to spy on us! The grown men must be too afraid.
But, you cannot fool us with your tricks!"

"Tricks, nothing!" Dave blurted out in a burst of anger. "We told you
the truth. I was on my way to join my father in London...."

"Don't waste your breath, Dave," Freddy Farmer said quietly. "I'm sure
he wouldn't understand, anyway."

"Silence, you Englisher!" the German snarled and whirled on the boy.
"You will make no slurs at a German officer. Come! We will go to see the
_Kommandant_ at once!"

"We'd better do as he orders, Freddy," Dave said swiftly. "After we've
told our story to his commanding officer they'll let us go. They can't
keep us very long. If they do, I'll appeal to the nearest American
Consul. He'll straighten things out for us."

"So?" the German muttered and gave Dave a piercing look. "Well, we shall
see. If you are spies it will go very hard with you, yes. Now, march
back to the car in front of me."

The officer half turned his head and snapped something at the soldier
who had been standing in back of him. The soldier immediately sprang
into action. He hurried past and climbed into the front seat of the
ambulance. Dave impulsively took hold of Freddy's arm again.

"Don't worry, Freddy!" he whispered. "Everything, will come out all
right. You wait and see. Don't let these fellows even guess that we're
worried."

"What's that?" the German suddenly thundered. "What's that you are
saying to him?"

The officer had half drawn his Luger and the movement chilled Dave's
heart. He forced himself, though, to look the German straight in the
eye.

"I was simply telling him the American Consul would fix things up for
us," he said evenly.

The German snorted.

"Perhaps," he growled. "We shall see."

Walking straight with their heads up and their shoulders back, the two
boys permitted themselves to be herded back to the car. When they passed
beyond the glow of the headlights they were plunged into darkness and
for a moment Dave could see nothing. Then his eyes became used to the
change and he saw that the car was a combination car and truck. It was
actually an armored troop transport. Steel sheets protected the back and
the driver's seat, and instead of heavy duty tires on the rear wheels
there were tractor treads instead so that the army vehicle could travel
across country and through mud as well as along a paved road.

In the back were some fifteen or twenty German soldiers each armed with
a small machin