Part 5 (1/2)
”So, I have no right, eh?” he chuckled ”You are not in your England now, my boy But suppose you tell me all about it?”
”Very well, sir,” Freddy said in a quiet dignified voice ”And you can take lish youth paused athe Paris headquarters of the British Volunteer A separated fro up Dave Dawson
”And so there you are, sir,” he finished up ”A very unfortunate incident, but I've already told you it was ed, started to speak but checked himself and swiveled around in his chair to peer at the well marked map that took up ain and fixed his eyes on Dave
”And you?” he grunted ”Where were you forced to leave your car? And where is this French Army lieutenant your friend mentioned?”
”I don't knohere he is,” Dave said ”When the Gerees I”
”One rated harshly ”Our pilots do not shoot or bomb helpless civilians Those were undoubtedly French planes, or British ones, er rose up in Dave Dawson He had seen those planes with his own eyes And he knew enough about foreign planes to know that they were neither French nor British They were German, and there were no tays about that He opened his mouth to hurl the lie back in the Gerht better of it
”The spot was about seventy miles north of Paris, I think,” he said ”I know that a few e na at my watch It was a little after one this afternoon”
”I see,” murmured the German, and an odd look seeped into his eyes ”And when you awoke it was night? You saw the alish boy's, and he picked you up?”
”That's right, sir,” Dave said with a nod
”And so?” the Ger tone ”So from a little after one this afternoon until your friend picked you up you traveled over thirty miles_while unconscious_? You expecta lie!” Dave said hotly ”You can believe what you darn well like It's still the truth, just the sa car pickedthat I was dead Maybe so to rob ht I had some ht and started searching the pockets of his torn clothes All he could find was a handkerchief, a broken pencil, and a bent American Lincoln penny that he carried as a lucky piece Everything else was gone His wallet, hisHe looked at the Colonel in angry triumph
”That's what happened!” he cried ”Somebody picked me up and robbed osh!+ I'land I”
Dave stopped short again as he saw the smile on the Colonel's face This ti pleasant or fatherly about it It was a cold, tight lipped smile, and Dave shi+vered a bit in spite of hilandyet!” the Ger very funny about all this, and I e, I think”
”For cat's sake, why?” Dave blurted out ”We siot lost in the dark, and that's all there is to it!”
”Exactly!” Freddy Farh to be soldiersunfortunately”
The German officer scowled so that his heavy black brows formed a solid line across the lower part of his forehead
”Your sharp tongue lisher!” he growled ”You had best take care Noill ask so, eh? You saw troops and tanks and things on the march?”
”Millions of them!” Freddy Farmer said quickly ”And airplanes, too I never saw so many soldiers, or so much military equipment”
”So?” the Ger, of course?”
”Naturally,” Freddy said ”They were going into Belgiuuns, either There were thousands of British and Canadians And there were more thousands from Australia and New Zealand, and South Africa And the sky was filled with RAF
and French planes And”
The Ger man shook like jelly and he was forced to blow his nose before he could speak