een through something terrible. It's a wonder they
didn't shoot and ask questions afterward."

"Yes," Freddy said in a dull voice. "I wonder where the French and the
British are? I hope they can get here in time."

Dave didn't attempt to answer the question. He suddenly felt very tired,
and old. His strength had been sapped to the limit, and his spirits were
staggering under a crushing weight. The picture of those German hordes
pouring across the Albert Canal and virtually beating the Belgians right
down into the ground was still clear as crystal in his brain. It was
like a mighty tidal wave hurtling forward with nothing but a picket
fence in the way to stop it.

At the far end of the field the Belgians turned left on a winding narrow
dirt road. They went down this for some fifty yards or so, then left the
road and entered some woods. In the heart of the woods several companies
of Belgian troops were frantically building up machine gun emplacements,
stringing out barbwire, and moving light field pieces into place to bear
on the winding dirt road. The corporal stopped before a young lieutenant
and saluted smartly. Dave and Freddy stopped and waited while the
corporal spoke to the officer.

In a moment or so the lieutenant came over and stared at them both out
of bleak, dead tired eyes.

"What is all this?" he demanded briskly.

Dave let Freddy do the talking as he had the language down perfect. The
young Englishman talked a steady stream for two or three moments, giving
a brief account of their movements since the day the Nazi armies broke
through into Belgium and the Low Countries. The Belgian officer listened
in silence, and when Freddy finished he took a map from his pocket and
spread it out on the ground.

"Where were some of those pins and flags you saw on that map?" he asked.

Dave still let Freddy do the talking, and simply watched while the
English youth pointed out various points on the map. The Belgian nodded
his head from time to time, and presently folded the map and got quickly
to his feet.

"I am positive you have seen a map of great importance!" he said. "I
will see that you are taken to Belgian G.H.Q. at once. You will tell
them all you know, and they will communicate with the Allied High
Command. You are very brave boys, you know?"

Freddy flushed and looked uncomfortable.

"We only want to do everything we can to help," he said quietly.

The Lieutenant's tired lips twisted back in a wistfu