The Boy Allies in the Trenches | Page 8

standing idly about. At the same moment he
felt a hand grasp his and heard a well-known voice exclaim:
"I owe my life to you, Hal. It seems that you bob up wherever you are
needed most."
Hal turned and gazed at the speaker. He was Captain Harry Anderson,
of His British Majesty's Royal Dragoons, whom the lad had last seen in
the hands of the Germans. Then the fight, the burning barn, and his

recognition of Anderson just before he had lost consciousness, all came
back to him in a flash, and he pressed the hand that grasped his.
"Lieutenant--I mean Captain Anderson!" he exclaimed. "I thought you
were safe in the hands of the Germans."
The lad arose slowly to his feet, supported by the captain's arm. He
staggered a trifle; but, after inhaling a few breaths of the cold,
invigorating air, was soon himself again.
"And I," said Captain Anderson, answering Hal's exclamation, "thought
you also were safe in the hands of the Germans."
"Well," said Hal, with a faint smile, "it seems that the enemy did wrong
to believe they had any of us safely."
"It does, indeed," the captain smiled back; "but come, tell me how you
escaped. I have asked Chester, but he has been so worried about you
that he has failed to do so."
"We haven't time now," replied Hal. "We are on a reconnaissance, and
must proceed immediately."
"It will be unnecessary," replied Anderson dryly. "I have just come
from that way and am in a position to tell you, or General French,
either, for that matter, all you desire to know."
"Are you sure?" asked Hal.
"Positive," replied the captain briefly.
"In that event," said Hal, "we may as well return, for we shall be
wasting time and possibly sacrificing men, to linger here longer."
He turned to his men. "Mount!" he ordered.
The troop sprang to the saddle. Ordering them to face about, the lad
commanded:

"Forward!"
The troop set off at a quick trot, Captain Anderson on a spare horse
riding between Hal and Chester at their head.
"Now," said the captain, "you can tell me about yourselves as we ride
along."
The two lads did so, and when he learned that the lads had seen active
service in the eastern theater of war, the captain was greatly surprised.
"And still I shouldn't be surprised at anything you do or may do," he
said. "You see I know you well."
"Come now, captain," said Chester, "tell us something of your own
experiences."
"Well," said Anderson, "I have had about as strenuous a time as you
can imagine, and I have been at the threshold of death more than once."
"Let's hear about it!" exclaimed Hal.
"You remember, of course," began the captain, "how we were captured,
and how badly I was wounded? You remember, also, that we were
separated in the German camp?"
The lads signified that they did, and the captain continued:
"All right, then. It seems that my wounds were more serious than was
at first supposed. A fever set in, and my German physician told me that
I was a dead man. I laughed at him. I told him I had too much work to
do to die yet awhile. He wanted to know what that work was and I told
him it was killing Germans. This made him angry, and--"
"I don't wonder," said Hal dryly.
"It's a wonder he didn't administer a dose of poison right then," said
Chester.

"Yes," continued the captain, "it made him mad, and he informed me
that I might as well die, because if I didn't I would be shot anyhow."
"Shot!" ejaculated Chester. "What for?"
"That's what I asked him. He replied that I had been declared a spy, and
that I was to be put to death as soon as I was well enough to face a
firing squad. He said they didn't want to do it while I was so ill."
"Very considerate of them," commented Hal.
"Just what I told the surgeon. Well, naturally, with this sentence
hanging over my head I didn't get well any quicker than I had to. Every
day I could feel myself getting better, but I pretended to get worse. I
contracted all the ailments you ever heard of, and I was a sore puzzle to
the surgeon. He had several others look me over, but they couldn't
agree on what was the matter with me, although they did agree I was a
very sick man and had only a few days to linger on this earth. Yet all
this time, mind you, I was shamming and getting better every day."
"You must be a pretty good actor," said Chester.
"Well, I'm not so bad," replied Captain Anderson modestly. "But to
continue.