Making no noise, Dave succeeded in lowering himself to one of the larger limbs of the tree. Then, as the soldiers continued to talk and eat, having thrown themselves on the ground for that purpose, he worked his way out on the limb until he was almost to the end.
Below him he could make out a mass of brushwood and also several rocks. These partly screened the spot where he might land from the trunk of the tree. But the distance to the ground was all of fifteen feet, and our hero was by no means sure that he could make the drop in safety. If he sprained an ankle or injured his foot, it would be all up with him.
“But I’ve got to take some chances,” he murmured to himself. “I don’t intend to go back to one of their prison pens. Besides, having escaped once, it may be that they would shoot me on sight.”
He gave himself a moment more of thought, and then, gritting his teeth, suddenly swung out to the end of the limb and let his body drop.
As he came swiftly down he heard a yell of surprise from one of the soldiers. Then all leaped up, grabbing their weapons as they did so.
Fortunately for our hero, he came down in some of the brushwood, and this broke his fall to such an extent that he was not injured save for a few scratches. Having landed, he leaped out of the bushes and then sped through the woods at the best rate of speed he could command.
Crack! Crack! went one rifle after another, and the bullets whistled uncomfortably close to him.
However, he was not struck, and soon the brushwood and the trees screened him so completely that further shooting was out of the question.
But Dave knew the German soldiers must be after him, and he kept on running until he was well-nigh exhausted. He was going downhill at the time, and he had to be careful that he did not pitch headlong over some of the rough rocks which cropped out here and there on the hillside.
At the foot of the hill ran a small brook, and here he paused long enough to get a drink. Then he walked along through the brook for quite a distance, doing this that he might hide any trail that he had left behind. He had heard that the enemy occasionally used hounds in getting on the track of escaped prisoners.