itive," replied the captain briefly.

"In that event," said Hal, "we may as well return, for we shall be
wasting time and possibly sacrificing men, to linger here longer."

He turned to his men. "Mount!" he ordered.

The troop sprang to the saddle. Ordering them to face about, the lad
commanded:

"Forward!"

The troop set off at a quick trot, Captain Anderson on a spare horse
riding between Hal and Chester at their head.

"Now," said the captain, "you can tell me about yourselves as we
ride along."

The two lads did so, and when he learned that the lads had seen active
service in the eastern theater of war, the captain was greatly surprised.

"And still I shouldn't be surprised at anything you do or may do," he
said. "You see I know you well."

"Come now, captain," said Chester, "tell us something of your own
experiences."

"Well," said Anderson, "I have had about as strenuous a time as you can
imagine, and I have been at the threshold of death more than once."

"Let's hear about it!" exclaimed Hal.

"You remember, of course," began the captain, "how we were captured, and
how badly I was wounded? You remember, also, that we were separated in
the German camp?"

The lads signified that they did, and the captain continued:

"All right, then. It seems that my wounds were more serious than was at
first supposed. A fever set in, and my German physician told me that I
was a dead man. I laughed at him. I told him I had too much work to do to
die yet awhile. He wanted to know what that work was and I told him it
was killing Germans. This made him angry, and--"

"I don't wonder," said Hal dryly.

"It's a wonder he didn't administer a dose of poison right then,"
said Chester.

"Yes," continued the captain, "it made him mad, and he informed me that I
might as well die, because if I didn't I would be shot anyhow."

"Shot!" ejaculated Chester. "What for?"

"That's what I asked him. He replied that I had been declared a spy, and
that I was to be put to death as soon as I was well enough to face a
firing squad. He said they didn't want to do it while I was so ill."

"Very considerate of them," commented Hal.

"Just what I told the surgeon. Well, naturally, with this sentence
hanging over my head I didn't get well any quicker than I had to. Every
day I could feel myself getting better, but I pretended to get worse. I
contracted all the ailments you ever heard of, and I was a sore puzzle to
the surgeon. He had