Part 10 (2/2)
As the leader he should use his head And it would _not_ be using his head to wake up Freddy and force the poor kid to continue on
”No, it's best to stick here, at least until dark,” he argued with himself ”We're pretty well hidden under these bushes Andand, gosh, I just haven't the heart to wake him up!”
His decision made, he put his hand inside his shi+rt and pulled out the very much crushed half loaf of bread and the hunk of cheese He ate a little of each and then made himself put the rest back inside his shi+rt
It helped his storavate his thirst He'd rather have a glass of water right now than be standing in the middle of Piccadilly Circus, in London, with his father
He lay back on the ground again and started thinking about his father in an effort to forget his thirst But after no more than five or six seconds it just wasn't any use He sat up again and peered around It was then he saw the farm house and the sheds about half afro about in the yard Because of the sun in his eyes he couldn't tell if they were Ger cloud of dust He knew at once it was a car traveling along a road And presently the car ca of trees It traveled up to the farures climbed out and hurried into the far in Dave died out at once His straining eyes hadfield-grey unifor the farht just be peasant farmers there, passed by by the Germans But that obviously wasn't so The place was alive with Hitler's soldiers
Fighting back his ot slowly to his feet, took aFreddy Farmer, and then crept off into the woods in search of a brook or a s, he broke branches off bushes every now and then so that he would be sure to find his way back to the sleeping Freddy As a h, there really wasn't any need of his doing that At the end of a quarter of a round sloped down into a shallow valley, and there was a sh thehimself flat, and buried his face in the icy cold water Never, never in all his life had anything felt so good, so co his hands he drank until he couldn't hold another drop Then tearing off part of his shi+rt sleeve he used it to wash his face and his neck Finally, feeling alot up and retraced his steps to his hiding place
Freddy hen he got back, and when the English youth spotted him a look of fear and utter misery was instantly banished by joyful relief
”Phehat a fright you gave me!” Freddy choked out ”When I woke up I couldn't reether, or if we'd lost each other last night I cahted those Gerhters over at that farm house Where have you been, and I wonder where we are?”
”I wish I knew,” Dave said ”But I've got soht back about a quarter of a mile and you'll find a brook Bet you could do with a nice long drink of water, couldn't you?”
”I should say so!” Freddy cried and sprang to his feet ”My throat feels corinned and pointed ”Straight back You'll see branches broken off the bushes I'll wait here and try to figure our next ht back,” Freddy said and hurried off into the woods
When the English youth left Dave sat down on the ground and fixed frowning eyes on the farht in that prison room his brain had concentrated on but one proble out of the room Well, they had done that, and they had put considerable distance behind them That was all, however Now, there were more problems to confront, and consider Number one, was to find out where they were Number tas to decide whether or not it was safe yet to start heading west, or to continue north, and number three, was the problem of food Whether they went north, south, east, or west they had a long road facing the to last forever They would have to get food sohts trail off and stop as Freddy calish boy looked like an entirely different person
His eyes were clear and not heavy with fatigue There was a lot of color back in his face, and there was a happy and contented smile on his lips
”I'll remember that brook all the rest of ood Well, have you thought up a plan? I fancy, though, we'd better stay here until it's dark We're bound to be stopped in daylight That colonel chap has probably radioed a description of us all over the place”
”Gee whiz, you think so?” Dave ejaculated ”Just to catch a couple of fellows like us?”
”I fancy so,” Freddy said in a sober adult voice ”He'll be hoppinghis pride it will probably add to his silly ideas about us Yes, I think the blighter will go to all ends to catch us So, we'd better keep a watchful eye out even if we are in a hurry What do youabout it,” Dave grunted ”There are Germans there, of course, but there e to swipe sooing to be a long walk, and it's a cinch on't be able to do any hitch-hiking with German tanks and armored cars all over the place”
”True,” Freddy ht have to walk for days, and days
Then the inforh Coet back quickly, Dave, and I' all the way”
”No, I guess not,” Dave said unhappily ”But we'd be taking a heck of a chance trying to thuh, if we moved over close to that road over there, an eht come by and we could slip aboard it for a little ways, anyway Gosh, it seems a hundred years since I left Paris!”
”Two hundred,” Freddy said with a sigh ”I certainly never even drea like this would ever happen to ave a little half shake of his head ”Boy, what I'll have to tell the fellohen I get back home!”