Boy Scouts -- Juvenile fiction; Courage -- Juvenile fiction; Spy stories; World War, 1914-1918 -- England -- Juvenile fiction
He struggled to his feet, and there was a moment of exquisite pain as
the blood rushed through his ankle and circulation was restored to his
numbed foot. But he was able to stand, and, although limpingly, to
walk. He had been fortunate, as a matter of fact, in that no bone had
been crushed. That might well have happened with such a trap, or a
ligament or tendon might have been wrenched or torn, in which case he
would have found it just about impossible to move at all. As it was,
however, he was able to get along, though he suffered considerable pain
every time he put his foot to the ground.
It was no time, however, in which to think of discomforts so
comparatively trifling as that. When he was outside he would be able,
with the other scout’s aid, to give his foot some attention, using the
first aid outfit that he always carried, as every scout should do. But
now the one thing to be done was to make good his escape.
Harry realized, as soon as he was free, that he was not by any means out
of the woods. He was still decidedly in the enemy’s country, and
getting out of it promised to be a difficult and a perilous task. He
was handicapped by his lack of knowledge of the place and what little he
did know was discouraging. He had proof that human enemies were not the
only ones he had to fear. And the only way he knew that offered a
chance of getting out offered, as well, the prospect of encountering the
men who had pursued Dick Mercer, returning. It was just as he made up
his mind to this that the other scout spoke again.
"We can’t get out the way you came in," he said. "Or, if we could, it’s
too risky. But there’s another way. I’ve been in here since these
people started putting their traps around, and I know where most of them
are. Come on!"
Harry was glad to obey. He had no hankering for command. The thing to
do was to get out as quickly as he could. And so he followed, though he
had qualms when he saw that, instead of going toward the wall, they were
heading straight in and toward the great grey house. They circled the
woods that gave them the essential protection of darkness, and always
they got further and further from the place where Dick and Harry had
entered. Harry understood, of course, that there were other ways of
getting out but it took a few words to make him realize the present
situation as it actually was.
"There’s a spot on the other side they don’t really guard at all," said
his companion. "It’s where the river runs by the place. They think no
one would come that way. And I don’t believe they know anything at all
about what I’m going to show you."
Soon Harry heard the water rustling. And then, to his surprise, his
guide led him straight into a tangle of shrubbery. It was hard going
for him, for his ankle pained him a good deal, but he managed it. And
in a moment the other boy spoke, and, for the first time, in a natural
voice.
"I say, I’m glad we’re here!" he said, heartily. "D’ye see?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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