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Page 65
"Marne, old fellow," he said, stroking the animal's mane, "you're not to
be a menial cart horse tonight. I am an Arabian genie and I hereby turn
you into a light, smooth, beautifully built automobile for one passenger
only, and I'm that passenger."
Holding fast to the thick mane he sprang upon the horse's back, and
urged him down the stream, keeping close to the water where there was
shelter among the willows and bushes. He had no definite idea in his
head, but he felt that if he kept on going he must arrive somewhere. He
was afraid to make the horse swim the river in an effort to reach the
French army. Appearing on the surface of the water he felt that he would
almost certainly be seen and some good rifleman or other would be sure
to pick him off.
He concluded at last that if no German troops came in sight he would let
the horse take him where he would. Marne must have a home and a master
somewhere and habit would send him to them. So he ceased to push at his
neck and try to direct him, and the horse continued a slow and peaceful
progress down the stream in the shadow of small trees. The night was
darker than those just before it, and the dampness of the air indicated
possible flurries of rain. Cannon still rumbled on the horizon like the
thunder of a summer night.
While trusting to the horse to lead him to some destination, John kept a
wary watch, with eyes now growing used to the darkness. If German
troops appeared and speed to escape were lacking, he would jump from
Marne's back and hunt a new covert. But he saw nobody. The evidences of
man's work were present continually in the cannonade, but man himself
was absent.
The horse went on with ponderous and sure tread. Evidently he had
wandered far under the influence of the firing, but it was equally
evident that his certain instinct was guiding him back again. He crossed
a brook flowing down into the Marne, passed through a wheat field, and
entered a little valley, where grew a number of oaks, clear of
undergrowth.
When he saw what was lying under the oaks he pulled hard at the rough
mane, until the horse stopped. He had distinctly made out the figures of
men, stretched upon the ground, apparently asleep, and sure to be
Germans. He stared hard at them, but the horse snorted and tried to pull
away. The action of the animal rather than his own eyesight made him
reckon aright.
A horse would not be afraid of living men, and, slipping from the back
of Marne, John approached cautiously. A few rays of wan moonlight
filtered through the trees, and when he had come close he shuddered over
and over again. About a dozen men lay on the ground and all were stone
dead. The torn earth and their own torn figures showed that a shell had
burst among them. Doubtless it had been an infantry patrol, and the
survivors had hurried away.
John, still shuddering, was about to turn back to his horse, when he
remembered that he needed much and that in war one must not be too
scrupulous. Force of will made him return to the group and he sought for
what he wanted. Evidently the firing had been hot there and the rest of
the patrol had not lingered in their flight.
He took from one man a pair of blankets. He could have had his choice of
two or three good rifles, but he passed them by in favor of a large
automatic pistol which would not be in the way. This had been carried by
a young man whom he took to be an officer, and he also found on him many
cartridges for the pistol. Then he searched their knapsacks for food,
finding plenty of bread and sausage and filling with it one knapsack
which he put over his shoulder.
He returned hastily to his horse, guided him around the fatal spot, and
when he was some distance on the other side dismounted and ate as only a
half-starved man can eat. Water was obtained from a convenient brook and
carefully storing the remainder of the food in the knapsack he remounted
the horse.
"Now go on, my good and gallant beast," he said, "and I feel sure that
your journey is nearly at an end. A draught horse like you, bulky and
slow, would not wander any great distance."
The horse himself immediately justified his prediction by raising his
head, neighing and advancing at a swifter pace. John saw, standing among
some trees, a low and small house, built of stone and evidently very
old, its humble nature indicating that it belonged to a peasant. Behind
it was a tiny vineyard, and there was a stable and another outhouse.
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