Chapter X: The Might of Alexis

"What is it?" demanded all eagerly.

"We will retreat to the second compartment," said the giant, "and I will place myself behind the pillar, which I can see from here." He stooped and picked up a long heavy iron bar from the ground. "I will have this for my weapon, and invisible in the darkness, if they come in a rush, I can let my bar fall upon their skulls thirty times a minute."

"Good!" cried Hal, "and at the same time I have another plan. The rest of us shall retreat to the third compartment, leaving Alexis, for the moment, to deal with the foe alone. But Alexis, when I say retreat, you must leave your post and come to the third compartment. Is it agreed?"

"Agreed!" cried the giant.

"All right, then. To your post!"

Quickly the four retreated to the second compartment, where Alexis took up his post behind the large pillar, concealed from view by the narrowness of the entrance between the compartments themselves. The others retreated to the third compartment.

For a long time, it seemed to Alexis, he waited in silence. Then the head of a man appeared through the entrance to his compartment and came toward him. There were more heads behind him.

"Strike, Alexis!" came Hal's voice from the next compartment.

The giant obeyed. The iron bar rose and fell full upon the head of the first man, who dropped without a cry. Ten times in almost as many seconds the huge iron bar rose and fell again and not once did it fail to find its mark.

The German soldiers could see nothing; they heard sighs and groans; they stumbled over dead bodies, but as they did not realize the cause of all this, they still came forward. So far there had not been a sound to tell those behind what was transpiring in front.

But now an officer, bearing a torch, approached. On arriving at the entrance to the compartment where Alexis had exterminated all that had come, he drew back in terror; but his retreat was blocked by those pressing on from behind. The officer saw the heap of dead, but as yet he had not discerned the cause.

Suddenly a gigantic hand issued from nowhere and clutched him by the throat. A second later the captain fell close to the now extinguished torch, adding another body to the heap of dead. All this was effected as mysteriously as if by magic. Another officer, unable to account for the pile of dead, cried to the men behind him:

"Fire!"

A volley rang out, and for a moment the cavern was lighted as if by day. But none was hit. From behind him Alexis now heard the sound of Hal's voice.

"Come back quickly!" whispered the lad.

The giant obeyed instantly, and glided softly through the door to the third compartment. Hal took him by the arm and led him to the side of the room, where he showed him the object over which he had stumbled when in the compartment a few moments before. It was a barrel of powder.

"Alexis," said Hal, "you will take this barrel, the fuse of which I am going to light, and hurl it at our enemy. Can you do it?"

Alexis stooped over the barrel, weighing fully seventy pounds. He lifted it easily with one hand.

"Light it," he said briefly.

"Throw it right in among them," explained Hal.

"Light it," repeated Alexis.

Hal did so, and the giant, picking up the barrel, advanced to the door of the compartment. Beyond he could hear the confused shouts of many men, as they in vain sought to explain the death of their companions.

Alexis blew on the fuse, that it might burn quicker.

And now, by the light of the sparkling fuse, the enemy made out his form. They saw the barrel he held in his hand; they understood what was going to happen.

A cry of terror arose. Some attempted to fly; officers cried out to Alexis that they would spare him if he would extinguish the fuse. Others commanded their men to fire; but the latter were too terrified to do so.

Now the arm of the giant swung round. There passed through the air the train of fire, like a falling star. The barrel fell into the midst of the terrified German soldiers. Immediately Alexis dashed for the far end of the cavern, just outside which his friends now stood.

Then, from inside the second compartment came the terrible thunder of the explosion, blowing the cavern to pieces, hurling men to death by the force of its shock, falling stones crushing out the life of many more.

Alexis dashed for the open air, where his friends stood awaiting him, a happy smile on his face at the success of his exploit. Three more paces and he would be free of the cavern--two more. And right at the exit, a heavy piece of rock, sent hurling in the air by the explosion, fell upon him--striking him upon the shoulder--bearing him to the ground--pinioning him beneath it.

And at the same instant the walls of the cavern began to give. Chester, realizing what was happening, sprang into the mouth of the cave, closely followed by Hal and Stephan. Now, under the massive rock, Alexis stirred. In spite of the great weight upon him, he turned slowly under it, until it rested squarely upon his back. Then stretching his hands out before him, he rose to his knees balancing the rock upon his back. Then he straightened up, and the rock tumbled from him with a terrible crash. He turned, and with his friends, dashed from the cave.

They had not escaped a second too soon.

There was a terrible rending sound, the crunching of rock against rock, and slowly the walls of the cavern gave; then fell inward with a fearful crash.

Some distance from the cavern the four stopped running. Hal wiped the moisture from his brow.

"A close call and no mistake," he said weakly.

Chester grasped Alexis by the hand.

"I thought you were done for," he exclaimed.

Alexis grinned.

"Can't kill me that way," he said. "What's a little rock like that? It was play for me to lift it."

"Maybe so," replied Chester, "but even now, I can scarcely believe what I saw."

"Why," said Alexis, "I could have lifted that rock with one hand. It was child's play. Now I can still remember one great feat I accomplished. It was in St. Petersburg--Petrograd now, by the grace of God and the Czar. There is a little stream runs through the city. Over this there is a bridge. I was passing along one day, when I saw that the bridge, having been weakened in the middle, was about to fall. Well, there was no one on it, so that would have been all right. But, dashing down the street was an ambulance. The woman in it was very ill. It was absolutely necessary that she be taken across the bridge at once. At the bridge the driver was held up. The guard would not allow the ambulance to cross. It was too dangerous. But delay meant death for the lady. I leaped into a small boat and was quickly under the middle of the bridge. The bridge was low, and by standing I could just touch it. I put my two hands under the bridge and braced it while the ambulance crossed. I was sorely tested, but I held out. I account that one of my greatest feats."

"And so you should," said Hal dryly.

"But," demanded Stephan, who was greatly interested in his brother's wonderful narrative, "how is it, that with all that weight resting upon you, and you standing in a boat, the boat didn't sink? I can't understand how, with that weight upon it, it remained afloat."

"Why," said Alexis with perfect gravity, "I forgot to mention that the stream was very shallow--in fact it could be waded. The boat was forced down by the great weight until it rested on the bottom. In that way, it was perfectly simple."

"I see," exclaimed Stephan. "A wonderful feat, truly!"

"Was the bridge made out of rubber?" asked Chester, laughing to himself.

"Rubber?" repeated Alexis. "No; it was a wooden bridge."

"Then," said Chester, "how do you account for the fact that it stretched so when the boat went to the bottom of the stream?"

"I didn't say it stretched," said Alexis.

"I know you didn't say so," grinned Chester; "but it must have stretched unless it broke in two."

Alexis looked aggrieved.

"If you don't believe me----" he began.

"I wouldn't dispute you for the world," said Chester. "I just wondered."

Alexis would have replied, but at that instant his hat was lifted from his head, and all four became aware of the distant sound of a shot. Quickly all dropped to the ground, but they were not quick enough to go unscathed. A bullet struck Stephan in the arm, and he dropped it to his side with a cry.

Instantly Alexis was all anxiety. He jumped to his brother's side.

"Are you much hurt, Stephan?" he asked tenderly, taking the injured arm in his hand.

"Just a scratch," replied Stephan. "I'll be all right."

Nevertheless Alexis would not rest until he had bound up the wound with his handkerchief. In the meantime, from their positions on the ground, the others had been popping away at the enemy. Several rounds of shots were exchanged but none of the four friends was hit again. The enemy was so far away that the lads could not tell whether or not their fire was effective.

Bullets began to drop closely about them, in their exposed position. Also they fell oftener now, indicating that the force opposed to them was numerically superior.

"Great Scott!" exclaimed Hal, as his hat seemed to leap suddenly from his head. "We'll have to get away from here. This is too close for comfort."

"You bet," said Chester. "Now when I say the word we'll all jump to our feet and make a dash for those trees in the distance."

At the word, the four sprang to their feet, and not even waiting to take a parting shot at the enemy, dashed away as fast as their feet would carry them. Hal took the lead, and behind him came Stephan, then Alexis and then Chester.

When Hal reached the trees, uninjured, he turned to speak to Chester. What was his amazement and dismay to find that Chester was not there. At that moment Alexis and Stephan dashed into the shelter. Hal glanced back over the distance they had come.

There lay Chester, in the open field. He had been struck down by a German bullet, and even now the enemy, with a triumphant cry, was charging down upon him. With a cry, Hal leaped forward, but the iron hand of Alexis stayed him.

"You stay here," said the giant. "I'll get him!"

Discarding his rifle, he dashed forward in the very face of the onrushing foe. Chester's life hung in the balance!