"Very well, Amory," said the captain. "You’ll of course say nothing to any one else. We’ll do our best to keep up appearances before Obernai, though upon my word it will tax our histrionic powers. If you make any discovery, don’t come to the house; report to me elsewhere." "If we can collar the men, sir?" "Oh, in that case do so, and put them under lock and key. But don’t attempt too much: it’s of great importance to get hold of the whole gang, for I imagine that we’ve been unawares in a wasps’ nest all this time. We must scotch them all." "One thing, sir, before we go: will you tell us the arrangement of the house?" "So far as I know it. Our billets are all in the front. Obernai and his servants live at the back. On this floor there’s a long passage between us. Upstairs there’s no communication between back and front: the doors are blocked up, to secure our privacy, Obernai said." "There’s a back staircase, then?" "No doubt." "How many servants are there, sir?" "Two men, whom Obernai brought with him from Alsace, he says. I’ve caught a glimpse of an old woman, too, but she rarely leaves the back premises." With this information Kenneth and Harry left the house, and returned to their billet to consult Ginger. CHAPTER XX MONSIEUR OBERNAI’s ATTIC "I can’t hardly believe it," said Ginger, when Kenneth recounted the facts and his inferences. "Never thought Stoneway had the pluck." "A man without pluck is no good as a spy," Harry remarked. "True. He must have had an awful time of it, always wondering if he’d be found out, or copped by a German bullet." "What strikes me most forcibly is the thoroughness of the German organisation," said Kenneth. "You’ll always find individuals ready to take their lives in their hands, for patriotism or pay; but you won’t always find things so perfectly organised. If we’re right, Stoneway must have been employed first as an anti-recruiting agent, with orders to enlist and act as spy within our ranks if that seemed feasible." "I see through that post-card business now," said Ginger. "He gave our address to some pal in London so that the Germans should know where he was, and make use of him. And then to put it on to me!--a dirty trick. But what can you expect when the Kaiser lets his men do dirty tricks and gives ’em Iron Crosses for it? Whatever he is, Bill is no gentleman." "Stoneway is a German, I suppose?" said Harry. "Steinweg--not an uncommon German name," replied Kenneth. "But now, how are we going to set about our job?" "What was that you said about a bat?" said Harry. "I didn’t pay much heed." Kenneth again described the curious phenomenon, adding: