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why do either?" parried Arthur then. "Because the lives of our soldiers must be guarded against the skulking murderers who hide behind a window and shoot when there is no chance for our men to reply. Our men take their lives in their hands when they go to war, and if they die on the field of battle, they die willingly because they know that it is for the Fatherland. So we must preserve them for that glorious death." Arthur was silent. He was not convinced, but he felt that it would do no good to argue, and Paul, moreover, had managed to look at him, so that he understood that his chum and leader wanted him to be quiet. When they came near to Hannay Major Kellner mounted his horse again, since he had to maintain his dignity when he was entering a captured place, however small it might be. He spurred his horse on and took his place at the head of the battalion. "Now we're in a nice fix, aren't we?" said Arthur, disgustedly. "We're further from our own army than ever! Likely to stay, too!" "I hope that we shall be able to get away from here soon, Arthur. I don't believe they'll hold us very long. And we're really in luck, I suppose. If there are German troops all around, others would have held us up, if we hadn't come on this detachment, and we've had proof for ourselves that all the officers wouldn't treat us as well as Major Kellner. Suppose it was that young lieutenant of Uhlans who had caught us?" Arthur made a grimace. "Ugh!" he said. "Yes, that's true! Or a detachment that had that man Ridder along! You're right, Paul. We might be a great deal worse off than we are! But I'll tell you one thing. When we come back into Hannay with the Germans, there will be a lot of people there who are sure that we have been in league with them from the beginning." "I hope not," said Paul, looking troubled. "But I'm afraid you're right. They can't understand, of course. I don't blame them for feeling as they do. But it's rather hard, when I was only trying to do what would be best for them. And I believe we did save them from having a very bad time there. You see, these people have a couple of guns along. They're not very big, and they wouldn't make very much impression on a fortified place, but if they were turned on a defenseless village like Hannay, they would destroy it in a very few minutes." In Hannay, as the battalion marched in, past the remains of the barricade, at which most of the
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