“That fresh air feels fine!”
“What’s doing there?” questioned somebody else. “Are we going to get out?”
“I broke the door open with one of those pieces of machinery,” answered Dave. “I don’t intend to remain a prisoner any longer. I am going to jump from this train at the very first chance I get.”
“Don’t do it, lad! Don’t do it!” cried one of the older men. “You’ll break your neck sure!”
“And you can’t get away,” added another. “The Germans will be sure to spot you in the morning and they’ll shoot you down.”
To this Dave did not reply. Instead he peered forth from the train, opening the door only a few inches for that purpose.
All was dark, and for a minute or two he could see but little. Then he made out that they were passing through a patch of woods and that the jagged rocks were numerous along the roadbed.
“I can’t jump out here,” he told himself. “I’d either be killed or terribly cut up.”
A few minutes later the woods were left behind, and then the prisoners found themselves bumping over a railroad crossing. Then they ran into a small station, which was lit up by smoky lanterns.
“I guess this is my chance,” Dave told himself, and the train had not yet come to a stop when he pushed open the door a little farther and allowed himself to drop out on the ground. Then, as the train rolled a few yards further, he made a quick leap for the shelter of some nearby sheds.