With the coming of nightfall the rumble of battle had died away. But from the sounds of the last shots fired, he had reached the conclusion that the fighting front could not be any great distance off.
As the young lieutenant hid in the woods opposite the gateway he heard a sound on the road from the westward, and presently several German officers on horseback came riding along. They were talking earnestly, and turned into the same gate which the farmer had used.
“Hello! maybe that’s some sort of headquarters,” Dave murmured to himself. “If it is, I had better watch out for myself. They must have guards all around here.”
It would have been the part of prudence for our hero to have placed as much distance as possible between himself and such a place. But the young lieutenant had not only the bravery of the average American soldier, but he had likewise his share of curiosity, and now that he was so close to these German officers he wondered how they were carrying on the conduct of the war.
“I’d like to spy on them a little and see just how they do it,” he told himself. “Gracious! what a story it will be to tell if ever I get back!”
His curiosity finally got the better of him, and, watching his opportunity, he slipped across the road again and then climbed the stone fence of the estate. He knew he was taking a tremendous chance, for there might not only be soldiers in that vicinity, but the owner of the place might have a number of watch-dogs.
Looking ahead through the trees and brushwood, the young lieutenant presently made out a large stone-pile, evidently an ancient German castle. All was dark from the outside save the light which peered from around the cracks of dark curtains pulled down over the windows. But as the night was warm, most of the windows were open and the air blowing would occasionally shift a curtain so that a look inside could be obtained.
There seemed to be no soldiers on that side of the building, so our hero had little difficulty in making his way forward until he was within a short distance of the castle. He could hear loud and earnest talking coming from probably six or eight officers. They were gathered in a room not far from where he was standing, and when the wind raised the curtain of one of the windows for a few seconds, Dave saw that they were seated around a large table containing a number of maps and documents.
“And you think the Crown Prince will be here to-night?” questioned one of the officers presently.
“That’s what he said, Captain Baska,” was the reply.