w fighting with the French and the British. No, I who lead you now
have led hundreds of young fellows by this path or a similar one, and
have taken them to safety. Now on, messieurs; in a little while we
shall ascend to the surface."

It was perhaps a quarter of an hour later that Henri felt that the path
under his feet was ascending, and presently, having in the meanwhile
been half stifled, he began to appreciate the fact that fresh air was
reaching him, and that he could breathe more easily. A warning cry
from the man who led them now brought him to a halt, and five minutes
later the whole party had clambered up the rungs of a ladder and had
gained the Open.

"Messieurs," said the Belgian, "beyond there, straight ahead, you will
find a town with friendly Dutchmen in it, who will feed you and clothe
you and send you to your people. Adieu! You will fight all the better
for these adventures, and all the more fiercely for having seen what
poor Belgium is like under the Germans. Adieu! And good luck go with
you."

Shaking hands with their deliverer, and thanking him most cordially,
Henri and Jules and Stuart saw him depart down the ladder, and then
turned their faces from unhappy Belgium into Holland. For, indeed,
they were now beyond the frontier, and, looking back, could see the
barbed-wire fence which separated Holland and Belgium, erected to keep
patriotic sons of the invaded country from escaping German control and
joining the Belgian forces under King Albert. Yes, they could see the
light shot from a small moon, which had now risen, shining on the
wires, shining on that lower one which was charged with an electric
current.

"Nasty thing to get up against, that," said Stuart, the big, hefty
Stuart, shuddering in spite of himself. "I expect many a poor devil
has been killed by that method. And what a method! Just the sort of
thing a German would do. Now isn't it a mean, underhand way of killing
people? But never mind, here are three of us who mean to get even with
them; and in the meanwhile what about getting forward? What about
something to eat? What about something to smoke? What about joining
people who ain't afraid of smiling, who've pot a friendly feeling for
British and French, and don't give a rap for the Germans?"

The warmest of welcomes indeed waited the three in that Dutch town
which they were approaching, and despite the late hour of their arrival
they were immediately accommodated in