The Boy Allies at Verdun Part 25

"No," he replied, "all I can tell you is this! You shall be kept confined here until your removal to Paris can be arranged. Then you will be sent to London and put aboard a vessel for New York. That's all I can say."

"But what for?" demanded Hal, angrily.

"That you will not be told," was the reply, "although I guess you don't need to be told."

"By George!" exclaimed Chester, "I don't know what you are talking about, but you can take my word that somebody is going to suffer for this night's work. How long do you intend to hold us here?"

"I can't say. Possibly a day or two; at all events, until your removal can be arranged."

"Do you know who we are?" demanded Hal.

The little man nodded.

"Perfectly," he replied.

"You know that we are attached to the staff of General Petain?"

Again their captor nodded.

"And still you've got the nerve to hold us here?"

"Yes, I've got the nerve."

"Don't you know you shall suffer for this?"

The man shrugged his shoulders.

"At least I shall have done my duty," he replied.

"Duty! Great Scott! Duty! What are you talking about?" demanded Hal, angrily. "Are you a German sympathizer?"

"No, my sympathies are French," was the reply.

"Well, if you call this doing your duty," said Chester, sarcastically, "let's hope you don't have too many duties to perform in the service of France. For if you do, the Germans certainly will win."

"Well," said their captor, "I guess I shall have to leave you now. I must make my report."

"Who are you going to report to?" demanded Hal, suddenly, thinking to take the man off his guard.

The latter only grinned.

"I'm too old a bird for that trick," he said, showing that he understood what had been in Hal's mind. "I'm going to report to the proper person."

"Improper person, I guess you mean," Chester growled.

"At any rate, I must report," said their captor. "Now if you'll promise to make no outcry while I'm gone, I will not have the gags replaced in your mouths. Otherwise, I am afraid--"

He closed with a shrug of the shoulders.

"You put one of those things in my mouth again, and I'll make you eat it--some day," said Chester.

"Not for some time to come, I'm afraid," was the little man's rejoinder.

"I believe I can guarantee you will be kept out of mischief for the duration of the war."

Hal had been gazing at the little man closely.

"Seems to me," he said at last, "that I have seen you some place before.

There is something familiar about you."

"You've probably seen me," was the reply. "I've been around here for some time."

Chester was now struck with a sudden thought.

"Is Matin mixed up in this thing?" he demanded, believing that, after all, the capture might have been concocted by the French soldier who had sought to kill Hal.

"Matin? Who is Matin?" asked their captor.

Chester explained.

"No, he has nothing to do with it," was the reply.

"Then, in the name of the Great Czar, what's it all about?"

"I can't tell you," was the firm reply.

Chester groaned.

"Of all the fool predicaments," he said, "this is the worst."

The little man had now moved toward the door of the tent.

"I go now," he said, "to make my report. Pleasant dreams to you."

"Hold on a minute," shouted Hal.

"No; I think I had better go. Good-bye, boys!"

There was such a familiar ring to these words that Hal was struck with a great light. He uttered a loud exclamation, so loud, in fact, that the little man came running back in the tent.

Even Chester was surprised--but for a moment only--for the words that escaped Hal were these:

"By all that's holy! If it isn't Stubbs!"

CHAPTER XVIII

STUBBS REFUSES TO EXPLAIN