“We surrender,” called Hal in German, and immediately the soldier lowered his weapon and approached them.
He passed his hands around their waists and then felt in the pockets of their coats and relieved them of their weapons. Then he ordered:
“Right about; forward, march!”
The lads obeyed this command, and the German stalked after them, keeping his rifle in readiness for a quick shot should his prisoners attempt to escape.
But the lads had no thought of taking to their heels, for they were fully aware that a bullet would stop one of them at least should they make even one false move.
They continued their walk, and presently came in view of what appeared to be a large German camp. Here their captor marched them directly to the tent of the commanding officer.
“What are you doing within our lines?” was the latter’s first question after the soldier had related how he had made his capture.
“Well,” said Hal, “we were accidentally carried through your lines by a locomotive which we happened to be running when the rest of the train was blown up. We couldn’t get back, so we went ahead. We finally lost the engine, so we were making our way back to our own lines.”
“Lost the engine? What do you mean?” asked the officer.