The Boy Allies in the Trenches Part 16

Chester darted hurriedly forward.

"Come on!" he cried to Hal.

Hal dashed after his friend. Neither heeded the frantic cries of the sergeant, who called on them to halt.

It was now four minutes to twelve, but in less than that time the lads, Chester in the lead, came upon the scene of the execution. Their eyes took in the 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.

"_Hmmel_!" he exclaimed, and added beneath his breath: "No wonder we are having such trouble disposing of these English!"

"We hope, sir," said Hal, walking up to the German commander, "that you will see fit to stay the execution."

"In that event, you will have to consider yourselves prisoners and stand trial as spies," was the reply.

The lads bowed their heads in a.s.sent.

The general threw wide his arms in a sudden gesture.

"Captain Eberhardt shall go free," he said.

He turned, and with a word, dismissed the firing squad.

Captain Eberhardt approached the lads and grasped each by the hand before the very eyes of the general.

"I can never thank you half enough," he said, and there were tears in his eyes.

"Oh, that's all right," said Chester. "We couldn't do less."

General Steinbach turned upon Hal and Chester.

"Such bravery as you have exhibited," he said quietly, "is not often seen. You are prisoners, but you have my word that you shall not even be tried as spies. You shall be treated as prisoners, and sent back to Berlin until the war is over."

Hal twisted his face into a wry expression.

"Back to Berlin!" he exclaimed in the deepest disgust, "where have I heard that expression before?"

CHAPTER XIII.

STUBBS TO THE RESCUE.

Chester also uttered an exclamation of dismay.

"That phrase is certainly getting to be monotonous," he said. "It seems that every time we turn around somebody talks of sending us back to Berlin."