Presently the road ascended a slight rise, which for this part of the country might be considered as a hill. Athol could discern the formidable line of barbed wire marking, the frontier boundary. Apparently there were no troops guarding this particular section, Already the majority of the Landsturm soldiers had been withdrawn from the policing of the frontier and had been sent to fill up appalling gaps in the German first-line trenches.
"Sorry, my man," soliloquised the lad, "but needs must."
He brought the butt end of his revolver smartly down upon Herr Stein's head. Without a sound the Hun dropped senseless to the floor of the cart.
Leaping to the ground Athol stopped the horse. Then he listened intently. Everything seemed quiet, although he knew it was quite possible that a sentry, his suspicions aroused by the stopping of the rattling vehicle, might appear upon the scene.
Still keeping his ears and eyes keenly on the alert, Athol quickly stripped the unconscious German of his coat, blouse, trousers and wooden shoes, slipping the garments over his uniform. His boots he was obliged to discard in favour of the ungainly "klompen."
His next step was to release the horse from the shafts and to set the animal adrift, after having removed the bit. This done Athol pushed the cart to the edge of the road and on the grass. From this point the ground shelved with comparative steepness to the barbed wire fencing.
"Wonder if it's heavy enough for the job?" thought the lad.
He caught sight of a pile of large stones, the remains of a demolished building. Working desperately he quickly transferred a number of stones to the floor of the cart. Then he paused for a well-earned breather.
Giving a final glance at the luckless Herr Stein, who was now breathing stertorously, Athol lifted the shafts and backed the cart down the incline. Gathering way the now heavily laden vehicle dashed towards the fence. Not until the back of the cart was within a yard of the barrier did Athol relinquish his grasp of the shafts.
Charging the wire fence fairly and squarely the novel battering ram bore all before it, sweeping an expanse of nearly ten yards of obstruction from its supports. The live wire, short-circuiting and emitting a series of vivid blue sparks, was writhing like a snake.