This cheered the airman up considerably and, as it was intended to do, gave him an additional incentive to use every ounce of his resolution in avoiding capture. He remained unaware that, the Dutch frontier being many hundreds of miles distant, Gregory did not mean to try to get out of Germany that way and, in fact, had no intention whatever of attempting to leave Germany at all until he had found Erika von Epp and could take her with him.
They stuck it out up in the tree as long as they could bear the discomfort but by early afternoon their posteriors were so sore from the knobbly branches that they were forced to abandon their hiding place and come to ground…
Freddie, who found garden produce most unsatisfactory fare [or a November day spent out in the open, suggested that they should pay another visit to the farm yard for the purpose of stealing a chicken or a goose, which they might later roast over a wood fire, but Gregory shook his head.
"It's quite on the cards that the people who were hunting us this morning have left a certain number of pickets scattered about the wood, for to day at all events. If we light a fire the sight of it or the smell of the smoke might give us away; but the idea of roast goose positively makes my mouth water so we'll see what we can do about that to morrow."
"Good God!" Charlton exclaimed. "We shall freeze in this climate if we have to spend another night without anything warm inside us."
"I'm sorry, old chap, but we've got to stick it. My fault entirely but I daren’t move on yet. This shoulder of mine is giving me hell and I'm afraid I'd only pass out on you if I attempted a cross country march to night."
Charlton stared at him with sudden concern. "Yes; you're looking pretty flushed; I believe you're running a temperature." "I am," Gregory replied.
"Then- then perhaps we'd better give ourselves up. I can’t possibly look after you properly while we're in hiding like this and your wound will only get worse if it doesn't have skilled attention."
"It's nothing much, you saw that yourself when you bathed it this morning; only a little round hole through the fleshy part of the shoulder. One of the muscles is torn but it'll soon heal up providing I don't exert myself for a day or two. If we can lie doggo in this wood for another forty eight hours I'll be all right. Anyhow, I'm damned if I'm going to chuck my hand in. Come on, let's try to find a new hide out while daylight lasts."
About six hundred yards from the house they found a small ravine, which was even more thickly covered with undergrowth than the rest of the wood, where they would be well concealed from anyone who did not walk right on to them, and sitting down in it they made themselves as comfortable as they could. Gregory lay back and closed his eyes in an attempt to sleep but his wound pained him too much and he could only hope that lying still might cause his fever to abate. Charlton sat beside him, miserable and dejected but keeping his ears strained for approaching footsteps so that they should not be caught unawares.
The afternoon drifted by and shadows began to fall. No sound disturbed the stillness and Freddie thought that Gregory was asleep until he roused up and suggested that they might as well make their evening meal. They ate a few more of the pears and some celery but having tried 'the raw carrots threw them aside as too unpalatable. A swig apiece from Gregory's flask completed the unsatisfactory repast, after which they settled down again into an uneasy silence. The evening seemed interminable as although the November day had drawn to an early lose an occasional glance at the luminous dials of their watches showed them that they still had a long time to go before it could be considered night.
Towards nine o'clock Gregory became light headed and began to mutter to himself in delirium. Freddie was at his wits end. There was nothing that he could do to aid his companion or allay the evidently rising fever. More than once he contemplated walking to the house and begging the assistance of its inmates but as he could not speak a word of German it was certain that they would telephone at once to the police and his arrest would follow almost immediately. With his fellow fugitive in such a state he felt that there was little chance of maintaining their freedom for any length of time but he knew how determined Gregory was not to give in while there was the least hope of escape, and now that the possibility of reaching Holland had been dangled before his eyes he was doubly reluctant himself to take any step which would definitely land him in a concentration camp for the rest of the war.
Towards eleven Gregory ceased his incoherent muttering and dropped into a troubled slumber, so Freddie decided to see that night through and take a fresh decision the following morning. If Gregory were better they could rediscuss the situation but if he were worse there would be nothing for it but to seek help by surrender.
Just as Freddie was settling himself down to sleep he heard footsteps approaching, then voices talking in German. Stiffening in immediate alarm he crouched there in the gully, his heart thudding against his ribs. Peering towards the sound he strained is eyes but in the darkness he could see nothing. The footsteps halted about a dozen yards away and there was further talking. His forehead was suddenly damp with sweat.
As he strove to silence his quickened breathing the awful urge to cough gripped him, as it had up in the tree. Closing his eyes he fought it down, but cramp got him in the leg that was doubled under him and he was forced to move it. The twigs snapped beneath him but just at that moment the rustling in the bushes came once more, and this time it was moving away. After a further five minutes of tense listening he grew calmer and decided that they were safe again. The sweat on his brow was turning icy with the cold. With a heavy sigh he brushed it off and, settling himself; endeavoured to court forgetfulness in sleep.
When he opened his eyes the cold light of a new day showed the trees and brambles rimed in frost. It was a fairy scene but one which filled him only with fresh dismay. He lifted the white powdered collar of Gregory's greatcoat and saw that the wounded man was pale but breathing evenly. As he sat up he heard a faint noise just behind him.
It came from the direction in which he had heard the Germans speaking in the darkness the night before. Instantly Gregory's suggestion that the gunners might leave pickets posted in the wood flashed into his mind. Swinging round very cautiously raised his head and peered between the thorny strands of the blackberry bushes.
Something grey caught his eye; it lifted a little and he saw the flat, round brim of a German officer's cap. He tried to duck back; but it was too late. A lean, grey moustached face had risen above the brambles and a pair of hard blue eyes were staring straight into his. As he instinctively rose to his feet the German stood up and his hand was already on the automatic at his belt.
Chapter III
The Colonel Baron Von Lutz
HAVING only just woken, Charlton's circulation had not yet got going; he was bitterly cold from his night in the woods and his brain was still half fogged with sleep. In addition, it was now Friday morning and he had not had a proper meal since Wednesday. Yet, in spite of his lowered vitality and half dazed condition, he realized that the only chance of escaping capture now lay in an immediate attempt to overcome this solitary German. Bracing his muscles and lowering his head he hurled himself forward.
Several feet of brambles separated them. Before Freddie had plunged a couple of paces through the tangle the officer had whipped out his automatic and ejaculated with a threatening scowl
"Holten Sie da"