"They seem to take pains to make it pleasant for a man about to die," remarked Colonel Anderson. "We should be able to spend a profitable day."
"So we should," was the reply. "I wonder if Hal and Uncle John got through safely?" he remarked somewhat irrelevantly.
"I guess we can bank on that," said the colonel. "They got through if there was a possible chance."
"I hope that Hal does not venture into the Austrian lines in an attempt to rescue us," declared Chester. "It would be sticking his head into the lion's mouth."
"Nevertheless, that is what he is likely to do," asserted Colonel
Anderson. "It is not like him to keep quiet when some one is in danger."
"That's what worries me," confessed Chester. "There is no use of his being killed, too."
"Oh, well," said the colonel, "whatever happens is beyond our power to remedy. Let's talk about something pleasant."
And so they did, whiling away the rapidly flying hours with stories and reminiscences; and the shadows deepened as darkness approached.
"It seems to me that we could get out of this place some way," declared
Chester suddenly.
"It seems to me that you are wrong," said, the colonel grimly. "There are five guards outside, each armed to the teeth. What chance would we have?"