We were not hungry any more—­at least we were so much more frightened than hungry that we only knew we were frightened, and we pushed our way on as fast as we could.  That night was the first on which we had seen the moon.  The shelter we found was another group of Christmas trees, and as we still had a couple of roast potatoes we ate them, and got a little sleep.

The next night the villages kept getting in our way.  When we tried to avoid one, we got into another, and in one we saw a light twinkling in an upstairs window, where some woman, probably, sat late at her work or watched by the bedside of a sick child.  As usual, there were no street lamps, and I think the light inside was a coal-oil lamp!  But not a dog barked, and we came safely out on a road which led in a westerly direction.

In the morning, when the east began to redden, we got shelter in a thin wood, and, having found some potatoes outside of one of the villages, we determined to run the risk of having a fire to roast them.  We didn’t roast many, though, for the dawn came on too swiftly, and we had to extinguish our fire, for there was a farmhouse not a hundred yards away, and the people were beginning to stir.

That day there were people working all around us, and one old chap, with a red shirt on, was so ambitious about getting his turnips lifted that I don’t believe he even knocked off for noon.  We thought he would never quit at night either.  We called him the “work-hog!”

In the afternoon, as we lay in the woods, an old man, a shepherd, came with a flock of white sheep which followed close behind him.  The old man wore a velvet cloak, knee breeches, and buckles on his shoes, and he had a sheep dog with him—­a small-sized tricolored, rough-haired collie.  It was exactly like a picture!  We were not in any mood to enjoy the beauty of it, for some of the sheep wandered through the wood, almost stepping on us, and when the shepherd came after them, he must have seen us.  But the old man belonged to the peaceful past, and knew nothing of wars and prisoners, so went out of the wood as quietly as he came.  He was as innocent-looking as the sunshine, or the white clouds in the blue sky!

Still, we were two suspicious men who trusted no one, and we thought it best to move.  I took the potatoes in my sack, and Ted, to be ready for emergencies, provided a stout, knotted club for himself, and we stole out of the wood, being careful to keep it between us and the “work-hog,” who never lifted his eyes—­but still we took no chances, even on him!

There was a better wood a short distance away, and to it we came.  We saw nobody, and, coming into a dark cover, lit a fire, for we thought the smoke would not rise to the tops of the trees.  On it we roasted our remaining potatoes, and we got a drink in a narrow, trickling stream.