ined to board the
submarine and investigate. He had risen to carry his decision into
effect when there suddenly broke upon his ear, uttered in loud and
menacing tones, a volley of German oaths and expletives among which he
heard Englische schweinhunde repeated several times. The voice did not
come from the direction of the U-boat; but from inland. Creeping
forward Bradley reached a spot where, through the creepers hanging from
the trees, he could see a party of men coming down toward the shore.

He saw Baron Friedrich von Schoenvorts and six of his men--all
armed--while marching in a little knot among them were Olson, Brady,
Sinclair, Wilson, and Whitely.

Bradley knew nothing of the disappearance of Bowen Tyler and Miss La
Rue, nor of the perfidy of the Germans in shelling the fort and
attempting to escape in the U-33; but he was in no way surprised at
what he saw before him.

The little party came slowly onward, the prisoners staggering beneath
heavy cans of oil, while Schwartz, one of the German noncommissioned
officers cursed and beat them with a stick of wood, impartially. Von
Schoenvorts walked in the rear of the column, encouraging Schwartz and
laughing at the discomfiture of the Britishers. Dietz, Heinz, and
Klatz also seemed to enjoy the entertainment immensely; but two of the
men--Plesser and Hindle--marched with eyes straight to the front and
with scowling faces.

Bradley felt his blood boil at sight of the cowardly indignities being
heaped upon his men, and in the brief span of time occupied by the
column to come abreast of where he lay hidden he made his plans,
foolhardy though he knew them. Then he drew the girl close to him.
"Stay here," he whispered. "I am going out to fight those beasts; but
I shall be killed. Do not let them see you. Do not let them take you
alive. They are more cruel, more cowardly, more bestial than the
Wieroos."

The girl pressed close to him, her face very white. "Go, if that is
right," she whispered; "but if you die, I shall die, for I cannot live
without you." He looked sharply into her eyes. "Oh!" he ejaculated.
"What an idiot I have been! Nor could I live without you, little
girl." And he drew her very close and kissed her lips. "Good-bye."
He disengaged himself from her arms and looked again in time to see
that the rear of the column had just passed him. Then he rose and
leaped quickly and silently from the jungle.

Suddenly von Schoenvorts felt an arm