“You wouldn’t have us fight the whole German army in the rear, would you?” one of the Marines inquired.
“We sha’n’t have to,” Phil replied. “In the first place, they’ll never suspect that so many of us are armed. The main command of the German forces will have a hard time getting a clear statement of our escape from these drunken guards. They’re not going to admit that they were drunk and they’ll dodge as long as possible every question that will tend to show they were under the influence of liquor. Meanwhile we’ll keep away from the main traveled highways over which the enemy truck lines run between the armies and the supply stations. Evidently they haven’t been able to repair the French railroads as fast as they advanced. In a few days they probably will have them in running order and that will make conditions better for us, for the better rail service they have, the less they’ll have to use the highways, and the freer the roads’ll be for us. To tell you the truth, everything is remarkably in our favor, and all we have to do is keep out of sight in the daytime and—and—work out our own salvation at night.”
“And forage for something to eat,” Tim added, slapping his middle significantly.
“Oh, yes, that reminds me,” Phil said quickly. “While one of us goes and invites our comrades in yonder prison to join us, the rest of us will load ourselves with provender from the truck where Tim cooked stew for us yesterday.”
“That’s just what I was goin’ to suggest,” the bullet-headed corporal put in.
“All right,” Sergeant Speed continued, in a well satisfied tone of voice. “You go ahead and engineer that business and I’ll bring out the other prisoners.”
CHAPTER XXVIII
THE PRISONERS FLEE
The mess truck had been driven into the court of the hotel, and the escaping prisoners soon relieved it of its burden of food, principally hard-baked or canned. This was distributed as equally as possible among them all, and then the departure from the town was begun.
They were only a short distance from a main highway over which the noises of heavy and rapid traffic could be heard constantly. So their chief caution was to avoid attracting attention to their unusual proceedings from the soldiers and truckmen moving along this route.
It was quickly decided by the leaders of the escaping prisoners that they had better make their departure by way of the path that led down the hill near the sandpit, as it was well shielded for a quarter of a mile or more with small trees and bushes from the top of the hill down into a sort of ravine through which ran a small stream of water. Moreover, all admitted without debate that it was far more important for them to find a good place of concealment than to travel any considerable distance toward the lines of battle before daylight.