and Stuart had witnessed on that eventful evening when
they made their escape. He could see the rotund figure of the
Landsturm sentry being heckled; the figure of the blustering sergeant
who had cross-examined him so fiercely, and had well-nigh frightened
him out of his senses; and before them a third individual--a shorter,
shrivelled-up officer, risen from the ranks undoubtedly--that one who
had leapt into the tunnel and had gone scrambling along to discover
what steps had been taken by the prisoners to break out of the camp.
The selfsame individual, indeed, whom Stuart had extricated from the
hole behind the entanglements and had dashed backwards into the tunnel.
Similarly, in just as few seconds, the German recognized Henri and
Jules.

"Those two!" he shouted--"the men who escaped from Ruhleben with an
Englishman! Seize them! No, no! Let us shoot them now, for they
would certainly be shot on returning to Germany."

The match died down at that instant and was dropped to the ground,
leaving the group in utter darkness, and leaving Henri and Jules in the
centre wondering what to do, distressed at their discovery, and feeling
that the situation was almost hopeless. Then, of a sudden, Henri slid
his left hand back and caught Jules by the sleeve; pulling him towards
him, he whispered a sentence in his ear; and, a moment later, plunging
forward, drove his fist into the face of the officer who had recognized
him, and, pushing on over his fallen figure, burst from the group into
the wood outside. Following on his heels, Jules cleared a path for
himself, and, hearing the crash of undergrowth in front of him, held on
in that direction, heedless of the shouts which came from the group of
German officers and of the shots which were fired at them. Five
minutes later Jules heard panting in front of him, and, stealing
forward, gave vent to a gentle whisper.

"Is that you, Henri?" he asked.

"Yes, Jules," came back the panting answer; whereat Jules joined him,
and the two sat for a while at the base of a big tree, resting and
recovering their breath, and wondering what they were to do now that
their presence in the wood had been discovered.

"A pretty kettle of fish," said Henri at last. "But what luck to have
escaped from those fellows; and how mad that German officer will be to
know that we have twice slipped through his clutches! A nasty little
fellow, Jules! The sort of man who would shoot us out of hand if he
ha