Army Boys on the Firing Line; or, Holding Back the German Drive

rves were at a fearful tension. The next five minutes

to all appearances he was only a ti

s were sitting. But at one point he was forced to pass within the zone of light, and one of a group threw a laughing remar

passed on, thankful that he at lea

amp. Here the great danger lay, for he knew that i

"Wer da?" he could answer "Freund." But when he was told t

But it would not

s an opening in the wire that had been hastily strung to gu

ped and looked sharply at Frank, as the latter approached. When he

! Wer

d," respon

he sentinel, asking

, and hurled his revolver

man's forehead. He had opened his mouth to shout, but no sound cam

p in the wire and started running li

. The bullets whizzed and zipped close to him and he felt a sharp sting as one of them grazed the lower p

field over which he was making his way became almost as bright as day. In that greenish radiance his flying figure stood out sharply, and the firing which

oncern. A bullet might catch him

thought he tripped and went down with a shock

d as though they would burst. His legs refused to obey his

of his pursuers' feet drawing closer and clo

ath came back to him, in short gasps at first but graduall

o him, gathering speed at every stride. But now his pursuers were p

rtain death. No German should gloat over his execution. If brought to bay he would die fighting then

ind him accompanied by bullets

e. Lights flashed here and there, a mass of figures detached themselves from the gloom, an

nsultation, a volley of shots, and then the Germans beat a hasty retreat, hotly pursued

, as his eyes fell on the uniform. "Only a deserter,

ther. "The rest of the boys will

ded Frank with a grin. "I can li

se from the crowd as th

ldon! Old sco

idol of the regiment. There was a rush, and Bart and Billy had

were fighting like a tiger, but then the enemy reinforcements came and we were swept away from yo

gs of mine carried me through, and I'm worth a dozen dead men yet. But I'm hungry

ting match. The whole mess will go hungry if necessary

iumph to his old quarters. There the rest of th

. It's the first time I ever wore a German uniform and I hope it will be the last. I

he had to tell his story again and again before the oth

h doesn't seem complete without him.

d at each other with

epted the glance. "Great Scott!" he added, springing to his f

k his hea

saw of him he was hacking right and left in a crowd of t

ad?" cried Frank. "You're not

es haven't come across him at last reports, and he hasn't been picked up as

blank despair. "Tom a prisoner