The troop set off at a quick trot, Captain Anderson on a spare horse
riding between Hal and Chester at their head.

"Now," said the captain, "you can tell me about yourselves as we
ride along."

The two lads did so, and when he learned that the lads had seen active
service in the eastern theater of war, the captain was greatly surprised.

"And still I shouldn't be surprised at anything you do or may do," he
said. "You see I know you well."

"Come now, captain," said Chester, "tell us something of your own
experiences."

"Well," said Anderson, "I have had about as strenuous a time as you can
imagine, and I have been at the threshold of death more than once."

"Let's hear about it!" exclaimed Hal.

"You remember, of course," began the captain, "how we were captured, and
how badly I was wounded? You remember, also, that we were separated in
the German camp?"

The lads signified that they did, and the captain continued:

"All right, then. It seems that my wounds were more serious than was at
first supposed. A fever set in, and my German physician told me that I
was a dead man. I laughed at him. I told him I had too much work to do to