de."

"But why must you stay, Ivan?" asked Boris.

"I must stay until I am ordered away," said Ivan. "But it will not be
safe here after daylight--perhaps there will be trouble even before
that. Yes, I think it will be very soon now."

"Well, I think I shall stay," said Fred.

"No," said Ivan. "Listen! If you go now, quickly, you can get away in
the car. Here is the road you must follow." He took a map and pointed.
"See--swing west first, and then south--far south. So you will be safe
from the Germans, for they have abandoned that section except for the
railway from Insterberg to Liok. That is guarded, but thinly. In the car
are two long coats such as the German officers wear, and two helmets.
They are under the rear seat. Put those on, and you will pass most of
their sentries, if you should encounter them."

"If he says we must go, we must do it," said Boris, quickly. "I should
like to stay, too, Fred, but he is right. We can do no good here, and if
you are caught it will be very bad. It would not matter with me, for
they would only treat me as a prisoner."

Fred was still unwilling. He had not Boris's Russian readiness to accept
whatever came, but there was something about Ivan that convinced him
that argument would be useless.

"Go now," said Ivan, "and God go with you! I will see to it that
Vladimir and the others follow."

And so Fred went through the tunnel again, this time with Boris. He
wondered if he would ever see this place again.

CHAPTER XV

A DASH THROUGH THE NIGHT

Both boys were startled when they reached the open air again to observe
how the din of the battle to the east had increased. They paused for a
moment to stare at one another.

"That is real war," said Boris. "Not like the skirmish here when the
Cossacks came."

"The Germans are giving way on purpose, of course, if Ivan is right--and
it seems to me he must be," said Fred. "I am afraid to think of what
will happen to him."

"I do not like to think of it, either," said Boris, "but it is fate. He
has his work to do, and it is all for Russia--for God and the Czar! I
have always been taught that we can die only once, and that it is a holy
thing to die for Russia."

"Yes, but it is better to live for Russia than to die for her, if it is
possible," said Fred. "Come! We have no time to lose, I suppose."

They approached the car in a death-like silence. It was still where
Fred had left it. There was a little delay in the star