Show Z xeric L read fl 4 OBY CC Y GENERAL ON ARED WHITE VT RI installment XV the boat bobbed across the harbor denning benning dec decided aided that bravot at r t be headed back for some se kcf rendezvous in new york a part of some crafty maneuver to cover his littered trail in that event benning decided to strike in the darkness the instant the launch reached shore A few minutes later the launch swerved sharply out of its course and slowed slewed down denning benning saw the massive e shadow of a ship looming over his head A voice called down from above bravot got to his feet edged his way to the bow A boatman made the launch fast to the ships ladder one by one the passengers swung onto the ladder and were swallowed up by the night go ahead Brom litz a voice commanded when denning benning hesitates 2 fincke Pinc ke caught dennings bennings arm gently forced him forward denning benning made a swift estimate as he stood in indecision quickly he saw that but one course lay ahead in the bobbing little boat he knew he would stand no chance if he put up a fight for possession of the craft As for swimming ashore even the strongest swimmer could not expect success in that feat tonight denning benning swung to the ladder and mounted to the deck close behind him came fincke on the deck there was a glow of light from an incandescent A ships officer led the way aft along the boat deck to a small cabin inside the austrian tossed off his coat and stretched himself his face now was exuberant himmel but what a comfort Bromn tz he exclaimed with a vast sigh of relief now a fellow can take a tree free breath here we are at last aboard a good american freighter with papers for san francisco and nobody to bother us eh fincke paused to give denning benning a knowing wink what does it matter if were sitting over a cargo of high explosives eh Brom litz not blow up until we give the command and play the biggest card in the whole van hassek deck cheer up brom 4 ii litz in ten days from now be back with your girl in mexico city now it was all to clear to benning fincke at last had vitalized vitali zed the meaning of this cruise the reason for his own restless hen tensions this ship with its cargo tf f explosives clearing new york with papers for san francisco was part of an intricately laid plot to destroy the panama canal and strip the atlantic seaboard of the protection of the united states fleet CHAPTER XVI general hague nervously paced the floor of his office despite the long loni days of driving toil and anxiety that had drained his energies to the point of exhaustion the last troop trains had moved south with the force of fifty thousand men that was to stop van hassek on the fort worth dallas line but reports from the south shook him with new misgivings and he had sent for colonel Flag will Flag will reported shortly and at them the generals direction checked over the texas operations map reports im receiving from the third army concentration flag will general hague said indicate pretty much of a mess we simply cant afford to have van hassek roll up our army there before it gets set I 1 think better fly down there yourself and give me your firsthand first hand estimate of the situation THE STORY SO FAR more than foreign troops which had been secretly transported to mexico suddenly invaded the united states intelligence officer benning had discovered their plans while a spy in mexico city where he be had bad gained the confidence of fincke X before you decide id like to explain sir we have some rather alarming reports from china ive yet to devise some means of confirming them also im planning a wide scale roundup of known spies in the panama canal zone hague said at once im more immediately worried over our improvised pro third army in texas flag will by the way young denning benning got away this morning for mexico city he Flag wills face dropped sorry general denning benning has vanished in thin min air not a word from him all day benning missing general hague scowled incredulity that sound like denning benning 1 I authorized him to follow a van hassek agent aboard a norwegian tramp freighter thinking wed get a haul of spies A destroyer overhauled the boat last nig night lit after it sailed only to find denning benning was not aboard as planned the ships captain claimed not to have seen anyone resembling denning benning our G 2 crew at governors island is on the job but so far no clue nothing should have prevented dennings bennings flight to mexico city Flag will hague complained all right lets hope he turns up soon let me hear from you Flag will as soon as you get the hang of the mess at dallas Flag will drove at once to bolling boiling field where a fast new 0 47 observation plane put him in the air shortly before dusk seven hours later as the plane approached dallas a radio warning told the pilot to avoid the dallas airport and put down at an emergency landing field south of the city ahe the savage winks of detonation bombs caught Flag wills eye as his plane drove past the city no sooner had bad his plane roared to a stop in the emergency field than his ears rang with the bedlam of air bombardment bar dment over dallas A staff officer from army headquarters was waiting for him dallas and fort worth are taking an awful beating tonight the staff officer reported we were re forced to detrain troops and impedimenta north of the city an hour ago a bomber registered on one of our troop trains three hundred men killed things are in a pretty bad jam here sir major general lannes dispatched from corps area at atlanta to command the reinforced and highly improvised pro third army had set up his advance command post in the village of midlothian Mid lothian with a hurriedly assembled staff of fifty officers he was slaving feverishly through the night in the huge task of reducing chaos to order fifty thousand men most of them hastily withdrawn from civil life and precipitately concentrated over several thousand square acres of barren terrain had to be shaken down supplied with necessities and arranged into something resembling an orderly organized battle front covering some fifty five or more miles general lannes had decided upon an organized line south of dallas and fort worth extending generally through hillsboro on the right and corsicana Corsi cano on the left so as to deny van hassek the arterial highways leading north from san antonio and houston the mechanized cavalry was covering his flanks dallas was his railhead for all classes of supplies and not until tomorrow when and bravot two enemy officers but his warnings had gone unheeded foreign forces I red ed by van hasselt pushed relentlessly lent lessly forward his troops were vastly superior in numbers and equipment to the american forces which opposed him returning to new york benning ly 11 IV 1 1 the national air craft regiment arrived from illinois would he have any protection at night for his supply installations ill be frank with you Flag Fla gwilli will general lannes said in a peppery overwrought voice if van hassek sizes up this mess and hits us promptly hell roll up my third army in spite 2 lannes voice was drowned by the mighty crash of a heavy bomb that set the earth shaking under them in spite of hell and high water he concluded as the room cleared of vibrations take me days to straighten out this tangle and only take van hassek a few hours V M alg ak take your hands off my coat to run up here with his motorized and mechanized outfits general hague probably has told you sir Flag will said that weve got to hold on this line the country is in an uproar and everyone in washington sir feels weve got to have a victory sure weve got to hold lannes raged but dont forget that fifty thousand men are fifty thousand soldiers only when shaken down organized supplied and ready to fight the army commander stalked to a wall map and pointed to his dispositions and immediate plan of action mole is taking an artillery lacing at this minute which means attack on him at daybreak with the reinforcements ive sent up he must hold on the colorado as long as possible then hes got to fight delaying actions and make another desperate stand behind the brazos somehow mole must delay van hassek at least three days maybe for a week until I 1 can get in shape to take the enemy on here in front of dallas its going to cost us a lot of men Flag will a lot of men but I 1 want you to go out and see the situation tor for yourself and tell hague why im forced into these desperate delaying actions out in front an hour of patient driving put Flag will down the ardys projected front whole regiments stood about in the dawn still waiting for orders unearthed a vast spy ring benning continued to pose as a friend when he unexpectedly met fincke in washington and accompanied him oo on a mysterious mission which took them aboard a small boat in the new york harbor now continue with the story and supplies the men were tired and hungry shortage of ammunition was general even in the infantry ammunition was reported available at the railhead but the railhead was swamped with demands and there were insufficient truck trains at present for an all purposes As the sun shot over the horizon Flag will turned back to the lannes command post squadrons of american combat planes had combed the air of van hassels Has night hawks and the day had quieted down to a rumble of artillery columns and hum of friendly planes given a day or two Flag will concluded the hastily assembled third army would shake itself down american ingenuity somehow would overcome the shortages of supplies motor moto r vehicles the obsolescent organization tables the unco bordinat ed staffs outmoded weapons the lack of training in team play of higher units at least the officers had sound academic training in the science of war general lannes his face flushed and harried his eyes distended sat feverishly at the end of a field telephone as Flag will reentered entered re the command post after a staccato fretted exchange he hung up the receiver and got to his feet van hassek is driving at mole with everything hes got this morning lannes roared only the regiments I 1 sent up to him last night kept mole from being cracked up early this morning says hell be lucky to hold on till nine my god Flag will this mess is going to cost us five thousand men maybe ten by eight mole saw he could hold no longer ghastly losses were multiplying his flanks were threatened now the american air service held the supremacy of the air immediately over the heads of moles troops which made possible the dangerous operation of daylight withdrawal im pulling out of here now lannes he shouted fiercely over the field telephone 1 I cant hold another minute I 1 hope you have strong reinforcements for me at the brazos all right mole use your own judgment lannes retorted but no matter what it costs weve got to delay van hassek until I 1 can get my third army ready to stop him CHAPTER denning benning woke from a brief fretful sleep and went to a porthole there was a bright sun rising across a smooth sea he calculated from the speed of the freighter that the craft must be well down the coast of virginia perhaps off north carolina and not far from cape hatteras for a time last night he had flirted with the desperation of jim jumping ping overboard on the chance rf making shore now he had given up hopes of being rescued oy dy the navy he was mulling at the porthole when a figure passed along the boat deck close to his eyes the fellow wore a black mustache dark horn rimmed glasses his clothes were seedy and his shoulders sagged but the profile was not to be mistaken you knew bravot was aboard denning benning said to fincke the austrian hotly admonished dont talk so much Brom litz how many times have I 1 got to tell you not to mention names 1 I thought we were clear of all that trouble denning benning retorted not with a brand new crew on the boat we still got to watch our tongues you think these sailors arent Br avots men just use your bean Brom litz sailors hardly sign up to get blown to hell if they knew the score 1 I presume denning benning sneered the captain and crew dont even know what their cargo is the skipper knows and a few of his good men for two years has been laying his plans for just this cruise the door of their cabin banged suddenly open A chunky man with a roughhewn rough hewn leering face swaggered in the fellow wore a dirty cotton suit and an officers cap and bristled with authority and short temper who are you two he demanded searching first binckes Finc kes face then bennings the van hassek spy leaped to his feet and gave the identification formula denning benning was more leisurely in rising to identify himself he guessed that the intruder was Sch skipper of the ship 1 I dont like your looks the fellow blurted fixing denning benning with glinting green eyes dont worry about him captain fincke promptly intervened hes a major the two of us been working together in the united states rubbed a cauli flowered ear ruminatively and gave denning benning a parting glare in which there was mingled distrust and dislike cisne major or no major theres something about your looks I 1 dont like he grumbled their noon meal was brought in by an american deckhand deckhard deck hand grimes after luncheon fincke went out on deck for exercise with the complication of Br avots presence on the ship denning benning knew he must keep to cover during daylight also that he must strike against the van hassek spy master naster without delay if he expected to survive this cruise for many days denning benning sweltered sheltered ered in the torrid little cabin through an insufferable day with full darkness he examined the mechanism of his automatic pistol and went out on deck As he suspected bravot was living in the captains quarters looking in the porthole he saw bravot sitting alone on his berth his face cold and imperturbable as he listened to the news from the texas front blare of the radio blotted out other sounds on the deck and denning benning was not conscious of the figure driving down on him along the dimly lighted deck until stout fingers closed on the lapel of his coat he turned to see glaring at him out of eyes that seethed with rage see here denning benning shot back hotly im not one of your deckhands deck hands take your hands off my coat if you object to my listening to the war news over your radio why dont you post an order to that effect listen all you want to mumbled cooling perceptibly at the rebuff and releasing dennings bennings collar but keep away from in front of my stateroom after this I 1 dont allow nobody to do that As swaggered into his room with a muttered imprecation denning benning returned to his cabin for some time denning benning waited in tense readiness for eventuality he knew that if communicated his suspicions to bravot prompt and disastrous investigation was sure to follow TO BE CONTINUED |