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[Page 30]
but as it was daylight we were able to find for ourselves a small patch which was slightly higher than the water logged earth, and comparatively dry, and here we stretched out and rested until dusk, when we set out again very much refreshed but still thirsty. On going through the next village we found a pump right in the centre, and in the main street. Once more we had a real good drink, and even washed our faces, feeling more fit for anything that might come our way, [indecipherable] and the frontiers of Holland seemed to be forming a definite shape in our minds.
The weather continued greatly in our favour, nice bright and clear nights, so that we were able to keep the "Great Bear" or "Polar Star" in view all the time, with the result that not once did we lose our direction or bearings. As all who have been on the Continent know most of the roads are paved with cobblestones, and on a clear night when walking through a village with narrow streets with two or three storied houses on either side, you can imagine the noise and echo of three men walking along with iron plated boots, and many a time a blind would be lifted and the lights show out, but we managed to avoid the light and continued our way unmolested.
Chapter IX Bang of gun shot. Are we spotted
At the approach of dawn we began to look about for another wood or resting place, and, just a little further on, we found it, but the undergrowth was so dense, we could not get far into it without making a terrible noise, so we lay down just on the edge of it until daylight, when we went right into the centre of the wood. It was a very small covert with a farm house a hundred yards behind us, the main road the same distance in front, and farmers working land on either side, so that we had to lie very still and quiet, but as we were very tired, this was easily done. Our next fear was that one of us might snore too loudly in his sleep, and as the one who was watching did not wish to wake the sleeper, his snores seemed doubly loud and caused a very uncomfortable feeling. In the afternoon we were on the alert for any sound, and detected the noise of a dog running on the dry leaves, which to our horror was running straight for the place where we had rested in the early morning. I got out my pocket knife, my only weapon of defence, and began to think that there would be one dog less in Germany, but had hardly opened the blade, when bang! off went a gun, and shot and leaves fell all round us. This sudden explosion caused strange feelings to run down our spines, but on peering through the foliage, I saw a "Jaeger", or "hunter". Then came the thought "Did he fire at us" or "Had he seen us?". But his target proved to be a pheasant that had flown overhead, and luckily for us he had missed it, for had he hit it, it would have fallen directly on us, and when the hunter came to collect his prize, he would have caused trouble, and perhaps there would have been aGerman less, but to our immense relief, on missing his bird, he slung his gun and went off. The shot which so startled us proved to be our salvation, for on the gun being fired, the dog that had got on to our first resting place, left his work of snivelling over our tracks, and went back to his owner, so that when the hunter and his dog disappeared, we once more breathed freely, and realised we had just had a close shave, and looked on considering it as a warning to be even more careful if that were possible.