situation at one brief glance, and Chester hurled
himself forward.

Standing firmly erect, with his face to the west, was Captain Eberhardt.
Facing him, with grounded rifles, were six soldiers. These made up the
firing squad who were to snuff out the life of the German captain.

Right between these men and their victim Chester and Hal dashed.

There came a startled cry as the Germans made out the French uniforms in
which the lads were dressed, and an exclamation of alarm broke out.

"The French!" came the cry.

The Germans turned quickly in the direction from which the lads had come,
evidently expecting to see more of the enemy. Then General Steinbach,
realizing that he only had two of the enemy to dispose of, raised a hand
and commanded:

"Shoot them!"

The rifles of the Germans came to their shoulders, but before they could
fire Chester stepped quickly toward the general and raised his hand.

With a quick command the general stayed the fire of the soldiers, and
advanced to hear what the lad had to say. In their French uniforms, he
had not recognized Hal and Chester as Captain Eberhardt's erstwhile
prisoners.

"What is it?" he demanded sharply.

"This execution must not proceed," said Chester.

The general took a step back.

"And why not?" he asked.

"Because," said Chester, "Captain Eberhardt in no way aided the
prisoners to escape. It was through no fault of his that they were able
to get away."

"How do you know this?" asked General Steinbach. "Who are you?"

"We are the prisoners," replied Chester quietly.

"What!" exclaimed the general, starting back.

"Yes," said Hal, "we are the prisoners."

It did not take the German commander long to recover his poise, and he
advanced toward the lads.

"I thought you had made good your escape," he said. "I was told that you
had made you way into the French lines during the night."

"We did, sir," said Chester.

"Then how comes it that you are back here?"

"We learned from a prisoner this morning that Captain Eberhardt was to be
shot because we escaped," said Chester, "so we came back to help him if
possible."

"Do you mean to tell me," exclaimed General Steinbach, "that you risked
your lives to save that of an enemy?"

"He interceded for us," said Hal quietly, "and it was because of us that
he was sentenced to be shot. It was no more than right for us to save him
if we could."

The general looked at them in undisguised amazement.

"_Himmel_!