"I am pushing it with my hands along the wall," explained Frank, still in a whisper. "That will bring us to the opening--the smallest possible that would allow the boat to pass into the stream. Then the current will carry us down. I have a rudder, that will hold us in the shadow of the left bank through all the turns. It is a chance--the only one we had. If all goes well, we shall drift down below the city and be safe!" Soon they were caught in the current of the Somme. There followed a time of terrible and desperate trial and terror. At every shout they heard they thought they had been discovered. Never did they dare to raise their heads to look out. Their chance was a double one, but of the faintest, at best. Perhaps they would not be seen at all; perhaps, even if the boat was seen, no sentry would consider it worth remark. For hours they drifted, unable to tell how far they had gone. Frank, guessing their distance by the time it had taken a piece of wood to float a certain distance during the afternoon, had hoped to be well beyond the city when daylight came. But he had not been certain. Gradually a faint light crept through the dark, stifling cloth. The temptation to raise it and look out was terrible. But they resisted, speaking only occasionally in whispers. With every minute that passed their chance for success grew greater. And yet at the last minute they might be caught. At last there could be no doubt that the sun was up, and that there was full daylight. And then, suddenly, there was a sharp tug at the boat. With a groan Frank started up, and Henri too. And what they saw was an amazed French peasant, and all around the smiling country below Amiens, which was far behind! CHAPTER XXI VIVE LA FRANCE! The peasant listened in amazement to the story that they told him. But he was a real Frenchman, out of the army because of his age. "Come with me," he said. "You shall have the best there is in my house--it is not much! Dry clothes, too. If you will wear a peasant's blouse, there are the clothes my Jean left when he went to the war!" "We have clothes in the boat," said Frank. "Until we knew we were safe we dared not change into them. But your food will be more than welcome!" So it proved, indeed. It was rough fare, but it seemed to both the best that they had ever tasted. And while they ate, the peasant told them what news he had. "We hear that the French and the English are winning now," he said. "A gentleman came past my house in an automobile this morning, and said that he had passed French troops ten miles away--cuirassiers riding this way." "Hurrah!" cried Frank. "Henri, we must try to join them as quickly as possible. When we explain they will let us go through to where we shall be safe until we can go back to Amiens. Come on! Farewell!" This to the peasant. "We shall never forget your good food and your welcome!"