t. He pulled out a bag from under the seat and munched a
sausage sandwich, washing the food down with draughts from a brown jug.
O'Malley was able to see this.

"Sure, an' I've a mind to reach up there an' grab that sandwich," he
said hungrily.

"Better not," Stan warned.

O'Malley held his appetite in check, but he kept on grumbling.

"Stop watching him eat," Stan advised in a whisper.

"Sure, an' I can't take me eyes off that sausage sandwich. 'Tis the most
appetizin' thing I iver seen," O'Malley said mournfully.

The cart rattled through a village and moved on down another narrow
lane. Presently they came to a gate and the driver pulled up. Stan
ducked back.

"German soldiers," he whispered warningly.

The soldiers were shouting at the driver. He got down and began talking
to them excitedly.

"They're looking for escaped prisoners," O'Malley whispered in Stan's
ear.

Three burly soldiers walked over to the cart and began thrusting their
bayonets into the hay. Stan stiffened. If he was stabbed he meant to
make no outcry. He felt the cold steel move across his body a few inches
from his chest. It slipped back, then stabbed again. Stan was glad the
bed of the cart had a ten-inch high board around it.

After more shouting and poking the driver got back on his seat and the
cart moved forward.

"Boy," Stan muttered. "That was a close shave."

"I got a small cut," Sim said.

"And you didn't yell?" O'Malley spoke admiringly.

"It would have been the end for us if I had yelled," Sim answered.

The cart continued to jog along slowly. Long shadows fell across the
road and the cart passed many farmers returning from the fields.

"I could eat a boiled dog," O'Malley grumbled.

"We'll eat later," Sim assured him.

Darkness settled slowly. The driver turned off the road into a narrower
lane as soon as it was dark.

"No traveling is allowed after dark," Sim explained. "We must be near
our second station."

The cart halted and the driver called to them.

"Come out now."

They climbed out and flexed stiff muscles. O'Malley faced the driver.

"I'm hungry. Got any food?"

"Come with me," the man said.

They entered a grove of trees and walked up to a tiny house. The house
was dark but, with the aid of a flashlight, the guide located a trap
door under some loose straw. He pulled it upward, revealing a stairs.
The boys went down into a cellar where their guide lighted an oil lamp.

The cellar smelled st