"Poor Fritz," thought Dick. "Caught again. Well, if I'm able to get out of this I may be able to help him again. I'm afraid coming back here was a bad plan the way things are working out."
A dispute had arisen, however, amongst the soldiers as to who was entitled to the heap of straw, and after some scuffling and much wordy war, they agreed to leave the straw where it was, and all slept on their blankets.
"Hope Fritz doesn't get up and thank them for leaving him alone," Dick thought. "And now, with this pleasant little addition to our party, however are we going to get away?"
The soldiers were soon rolled up in their coverings, and despite the excitement of their recent chase, they quickly dropped off to sleep, as Dick could tell from the constantly growing volume of snores.
After allowing all the time he felt he could to let his unwitting captors drift soundly into the land of dreams, Dick carefully raised the cover of his bin, and stuck his head out to look around. The fires outside had died down, and the light inside was very scarce indeed.
Suddenly Dick heard a rustle from the straw pile and he realized that Fritz had about exhausted his ability to keep motionless. Dick quietly raised himself over the side of the box, and stepping cautiously over two sleeping Redcoats, crept to the hiding place of Fritz. How to uncover his friend without making a noise was a problem, but proceeding with great care and skill, he gradually removed part of the straw from Fritz, and whispering to him to be perfectly quiet till he finished, Dick gradually had the German boy free of all trouble, and together they tiptoed to the door of the hut.
Directly outside, however, some more of the soldiers were sleeping, and both Dick and Fritz in their eagerness to get away from their surroundings stumbled over one of the sleeping forms and immediately aroused the enemy to a knowledge of their presence.
The yells of the startled Redcoats filled the woods, and with Fritz dashing madly after the fleeing Dick, the two quickly reached the outskirts of the camp.
"I see the horses," panted Dick. "We must try to get yours."
"Yah. Get me a horse," answered Fritz, between breaths. "Myself won't carry much more."