He persevered, however, killing his adversaries at intervals, firing incessantly and thus gaining all the time possible. But he saw that the enemy was maneuvering with the object of first circumventing him and then making for the tunnel and chasing the fugitives. Paul set his teeth. He was really aware of each second that passed, of each of those inappreciable seconds which increased Bernard's distance. Three men disappeared down the yawning mouth of the tunnel; then a fourth; then a fifth. Moreover, the bullets were now beginning to rain upon the shed. Paul made a calculation: "Bernard must be six or seven hundred yards away. The three men pursuing him have gone fifty yards . . . seventy-five yards now. That's all right." A serried mass of Germans were coming towards the shed. It was evidently not believed that Paul was alone, so quickly did he fire. This time there was nothing for it but to surrender. "It's time," he thought. "Bernard is outside the danger-zone." He suddenly rushed at the board containing the handles which corresponded with the mine-chambers in the tunnel, smashed the glass with the butt-end of his rifle and pulled down the first handle and the second. The earth seemed to shake. A thunderous roar rolled under the tunnel and spread far and long, like a reverberating echo. The way was blocked between Bernard d'Andeville and the eager pack that was trying to catch him. Bernard could take Prince Conrad quietly to France. Then Paul walked out of the shed, raising his arms in the air and crying, in a cheerful voice: "_Kamerad! Kamerad!_" Ten men surrounded him in a moment; and the officer who commanded them shouted, in a frenzy of rage: "Let him be shot! . . . At once . . . at once! . . . Let him be shot! . . ." CHAPTER XVII THE LAW OF THE CONQUEROR Brutally handled though he was, Paul offered no resistance; and, while they were pushing him with needless violence towards a perpendicular part of the cliff, he continued his inner calculations: "It is mathematically certain that the two explosions took place at distances of three hundred and four hundred yards, respectively. I can therefore also take it as certain that Bernard and Prince Conrad were on the far side and that the men in pursuit were on this side. So all is for the best." Docilely and with a sort of chaffing complacency he submitted to the preparations for his execution. The twelve soldiers entrusted with it were already drawn up in line under the bright rays of an electric search-light and were only waiting for the order. The corporal whom he had wounded early in the fight dragged himself up to him and snarled: "Shot! . . . You're going to be shot, you dirty _Franzose_!" He answered, with a laugh: "Not a bit of it! Things don't happen as quickly as all that." "Shot!" repeated the other. "_Herr Leutnant_ said so." "Well, what's he waiting for, your _Herr Leutnant_?"