charm!" the Sergeant suddenly
exploded and bobbed his big head up and down vigorously. "If you could
stay by my side always I would come out of this war alive without any
trouble at all. By the Saints of Notre Dame, yes! Look at the car. It
has not even been scratched! It is a miracle, nothing else!"

It was true! The small scouting car was bathed in dust and dirt but
there wasn't so much as a scratch on it. The engine was even idling as
smooth as could be. The Belgian Sergeant stared at it almost as though
he were staring at a ghost. Then shaking his head and muttering through
his big buck teeth, he climbed in behind the wheel.

"Nothing can possibly be as bad as that," he said. "Let us proceed at
once while the Good Lady still smiles upon us. Name of all things
wonderful, I can hardly believe I am still alive. _En avant, mes
enfants!_"

With a sudden contempt for the shell blasted ground, that made Dave and
Freddy grin in spite of the harrowing experience through which they had
just past, the Sergeant sent the car scooting in and out around the
craters with the careless ease of driving along a wide boulevard. In
less time than it takes to tell about it he had driven clear out of the
barrage area and was skirting around a patch of woods toward another and
as yet untouched road. And to show the kind of stuff he was made of the
man began singing joyfully at the top of his voice.

For the next half hour the war seemed to fade far away. True there were
signs of it on all sides, and above their heads, but a certain feeling
of security came to the boys as the Sergeant bumped them along roads and
across fields skirting around shell holes, artillery batteries, and
reserve troops being rushed up to the Front. Yet somehow all that didn't
touch them, now. A few hours ago they had been hiding in enemy
territory, two hunted prisoners of war. But now they were well behind
the Belgian lines and speeding toward headquarters where they would
deliver enemy position information that would be of great value to the
Allies. Two youths, sixteen and seventeen, had beaten the Germans at
their own game. Instead of revealing information of value to the
Germans, they had escaped with German information valuable to the
Allies.

Dave leaned his head back and sighed restfully. It sure made a fellow
feel good to have been of some help. And it made him feel twice as good
to have a pal like Freddy Farmer along with him. Freddy had certainly
prove