Hal, Chester, Captain Anderson and the British cavalrymen had derived great amusement from this scene, and, as Hal had realized that the German, now unarmed, could not do much harm to the war correspondent, he had let the two fight it out alone.

Now that Stubbs had been returned the victor, greatly to the surprise of all, Hal advanced and induced the little American to relinquish his seat.  This the latter did, though not without some trepidation—­fearing that the German would attack him again as soon as he could arise—­and, when he finally did get upon his feet, he put a respectable distance between himself and his late opponent.

“You fellows are bent on getting me killed,” he said, turning to Chester with a frown.  “You always help each other, but whenever I am in trouble you leave me to fight it out alone.”

“And you always acquit yourself admirably,” said Chester, forbearing to smile.

“Well, I’ll admit that,” returned Stubbs; “but some time I am bound to get the worst of it.  Then I suppose you’ll laugh.”

By this time Hal had the German officer securely bound, and at his command the rest of the enemy still upon their feet also were tied up.  Then, with their prisoners in the center, the British once more set out upon their march to the British lines, Stubbs trailing along behind.

Before noon they came within sight of the first British outposts, and soon had passed to safety.  Here they procured horses, and made all haste back toward their own division, where they arrived several hours later.

When those of the British troop who had gone forth with the two lads returned to their own regiment, and the lads, with Captain Anderson, took their departure, they raised three lusty cheers for each of the officers in farewell.

The three, accompanied by Stubbs, immediately made their way to the headquarters of General French.  Here Hal, Chester and Captain Anderson were at once admitted, but Stubbs was forced to remain without, being told that Sir John French had no time to waste upon war correspondents.

“Well, what do you think of that?” Stubbs ejaculated.  “A newspaper man refused admittance!  I never heard of such a thing before.”

Nevertheless he was forced to cool his heels on the outside until his newly found friends should come out, and this is what he proceeded to do.

General French greeted the two lads with a smile.

“Back so soon?” he exclaimed.  “I hardly expected you before to-morrow.  And was your mission a success?”

“Well, General,” replied Hal, “we didn’t go as far as we could have gone.  We were fortunate enough to come upon Captain Anderson, who had just escaped from the Germans, and knows more of the situation there than we could possibly have learned.  We figured that it was not necessary to sacrifice lives foolishly.”

“You did exactly right,” replied General French.