That would not have saved him, however, but just as the Cossack
lunged and Fred threw himself down, sure that he would either be speared
or trampled by the horse, an officer dashed up and struck up the lance
with his sword.
"Don't you see the white flag?" he roared. "We do not kill men who
surrender!"
"They say that the Germans are hanging every Cossack they capture," said
the man, sullenly.
"Never mind what they say!" said the officer. "Hello! That man is not a
soldier at all!"
"Neither soldier nor German!" cried Fred in Russian, springing up.
"Those Uhlans were chasing me! I have just escaped from the German
lines. I did not think that I should fare as badly among my friends as
among the enemy!"
"Nor shall you, friend!" said the Russian officer with a laugh. "So you
are a Russian? Well, you look as if you might be anything!"
"I'm afraid I do," said Fred, a bit ruefully. He could imagine, even
though he could not see himself, that the Russian was quite right. He
was caked with dirt. In the fall from the automobile, as he had
discovered while he was walking away from the wreck, he had sustained a
nasty cut over the eye, which, though it was not painful, had bled a
good deal.
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