“I have been here for two days,” was the reply.  “I came before you did, and when I told the German commander I was an American war correspondent, he was glad to see me.  You know the Kaiser is seeking the moral sympathy of the United States.  When I told General Steinbach that I was here to get the German side of the war he treated me royally.  He presented me with a pass giving me the freedom of the German lines and has taken the trouble to show me about a bit himself.”

“You certainly must have made a hit with him,” said Chester.

“Leave that to Stubbs,” was the little man’s reply.  “Now, the thing is, to get you out of here.”

“But how did you know we were here?” asked Hal.

Stubbs smiled.

“I was a silent witness of the scene at the place of execution,” he said.  “Since that time I have been following you.  When I saw you placed in this tent I disappeared, for I didn’t want to be seen hanging about the prisoners.  I knew you would be here till morning, so I waited till dark to come to you.”

“Have you a plan?” asked Chester.

“A newspaper man always has a plan,” was the reply.

He went to the place where he had come under the tent and, reaching out a hand, pulled a bundle in after him.  This he brought over to the lads and untied.

The lads bent over it eagerly and started back in surprise when they saw what it contained.

“Women’s clothes!” exclaimed Hal in a low voice.

Stubbs smiled complacently.

“They were the best I could obtain upon short notice,” he explained.  “Then, too, I believe they will be better disguises than anything else.”

“We’ll make a couple of fine-looking girls,” said Hal in disgust.

“Oh, I don’t know,” replied Stubbs.  “I guess you will look a heap better than some I have seen hereabouts.”

“But I don’t know anything about women’s clothes,” protested Hal.

“Nor I,” said Chester, “except I know that if you don’t walk just so you might as well tell everybody you are not a woman.”

“That would be true in New York, but not here,” said Stubbs.  “Some of these French peasant women walk just like a man, so you won’t have any trouble on that score.  The main thing is to see if they fit.”

“Well, the easiest way to tell that is to try ’em on,” said Chester.  “Here goes.”

He took a faded blue dress from the bundle, and, holding it in two hands, thrust one foot into it.

“Here, here, that’s not the way to get into it,” exclaimed Stubbs.

Chester looked at him in surprise.

“How else can you get into it?” he demanded.

“Put it over your head,” whispered Stubbs.  “You see,” he explained, “I am a married man and I know something about such things.”

Chester tried again, and, obeying Stubbs’s injunction, found that the dress slipped on more easily.  He fastened it around his waist.