Hal waited to hear no more. He knew he had been discovered, and he decided to act before the Germans completely recovered from their surprise.
Springing to his feet, the lad dashed forward with a cry.
"Out of my way!" he shouted in German.
For a moment it seemed that the Germans would obey this command, so startled were they by its suddenness and Hal's appearance from out of the ground, apparently.
But they recovered their wits in a moment and closed in on the lad with guttural cries of anger.
Hal raised both revolvers.
"Crack! Crack!"
Two Germans reeled back and the others gave ground. Before they had time to recover from this unexpected attack, Hal was among them. Twice more his revolvers spoke. The targets were so close that a miss was impossible and two more Germans crumpled up on the ground. The remaining two skipped promptly out of harm's way.
Hal leaped for the trenches, revolvers still in hand. Once beyond the enemy's lines he felt he would be comparatively safe.
But the sounds of the revolver shots had aroused the camp. Men streamed forth from all directions.