“Six!”
“That’s fine. Couldn’t be better. Get down now, there may be a Hun barrage in a minute. They’ll be ripping mad when they find out what’s happened. This was one of their main posts, and Prussians were on guard.”
Jerry and Ned were each guarding a Hun prisoner, making him walk along ahead with upraised hands, while the guns, taken away from the Germans themselves, served as compelling weapons. 107
Into the trenches they had left a short time before the raiders made their way, and went to the dugout where they were to report. There the commanding officer of that sector met them.
Coming into the comparatively well-lighted place from the darkness, Jerry blinked as he looked at the captured Germans and then glanced to see how badly Ned was hurt.
He saw that his chum was pale, and noted blood on his hands, but Ned smiled in a reassuring way. Then, for the first time, Jerry noticed that Bob was not with them.
“Where’s Chunky?” he demanded.
“Who?” asked the lieutenant. “I thought we only left Black, Jones, and Porter behind. Is there another missing?”
“Bob Baker, sir,” answered Jerry. “But he was with us when we got back within our own wire. I was talking to him.”
“Send out a searching party!” ordered the captain. “It is possible he was hit and didn’t say anything about it, or a stray bullet may have found him after he reached our lines. Send out and see!”