he order!"

Fred sighed with relief. He had been right in his decision to stay where
he was, as he understood fully when he saw the soldiers go off down the
road, looking for some trace of the passing of the two imaginary
officers. Meanwhile the officer went back to Boris.

"We'll take this lad back with us," he said to the sergeant. "He needs
attention, and I prefer to give someone in higher authority a chance to
talk to him. This is a very mysterious affair, all around. It is too
much for my brain!"

"And for mine, too!" grumbled the sergeant. "If I had my way, we would
have orders to shoot all suspicious characters first and find out
whether they deserved it or not afterward. I thought we should stop that
automobile when we saw it coming."

"And I did not," said the officer, sharply.

The sergeant said nothing more.

Soon the men returned from their fruitless search. Then a litter was
improvised and Boris was placed upon it and taken away. Fred had been
very fearful for it had seemed more than likely to him that a sentry
would be left to watch the wreck. If that had been done, it would have
complicated his position, because he could scarcely have hoped to get
out of his shelter without making some noise. But this was a precaution
that apparently did not suggest itself to the Germans.

And so, as soon as they were well out of hearing, Fred scrambled out,
leaving his dangerous coats and helmets behind, and began trudging
boldly along the road. He did not know the character of the wooded
section through which the road now ran, and it seemed to him that he
would be safer in the road than if he tried to walk under cover.

Fred was very tired. And, now that the excitement was fading, he was
beginning to realize that he had not escaped entirely scatheless from
the wreck of the car. Every bone and muscle in his body was sore and
aching, and he wondered how many black and blue spots he would find when
he got a chance to look for them.

By Ivan's reckoning, he had something like two miles to go to reach the
Russian outposts. He was now in a sort of No Man's Land that lay between
the two armies. And, indeed, before long, he saw fires twinkling
ahead--the fires of the Russians. That was as he came to the crossroad
of which Boris had spoken. It seemed that his troubles must be nearly
over. And just then he heard a clatter of hoofs and saw, riding up the
crossroad toward him, a troop of German Uhlans. He began running. B