n. We had done so again when,
without warning, a drover came plodding up behind his sheep. We had no
time in which to go back up the hedge. The sheep crowded from the rear
and overflowed at the narrow gateway into the hedge where we lay and
so ran over our bodies. We remained quiet, thinking he would pass on;
but what with the frightened actions of his sheep and the yelping of
the dog his attention was inevitably attracted to the spot where we
lay. He came over, looked down at us, but said nothing and stalked on.
We were uncertain as to whether he had seen us or not. Numerous
incidents of a similar nature had made us overconfident. We had
previously escaped detection in some very tight corners by simply
lying quiet. Casual travelers had all but walked on us upon several
occasions, and at night we ourselves passed many people and thought
nothing of it.

A moment later the shepherd walked off directly toward the labourers,
glancing back over his shoulder at us as he did so. We struck out at
once, before the crowd could gather. We had, at the beginning of this,
our third escape, agreed not to be taken alive to go through a
repetition of the torture of mind and body which we had already
undergone, and, perhaps for this time, worse. And it was understood
that if one played out the other should carry on. Each of us had a
stout club and could have made a tidy fight.

Concealment was useless and, furthermore, impossible. We passed close
by a group of the harvesters and headed for a wood that lay on the
other side of them. They could not mistake either the vermilion
circles on our khaki tunics, faded though they were, nor our wild and
dilapidated appearance, which was not made more reassuring by the
clubs we carried. Glancing back, we saw them gathering hurriedly in
little knots.

We reached the wood, flung ourselves down and watched them until dark,
during which time they made no attempt to follow us. Nor did we see
any sign of other pursuers, though we kept on the _qui vive_ all
night, as we trudged through the interminable fields, forcing our way
through tight hedges and plunging waist deep into the water of small
canals.

CHAPTER XVII

WHAT HAPPENED IN THE WOOD

Weather Bad but Hopes High--Primitive Dressmaking--The Woman at
the Farm--The Zeppelin--The Fight in the Wood.

The only roads we habitually used were side ones, and especially did
we avoid any with telegraph wires which might be used against us