely doubtful if the animals understood Jack, but the reins
slapping on their backs and the nearness of the revolver shot did the
work. The animals dashed off with a jump.
Now from behind came the command Jack had been expecting. General
Surgoff, seeing his victims about to make their escape from beneath his
very eyes, shouted:
"Shoot!"
A volley of rifle bullets flew overhead and all about them. But none
struck home and the horses continued their mad dash. A second and a
third volley came with no better result.
"The fools!" muttered Jack. "Why don't they shoot one of the horses."
Apparently the guards had not thought of that, for no bullet came near
the flying animals. Stooping low in the sleigh, Jack and Boris heard the
whine of the bullets as they sped past. Several struck the back of the
sleigh and were imbedded in the wooden seat.
But at last the flying horses drew the two fugitives out of range,
whereupon Jack immediately checked their pace.
"No use wasting horseflesh unnecessarily," he said to Boris.
"Not a bit," was the rejoinder. "Say, that was a bit of quick work,
wasn't it?"
"It was," agreed Jack.
"But what did you shoot at me for?" demanded the Russian.
"Shoot at you?" exclaimed Jack in surprise. "I didn't shoot at you."
"Why, you pointed your revolver right at me." "Oh, no I didn't," said
Jack. "I was shooting over your head. One of the guards had drawn a bead
on you with his rifle."
"And did you get him?"
"I did; else you wouldn't be here now."
"Thanks," said the big Russian. "I hope I am able to repay the debt some
day."
"It was nothing," declared Jack. "Now, if we only knew where we were
going, it would be all right."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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