"What was that noise?" asked Jack, instantly, as he busied himself with the levers in an effort to maintain the position of the Eagle.
"That sounded to me like one perfectly good aeroplane going to smash—just like that!" answered Ned, leaning over the rim of the fuselage and peering through the glasses.
"Was it the German who was pursuing us?" asked Harry, eagerly.
"I believe it was," declared Ned. "Yes," he went on, "I can see the smashed plane there beside the train now. That's peculiar!"
"What's peculiar?" asked Jack. "The train being there, or the plane, or what? Please be a little more explicit."
"No nonsense, now!" Ned replied. "I mean its peculiar how that plane came to be smashed that way. I didn't see anything drop on it."
"Perhaps a piece of the machinery gave way as he was starting."
"It needn't worry us a particle to explain how it happened," said Harry. "It's enough to know that the fellow can't chase us."
"That's a good thing, anyway," was Ned's comment.
Had the lads only known how close they had been to being again pursued they might not have felt so easy in their minds, but they assumed that their presence was not known to others than the pilot of the wrecked machine, and therefore felt secure.
"Now it's up to us to make a noise like a drum, I guess," said Jack.
"All right, let's get away from here as quickly as we can. If we hold a course a little south of west we ought to be able to follow the general line of the railroad and be able to overtake or meet Jimmie and Dave before they reach Verdun and are forced into the fighting."
Accordingly Jack increased the speed of the motors and brought the Eagle to the course suggested. Presently they were flying at good speed.
"Ned, I'm afraid," Harry said after some time. "Let's go lower."
"What's the matter, Harry? Does this altitude affect you?"
"Not in the least, except that it's cold. But you see that unless we fly lower the first rays of the rising sun will strike us and we can be seen and located by any one on the ground. They will still be in the deep shadow and we will be in the brighter sunlight."
"I guess you're right, Harry," replied Ned, "and your suggestion is a good one. Suppose we do seek a lower level, Jack."
"All right, hang on to your eye teeth and we'll get onto the toboggan," replied the lad at the levers. "Going down!"
"It's plain we'll have to run quite low from now on," said Ned, as he laid aside the binoculars. "Daylight is coming on rapidly."
"We'll have to find a spot uninhabited enough for us to hide during the daytime," ventured Harry. "We can't let them see us."
"You're right," acquiesced Ned. "Suppose you take the glasses and tell me if that dark spot ahead there looks like a good spot to hide in. It appears to be a forest or at least woods of some sort."
"That's what it is," declared Harry, after an extended observation. "I don't altogether like the looks of the place, for there's a road of some sort running near the woods, but it's perhaps better than no place at all. If we can get to earth without being discovered we can hide behind those trees until dark again."
"Keep a sharp lookout, Ned, while Jack tries to land," advised Harry. "I'll watch from this side and if we see any one who might observe us we can easily be on our way again."
Lower and lower circled the plane under the guidance of Jack, whose experience in handling the great craft well fitted him for the task. With scarcely a bump the machine rested in a little grade not far from a brook overshadowed by the arching branches of trees.
"There!" sighed Ned, clambering from the fuselage and springing to earth. "The Eagle is a good little machine, all right, but it seems good to get the ground under foot once more."
"And I'm glad that we came down when we did, for a little longer up there," said Jack, pointing to the graying eastern sky, "and we'd have been fair targets for any old 'Schutzenfest' these chaps wanted."
"Right you are!" declared Harry. "And now what I'd like would be a real old fashioned imitation of three boys eating a hearty breakfast. Just a plain, common, every-day square meal, I mean."
"This is a pretty place," observed Ned, "all sheltered and obscure. We ought to be able to get a dandy bath there in that brook and then make whatever breakfast we want off the supplies we got from Peremysl."
"My appetite is just about now equal to that of our absent and red-headed friend McGraw," said Harry with a laugh. "I'm hungry."
"A bath first," cried Ned, beginning to disrobe, "then the eats."
Soon the lads had divested themselves of the German uniforms and were enjoying the plunge in the cool, clear water of the brook. Presently they emerged from the stream and again donned the uniforms they had taken from the room that was intended as a prison.
"Now," said Ned, as the three were again dressed, "what shall be the menu of the morning? With this glorious sun peeping over the tops of the hills to the eastward of us we ought to have a fine breakfast. The weather looks mighty fine."
"Yes," agreed Jack, "but it don't sound very fine. I thought I heard a rumble of thunder just now. Did you hear it?"
"No," replied Ned, "I can't say I did. Was it thunder?"
"Sounded like it," declared Jack. "There it goes again!"
"That don't sound like thunder exactly," said Harry. "I wonder what it can be. I thought it was a wagon passing a bridge."
Ned's face went rather pale as he faced his comrades.
"Boys," he stated, "I believe that must be the sound of cannon firing we hear. It is coming more regularly now!"
"Then we're pretty close to Verdun," was Harry's rejoinder.
"Yes, that's my idea, too," said Ned. "Let's get breakfast and be prepared for whatever may happen. We don't know what may come along so close to the lines as we are now, and we must not be napping."
"I'll get a bucket of water from the brook," volunteered Jack, "while you and Harry make ready the fire and get out the provisions."
"There's plenty of wood hereabouts, I see," put in Harry, "so I'll gather some wood for a fire and have it burned down to coals in no time."
"I rather think," objected Ned, "that we should not use wood."
"And why not, if you please, Mr. Scout Master?" asked Harry.
"Because wood lying on the ground has more or less dampness in it and is apt to give off a smoke that might be seen by some one."
"Always on the lookout for trouble!" declared Jack, as he took the bucket and started for the brook. "Well, make a fire of any thing."
"Quite the contrary, Jack, as you know," protested Ned, laughingly. "I'm only trying to avoid trouble as much as possible, and a smoke now in this place would be a direct invitation to some one to investigate."
"Right again," returned Jack, "go to the head of the class."
"What shall I use, then, if not wood?" asked Harry.
"Make a gasoline stove like we used to do when we had plenty of fuel," answered Ned. "We have sufficient so we can spare a small amount."
"Perhaps you'd better make the stove, Ned," said Harry. "You're better at it than I am. You've had more experience. I'll get the supplies out of the boxes. We'll want coffee, of course."
"Yes," agreed Ned, "bring some coffee, to be sure, and try to find that tin of bacon. I feel just like having a strip of bacon done nice and crisp. It begins to smell good already."
"How'd you like a nice Spanish omelette and French fried potatoes with some hot Parker House rolls and lots of rich yellow butter?"
"Hush, boy, you'll have me so fussed up I can't light the fire," protested Ned. "I guess Jimmie's affliction is catching. I'm certainly getting an appetite or the appetite is getting me!"
He proceeded to at once prepare the "stove" by sharpening a stick about the size of a broom handle. When it was completed he thrust the sharp end into the soft earth and then withdrew it, leaving a hole about a foot or more deep. Another hole was made a short distance from the first, but slanted so that the lower ends would meet. The second hole was plugged up with a bit of turf.
"Now, then," said Ned, as he finished the first 'stove', "we want some gas. Can you bring it or shall I get it?"
"Here's the can," answered Harry, "I can fetch it. Make another."
Jack meanwhile had returned with the bucket of water and had filled the coffee pot, into which he put a quantity of coffee. This was then placed over one of the "stoves," while on the other was placed a bucket containing a quantity of beans, together with some of the cereal "sausage" found amongst the Russian supplies.
Presently the lads were sniffing, as an appetizing odor filled the air. A can of bacon was opened and set to sizzling in a frying pan.
"Wonder where we are, any how?" remarked Ned as the lads lay stretched at full length on the grass, waiting for the stew to cook.
"Don't know," responded Jack, removing the frying pan from the fire. "Suppose after we eat we get the wireless to work?"
"Good idea," remarked Ned, as the three gathered about the pot of stew. "After breakfast we'll draw straws to see who does the dishes and the other two will string the aerials."
"There won't be any dishes to wash," declared Harry, "if you fellows are as hungry as I am. There won't be any need."
"Maybe so," laughed Ned, helping himself to the bacon and coffee.
For a time the boys gave themselves over to a discussion of the most excellent breakfast. When they had finished, Ned said:
"Now, Jack, you and Harry get out the wireless while I clean up."
In a few moments the two were busy at their task selecting two small trees not far apart to act as masts. The equipment that had been stowed in one of the lockers was spread on the grass and they waited for Ned to return from the brook, where he had gone to wash the dishes.
"All right, Ned," said Jack. "Turn on the juice and we'll go."
Ned stepped to the aeroplane and started the engine in an attempt to operate the dynamo. No explosions followed his efforts.
"The engine's stalled!" he cried. "What's the matter?"
"Why, the spark plugs are gone!" declared Ned. "And look here," he went on, "here are tracks showing some one has been here!"
Jack and Harry sprang to the side of their chum. They easily detected the tracks mentioned by Ned. They were those of a man wearing heavy shoes or boots and led away through the thicket.
"After him, boys, while the tracks are fresh," said Jack.
All three boys began to follow the tracks. They led around a clump of brush near the aeroplane and seemed to be pointing in the direction of the hilltop to the westward.
"What's this?" said Jack. "Looks like other tracks here."
The lads gathered closely about the spot. A lasso whizzed through the air and settled about their shoulders. A jerk brought them locked close together. Another tripped them into a heap.
When Jimmie's toe prodded the Kaiser's horse in the ribs, that animal gave a mighty spring and bounded from his position. Usually a tractable, though mettlesome beast, the horse was greatly surprised at the treatment he was receiving, and it is not surprising that he made every effort to escape the punishment.
At the first movement of his comrade, Dave had urged his own horse forward in the expectation that Jimmie would attempt escape.
So swiftly had the movement been executed by Jimmie that none of the officers near by had been able to intercept the flight of the three.
Before the Kaiser could check the mad rush of his mount and bring the noble animal to a quivering stop, considerable distance had been covered. Jimmie rode on the Kaiser's right Hank, his own horse's shoulder close to the other's saddle. Dave followed immediately behind Jimmie so close that when the halt was made he fairly crowded Jimmie beside the Kaiser. He was still mystified when they stopped.
With a face livid with wrath at the treatment, the Kaiser turned toward Jimmie. The next instant he began a forceful speech. It was never delivered. Jimmie slipped from his horse and began to drag the other from his mount. He was too excited for coherent speech.
"Young man—," began the other in a severe tone.
"Shut up!" stormed Jimmie. "Get off your horse, quick! It's coming!"
As he spoke, the boy, looking earnestly into the face of the man he had pursued, pointed toward the French lines and in the direction of the spot where the hasty flight had begun.
Dave glanced back to see a knot of officers and Uhlans closely packed about the very spot where the three had stood a moment before. As he looked he shivered slightly. A huge black object was hurtling through the air. It landed in the center of the group, bearing down with a shriek of agony a horse and its rider.
Instinctively Jimmie and Dave had thrown their arms up to cover their faces. By this means they had protected themselves in a degree from the force of the flying scraps of earth that stormed upon them like hail. They were covered with dirt to a woeful degree.
As the rain of dirt ceased Jimmie looked up at the man he had tried so hard to rescue. His face bore a look of solicitude.
"I tried to get you out of there," he said. "I saw it coming."
"A pretty story!" stormed the other. "What conduct is this?"
In amazement Jimmie drew back a pace. He grasped the bridle reins of his horse in his left hand. Looking keenly at the mounted man, the lad recognized the fact that his intentions had been misunderstood. Without another word the lad mounted his animal.
"Where are you going, Jimmie?" asked Dave anxiously as Jimmie wheeled his mount. "What are you going to do now? Shall we make a break?"
"I guess we've made break enough," replied Jimmie with set jaw. "Here I go and rescue one perfectly good Kaiser from a dropping shell that he don't see, and now he gets sore at me for doing it. I'm going back to the position where I was ordered to stand, and they can all be shot to pieces next time for all the help they get from me!"
"Then I'm going with you!" declared Dave. "Come on!"
Gravely Jimmie returned to the very rim of the crater that had been dug in the solid earth by the bursting of the gigantic shell. Here he halted, drew himself erect in the saddle and waited. Dave drew alongside.
In another instant the two were surrounded by officers and Uhlans.
"Dismount at once!" ordered an officer.
Jimmie glanced quickly at the man and discovered him to be none other than von Liebknecht, the man who had been so closely concerned in Jimmie's recent experiences. Not deigning a reply, the lad obeyed. His action was quickly followed by Dave.
Following an order rapidly given in German, one of the Uhlans urged his horse forward and grasped the reins of the two horses. He fairly jerked the leathers from the hands of the boys and led the two away.
"My word!" declared Dave with emphasis. "We're in for it now!"
"I wonder just what they're going to do?" asked Jimmie in a whisper.
"Firin' squad at sunrise, most likely!" said Dave. "We're now, as I understand it, criminals of the worst sort."
"I don't get you," puzzled Jimmie. "What's the big idea?"
"We've committed one of the worst crimes in the calendar!" declared Dave. "As I understand it, we've meddled with the person of the Kaiser, and that's only one degree less awful than saying horrid things about him. That's what I've been told, at any rate."
"Great frozen hot boxes!" ejaculated Jimmie. "Is it a crime to save a man's life when you get the chance?"
"I can't just say how they'll look at it," replied Dave. "But here comes the old top himself. Maybe he'll have a word to say."
Von Liebknecht began what seemed to the lads to be an apology, but was cut short by the Kaiser, who gave a command in German. Without attempting to complete his unfinished speech, the Captain repeated the command to an aide standing near, and he in turn addressed two Uhlans.
Much to their surprise, the boys were confronted by their old acquaintances, Otto and Fritz, who gave their orders in a single word.
"Vorwarts!" came the command in crisp tones as the two crowded their horses almost upon the two lads.
"That means 'Hike!'" explained Jimmie, turning to Dave.
"Here goes, then," returned Dave, stepping out bravely.
"I say, Otto," began Jimmie presently, "where are we going?"
"Verboten!" came the only answer the Uhlan would offer.
"Ha!" cried Jimmie. "I know what that means. I've seen a good many signs with that word on it. It means that we are forbidden to walk on the grass, breathe, live, eat, or do anything else without permits."
"No, no, Jimmie," explained Dave. "He means that he is forbidden to tell you where we are headed for. Isn't that it?"
"I don't know and don't much care!" was the other's reply. "They are welcome to start a goat farm any time they wish. They've got mine for a starter. Of all my going a-fishing, this is the limit."
After about half an hour's walk they found themselves near a building that had evidently been a farm residence. In common with many other rural establishments of Germany, this place had been built with the barns attached to the dwelling house.
Into what had been the cow stable the boys were conducted by their guards. A ladder stood in one corner, leading up through a trap door to the fodder loft above. Up this ladder the boys were directed.
"Fine little old prison!" declared Jimmie contemptuously.
"Well, it might be worse," said Dave consolingly. "We're here yet."
"Yes, and if I ever get another chance at the Germans," declared Jimmie with vigor, "I'll punch their heads as hard as I can!"
"We might as well make ourselves comfortable," suggested Dave.
"Not on your life!" cried Jimmie heatedly. "From now on I'm going to make every move in the calendar to get out of this place and away from those Germans. If I ever get back to America I'll never eat another bit of sauer kraut as long as I live!"
Dave could not repress a laugh at this outburst. He could sympathize with Jimmie's attitude, for he felt that they were being unjustly treated.
"How are we going to give them the slip?" asked Jimmie, beginning a systematic search of the place. "Are there any windows?"
"There are two on the east side," answered Dave.
"Now, then, let's tear up the bed sheets and knot them together," was Jimmie's next suggestion, delivered in a half jesting mood.
"A rope would be better," offered his companion. "Let's look for one."
Presently he gave a cry and stooped to pick up an object at his feet.
"What do you think of this?" he said gleefully as he held aloft the end of a line nearly as thick as his finger. "Isn't that luck?"
"My word!" said Dave heartily. "That's the silver lining, all right!"
"Now to get a cleat or something across that window so we can take the rope with us!" urged Jimmie. "Hurry, Dave, hurry!"
They lost no time in doubling the line and passing the ends out of the window. The loop which they still held was caught beneath the corners of the window frame so that it would remain in position until the end was loosened by the person descending.
Ahead Jimmie could make out the outlines of an aeroplane in an open space. Following Dave's pointing finger, the lad saw a man in Uhlan's uniform rapidly running through the wood in the direction of the barn.
A noise in advance of their position attracted his attention. He gripped Dave's arm warningly and pointed to three figures in Uhlan uniform moving about in the growth of underbrush.
Dave quickly unslung the coil of line from his shoulder and proceeded to reeve a slip noose in one end. When he had adjusted the noose to his satisfaction the lad moved silently forward, crouching as he went.
With a dexterous throw the lad sent the loop of line over the three figures standing close together. Jimmie lent a hand to drag it tight.
"Pull, Jimmie, pull like the mischief!" cried Dave as the line tightened about the forms beyond the shrubbery.
"Pulling!" answered Jimmie, throwing his weight onto the line behind Dave and straining every muscle in an effort to keep it taut.
Presently they felt the tide turning in their favor.
"Pull it taut, Jimmie!" cried Dave. "Keep them there until I can manage to tie them. Don't slacken an inch or they'll get up."
"Leave it to me," panted Jimmie, walking around the trunk of a small tree with the free end of the lasso. "I'll take a turn around this tree and they'll go some to get away. I'll hold 'em!"
With movements that counted, the lad seized a small stone lying near, laid the end of the line across a larger one and pounded vigorously in an effort to sever a length of the lasso.
Almost as quickly as the task could have been accomplished with a knife Dave had cut off the desired piece of rope with which to tie the captives. In another moment he dashed through the thicket in which the three prisoners were struggling.
Jimmie, hanging onto the lasso with grim determination and taking in every bit of slack given by the struggling trio, was startled to hear his companion emit a shriek of astonishment. A glance over his shoulder told the lad that something unusual was happening beyond the bushes.
"Hurry up, Dave!" he advised. "I can't hold 'em much longer!"
"Let go, let go!" cried Dave, laughing and dancing about.
"What's the matter?" asked Jimmie incredulously. "Gone crazy?"
"My word, but this is funny!" laughed Dave, gasping for breath. "Here are the boys, who were looking for us, and instead of rescuing us we have captured them. Let go that line and let 'em up!"
"What?" was Jimmie's open-mouthed question. "What's that?"
"Sure enough!" declared Dave, swinging his arms to indicate that he wanted Jimmie to give more slack to the line. "It's the boys!"
"Say that again, please!" cried Jimmie, dropping the lasso and bounding forward. "That's good news if it's true."
Jimmie lost no time in convincing himself that Dave was indeed correct in his statement. One glance at the struggling trio and he sat down upon the grass, where he doubled up with laughter.
"Well," was Jack's scornful admonition, "better stop and save some of it for another occasion. You might need it."
"Oh, ho, ho!" laughed Jimmie. "This is the best joke yet!"
"Where's the joke?" asked Harry, struggling to his feet and throwing off the loop of the lasso. "This is no joke for us!"
"It's the best ever!" declared Jimmie. "Here I was going to be shot at sunrise for this 'lese majesty' business, and now in only an hour I have a chance to make the capture of my young life!"
"Shot at sunrise?" queried Ned, joining the group. "What do you mean—shot at sunrise? Is it another joke?"
"Well, it wouldn't have been much of a joke if they'd carried it out, but the way things stand it is decidedly a good joke all round."
"Would you like to step down to the camp and tell us about it?"
"Just invite us and see!" declared the lad, reaching for the lasso and coiling it neatly. "We came out here just for the purpose, boys!"
"You did?" inquired Jack. "Why, how'd you know we were here?"
"Oh," went on Jimmie with a lofty air, "everybody pretty near knows you're here. Next time you'd better be careful and shut the dampers when you make a fire. That smoke was a dead give-away!"
"Ah, ha, smarty!" declared Jack. "That's where you're wrong. We didn't make any smoke at all. So that punctures your balloon."
"Well, anyhow," went on Jimmie unabashed, "a little bird told us."
"Now, see here, Jimmie," put in Ned as the five boys started for the camp near the Eagle, "tell me the exact truth. It may have serious consequences if you don't. Does anyone know we are here?"
"Not that I know of, Ned," was Jimmie's sober reply. "We just stumbled onto you as you were tracking something in the woods."
"Oh, that reminds me," Ned said, halting. "We were on the track of some fellow who visited our position and took out the spark plugs from our engines. We were following his tracks in the woods when you came."
"What sort of a guy was he?" asked Jimmie, intensely interested.
"I don't know," answered Ned. "We haven't seen him yet."
"Didn't he leave any signs at all?" went on Jimmie. "Did he come and go in an airship, or did he have wings and fly through the air?"
"Neither," declared Ned. "He left some pretty fair tracks."
"Then we'll get him!" asserted Jimmie, positively. "He can't get away. Once we get on his trail he might as well quit!"
"Good boy, Jimmie!" laughed Ned. "You're a sight for sore eyes. And," he went on, "it's a pleasure to have your optimism to help."
"Thanks!" drily responded the Wolf. "Where are his tracks?"
"Right around here at the front of the machine near the engine."
"See anything, Dave?" asked Jimmie, at once, as the boys grouped about the Eagle, being careful not to tread in the tracks left by the one who had meddled with their engines.
"Yes," responded Dave, instantly. "He was a shortish chap, you know, because he had to stand on his toes here to reach the engines."
"And I think he was a Uhlan," went on Jimmie, pointing to other tracks. "I can see the mark of the spur chain under his instep."
"He must have put his hand right here," added Dave, indicating a spot on the forward wings that showed grimy finger marks. "He had a scar extending across all four fingers. See the print on it?"
"I'll bet I know who it was!" declared Jimmie, seizing Dave by the shoulder. "If that wasn't Otto, I'll go back and enlist all over!"
"Sure enough," replied Dave. "He was just about that height, and of course he wore spurs and all that. I don't know about the scar."
"Well, we will look for a short, heavy set Uhlan with a scar on his hand, and when we find him we'll choke those plugs out of him!"
"Shall we start after him now, boys?" inquired Jack.
"I vote 'No' on the original question," said Jimmie, instantly. "It's pretty near dinner time and I'm as hungry as bears ever get and then some. Have you got anything to eat, Ned?"
"Sure we have," was Ned's hearty response. "Got some mighty fine food, too. You'll like it, I'm sure. Those tracks can wait."
"Just right!" declared the lad. "Dave and I are starved! Just throw us together a little fried ham and some scalloped potatoes, a piece of Yorkshire pudding with some roast beef for Dave, here, and a few loaves of bread with a side of creamed cauliflower and some peas and carrots. Two or three helpings of succotash and some green onions wouldn't go bad either. With a couple of cups of coffee and some chocolate eclairs and a cream puff with a little ice cream and some lemon pie we could manage to worry along until tea time."
"Good night!" said Ned. "Wouldn't you rather take pot luck?"
"Oh," responded Jimmie, lightly, "any little old thing you wish."
"Then we'll give you some stew," announced Ned.
"Here's hoping, Ned," Jimmie said, laying a hand on Ned's arm, "that it isn't cabbage stew with bunches of vegetarian sausages cooked in it."
"Why?" inquired Ned. "Don't you like that sort of food?"
"Oh," exclaimed Jimmie, with a gesture of disgust, "we've had nothing else for about four years! I feel just like poor old Ben Gunn in 'Treasure Island.' I'd like a little civilized food—a piece of cheese or something like that. Don't say stew to me or I'll quit you cold."
"If you want a piece of cheese, take me," declared Jack. "I feel mightily ashamed of the way we let you two sneak up on us and catch us."
"Oh, that's all right," offered Jimmie with great magnanimity, "you really captured yourself, you know. Dave and I let you walk right up onto us before Dave swung that rope. I must get that trick."
"How did you learn that knack, Dave?" asked Ned, admiringly.
"Oh, that's quite easy, you know," replied the other with becoming modesty. "I've spent some time in Alberta where there are cattle and I learned to shoot and ride a horse and throw the rope pretty well."
"That's quite an accomplishment, all right," offered Jack.
"Agreed!" announced Jimmie. "But," he went on, "we're losing time and I'm losing flesh while you argue about it. Leave Dave alone, now. Can't you see him blushing over the praise you're giving him? Let's hustle about and get some eats started. I'm hungry, I tell you!"
"All right, Jimmie, your wants shall be supplied. We'll make another pot of coffee and all hands will take a cup with you for luck."
"This all happened so suddenly," said Ned, as the five lay about the fires waiting for the cooking to be finished, "that I haven't had a chance to ask you a question nor tell you how overjoyed I am to have you with us again. But I'm really delighted. How did it happen?"
"Well, they took us with them after Dave knocked over one of their tents," began Jimmie, with a sly look at his companion. "If it hadn't been for that plucky kid over there, I most likely would have lost my temper two or three times and tried to whip the whole German army."
"Oh, I say, you know," declared Dave. "He's putting it on too thick! I really wasn't much help at all. It was Jimmie who got the Kaiser into a good humor and then saved his life!"
"Go on, go on!" urged Ned, excitedly. "Tell us about it quickly!"
In response to the invitation, Jimmie and Dave together told the story of their adventures since last seeing their chums. Jimmie was in turn told of the exciting scenes through which the three boys had passed, and to him also were made known the circumstances through which Dave had joined the party. As the boys finally drew their narratives to a conclusion, Jimmie, who had followed the tales of his comrades with interest, turned to Ned and said:
"And so you were on the point of rescuing me when that fellow shot the rope by which Dave was hanging and you thought it was all off!"
"You are right, we thought things were going wrong with us then."
"And after that you pretty nearly got into a trap yourselves."
"Yes and we were compelled to exchange our perfectly good uniforms for some old rags that would disgrace a wharf rat!" was Ned's indignant response. "Then we simply took the privilege of putting on these garments. They are not what we would have chosen, but they match yours."
"They fooled Dave and myself, all right," laughed Jimmie. "We thought that we had caught a mess of German soldiers."
"That simply goes to show us, boys," gravely commented Ned, "that we ought to be extremely careful about our outward appearance. It's so easy for others to mistake us for what we are not."
"Hands up!" the boys heard a rough voice say. They turned to see a rifle muzzle showing through a clump of bushes.
"What's coming off here?" asked Jimmie, jumping to his feet.
"Halt!" cried the voice from the shrubbery again as Jimmie rose.
"Who's there?" asked the lad, wheeling toward the low undergrowth which concealed their visitor. "Come out into the open if you dare."
"Ach, yes!" replied the other. "I dare come out. You will all stand—and in a line, please. Aber you don'dt, I shoot!"
"What's this," asked Ned, "a hold-up or a joke?"
"Nein," the newcomer replied. "Aber you don'dt line up dere you find oudt it is no joke, not. Beside yourself stand, quick!"
"This is enough to make anybody fairly beside themselves!" Jimmie declared, unable to repress his tendency toward a joke.
"Come on out, you Dutchman," taunted Jimmie in a moment. "I can see you crouching there and see your uniform. Come on out!"
As the faces appeared, Jimmie gave a gasp of astonishment.
"Otto! Fritz!" he almost shrieked. "We left you guarding that old barn up there. How does it come that you are here?"
"My post I deserted," he began, stepping from the bushes, but with his rifle still cautiously pointed toward the lads. "This country is familiar to me, for that house was my uncle's. Many times have I in this brook waded and swam. Today I thought of it when we over the hill came and when we had put you in the barn I came right here to see the beautiful brook once more and hear the birds singing in the trees."
"Otto, open your left hand and let me see what you have in it!" commanded Jimmie, as the other finished speaking.
"Nothing have I in my hand," declared Otto, opening and extending the member palm outward. "See, nothing in there is!"
"Oh, I thought you had the spark plugs from the Eagle," remarked the lad. "You know you took them out. Where did you put them?"
"In my pocket have they gone," answered Otto, simply as if stating the most casual fact. "They are all there safe and sound."
"So I see," acknowledged Jimmie. "That's very obvious. What are you going to do now that you and Fritz have returned?"
"We shall take you back to the barn and put you in the loft once again," declared Otto in the same tone of voice he might have used in commenting on the fact that the sun was shining.
"Oh, you shall, shall you?" almost sneered Jimmie. "All right, but you wouldn't put us back there hungry, would you? We were just about to eat a little lunch. This won't be quite as good as you used to get at Dick Stein's place, but it's eatable at any rate. If you think you could eat a bit, we'll ask you to join us."
"I can not eat now," replied the other. "I must guard you as prisoners. But if you are hungry, we will let you eat."
"Oh, I say," protested Jimmie, "you'll have at least a cup of coffee with us! That isn't sociable to stand and hold a gun at a fellow's head while he's eating. It looks rather rough, too!"
"You are now prisoners," replied Otto, shaking his head.
"Why, of course, we are!" admitted the boy with an attempt at a laugh. "We're prisoners in more ways than one. You have the spark plugs and we couldn't make a decent get-away if we tried. Besides, you two fellows have your rifles and we are unarmed."
"I guess you've got us dead to rights," put in Dave.
"Sure you have," resumed Jimmie. "Now, I'll tell you what," he went on, "you sit here," indicating a position between the fire and the aeroplane, "and we'll sit on the opposite side of the fire. You may have your rifles across your laps or ready at your side. If we break and run for it, you may shoot as fast as you please."
"That's fair enough," urged Ned. "It isn't just the square thing to take us prisoners without letting us get some food."
"See here," continued Jimmie, reaching out a hand toward the coffee pot bubbling over the tiny flame and lifting the lid, "did you ever smell better coffee in your life? That's worth drinking, I say!"
"Dot's goot cooffee!" announced Fritz, solemnly. "I take a cup."
"Sure, you'll both have a cup!" declared Jimmie.
"That's a real compliment, Otto," laughed Jimmie, winking at Dave as he spoke. "When a German admits that any other nation on earth can make good coffee it is going some. The Germans can make real coffee!"
"We generally let Dave pour the coffee, because he's an extra boy in the crowd and we make the newcomers do all the heavy work, but he's awkward at it yet owing to his just recently coming off a cattle ranch in Canada, where he had to lasso a lot of cattle every day. This time I'm going to pour the coffee myself."
As Jimmie spoke he glanced back toward Dave, sitting with the others.
"Now, you just sit there, Dave," Jimmie chattered on, "until I tell you to move. Remember," he added, "I'm doing this part of it. All you are to do is to follow instructions. You're better at the lasso than you are at pouring coffee!"
"Yes, I guess that's the truth," admitted Dave with a mock sign of resignation at finding his short-comings flaunted before strangers.
It was well that the meal was served in the open, for Jimmie poured until every cup ran over, thereby wasting much of the liquid.
"Have some more, won't you?" he asked, grasping the coffee pot.
"Just a little more," replied Otto. "I never had better."
"Why," cried Jimmie in a surprised tone, "the pot is almost empty. I guess you boys didn't make very much, did you? Here, Dave," he hurried on, "you chase yourself up to the Eagle and get some of that coffee out of the locker on the right-hand side. We'll brew another pot of it. I haven't begun to eat yet."
"See how quickly you can lasso a cup or two of the real stuff and hurry back here," commanded Jimmie. "We'll have more in a jiffy."
"Have a little of this stew while you're waiting," urged Ned, extending the pot of stew toward the soldiers. "It's mighty good!"
Ned and Jimmie rattled on in a whirlwind of conversation to keep the attention of the soldiers in their own direction. So absorbed were Otto and Fritz in listening to the chatter that they failed to hear the faint whistle of a rope through the air, and it was not until the noose of Dave's lasso settled about their shoulders and they were jerked incontinently backward that they suspected anything wrong.
Otto and Fritz were compelled to surrender to a superior force. Lengths of small line secured from the Eagle were brought by Dave when he saw that the two were securely held by his companions.
"Let me get at this chap's pockets a moment," said Ned, advancing. "I think he has some spark plugs that would look better in another place. We can use them to good advantage ourselves."
"Just the thing!" cried Jimmie, gleefully. "How thoughtful of him to bring them back here so we could run the little old Eagle."
Ned lost no time in producing the plugs and fitting them into position.
"Now we 're off!" declared Jimmie. "Let's get the cooking utensils aboard and beat it out of here. We won't want no wireless now!"
"For one, I want to get to some place where I can exchange this uniform for some real clothes!" stated Jack, vehemently.
"And I want a real feed!" protested Jimmie. "I haven't eaten in weeks. All I could do was to lunch along on this awful grub!"
"All right, boys, I guess you're right," Ned agreed with a laugh. "We'll load up and be on our way even if it is daylight."
"Won't the Germans see us rise out of here and take a shot at us?"
"What if they do?" scorned Jimmie. "They'll be so busy with all this fighting they won't have time to chase us very far. Hear those cannons going all the time?" he went on. "They're wasting a lot of good powder shooting at the Frenchmen and the allies!"
As the aeroplane rose above the tree tops, two other planes were sighted high overhead.