The Boy Allies On the Firing Line | Page 3

in time to take an active part in the defense of that
city.
In escaping from Germany, each had done his full share of fighting and
each had been wounded. They had finally reached Brussels, where they

remained some time, while Hal's wound healed sufficiently to continue
his homeward journey. As the result of their heroic actions, the Belgian
commander at Liège had mentioned them so favorably in his report to
King Albert, that he had bestowed upon them commissions as
lieutenants in the Belgian army as a mark of distinction for their
bravery.
It was while waiting in Brussels that they again encountered Lieutenant
Anderson, from whom they had been separated, and it was through his
inducement that they now found themselves attached to the staff of
Field Marshal Sir John French, commander of the British forces on the
continent, engaged in scout duty.
At the time when this story opens they had been sent in advance of the
main army on a reconnaissance.
The German advance through Belgium into France, up to this time, had
been steady, although the Allies had contested every foot of the ground.
Day after day and night after night the hard pressed British troops, to
which Hal and Chester were attached, had borne the brunt of the
fighting. But for the heroism of these comparatively few English,
slightly more than one hundred thousand men, the Germans probably
would have marched to the very gates of Paris.
But the arrival of the British troops had been timely, and under the
gallant command of Sir John French, they had checked the
overwhelming numbers of Germans time after time. The bravery of
these English troops under a galling fire and against fearful odds is one
of the greatest military achievements of the world's history.
Slowly, but standing up to the enemy like the true sons of Great Britain
always have done, they were forced back. They stood for hours,
without sight of the enemy, men dropping on all sides under the fearful
fire of the great German guns miles away. While the French, farther
south, gave way more rapidly, these few English stood their ground.
Time after time they came to hand grips with the enemy, and at the
point of the bayonet drove them back with terrible losses. These

bayonet charges were things of wonder to Hal and Chester in spite of
the fact that they had been in the midst of similar actions before Liège.
As the French and Belgians advanced in a wild whirlwind of fury, the
English went about the business of a charge more deliberately, though
with the same savage determination. They charged swiftly, but more
coolly; gallantly, but more seriously, and the effect of their charges was
terrible. The Germans who came on in the face of the fierce rifle and
artillery fire, could not face the British bayonets, and time after time
were driven back in disorder.
And as the British charged, always the words of their battle-song, fated
for some unfathomed reason to become historic, rose above the sounds
of battle:
"It's a long way to Tipperary. It's a long way to go; It's a long way to
Tipperary, To the sweetest girl I know. Good-by, Piccadilly, Farewell,
Leicester square. It's a long, long way to Tipperary, But my heart's right
there!"
Liège had fallen before the invading German hosts, though several of
the forts still held out; Louvain had been captured and its beautiful
buildings burned to the ground. Brussels had been invested by the
Teutons. In Alsace-Lorraine the French had been forced to relinquish
the spoils won in the first days of the war. General Pau, after a stubborn
resistance, had fallen back, and General Joffre, commander-in-chief of
the French army, also had been forced to retire.
So close to Paris were the Germans now that the seat of government,
the day before this story opens, had been removed to Bordeaux. Homes
and other buildings in the French capital were being razed, so that the
great French guns in the city could sweep the approach to the town
unobstructed. Paris, the most strongly fortified city in the world, was
being prepared to withstand a siege.
And still the Germans came on. Several of the enemy's war aviators
flew over Paris and dropped bombs in the streets. This occurred upon
several days, and then the French airmen put an end to these daring sky

fighters. After this, no more bombs were dropped on Paris.
But as the Allies fell back, it was always the few British troops that
time and again checked the Germans. The morale of the English was
excellent.
In a final desperate charge, a small body of British cavalry had
succeeded in driving back the German vanguard, while the main body
of English retired still further. Then