e have you
securely, and any further attempt at escape will be met with instant
execution. Ah! I can see a man down below. Go in, two of you men,
and haul him up to the surface."

With no great show of enthusiasm, stiffly, and with a lack of energy
and that activity to be expected of younger men, two of the guards at
once lowered themselves into the pit dug beneath the boards which did
duty as a flooring to this hovel, and, disappearing from sight in the
tunnel excavated from the bottom of it, were presently heard giving
expression to gruff commands, while the sound of scuffling followed.
Then they reappeared, dragging a couple of dishevelled and exceedingly
dirty prisoners with them. Others of the guards then stepped forward,
and in a trice the wretched men who had been detected in the act of
escaping were dragged from the hole, were placed between sentries, and
were marched out of the hut.

Meanwhile, as may be imagined, the excitement in the camp had not
tended to decrease, for curiosity had been added to it. There was a
throng of prisoners round the hut long since, watching at first the
altercation between the Sergeant and the sentry, and then observing and
listening to all that followed.

"A pretty kettle of fish--eh?" sneered Stuart, the healthy Britisher.
"Sorry for those poor beggars; for their rations have been short enough
already, and now, if they are not shot, they will get close confinement
and bread and water only for a couple of weeks or more. Bad luck!
Horribly bad luck! Just at the last, too, for it looks as though they
were well on the way to safety."

"Now, report," suddenly came the voice of the little officer, as he
glowered upon the prisoners. "You two who went into the tunnel report
on its length, its depth. Bah! You didn't look! You didn't ascertain
that! Wait while I investigate the matter."

Seizing an electric torch from one of the hapless prisoners, the
officer dropped into the pit immediately and was gone for some few
minutes, only to emerge again, dirty like the prisoners, but triumphant
instead of crestfallen, his face beaming, his eyes sparkling with
happiness. So pleased was he that he even went to the length of
patting that stout, rotund sentry on the shoulder as soon as he had
emerged into the open.

"A fine catch," he told him, "bravely done, my friend! See, you
detected them just at the very right moment, for the dusk is already
growing, and in five minutes or l