half-open
cattle cars. No appeal for water to drink was heeded.

Despite their discomforts, most of the prisoners managed to sleep
some, though standing up.

In the middle of the night Prescott awoke, stiff, nauseated, hungry
and parched with tormenting thirst. Though he did not know it
at that moment, the train had halted because of a breakdown in a
train ahead.

Along the track came that tormenting corporal. While a soldier
held up a dim lantern the corporal unlocked the padlock, sliding
the side door back.

At that moment an order was bawled lustily in German.

"Will you be good enough to repeat, Herr Lieutenant?" called the
corporal, glancing backward down the length of train.

Heavy footsteps were heard approaching. Corporal and private
turned to take a few steps back to meet their officer. Dick,
standing in the open doorway, saw that a fog had settled down
over the night.

Acting on a sudden impulse, without an instant's hesitation, he
leaped down, striking softly on the balls of his feet. Without
even turning sideways to see if German eyes had observed him,
Prescott stole across another track, and down to the foot of an
embankment.

"They'll shoot me for this!" he muttered. "Let them! Death is
better than being a German prisoner!"

CHAPTER XXI

SEEKING DEATH MORE THAN ESCAPE

In another instant the French officer who had been standing next
to Dick attempted the same trick. He had just gained the ground
when the German lieutenant, turning his gaze from the corporal's
face, and glancing ahead, broke off in the middle of his instructions
to cry out:

"There's a prisoner escaping! Halt him or shoot him!"

Realizing that he was hopelessly caught, and trusting to better
luck next time, the Frenchman held up his hands.

"Get back into the car," ordered the German lieutenant. "Corporal,
take the lantern and see that all the prisoners are in there."

As the corporal obeyed, the lieutenant looked in and nodded.

"There was no time for any to escape," he remarked. "We nipped
the first one. You are scoundrels when you try to disgrace me
by escaping. Just for the attempt of this comrade of yours, gentlemen,
you shall have no breakfast in the morning."

The door was moved quickly into place, the padlock snapped, and
then the guard turned to other matters.

Not a French officer in that car but would sooner have died than
betray the fact that Dick had slipped out of sight. Though