The Dispatch-Riders: The Adventures of Two British Motor-cyclists in the Great WarWesterman, Percy F. (Percy Francis)
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The Dispatch-Riders: The Adventures of Two British Motor-cyclists in the Great War
Westerman, Percy F. (Percy Francis)
Adventure stories; Motorcycles -- Juvenile fiction; World War, 1914-1918 -- Juvenile fiction
Another shot followed with no better result. It was not the rifles of
the pursuing horsemen that he feared; it was their obvious superiority
in speed.
He could hear the thud of the horses' hoofs in the soft ground growing
momentarily louder and louder. Only twenty yards more, and the Uhlans
would be balked by the dense foliage. Ahead was a ditch, six feet in
width, with a fairly high bank on the opposite side. In his heated
imagination the fugitive could almost feel the points of those ugly
lances thrust into his back.
With a stupendous effort he leapt, alighting on the other side of the
ditch on his hands and knees. The Germans, fearing to risk the jump,
began to rein in their horses. For the time being he had won.
Rollo staggered to his feet and clambered up the bank, when to his
horror he found himself confronted by a dozen levelled rifles. It was
a case of "out of the frying-pan into the fire" with a vengeance.
Had there been a ghost of a chance to break away Rollo would have
seized it, but there was none. He raised both hands above his head.
The next instant he was held by two powerful soldiers, while others,
with a dexterity acquired by much practice, searched him. Not only was
he stripped, and the lining of his coat ripped open, but his boots were
removed and the soles cut through, in case a hidden dispatch might be
found. They even forced open his mouth to make certain he was not
swallowing any document; and they took good care to retain the letters
he had received from home.
Finding nothing of the nature they suspected, the sergeant in charge of
the men gruffly ordered him in very imperfect French to dress. Then,
escorted by four men, and followed by the patrol of Uhlans and the
motor-cyclist who had raised the alarm, Rollo was taken into the
village and brought before a group of officers.
"Ah, Englishman! We have caught you, then," exclaimed one of the
Prussian officers.
Rollo looked straight at him. The German was in the uniform of the
line. His head was swathed in surgical bandages, but there was enough
of his face left exposed to give the British lad a clue to the identity
of the speaker. He was the major who had treacherously attempted to
shoot the Belgian officer by whom he had been given quarter, on the
occasion of the night attack upon Fort de Barchon. On the fall of the
Liége fortresses the Prussian had been released by his comrades, and in
spite of his wound was once more at the front.
For the next ten minutes Rollo was closely questioned. He replied only
when he felt fairly certain that there was no harm in so doing; but,
when pressed to give information respecting the Belgian forces, he
resolutely refused.
The German officers swore, and threatened him.
"You cannot make me disclose information," declared Rollo. "It is
against the rules of war to coerce a prisoner."
A chorus of loud jeering laughter greeted this statement.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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