Wenzel shrugged his shoulders. An eloquent answer! There followed a silence while each of the three men racked their brains in an effort to elucidate the problem. The minutes ticked by. Then, suddenly, Wenzel turned to Apor: "The line which runs in the valley the other side of the hill--is that the direction to Bira?" There was hope in his voice. Apor nodded. "Yes!" he said, but his expression was puzzled. Noticing it Wenzel laughed slightly. "Our course is clear, Apor, but we must hurry. You and I have work to do. While Arnold hurries to Bira we will go down into the valley. There are plenty of tall trees there." "Well?" Still Apor did not understand. "Don't you see?" explained Wenzel impatiently. "Arnold has a saw. We will fell one of the trees and drag it across the lines. It will be apt to stop any train which comes along; the quicker it is travelling the better havoc there will be." There dawned in Apor's eyes a smile of triumph which slowly travelled down to his mouth. "What a wreck! If there arc not a few dead Lenin Boys afterwards----" Suddenly he snarled: "The murderous brutes! I hope to God it may kill every one of them and smash the Death Train to pieces!" Wenzel smiled cruelly. "Maybe it will, Apor. Maybe it will. Now go, you, Arnold, to the car, and on to Bira, and you, Apor, bring me that saw." He chuckled as his two followers rapidly made their exit from the room. Then he blew out the candle, and moving to the window drew aside the overcoat which covered it and gazed into the night. There was no compunction in his heart for what he was about to do--in fact, it was not of Szamuelly and the Death Train of which he thought, but Gonnard, the murderer of Elizabeth's cousin. "And afterwards," he whispered to himself--"afterwards.... Take heed, Comrade Gonnard, the White Knight is on your track. May you sleep well to-night! You have not many more nights left." _CHAPTER IX_ The darkness of the woods was overpowering. When Wenzel ventured out, followed by Terhune and Apor, he wondered how they were all going to find their separate ways, but when he mentioned this to Apor the Hungarian laughed. "Do not worry. I shall be able to guide you to the valley. As for Terhune," he turned to Arnold, "keep that star immediately above that distant pine--the one over there on the peak--always in the same position, and you will find yourself right on the road. Then walk to your left until you come to the car. Keep straight on for two miles, when you will arrive at cross-roads, take the right-hand road, and after that--well, follow the map, and remember to take care of the petrol. It will only just be sufficient, I am afraid." They saw Terhune stumbling through the trees, hands outstretched to warn him of impeding obstacles, before they continued their own way. After he had been following Apor for a short distance, it appeared to Wenzel that the pseudo-Communist found his way with uncanny ease.