surrounded by
their guards.

"See what they have in the machine," the officer ordered one of the men.

"Great Scott!" ejaculated Chester. "We are in for it now!"

Exploring the front of the auto first, the soldier found nothing. Then he
turned his attention to the back. He lifted up the rugs that had been
thrown over the chauffeur, and started back with a cry.

"A dead man!" he exclaimed, and added: "At least he appears to be dead.
He has a bullet hole in the back of his head."

"What!" demanded the officer, and hurried to the side of the car.

He drew his sword and waved it at his men.

"Guard them closely!" he exclaimed, indicating his four prisoners.

"Pretty ticklish situation," whispered Hal to Chester, who stood beside
him. "We have got to do something."

"You bet," replied Chester, "and we've got to do it now."

He took off his cap, twirled it about a few seconds, and let it fall to
the ground.

Chester stooped to pick it up. Rising suddenly, he came up under the
guard of his nearest captor, and with his head butted him with all his
force under the chin.

The blow was more than flesh and blood could stand. The soldier fell to
the ground with a groan of pain, his tongue almost bitten off. Without a
pause, Chester turned upon another of his captors, and, with two
well-directed blows of his fist, sent him staggering.

The suddenness of Chester's attack had not taken Hal by surprise. When
Chester dropped his cap, Hal divined his purpose, and, as his friend
butted his first victim, Hal acted. Turning upon his nearest guard, he
seized the latter's rifle, at the same time delivering a well-directed
kick at his enemy's shin. The man released his hold on the rifle, and, as
he stooped unconsciously to rub his shin, the pain of which was almost
unbearable, he met Hal's right fist, which, sent into his face with
stunning force, knocked him cold.

All this happened in the smallest fraction of the time it takes to tell
it, and, before the German officer and the soldier who were exploring the
interior of the automobile could realize what was happening and go to the
aid of their companions.

Captain Derevaux and Lieutenant Anderson had acted with almost as much
celerity as had Hal, in spite of the fact that Chester's attack had taken
them by surprise. Almost at the same moment Hal seized the weapon of his
guard Captain Derevaux closed with the third man, and, with his fingers
at his throat, was attempting to ch