gly.

"Let's have a drink and give me a couple of those chicory roots, and
I'll show you something," Tom said.

From each chicory root he cut a plug such as one cuts to test the flavor
of a watermelon. Then he soaked the roots in the stream. "The inside's
softer than the outside," he said, "and it holds the water." After a few
moments he replaced the plugs. "Even tomorrow," he added, "they'll be
fresh and cool and they'll quench your thirst. Carrots are best but we
haven't got any carrots."

About fifty yards down stream they turned out of it and scrambled up a
less abrupt hillside and into an area of more or less orderly forest.

"Maybe it's the Black Forest," said Archer; "anyway it's black enough.
Look around and you'll probably see some toys--jumping-jacks and things.
'Most all the toys like that arre made in the Black Forest."

"Not here," said Tom; "we won't find anybody in here."

They were indeed entering the less densely wooded region which formed
the extreme northern reaches of that mountainous wilderness famed in
song and story as the Black Forest. Even here, where it fizzled out on
the eastern edge of Alsace, the world-renowned fragrance of its dark and
stately fir trees was wafted to them out of the wild and solemn recesses
they were approaching.

"I wish I had a map," said Tom.

"We ought to be thankful we've got the compass. If this _is_ the Black
Forest, you can bet I'm going to get a sooveneer. Gee, isn't it dark! It
smells good though, believe _me_."

They passed on now over land comparatively level, the soft, fragrant
needles yielding under their feet, the tall cone-like trees diffusing
their resiny, pungent odor. It seemed as if the war must be millions of
miles away. The silence was deathlike and the occasional crunching of a
cone under their feet startled them as they groped their way in the
heavy darkness.

"That looks like an oak ahead," said Archer. "You can see the branches
sticking out----"

"Sh-h-h," said Tom, grasping his arm suddenly and speaking in a tense
whisper. "Look--right under it--don't move----"

Archer looked intently and under the low spreading branches he saw a
human form with something shiny upon its head. As the two boys paused,
awestruck and shaking, it moved ever so slightly.

The fugitives stood rooted to the ground, breathing in quick, short
gasps, their hearts pounding in their breasts.

"He didn't see us," whispered Tom, in the faintest whisper. "Wait ti