it seemed far off and though
other guns soon swelled the menacing chorus there seemed to be no
immediate cause for alarm.

A little way off from where he had slept, a small brook wound its way
through the sedge grass. Tom welcomed it with a grin, for he had not
had a bath since he had been captured.

In a moment he had undressed and plunged into the brook. The water was
scarcely deeper than his waist, but its coolness was like balm to Tom's
bruised and heated body. When he resumed his clothing he felt
infinitely strengthened and refreshed.

The young soldier worked his way into a dense thicket as a measure of
precaution, before he ate the remnants of food that he had carried away
with him the night before. It was a meager breakfast and he could have
eaten four times as much if he had had it. But even crumbs were
grateful to him in his famished condition.

He had just finished when an ominous sound fell on his ears. Voices
mingled with the tread of feet and the clank of weapons. He looked
through the bushes and saw a squad of soldiers wearing helmets coming
over a little rise of ground beyond where he lay concealed.

He counted them as they came into view. There were at least forty
Germans going along in loose marching order. They might have been a
patrol out for scout duty or, what was more likely, a foraging party.

He had scarcely established their numbers when on the other side of the
thicket and not more than fifty feet away another squad of Germans came
into view. They apparently belonged to the same party, but had
separated somewhat from the others, probably for more ease in marching.

They seemed to have come from some distance for they were warm and
perspiring. The sight of the brook was refreshing, and after a brief
conference between the lieutenant in command and a sergeant, the order
was given to break ranks, and the men threw themselves down in
sprawling attitudes for a rest under the trees.

Tom's heart was in his mouth. What kind of a trick was fate playing on
him? Was this to be the end of his heartbreaking struggle, his wild
flight through the woods? Was he to get just a tantalizing glimpse of
liberty to have it immediately snatched from him? At that moment he
tasted the bitterness of death.

How lucky it was, though, that he had sought refuge in that thicket
before he commenced his breakfast. There was still a chance. The men
were tired and would not be likely to wander about