o I turned to find you and follow you."

"But what are you doing here? I thought you were to rejoin our own
army?"

"I was pressed into service as a chauffeur. This car was needed near the
front, and there was no one to drive it. I deceived them wholly, with my
uniform, and my motorcycle. And so they forced this car upon me! My plan
was to use it, instead of my cycle, to get past their lines."

"But you are riding straight to Gumbinnen--and they are near there in
force!"

"No, they have retreated from there. They know that we are too strong
for them, and they do not care to fight."

"Yes, and do you know why? Because they have been bringing troops up
secretly to Insterberg, and are planning to fight a great battle there
on their own grounds! You were wrong, Ivan, in the information you
sent."

Wasting no words, he quickly told of what he had learned that evening.
And Ivan smote his hands together for he was deeply troubled.

"And I thought I knew all their plans!" he said, savagely. "If the staff
had acted upon my information, we should have marched into a trap!"

"Now I must get to the wireless," said Fred. "That was what I meant to
do when you frightened my horse there in the road."

"Come, I will drive you back. It will not take long, and your work is
more important than mine now. It is safe, too. You can be hidden in the
car in case we encounter any Germans. But that is not likely. They are
not as thick in this district as they were forty-eight hours ago."

They made their way together to the car, and Fred laughed.

"I don't think I was ever so scared as when you turned and came back. It
was worse, in a way, than when they were going to shoot me in the
parsonage garden. I'd been so sure I was safe--and then to hear that
bugle call on your car!"

"It is not right for you to run such risks," said Ivan. "I wish you were
behind our lines! You are not even a Russian, and yet you have been
near to death for us."

"Don't you worry about me!" said Fred. "I don't suppose that I would
have started this, but when I was pushed into it as I was, I feel like
doing all I can. If the Germans had caught me when Boris hid me in the
tunnel, they would have treated me like an enemy, so I thought I might
as well give them a good excuse, since they were going to do it anyhow."

"Here we are," said Ivan. "Even if you were frightened, this may turn
out well. You will save some time, and I can take you to the very
opening o