The boys darted into the house, while the man said in an undertone: "Henri, take the boys down to the pit. Don't stop for anything."
Henri motioned to them, and they rushed out the back door, passed through a narrow arbor way, dashed through a gate and followed along side the fence which ran toward the river. They almost rolled down the steep incline to the water's edge in their eagerness to get away.
"This way," said Henri.
He led them along the incline for several hundred feet, and finally stopped at the entrance of what appeared to be a cave.
"This is an old ore pit," said Henri. "I don't think they will find you here. I'll go back and see what they are doing."
So saying he slipped down the bank, and hurriedly passed out of sight. They remained in the pit for nearly an hour, and a feeling of uneasiness crept over them. Ralph cautiously crept out and peered over the top of the hill. He was just in time to see the troops file out of the yard.
Before they had disappeared down the road Henri rushed out of the house and made his way to the pit.
"Come on, boys; they have gone," he shouted.
As the boys crept up the hill and met Henri, they learned that the Germans had compelled their friends to prepare breakfast for them, which accounted for the long delay.