the other remained--the second
on the other side of the main door of the mill. To this some of the
gallant lads gave their attention. With wild yells they rushed at the
German crew, and to their credit--if credit it be--let it be said that
these Huns did not cry "_Kamerad_!" They were ready for a fight and
they got it. It was a case of cold steel, and there were no better
exponents of that mode of fighting than the American lads.

There was a short and bloody conflict and then it was over. But at sad
cost to the attacking party. Of the sixteen that had started to wipe
out the machine-gun nest in the old red mill, the five Brothers alone
were left alive, and, save for slight flesh wounds, which all of them
had, they were not seriously injured. No, I am not quite correct in
saying that only these five were left alive. There was one other, a
lad named Blakeley from New Jersey. But he was so badly wounded, by
a bayonet thrust from a German, that his death was only a question of
minutes.

He managed, before he passed away, to whisper a message to his loved
ones at home, and this Jimmy Blaise undertook to send by letter.

"And now, let's see what's next to do," murmured Roger, when the dead
lad had been reverently laid with the other Americans killed in the
mill.

"I don't believe we're going to have much choice," said Jimmy, grimly,
as he pointed through the window.

"Why?" asked Roger.

"The Germans have surrounded the place," was the answer. "We're
trapped--that's why!"

CHAPTER X

FALLING WALLS

For a moment Jimmy's companions did not quite understand him. Was he
perpetrating some grim joke, or had he received an injury on the head
that made him irresponsible?

Suddenly the concussion of a heavy gun shook the mill, making the old
walls rattle and sending up little clouds of grain dust from nooks and
crannies where it had gathered for many peaceful years.

"The Germans have surrounded us?" cried Roger. "Do you mean that?"

"Look for yourself," said Jimmy, and his very calmness as he pointed
from the window seemed to indicate that he was master of himself.

His four companions looked as he indicated. Rolling down from the
hills, which surrounded the little valley in which the mill was
located, were ranks of gray-clad men; Huns beyond a doubt. And they
were coming in force.

"Do you suppose they are after us?" asked Bob, and he was quite
surprised when his four chums burst into laughter. No, I am w