Because we had succeeded in getting out of the shed without making sufficient of noise to bring the guard down upon us, did I fancy we were much the same as free to do as we pleased, and set off at a reasonably rapid pace around the corner of the shop, when suddenly and without the slightest warning I found myself in the clutches of a man, my throat held so tightly in his grasp that I could not give the faintest alarm to my comrades. That a British sentinel who had dogged our footsteps held me prisoner, I had no doubt, and my heart sank like lead in my breast, for to my mind now was come the end of all things for me in this world. Because of having been taken while prowling around the village in the night, there could be no question but that I would be considered and punished as a spy. I strove in vain to give some warning to my comrades so they might make their escape even though I was doomed; but he who held me seemingly understood that which was in my mind, for he forced me onward lest Pierre and Saul should over-run us, and thus for mayhap a distance of an hundred yards we advanced, I, a prisoner, forced to lead my comrades into what I felt certain was a shameful death. Because the night was so black they could not see that there were two persons in advance of them instead of one, therefore did they follow blindly, and all unconscious of the sickly, deathly terror in my heart, until we were come to the rise of the land on our way toward the Pigeon Quarter, where the outlines of him who held me, and my own body, were marked against the lighter sky. Then I heard a muffled exclamation from Pierre, whereupon my captor suddenly wheeled me about until we were facing the two lads and their prisoner, when he whispered softly, yet sharply: "Continue on as you were going, and as you value your lives make no outcry or delay!" Having thus spoken, one can well fancy that I was nigh to being paralyzed with mingled astonishment and bewilderment, because the tone was friendly and the words indicated that he would aid us. He released his grasp on my throat, and involuntarily I stretched out my hands, when they came in contact with my captor, and by the sense of touch I understood that he wore a uniform. "You are a British soldier!" I stammered, terror once more taking firm hold upon me. "Ay, that I am for the time being; but now move on if you would continue that which you have begun, else are you like to fall into the hands of other soldiers in this encampment who will have less care for your safety."