“Now we go,” the guide said.
“At any rate, we know where we are,” Stan said to O’Malley. “Arnhem isn’t so far from Rotterdam.”
“Sure, an’ that just means nothin’ to me. I’m stickin’ with this here guide,” O’Malley answered.
They moved along at a fast pace for some time. Finally the German called a halt. There seemed to be quite a bit of activity ahead; besides, dawn was not far away. They had spent most of the last hour ducking patrols roaring up and down the lane.
“We must move very carefully now. We will leave the road. Keep close to me,” the guide said in a low voice.
The party moved off the road and through a hedge. Beyond the hedge they found themselves in a plowed field. The ground was soft and damp. Moving slowly now, because they sunk in to their boot tops, the boys crossed the field and came to a canal. Stan could see murky water in the ditch. He judged the canal was about fifteen feet wide.
They followed the canal for some distance. Lights ahead caused the guide to halt. Stan could see men on both sides of the canal. They were silhouetted against the sky and were moving back and forth.
“We must pass through the guard lines here,” the guide whispered. “There will be soldiers with rifles on each side of the canal. There is much barbed wire and many electrical alarms along the border. We must take to the canal.”
“Sure, and it looks cold, that water,” O’Malley muttered.
“We will keep close to the bank, two on each side. When we pass the guards above we must crouch down in the water and stay against the bank. We must go very slow. Waves or movement of the water will be noticed.”