“I understand the patrol posts are cleverly hidden. Without a guide a man walking down the lane would trip an alarm wire and be caught in no time at all.” Sim seemed to know all about the methods used by the Nazis to trap anyone fleeing the country.
They kept walking until midnight. Then they rested for a half-hour, lying in a hedge beside the road. After midnight they moved more slowly. Several times they dived into the fields along the road to avoid patrols moving swiftly along the lane on motorcycles. Once they almost ran into a bicycle patrol. The cyclists did not make any noise and were upon the boys before they had time to duck. A leafy hedge saved them from being sighted.
“We will have to cross the Dutch border soon,” Sim said after talking with their guide.
“There won’t be much of a guard there, will there?” Stan asked. “The Germans have made Holland a part of Germany.”
“There is a strict border control,” the guide answered. “The Dutch are just pigs and are kept in their pen.”
“That’s what the Nazis say,” Sim added.
“Sure,” the guide agreed. “The Nazis say that.”
“How are we to get through?” Stan asked. “You must have a method which works.”
“Sure,” the guide said. “But it has always been risky. We may be separated. If we are separated, you will ask a Dutchman to take you to 76 Mamur in Arnhem. Do not speak to a Dutchman wearing a swastika. Ask only of a farmer or other working person.”
“We all will meet there,” Sim said. “After that, we will have no more trouble. The Dutch will take care of us.”