Page 130 - A Hero of Liége

CHAPTER XV

--HUNS AT PLAY

The wagon rumbled heavily along the road. The two men stood just within
the wood, watching the driver and the soldier, looking up and down the

road with a half-formed fear that more troops would come in sight. They
allowed the wagon to pass them; then, running behind it on tiptoe, they

leapt up, and plunged into the hay, which was loosely piled, just as it had
been pitched down from a looted rick.

They burrowed their way through the scented mass, drawing it closely
behind them to cover their tracks. The creaking of the cart wheels, the loud

tramp of the big Flemish horses, the sleepiness of the men in front were all
in their favour. They reached the forepart of the wagon without having
attracted attention. Kenneth's nostrils itched. It was lucky, he thought, that

the hay was dry and the season far advanced, or a fit of sneezing would
have betrayed him.

To get air, and to enable them to see down the road, they made little gaps in
the hay, scarcely broader than two fingers. Then they lay still, happy in

their escape from the Uhlans, but desperately anxious about what might
come.

The wagon was travelling towards Luxemburg. Presently, muffled by the
hay, the sound of men's voices reached their ears. These continued for some

minutes; no doubt they proceeded from the Uhlans in the wood. After about
twenty minutes they heard a louder voice, close at hand. The wagon

stopped.

"Have you seen two officers?" asked a man in German. "Dressed as

Germans. One a lean ugly fellow, the other a round moon-faced baby. They
are spies."

The soldier, pulling himself together, answered briskly "No!" Conscious of
having been dozing on duty he went further.