control of himself
almost instantly and whipped his eyes to the Lieutenant's face.

"Is this a joke, _Herr Leutnant_?" he demanded in a booming voice that
shook the thick walls of the room. "What is the charge against these two
peasant urchins? Look, the clothes of that one, there, are in rags!"

The high ranking officer lifted a finger the size of a banana and jabbed
it at Dave. The lieutenant flushed and made gurgling sounds in his
throat.

"They are not urchins, not peasants, _Herr Kommandant_," he explained
hastily. "This one of the brown hair claims he is an American. And this
one of the light hair is an Englisher. I caught them trying to sneak
past our advance units with an ambulance. They stated that they were
lost, and wanted to know the way to Courtrai. When I caught them they
were a good forty miles southeast of that city. I did not believe their
stories so I escorted them here at once."

"And the ambulance?" the German asked slowly. "There were wounded
soldiers in it, perhaps?"

"No, _Herr Kommandant_," the Lieutenant said with a shake of his head.
"There was nothing. It was completely empty. It has never been used.
That, also, added to my suspicions of these two. I shall give it a
better examination at your orders, sir."

"Do so at once, now," the senior officer said and made a wave of
dismissal with one hand.

"At once, _Herr Kommandant_," the Lieutenant said in a magpie voice.
"_Heil Hitler!_"

The German Colonel waited until he had left, then focussed his eyes on
Dave and Freddy, and smiled faintly.

"And now, boys," he said in a kindly voice, "what is all this about? How
did you happen to get so far behind our lines?"

"We told the lieutenant the truth, sir," Freddy Farmer spoke up. "I was
lost. It was all my fault. I had no idea where I was. You have no right
to hold us as prisoners. We have done nothing except get lost, and it
was all my fault."

The German's smile broadened and his shoulders shook.

"So, I have no right, eh?" he chuckled. "You are not in your England
now, my boy. But suppose you tell me all about it?"

"Very well, sir," Freddy said in a quiet dignified voice. "And you can
take my word for its being the truth, too."

The English youth paused a moment and then told the story of leaving the
Paris headquarters of the British Volunteer Ambulance Service, becoming
separated from the others, and after many hours picking up Dave Dawson.

"And so there you are, sir," he fini