ch it had flown, at
least he thought he had. But when he was in the open space he was not
so sure. As fortune would have it, this particular bit of ground was
not wired, and he moved without difficulty.

Tom looked around, bewildered; nowhere could he see the gleaming white
paper which Waterman had thrown--in fact, nothing was plainly visible
to him. He saw, dimly, the outline of the German trenches; saw the
mounds of earth with the sandbags on their summits, but nothing else.
A hundred yards or so is no great distance, but it is difficult to
locate a small object in such a space at night. He could not tell how
far Waterman had been able to throw the stone, or how near it might be
to the German trench. But his eyes were young and keen; every faculty
was more than ordinarily tense and active, and Tom was in deadly
earnest. He had started to do this thing, and he would do it.

Presently he saw a white spot on the ground, and he felt as though
hammers were beating against his temples. Crouching low, he made his
way towards it, but he had only gone a few steps when he discerned the
form of a man, apparently with the same object in view, creeping from a
German trench. Like lightning Tom made a dash for it, but the other
was nearer than he, and by the time he had reached it the German had
secured it. As far as he could judge they were about half-way between
the two lines, and he knew the danger of the task he had set himself.
In a vague way he wondered whether the Germans had seen him, he also
wondered whether the British were watching him. But this did not
trouble him much; the one thought which filled his mind was that he
must at all hazards secure the paper which Waterman had thrown.

Without hesitating a second, and without making a sound, he threw
himself upon the German and well-nigh bore him to the ground. Then
followed a hand-to-hand struggle, the details of which Tom was never
clear about. As a lad he had been a football player and had made good
muscle; he had played half-back for the Brunford football club for
several seasons, and although he was by no means a giant, he was well
built and strong. During the time he had been in the Army, too, every
muscle in his body had been developed to its fullest capacity: his
severe training told in his favour now, and Tom never dreamt of giving
in. On the other hand, however, the German was a big, heavy man, and
he also had undergone a severe training.

Tom fe