knew that the
culprit stood before him; moreover, that he was determined to make the
most of the opportunity.

"I--we--this fool here----" began the Sergeant, spluttering, confused,
and now just as thoroughly frightened as had been the victim he had
pounced upon such a little time before.

"Stop!" snapped the officer; "you are under arrest; go back to your
quarters. Now, my man, you fired your rifle to stop a man from
escaping. Narrate the circumstances, and quickly, for, for all I know,
the rascal may be even now continuing the attempt."

At that the sentry smiled--smiled boldly too, when he saw the
discomfiture of the Sergeant. Turning half-right abruptly, till he
faced the entrance of the hut, he pointed towards it, and shook his
grizzly head knowingly.

"It was like this, sir," he said, with an air of triumph, "I was
passing to and fro on my beat, noting nothing out of the ordinary,
until there came a moment when I was opposite this hut, almost on the
precise spot on which I am now standing, when I heard sounds which
attracted my notice--heavy sounds, the noise of men digging. There was
no sergeant in sight, no one responsible for the hut to whom I could
appeal, yet a glance within showed me an opening in the floor, covered
as a rule by boards, which were now removed. There was a man in the
hole, deep down and beyond it, in a tunnel, a man whose figure I could
only just discern--a ruffian who was attempting to dig his way from the
hut out beyond the wire entanglements. It was then, seeing there was
no one here to support me, that I fired my rifle."

"Ha! And the fellow is there still?" demanded the officer quickly.

"Still, your honour, unless he has escaped during the time the Sergeant
cross-questioned me; of a truth, he is still there, unless, perhaps, he
should have in the meantime, while I was delayed in executing my duty,
contrived to clamber out of the opening."

"Close in, you men," bellowed the officer; "half a dozen of you come
along with me, and hold your rifles ready. Now, into the hut and let
us capture these fellows."

Closing round the entrance to the hovel--termed a hut--in which the
unfortunate interned aliens had been forced to live for months, the
sentries watched the officer and a few of their comrades push their way
into the interior, heard them stamping on the boards, and listened to
the peremptory orders of the former.

"Come out, you ruffian, or ruffians," he bellowed. "W