It was plain now that the Russian commander realized the futility of further fighting with his vastly superior foe. The Cossacks gave way more rapidly and finally turned and began their retreat upon Lodz.

"And here we are right in the middle of the Germans," said Chester.

"What are we going to do?"

"We'll have to try to get back to our lines," said Hal, "and the sooner we start the better."

"Good," said Chester. "Let's start at once."

Alexis had so far recovered now as to announce that he was feeling "perfectly fit," and making a slight detour, the three friends, closely followed by Marquis, set out.

They had progressed possibly half a mile, when Marquis suddenly began to growl.

"What do you suppose is the matter with him?" demanded Chester.

"I don't know," replied Hal. "Evidently he scents some kind of danger."

He turned to the dog. "What is it, Marquis?" he demanded.

Marquis' only answer was a series of deep growls.

"Germans?" asked Hal.

Marquis uttered a short bark.

"That's what's the matter," said Hal, quietly.

At that moment there came riding down a nearby road a troop of German cavalry.

"Quick! down on the ground!" cried Hal. "Perhaps they won't see us!"

He suited the action to the word, and Chester and Alexis followed his example.

But it was too late. The Germans had espied them and now came toward them at a gallop. Alexis rose to his feet and stretched.

"Another fight," he said. "Good!"

"Fight nothing!" exclaimed Hal. "It's impossible. They have us. That's all there is about it. We shall have to submit."

The Germans came to a sudden halt a few feet away, and rifles were brought to bear upon the three friends.

"You are our prisoners!" called the German commander.

CHAPTER VII.

GERMANY'S NAPOLEON.

Hal raised his hands in token of surrender.

"There is no help for it," he said to his two friends in an undertone.

The German commander motioned the three to approach. They did so.

"You will each climb up behind one of my men," ordered the German leader.

Hal and Chester did as ordered, but when Alexis approached one of the German hors.e.m.e.n the latter eyed him dubiously.

"Man!" he exclaimed. "You can't ride with me. You would break this horse in two."

The officer turned to the soldier.

"Give your horse to the prisoner," he commanded, "and you climb up behind the man nearest you."

The soldier did as commanded, and a moment later Alexis also was in the saddle. Then the little troop got under way again, headed for the German lines.

There was no conversation as the little troop rode along, and at length they were well inside the German trenches. Here, after some delay, the three prisoners were conducted before General von Hindenburg, the Teuton commander in the East, a man of kindly face and courteous bearing, the man whose successes, brief though they were, earned him the name of "The German Napoleon."

"How comes it," asked General von Hindenburg of Hal, "that you two American lads are fighting with the Russians? How comes it that two lads born and reared in a civilized country have espoused the cause of the barbarians?"

"In the first place," answered Hal boldly, "I do not consider the Russians barbarians. In the next place, we joined the Allies when the Germans ravaged Belgium."

"Ravaged!" exclaimed the German commander with some heat.

"Exactly," said Hal. "We joined the Belgian army before Liege, and we hold commissions in the Belgian army. We were also attached for a time to the British forces under Sir John French. We bore communications from Sir John French to Grand Duke Nicholas, that is how we happen to be here."

"And how did you carry these dispatches, may I ask?" inquired General von Hindenburg.

"By airship," replied Hal briefly.

"What!" cried the general. "You flew over Germany in an airship?"

"Well, only part of it," replied Hal with a grin; and seeing no harm, he told the German commander of their adventures after being captured and taken to Berlin.

"You are brave lads," said the general calmly, when Hal had finished. "I would that Germany had more like you. But I fear your fighting days are over."

"What will you do with us, General?" asked Chester, who up to this time had remained silent, Hal usually acting as spokesman when there was explaining to be done.

"You will be sent to Posen," replied the general, "where you will be detained until after the war."

"But that may be for years, General," protested Hal, trying to draw the general out.

In this he was successful.

"You are mistaken," replied General von Hindenburg calmly. "The war will be over within the next six months. Germany will have conquered."

Hal did not reply, for he had no mind to antagonize the general; but he had his own ideas as to the ultimate outcome of the war.