For an instant he had a wild idea of hurling himself upon the German: of taking him unawares--of trying to escape. Then the soldier turned: the opportunity had passed, and once again the silent spectator on the bed lay rigid. The servant, stolid and unemotional, moved heavily about the dug-out, laying the table for a meal. Once it seemed to the Kid that he looked straight at him; he could have sworn that he must have been seen; and yet--apparently not. The man gave no sign, and it occurred to the Kid that perhaps he was lying in the shadow. Stealthily he wormed himself even nearer the wall: impelled by the instinct of self-preservation that would put off to the last possible moment the inevitable discovery. And hardly had he edged himself in against the wall, when with a sinking heart he heard voices outside: voices which spoke in German. With only the servant to tackle, somehow he had not felt so hopeless; now he knew the end had come. Two officers entered, wiping the perspiration from their foreheads. One from his badges of rank he recognised as a Colonel--the other was a Lieutenant; and the discussion was--as far as their difference of rank allowed--obviously of an acrimonious nature. The Kid listened intently; thanking Heaven, not for the first time in his life, that some one with a grain of common sense had had him taught French and German by a method other than the Public School one. The predilection of his aunt's gardener for pens, ink, and paper would not have helped him much in that conversation. "Beer, you fool," grunted the Colonel to the stolid servant. "Then, go." Impatiently he waited till the orderly's footsteps died away, and then he turned savagely on the other officer. "I tell you, Lieutenant Rutter, we _must_ know," he snarled. "A girl--what is a girl, when big issues are at stake? There are many more girls, Lieutenant Rutter; many more girls. Be very careful lest not only does this one die, but you also meet with an accident. Dead men cannot make love to those other girls." He banged his fist on the table and glared at the Lieutenant, who was staring moodily in front of him. "I know that, Excellency," he returned after a moment. "But there is a proverb about bringing a horse to the water and not being able to make him drink." "Bah! There are methods, my friend, of drowning the brute with water, if it won't drink willingly. And those methods will have to be adopted in this case." "They are doubtless effective in killing the horse; but they will not lead us very much farther in our inquiries." "Which is the reason why I have allowed you so much rope. I know as well as you do that willing information is worth ten times as much as when it is forced. You have made love to the girl, you have been playing the fool for six weeks with her, and we are no nearer than when we started." He sneered openly. "Since when have we become so dilatory, my friend? You seem to have lost your form with the fair sex."