low as possible, moved
along. The sound was getting nearer, and suddenly, to our right, we
heard a sentry call "Halt!" But instead of stopping we ran for all we
were able. We heard the sentry call three times, and then a shot rang
out. There was no attempt at concealment now, we were running for our
lives, or what was dearer still--our _liberty_. There was a grove of
trees just ahead, and we knew that we still had a chance if we could
reach that. One more spurt and we were there, and had thrown ourselves
down with our faces toward the open country we had just left. We were
pretty well out of breath, but we dared not stay longer than was
necessary to get our wind, so we pushed on, for we were anxious to get
across the border in the darkest part of the night. We stole along
like ghosts, for we did not know what moment we might run up against
the border guards. We decided that the shot we had heard on our right
had come from a passing patrol.

We kept on until 4 A.M., and as it was getting a little bit light we
saw in the distance what looked like a small town. We were much
astonished, because if we read our map aright the only town on our
route should have been passed the night before. We lay up in a field
and talked it over, but we couldn't locate ourselves. It wouldn't do
for us to lay up for a day so near a town, so we must either turn back
or hasten on. At last I said, "Let's flip a coin and see which we will
do--heads, we go on; tails, we turn back." We did this, and it turned
out "heads," so on we went. I forgot to say between us and the town
was a canal, and we couldn't find a bridge. This canal was another
puzzling feature. Well, we swam it, and came out very wet, cold, and
tired. We passed within half a mile of the town and finally struck the
main road on the other side. It was now daylight, and we had to be on
the lookout for people every instant. Finally we saw a signpost just
ahead, and we thought that would surely solve our problem. But when we
came to it we found the lettering had become almost obliterated. One
town that the hand pointed to we figured out as "Neda," but the one we
had just passed could not be made out. Finally, with Mac's help, I
climbed up to the top of the pole, and from there I made out a few of
the letters. Comparing these with an address I had found on a piece of
wrapping paper earlier in the morning, I made out the name as
"Haakshergen." However, our map didn't