"What will you do, Paul?" asked Arthur, when they were alone.
"I don't know yet, Arthur. I want to see this wine shop. Then perhaps we can make up a plan together. It would be easy to tell the Germans, but they would burn the wine shop. And I do not want to tell them if there is another way."
CHAPTER XVI
THE WINE SHOP
In the wine shop, when they came to it, they found none of the men of Hannay. The German soldiers, off duty for a little while, had taken possession of the place, and the sound of their singing, which could be heard as soon as one came within a hundred yards of the place, showed that they were happy. The two scouts looked in as they passed the window. They saw the invaders there, looking less like soldiers than they had imagined German troops ever could look. A few of the men were resting their feet, having taken off their heavy hobnailed boots, and were sitting in their woolen socks. Some were playing cards; nearly all were smoking.
"It's safe enough," said Paul. "If we can find that back entrance, I think we can get into the cellar. The worst of it is that they may have a guard there."
It was Arthur who found the entrance to the cellar. He led the way down the stone steps, and they found themselves in a whitewashed vault, scrupulously clean, as are practically all Belgian houses from garret to cellar. There was a lantern, too, shedding a dim but most welcome light on the place, with its rows of casks and hogsheads.
"That's a piece of luck, that lantern," said Paul. "Only it shows something we'll have to look out for—that we may have a visitor any moment. Look over there, Arthur. There's a little space behind that row of barrels. If anyone comes we can hide there."
But Arthur had another idea. Before Paul could stop him, he sprang lightly up the stairs that led to the room above, whence the sound of the German soldiers came very plainly. He fumbled for a moment at the door before he returned.