and Henri he
sauntered across the compound. "No, don't you hurry, you fellows, for
there's never any knowing what will happen in these days. Those German
guards have lost their heads, and the chances are that, if in your
curiosity you happen to step along too quickly or to run, they'd
imagine that a mutiny had broken out, and would blaze away at you.
Lor' what a commotion!"

By now some twenty of the German guards--those Landsturm men of perhaps
fifty years of age--had collected in the opposite corner, at the point
where the alarm had first been given, and could be seen, grouped
together, gesticulating, shouting at one another, peering into the
corner of the compound, and carrying on in a manner which accentuated,
if anything, the curiosity of the prisoners.

"One could imagine anything," laughed Henri as they got nearer. "For
instance, you could imagine that one of the fellows interned here,
goaded to rashness by these bullies who look after us, had struck one
of them."

"Yes, that's not at all unlikely. Goaded to madness, one of the poor
chaps may have put his fist into the face of a German guard, and that
shot would have been the result; of course, the poor beggar would be
killed instantly, for your German is nothing if not ruthless. He's
armed, you see, and is the stronger party, and knows that the
authorities won't look too harshly on any drastic action."

"Hold on! Perhaps it's not a case of an assault on one of the guards,"
chimed in the healthy Englishman, Stuart by name. "I've said already
that I'd guess the reason in two guesses--someone trying to escape, or
someone already escaped--and I stick to that opinion. Let's hope it's
someone escaped--lucky beggar! Here have I been kicking my heels about
this infernal camp for months past, looking round for a chance to get
out, ready to 'do in' a German guard if the opportunity came. But,
bless you, there's never been the remotest chance, for these Germans
keep their eyes so precious wide open. As for 'doing in' a guard, why,
I'd do in half a dozen; for, believe me, it'd want a good half-dozen
Germans to stop me, once I saw the hole open through which I could get
out."

It wasn't altogether undiluted brag on the part of this sturdy
fellow--mere boasting of what he would do under particular conditions
which were never likely to arise. A glance at him, indeed, rather
helped to support his statements, for Stuart, though somewhat
attenuated after those