"God keep you when our sabres meet!" said Von Steyr, between his teeth.
Rickerl burst into an angry laugh.
"Where is your prisoner?" he cried.
Von Steyr stared around him, right and left—Jack was gone.
"Let others prefer charges," said Rickerl, contemptuously—"if you escape my sabre in the morning."
"Let them," said Von Steyr, quietly, but his face worked convulsively.
"Second platoon dismount to search for escaped prisoner!" he cried. "Open order! Forward!"
CHAPTER XIX
RICKERL'S SABRE
Jack, lying full length in the depths of the forest, listened fearfully for the sounds of the human pack on his heels. The blackness was stupefying; the thud of his own heart seemed to fill the shrouded forest like the roll of a muffled drum. Presently he crept on again, noiselessly, painfully, closing his eyes when the invisible twigs brushed his face.