the famous commander, the Iron Man of Germany. Tom
vaguely wished he had some means of capturing the general then and
there, and carrying him over the lines to the French headquarters. That
would indeed be a feat well worth praise from General Petain; but of
course it was utterly impossible.

They gained the gate, and there Tom insisted on looking carefully around
so as to make doubly certain that no sentinel had been left on duty
while General Hindenburg remained within the house.

When this fact was made clear he led the way forth. The little party of
four almost ran along the road, so eager were they to place as much
ground as possible between themselves and the seat of danger.

There was always a chance that the flight of Bessie and her mother might
be discovered by some one connected with the household, and communicated
to Potzfeldt. He, of course, would exhaust every means in trying to
overtake the fugitives.

But Tom chuckled while telling himself that they must needs have
extraordinary and fleet steeds who could successfully pursue those who
had trusted their safety to his care and that of the big Caudron
airplane.

Jack hardly knew where the field lay, having become "rattled," as he
called it, from the adventures at the chateau. So after all it was
fortunate that Tom had taken his bearings as well as he had. He knew
just when to leave the road, and start across the open space. Then the
lone tree began to loom up, for the moon had once more thrust her face
from behind the enveloping cloud.

"It's all right, Bessie," said Jack reassuringly. "Our plane lies close
to the foot of that tree ahead there. If all goes well you'll be on your
way before many minutes have passed."

"Thanks to you, Jack," murmured the girl admiringly.

"Shucks! that isn't a circumstance to what I'd be willing to do for you
and your mother!" Jack boldly told her.

"But all the same it is very brave of you, Jack, and I can never forget
your kindness to us," she insisted. "I hope and pray that nothing
terrible will happen to you while we're gone, and that I'll soon see you
again."

"I hope so too, Bessie," he chuckled, as if amused. "As to anything
happening to me, I guess I know how to hide all right. The worst that
can knock me is getting a little mite hungry, you know. If that big
German general and his staff leave a bite in the pantry I'm going after
it, believe me! Then I'll find a hole, and crawl in, somewhere close by
here