FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144  
>>  
e crackling strength of his mighty sinews, hurled the grenade. It fell into the exact centre of the flooded shell-crater. Angus said something under his breath which would have shocked a disciple of Kultur. Fortunately the two German gunners did not hear him. But they observed the splash fifty yards away, and it relieved them from _ennui_, for they were growing tired of firing at nothing. They had not seen the grenade thrown, and were a little puzzled as to the cause of the phenomenon. Four seconds later their curiosity was more than satisfied. With a muffled roar, the shell-hole suddenly, spouted its liquid contents and other _debris_ straight to the heavens, startling them considerably and entirely obscuring their vision. A moment later, with an exultant yell, Angus M'Lachlan was upon them. He sprang into their vision out of the descending cascade--a towering, terrible, kilted figure, bare-headed and Berserk mad. He was barely forty yards away. Initiative is not the _forte_ of the Teuton. Number One of the German gun mechanically traversed his weapon four degrees to the right and continued to press the thumb-piece. Mud and splinters of brick sprang up round Angus's feet; but still he came on. He was not twenty yards away now. The gunner, beginning to boggle between waiting and bolting, fumbled at his elevating gear, but Angus was right on him before his thumbs got back to work. Then indeed the gun spoke out with no uncertain voice, for perhaps two seconds. After that it ceased fire altogether. Almost simultaneously there came a triumphant roar lower down the street, as Mucklewame and his followers dashed obliquely across into the _estaminet_. Mucklewame himself was carrying the derelict Lewis gun. In the doorway stood the watchful M'Snape. "This way, quick!" he shouted. "We have the Gairman gun spotted, and the officer is needing the Lewis!" But M'Snape was wrong. The Lewis was not required. A few moments later, in the face of brisk sniping from the houses higher up the street, James Bogle, officer's servant,--a member of that despised class which, according to the _Bandar-log_ at home, spend the whole of its time pressing its master's trousers and smoking his cigarettes somewhere back in billets,--led out a stretcher party to the German gun. Number One had been killed by a shot from Angus's revolver. Number Two had adopted Hindenburg tactics, and was no more to be seen. Angus himself was lying,
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144  
>>  



Top keywords:
German
 

Number

 

seconds

 

street

 

Mucklewame

 
officer
 
sprang
 

vision

 
grenade
 

estaminet


obliquely

 

shouted

 
hurled
 

followers

 
dashed
 

sinews

 
mighty
 
watchful
 

doorway

 

strength


carrying

 

derelict

 

simultaneously

 

thumbs

 

uncertain

 

Almost

 

triumphant

 

altogether

 

ceased

 

cigarettes


billets

 
stretcher
 

smoking

 

trousers

 

pressing

 
master
 

Hindenburg

 
tactics
 

adopted

 
killed

revolver
 

moments

 
required
 
spotted
 

crackling

 

needing

 
elevating
 

sniping

 
houses
 

Bandar