The Boy Scouts In Russia | Page 5

a guest. And he had,
as a matter of fact, been aroused only an hour before the train had
reached the frontier.
So he had been able to start out boldly and confidently. In the country
through which he was now tramping the nights are cool in summer, but
the days are very hot. So Fred had made up his mind, as soon as he
understood that he had a good deal of walking before him, to do as
much of his traveling as was possible by night, and to sleep during the
day. In East Prussia, as in some parts of Canada, the summer is short
and hot; the winter long and cold.
There was nothing about the silent countryside, as he tramped along an
excellent road, to make him think of war. The fields about him seemed
to be planted less with grain; they were very largely used for pasture,
and he saw a good many horses. He remembered now that this was the
great horse breeding district of Germany. Here there were great estates
with many acres of rolling land on which great numbers of horses were
bred. It was here, he knew, that the German army, needing great
numbers of horses every year, found its mounts.
"They'll need more than ever now," he thought to himself. "If there's
really to be war, I suppose they'll take every horse that's able to work at
all, whether it's a good looking beast or not. Poor horses! They don't
have much chance, I guess."
He thought of the Cossacks he had seen in Russia, wiry, small men, in
the main, mounted on shaggy, strong, little horses, no bigger in reality
than ponies. He had heard of the prowess of the Cossacks, of course.
They had fought well in the past in a good many wars. But somehow it
seemed rather absurd to match them, with their undersized horses,
against magnificent specimens of men and horseflesh such as the
German cavalry. He had passed a squadron of Uhlans, near Virballen,
outlined against the sky. They had been grim and business-like in
appearance. But then the Cossacks were that, too, though in an entirely

different way.
"I wish I had someone along!" he thought, at last.
That was when the dawn was beginning to break. Off to the east the sun
was beginning to rise, and in the grey half light before full day there
was something stark and gaunt about the country. Before him smoke
was rising, probably from a village. But that sign of human habitation,
that certain indication that people were near, somehow only made him
feel lonelier than he had been in the starlit darkness of the night. This
would be good enough fun, if only one of his many friends back home
were along--Jack French, or Steve Vedder. It was with them that he had
shared such adventures in the past. And yet not just such adventures,
either. This was more real than anything his adventures as a Boy Scout
had brought him, though he belonged to a patrol that got in a lot of
outdoor work, and that camped out every summer in a practical way.
Being alone took some of the zest out of what had seemed, once
Lieutenant Ernst's loan had saved him from his most pressing worry,
likely to be a bully adventure. Now it seemed rather flat and stale. But
that was partly because having tramped all night, he was really
beginning to be tired. So he went on to the village, and there he found a
little inn, where he got a good breakfast and a bed, in which, as soon as
he had eaten his meal, he was sound asleep.
Few men were about the village when he went in. He had noticed,
however, the curious little throng, early as it was, about a bulletin
ominously headed, "Kriegzustand!" That meant mobilization and war.
The men had answered the call already, all except those who were too
old to spring to arms at once. Some of the older ones, he knew, would
be called out, too, for garrison duty, so that younger men might go to
the front.
In his sleep he had many dreams, but the most insistent one was made
up of the tramp of heavy feet and the blowing of bugles and the rattling
of horses' feet. And this wasn't a dream at all, for when he awoke it was
to find a soldier shaking him roughly by the shoulders, and ordering
him to get up. And outside were all the sounds of his dream. The sun

was high for he had been asleep for several hours. So he got up
willingly enough, and hurried his dressing because he remembered
what Ernst had told him. Then he followed the