at motor truck continued its journey southward at
top speed. Then Hal called a halt.

Quickly the men clambered out, and with Hal in the lead marched in the
direction of the river.

The place where Hal had ordered the men from the car could not have
been better selected, for, on the opposite side of the river, though
Hal did not know it then, there was a considerable open space between
the German forces.

The troopers followed the lad to the bank of the river, and then, as
there was not a shot from the opposite side, all walked boldly along
the shore. At length they came upon a number of small boats, evidently
having been placed in readiness by some of the British forces.

"We'll appropriate these," said Hal. "Luckily they were here or we
should have been forced to swim across."

The men piled into the boats, and pushed off. They reached the
opposite side without discovery, and hastily clambering up the bank
were soon hidden from sight in a clump of trees. Here Hal called
another halt, until he was able to decide upon his next move.

The boats had been pulled into the trees, to be used for their return
trip. The driver of the auto truck was ordered to remain where the
party had left him. All in readiness for a hasty retreat, Hal now
bethought himself of a way to successfully accomplish their mission.

After a consultation the party moved forward, keeping as much as
possible in the shelter of the trees. As they approached the edge of
the little woods they came suddenly upon three German horsemen.

The latter had not seen them, so quietly had they crept along. Hal,
Chester and Lieutenant Anderson were upon them before they knew it,
their men right behind them. Seeing that they were far outnumbered,
the Germans did not put up a fight.

The hands of all three immediately went into the air, and one of them
called out in German:

"We surrender."

"Dismount!" ordered Hal, and the Germans obeyed.

"This is what I call luck," said Hal to his friends.

"What do you mean?" demanded Lieutenant Anderson.

"Why," said Hal, "here we have three horses and three German
uniforms. If that isn't luck, I don't know what is."

Quickly the three Germans were stripped of their uniforms, bound and
gagged.

When Hal, Chester and Lieutenant Anderson had donned the German
uniforms, Hal called three of the British troopers to him.

"You men," he said, "will leave all your weapons here, except your
revolvers, which you will hid