“I doubt if he will agree to this plan,” came from another officer. “Probably he will have a plan of his own,” he added, rather sourly.
The discussion continued, the officers in the meantime consulting the maps and some of the documents which lay before them. All were smoking and to let in some fresh air, one of the curtains of a window was raised several inches.
Presently there was a commotion at the front of the castle, and a moment later an under officer came into the room somewhat out of breath.
“The Crown Prince!” he announced.
Instantly all of the officers in the room arose to their feet and left the apartment, evidently intending to greet the German Crown Prince at the entrance to the castle.
Peering under the curtain into the room, Dave saw that the apartment was empty. The table where the officers had sat was less than two feet away, and on it still rested the maps and the documents they had been consulting.
It was an opportunity too good to be lost. Though he was running a tremendous risk, Dave raised the curtain to the window a trifle higher, threw his body over the window sill, and stretched out his hands toward the table. With a quick move he gathered in the maps and the documents, rolled them into a bundle, and pulled them toward him. Then he dropped from the window again, pulled down the curtain, and ran with all possible speed toward the rear of the castle.
“Now if they catch me they’ll kill me sure,” he thought. “But they are not going to catch me if I can possibly help it.”
He rolled the maps and the documents still tighter, and thrust them into an inside pocket, buttoning his coat tightly over them. Then he continued on his way until he reached the stone fence, over which he climbed with little difficulty.
Fortunately for the young lieutenant, the night was clear, so that when his eyes became accustomed to the semi-darkness he managed to progress fairly well. He stumbled on and on until he reached the roadway once more, and then headed westward as before. He listened for an alarm from the castle, but strange to say it did not come.