Cautiously the four approached the cell door. Hal pressed his weight against it, and slowly the huge door swung outward. Poking out his head, Hal glanced up and down the corridor.

"No one in sight," he informed his companions, and softly the four stepped outside, closing the door gently behind them.

Silently four shadows flitted along the corridor, out across the bridge and to the wall beyond. They encountered no one.

"Your Uncle Billy is a jewel," declared the young Frenchman, in a whisper.

"He is for a fact," whispered back the lieutenant.

Chester crept silently through the gate and peered in all directions.

Then he crept back to his companions.

"All safe!" he whispered.

"Now to get to the place where Uncle Billy said friends would be waiting," said Hal.

"I guess we had better make it at a run," spoke up the Frenchman.

"Yes," said the lieutenant; "some one might happen along and we would have to make a fight for it."

Pa.s.sing through the entrance to the old castle, the four broke into a run, and turning to the right in accordance with their instructions, increased their speed.

For a considerable distance they sped along under the shelter of the castle wall. Just as they reached the end of the wall a whispered voice brought them to a halt.

"Hyah, sah!" came the unmistakable voice of Uncle Billy.

Turning, they saw the old negro, who had been hidden from their sight, standing under the far wall of the castle.

"Follow me!" he whispered, and led the way a short distance along the wall, to where were picketed four horses.

Turning, he motioned the companions to mount.

"Which way?" asked the lieutenant, when all were in the saddle.

"Straight north, I suppose," said the captain.

"No, sah, no, sah," broke in Uncle Billy. "Yo'al can't get free that-a-way. Since de Emp'ror declared wah on Belgin an' Englan' dun declare wah on Germany, all de no'th coast am hev'ly guarded."

"What!" exclaimed the French captain. "War on Belgium!"

"England has declared war?" asked the young lieutenant, in surprise.

"Ya.s.sah, ya.s.sah. I jes' hearn erbout it."

"Then which way shall we go?"

"Yo'al must go that-a-way," came the answer, and Uncle Billy pointed toward the southwest, in the direction of the faraway frontier of The Netherlands.

"But Holland is a long ways off, and the country between must be overrun with troops," protested the Frenchman.

"Mos' all de troops am at de front," explained the old negro. "Dat am de bes' way, sah."

"I believe we had better take Uncle Billy's word for it," declared Hal.

"I guess he is right," said the lieutenant. "Uncle Billy, we can never thank you enough."

"No," agreed Captain Derevaux. "We can never thank you enough."

"Come," said the lieutenant, "let us ride," and he turned his horse's head toward the southwest, and started off cautiously.

But Hal and Chester stopped for a further word with Uncle Billy.

"But how about you, Uncle Billy?" demanded Chester. "Won't you get in trouble for aiding us to escape?"

"No, sah," replied the old negro. "There won't none o' dese hyah Germans hurt ol' Uncle Billy!"

"Well, then, good-by," said the boys. "After the war is over we are coming back to see you."

"After de wah am over," said the old negro slowly, "Ise gwine back ter ol' Virginy!"

With another word of farewell the boys wheeled their horses and rode after their companions, who were now some distance ahead.

"We shall have to go very slowly and feel our way until we have pa.s.sed the outposts of the town," said the lieutenant, as they rode along; and for the first half hour their progress was slow.

Once they pa.s.sed within a few yards of a German sentry, but so softly did their horses step that the soldier did not turn in their direction.

Bearing well to the south, they pa.s.sed the long line of huts where they had been captured the night before, at a considerable distance; and now, feeling sure they had pa.s.sed the last of the outposts, they urged their horses into a quick trot.

"We will try and avoid all towns this time," declared Lieutenant Anderson, "going just close enough to them to keep our bearings."

"A good scheme," said the Frenchman. "We would better avoid the highways as much as possible also."

In almost a straight line, the direction in which the companions were now headed eventually would put them into Holland a few miles north of the Belgian frontier. Following the highways, their way would lead through Prenzlau, Brunswick, and Detmold. But upon Captain Derevaux's advice, they decided to skirt these towns, staying just close enough to the roads to keep their sense of direction.

As the four rode along through the open fields, Hal and Chester continued to talk of Uncle Billy.

"After the war," said Chester, "we'll come back and get him and take him home with us."

But such was not to be; nor was the old Southern negro ever again to see his Virginia home.

And because of the a.s.sistance he rendered Hal and Chester and their two friends, it is fitting that here be related the fate of this old plantation slave, who had come so n.o.bly to the aid of our boys.

As the four companions rode away from the old castle, Uncle Billy, with bared head, gazed lovingly after them.

"Praise de Lawd!" he exclaimed. "May dey git home in safety."

The riders disappeared in the distance, and the old negro, after one last glance, turned toward his quarters in a broken-down wing of the old castle.

There he threw himself to his knees, and for long minutes prayed in silence. Then he arose, extinguished his light, and crawled into his dirty cot.