when jack made this astounding statement the other three stared at him as though they could hardly believe he was not joking. but then jack seldom attempted to play a practical prank; besides, they could see that he was seriously disposed, and evidently grappling with one of the largest propositions that had ever faced him.
“then it means a world war has begun, does it?” gasped buster presently, when he could catch his breath again.
“that’s what it’s bound to result in,” jack told him. “the cry of ‘wolf’ has been heard for the last time, and now the beast has come!”
“but will great britain and all the other nations jump in?” demanded george.
“not jump in, but find themselves dragged in, in spite of their horror of war. this thing has been hanging fire a long while, but every little while there would be signs of what lay under the surface. lots of people predicted it was bound to come sooner or later, and that the[19] destinies of every world power would have to be settled once and for all by the sword.”
“then all other wars will be baby play beside this one,” josh declared, “with the wonderful modern arms they’ve got. millions of men must be killed before the end comes, and old europe will never know herself, such great changes in border lines are bound to take place.”
“but what of us?” asked george.
“that’s what we’ve got to decide right away,” jack announced. “we live thousands of miles away from the scene of hostilities, and our neutral country may not be pulled into the whirlpool; but here we are in austria-hungary that is now in a state of war with serbia, montenegro, russia and france, with other countries to hear from. what ought we do about it?”
“let’s tell the kaiser we won’t stand for any of this funny business,” buster went on to say, pretending to look very important, though there was a quizzical gleam in his eyes at the same time; “let him know he’s got to sheathe that sword of his in double-quick time, or america will get mad.”
“much the kaiser would care for a dozen americas,” jeered george. “germany armed can defy the whole world, and as for our great[20] big country, we’re only a second china, don’t you know—plenty of people, much talk, but able to do next door to nothing.”
“i say it would be a beastly shame if we had to quit now before hardly getting started,” asserted josh, indignantly.
“go on, the rest of you, for i want to hear everybody’s opinion,” urged jack.
“but if the whole of austria is on a war footing, what chance would we have to continue our lovely voyage?” george wanted to know. “as like as not we’d be arrested, because they’d call us spies trying to find a way to invade the country through the back door.”
“one for keeping on, and another against it, which is a stand-off,” remarked jack; “how about you, buster?”
“gee whilikens! i hardly know where i’m at,” muttered the fat chum, rubbing the tip of his nose in bewilderment; “fact is i’m about ready to do whatever the rest of you say.”
“in other words, you’re on the fence, i take it,” sneered george; “if there’s anything i dislike it’s to run across a jellyfish, something that has no opinions of its own. there, that’s one for you fellows calling me swine. but how about you, jack? we ought to know what you think about it all.”
“that’s right,” agreed josh eagerly, for he[21] could see that their future movements were likely to be controlled by whatever jack said, since with a tie his vote would be the deciding factor.
“i’ll be frank with you fellows,” jack continued soberly. “we’ve gone to a whole lot of trouble and expense to get started on this cruise, and i hate like everything to give it up.”
“hear! hear!” came from josh, with a tinge of growing triumph in his voice.
“when i think of all that we’d have to go through with to get back to london the way we came i feel like saying we ought to try and keep right on down the river. the greatest danger to us would come from approaching the fighting region around northern france and belgium.”
even george seemed to be hanging on jack’s words as though, after all, his ideas of prudence might be undergoing a change.
“we could go ashore right away,” jack continued, “and buy what stuff we need, for i see bumpus is holding a list in his hand, and we know him well enough to feel sure he’s omitted nothing worth while having.”
“that settles it, then,” burst out josh. “you hear, george, you’re outvoted three to one. we go on our way, snapping our fingers under the nose of every magyar who feels like[22] questioning our right to cruise down the beautiful blue danube.”
“oh, well, move we make it unanimous then,” snapped george, which proved that, after all, his objections could only have been skin-deep, and were offered more in a spirit of contrariness than seriously.
“here are letters for every one,” remarked jack; “but if you take my advice you’ll keep them until after we’ve had supper. there’s a whole lot to be done before night settles down.”
“jack, you’ve been ashore, and mebbe now you happened to notice a good grocery store where we could pick up what we need in the line of grub,” and as he asked this buster waved his formidable list before him.
“it happens that i did just that same thing, and, better still, the place is only a short distance away from here. from the glance i took at it i reckon we could get about everything we want, provided we’re willing to take them in the hungarian style of putting up the packages.”
“oh,” decided buster, “so far as that goes, a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet. i’d be willing to forget the trade names of the oatmeal, hominy, and such things i’m used to seeing, if the contents of the packages turned out to be as good.”
[23]
“all right, buster,” continued the other, “suppose we start out right away and do our shopping. i suppose if we buy for cash they’ll send the things around here to this boat builder’s wharf where we had permission to tie up during our stay here.”
everybody looked pleased. it was as if a dreadful load had been suddenly lifted from their hearts. they would never have been fully satisfied to abandon their trip down the danube on such short notice. in times to come they would very likely call themselves silly to be frightened off so easily by what might turn out to be only a shadow of coming trouble.
buster proved himself willing enough by scrambling ashore. in fact, when the question of eating was concerned no one could ever accuse the fat boy of shirking his duty; as josh said, “when the dinner horn blew buster was always johnny-on-the-spot,” though truth to tell the said josh often ran a race with his comrade at table.
“i don’t suppose you’ll be needing a german scholar along with you to do the bargaining?” suggested george pompously.
buster chuckled at hearing that.
“don’t you worry about us, george,” he advised the other, “we can get through all right. as long as i’ve got eyes and can smell things[24] i reckon i’ll be able to pick out what we want most. and money talks, george, better than some people’s german.”
“oh, well, they say a prophet never is appreciated in his own country,” sighed george; “but all the same i’m going to practice up in my german, because it may serve us well sooner or later. if you fellows get pinched, send us word and i’ll hurry around to the police station to explain matters.”
“how kind you are, george; but i’m afraid after they heard your fine german they’d put you behind the bars for murdering the language.”
with that parting shot buster hurried away, leaving josh shaking his sides with laughter, for they did love to get a crack at george, who was always complaining and throwing cold water on every plan.
jack led the way, for, having been already over the ground, he could serve in the capacity of pilot.
“listen, buster,” he said impressively as they walked along toward the nearby street, “from now on we want to let everybody know that we’re american boys, and not english, you understand.”
“what’s the idea, jack? up to now a lot of people have taken us for english, and we’ve[25] let it go at that without taking the bother to explain, because there’s always been a warm friendly feeling between the austrians and the english.”
“that’s right, buster, but if great britain gets into this big scrap you can see that she’ll be up against the soldiers of austria-hungary as well as those of the kaiser. so from now on stand up for your colors. we’re americans every time, and don’t you forget it.”
buster evidently saw the point, for he promised to faithfully observe the counsel of his mate, in whom he placed the utmost reliance.
they soon reached the store which jack had noticed. it was quite an extensive establishment, and there could be little doubt but that everything needful on buster’s list might be procured there. if some of the items chanced to be lacking, their place could be filled with others equally attractive, jack felt sure.
by great good luck the proprietor could speak and read english. this made it very easy for the purchasers. he also promised to have the goods delivered inside of an hour, and said he knew the boatyard well.
when jack went to pay for their purchases he had only english money. he thought the merchant looked at him a little more closely, and considered that this was a very good opportunity[26] to prove their nationality. so he took out a letter he had just received, which bore the home postmark across in america. this he showed, as well as one buster also produced, as proof of his assertion that they were americans, and not english.
“nothing like getting your hand in,” he told buster later on when they were making their way back to where the boat was tied up.
“and come to think of it,” added the other with sudden vehemence, “i believe i’ve got a little silk edition of old glory stowed away somewhere in my bundle. i just chucked the same in, thinking we might want to fasten it to our boat; but up to this minute it’s slipped my mind. how’d it do to make use of it, jack?”
“splendid idea,” commented the other.
“as long as that waves in the breeze nobody can mistake our nationality; even if george keeps on trying to talk that silly german of his. he makes such a mess of it that some of these people may think we’re spies out to learn all about the fortifications of the lower danube.”
upon their arrival at the boat the others questioned them concerning the success of their undertaking. josh also wanted to know if they had managed to pick up any further[27] news concerning the great struggle that had begun.
“we went after grub,” buster told him severely, “and that being the case, you needn’t expect that we would waste our precious time jabbering about a silly old war, would you? if you do you’ve got another guess coming. and say, we got everything on my list, would you believe it, or something that was just as good.”
“huh! i can see why you’re grinning so happily, buster,” sneered george; “you’re contemplating many a fine feed ahead.”
“we’re all in the same boat, george,” sang out buster blithely; “and when the tocsin calls us to supper i notice that as a rule you’re never hanging far in the rear. considering the difference in our heft, i take it i’ve got a bird’s appetite compared with you and josh here—pound for pound.”
“well, it’s getting twilight, so suppose we start in with that same supper,” jack ventured to say. “for one i’m willing to admit that an afternoon humming down the river has given me a ferocious appetite; and i’m not ashamed to declare it, either.”
buster needed no second invitation. time had been when the fat boy hardly knew how to cook a rasher of bacon properly; but his love[28] of eating had inspired him to pick up fresh knowledge, with the result that he now stood in a class by himself.
perhaps josh and george, wishing to shirk much of their share of the culinary operations, flattered buster more than was really necessary. they imposed upon his good nature in this way outrageously; but since the stout youth seemed to really enjoy handling the saucepans and skillet, jack interposed no objections.
supper was soon ready, though they had to light the lanterns before they could sit down at the little adjustable table, which, when not in use, could be slung up against the wall of the cabin and the space it occupied utilized as sleeping quarters for one of the crew.
after that they sat around talking in low tones and covering a wide range of subjects as usual in their conversation, from the folks at home, numerous former escapades that came to mind, to the terrible conflict that apparently promised to engulf the whole of europe in its thrall.
then a vehicle came into the boatyard and the stores were taken aboard. when they had been stowed away in temporary places jack declared that he meant to open his letter from home and enjoy the contents.
[29]
of course, this reminded the others that they too had news from those dear ones now so far away, and for a long time the four sat there, lost in contemplation of distant scenes brought close to them by those envelopes and their contents.
later on they lay down to secure what sleep was possible. as a rule, after the first night afloat all of them had little difficulty about sleeping; but it seemed that on this occasion they turned and tossed considerably more than usual before settling down. perchance it was the thrilling news they had heard that afternoon that made them so restless; or it may have been a premonition of coming difficulties that kept them awake; but morning came and found them far from refreshed.
