"Well, they won"t get me back there if I can help it," said Hal.
"Nor me, either," agreed Chester.
General Steinbach now spoke again.
"You will not be sent back before to-morrow," he said; "in the meantime, if you will give me your paroles, I shall be glad to have you as my guests."
Chester glanced quickly at Hal, and the latter nodded his head negatively.
"We are sorry, sir," said Chester, "but we cannot give our paroles."
The general hesitated for a brief moment.
"Oh, well," he said, "I don"t know as it makes any difference. There is no chance of your escaping again. I shall be pleased to have you lunch with me."
The lads accepted this invitation gladly, for both were very hungry, and they knew from past experiences that the Kaiser treated his officers to the best that was to be obtained in the line of food.
They accompanied General Steinbach to his quarters, where they soon sat down to a substantial meal. The meal over, the German commander walked with them to the outside, and asked them if they would care to have a look about. Both lads agreed that they would and the general detailed an officer to show them around.
"I hardly believe you will be able to reveal what you may see," he said with a smile, as he left them, "for within a few days you will be safe in Berlin."
"I wish he wouldn"t harp on Berlin so much," said Chester. "I don"t like the name of that place."
After an hour"s stroll the lads were conducted to a tent at the northern extremity of the German lines, where they were placed under guard. They had the tent to themselves, but guards were stationed upon the outside.
All the rest of the afternoon they sat there talking over the situation and trying to hit upon some plan of escape; but no feasible scheme occurred to either.
Night came and food was brought them. The lads did not turn in early, for they were in no mood for sleep. Well into the night they sat up talking.
In the midst of the conversation Hal became conscious of the fact that an object of some kind was trying to crawl under the tent from the outside.
Silently he called Chester"s attention to the spot where the canvas was being tampered with.
Presently a head appeared beneath the rear of the tent, followed by a man"s head and shoulders. His face was not turned toward the lads, so they did not recognize him; but they did not move from their chairs.
Now the apparition succeeded in drawing his legs within the tent, and, rising to his feet, turned toward them. In spite of their surprise, however, the boys were too cool to exclaim aloud, but both muttered beneath their breath:
"Stubbs!"
The newcomer was indeed the little American war correspondent.
He laid a cautious finger to his lips and came toward them. Both lads arose and silently took him by the hand.
"I"ve come to get you out," whispered Stubbs.
"How did you get here?" asked Hal in a low voice.
"I have been here for two days," was the reply. "I came before you did, and when I told the German commander I was an American war correspondent, he was glad to see me. You know the Kaiser is seeking the moral sympathy of the United States. When I told General Steinbach that I was here to get the German side of the war he treated me royally. He presented me with a pa.s.s giving me the freedom of the German lines and has taken the trouble to show me about a bit himself."
"You certainly must have made a hit with him," said Chester.
"Leave that to Stubbs," was the little man"s reply. "Now, the thing is, to get you out of here."
"But how did you know we were here?" asked Hal.
Stubbs smiled.
"I was a silent witness of the scene at the place of execution," he said.
"Since that time I have been following you. When I saw you placed in this tent I disappeared, for I didn"t want to be seen hanging about the prisoners. I knew you would be here till morning, so I waited till dark to come to you."
"Have you a plan?" asked Chester.
"A newspaper man always has a plan," was the reply.
He went to the place where he had come under the tent and, reaching out a hand, pulled a bundle in after him. This he brought over to the lads and untied.
The lads bent over it eagerly and started back in surprise when they saw what it contained.
"Women"s clothes!" exclaimed Hal in a low voice.
Stubbs smiled complacently.
"They were the best I could obtain upon short notice," he explained.
"Then, too, I believe they will be better disguises than anything else."
"We"ll make a couple of fine-looking girls," said Hal in disgust.
"Oh, I don"t know," replied Stubbs. "I guess you will look a heap better than some I have seen hereabouts."
"But I don"t know anything about women"s clothes," protested Hal.
"Nor I," said Chester, "except I know that if you don"t walk just so you might as well tell everybody you are not a woman."
"That would be true in New York, but not here," said Stubbs. "Some of these French peasant women walk just like a man, so you won"t have any trouble on that score. The main thing is to see if they fit."
"Well, the easiest way to tell that is to try "em on," said Chester.
"Here goes."
He took a faded blue dress from the bundle, and, holding it in two hands, thrust one foot into it.
"Here, here, that"s not the way to get into it," exclaimed Stubbs.
Chester looked at him in surprise.
"How else can you get into it?" he demanded.
"Put it over your head," whispered Stubbs. "You see," he explained, "I am a married man and I know something about such things."
Chester tried again, and, obeying Stubbs"s injunction, found that the dress slipped on more easily. He fastened it around his waist.