The German general by this time had dismounted and had been hurrying forward even as Hal put his adversary down.
“Well done!” shouted the German commander in excellent English. “Well done, I say! But what is all this commotion about?”
“If you please, sir,” said one of the soldiers, stepping forward, “Lieutenant Leffler was trying to shoot you when this American officer”—and he indicated Chester—“interfered.”
“So?” exclaimed the general in utter astonishment. “It has come to this, eh? How dare a German soldier lift a hand toward his superior officer!”
He drew near and stirred the prostrate body of Lieutenant Leffler with his foot. Then he turned to Chester.
“So I have to thank an enemy for saving my life, eh?” he said in a quiet voice. “I am sorry that we are enemies, sir, for I have been in your America. Well, I thank you. If there is anything I can do for you at any time, call upon me. But what are you doing within our lines?”
In a few words Chester repeated the story told the German lieutenant a few moments before.
“Lost, eh?” said the general. “Well, it’s too bad, of course. I can’t send you back to your own lines, for you have been captured within ours. That means that you are prisoners of war until the war ends, or until you are exchanged—which is unlikely,” he added as an afterthought.
He turned to one of the soldiers.
“What’s your name, my man?” he demanded.