Bob had opened his eyes after a moment. He had seen millions of stars, and as he came to his senses again his head felt sore and battered. He did not recall for a moment just what had befallen him. Suddenly, however, he heard the sounds of a violent struggle being waged near at hand, and sitting up he spied Hugh and his assailant locked in each other's grasp, and still fighting. Bob sprang to his feet and approached them. He remembered everything now. His throbbing head recalled to him the blow he had received and he could feel a large lump on the back of it. He wondered what would have happened to him if he had not worn a hat. A moment later, however, he had dismissed from his mind all thought of himself and was engaged in assisting his friend. He grasped Hugh's assailant by his throat and knelt on his shoulders with both knees. Gradually the man's strength waned; Hugh could feel it slipping. A moment later he lay gasping on the ground too weak to offer any resistance to the two boys. Hugh held his arms, while Bob released his hold on the man's throat and sat on his legs. The prisoner, his breath rattling in his chest, lay with eyes half-closed, completely done up. Suddenly Hugh spied something that made him start violently. The man's coat lay wide open and pinned on his vest was a badge. More than that, it was a police badge, one of the badges of the police of High Ridge. "Bob," gasped Hugh in alarm, "this man's a detective." "What!" cried Bob. "You're crazy." "I am not. Look here." He released his hold on his erstwhile opponent and stood up. Bob followed suit. In amazement they looked at the man on the ground at their feet. "That's a High Ridge police badge all right," said Bob. "No doubt of it." "Are you a detective?" Hugh asked their victim. The man looked at them through narrowed eyelids. "Yes," he said weakly, and started to reach towards his hip pocket. "Here, here!" cried Hugh. "None of that! This whole thing is a mistake." "Let me help you up," urged Bob, offering his hand to the beaten man. Hugh also assisted him and they raised him to his feet. "I guess we were after the same people you were," exclaimed Bob, taking it for granted that the detective had trailed the Germans to the deserted house as he and Hugh had done. "They had us locked up in there and we had just broken down the door and were coming out. We didn't know you were a detective." "You didn't give us a chance to find out," laughed Hugh, greatly relieved at the unexpected turn of events. He also felt safer to have an officer of the law with them. The detective rubbed his neck, and looked at the two boys narrowly. "Germans in this house?" he said at length. "They had a meeting here last night," said Bob. "How do you know?" "We followed them out here. Look at this too," and he handed over the list of buildings to be destroyed that they had found in the old house. The detective snatched the paper out of his hand and scanned it eagerly.