"It worked, anyway," said Stubbs. "But the general must have been in a particularly good humor. Otherwise such a question might have meant prison, at least, for all of us." "As it chanced," said Hal, "the general was in a particularly good humor. Chester had just put him there; and by the way, Chester, it’s all right to be gallant and all that, but it strikes me you should have used a little more discretion." "I didn’t hurt anything," Chester grumbled. "On the contrary, if I hadn’t interfered as I did we wouldn’t know what we do now." "That’s true enough," Stubbs admitted. "But I stand with Hal. It’s not wise to rush to the aid of every fair damsel in distress, especially when you’re masquerading in the uniform of the enemy. It might bring a firing squad, and I have no particular fondness for firing squads." "All the same," said Chester, "you couldn’t stand by and see a boor of a Dutchman pick on a couple of helpless women." "Careful on that Dutchman stuff, Chester," Stubbs cautioned. "Remember the Hollander has no more use for a German than you have." "Well, all right," returned Chester sulkily, "but Hal always starts picking on me if I look at a girl." "It’s no time to be looking at girls when you are on business," declared Hal grimly. "You’re altogether too susceptible to the charms of the fairer sex, Chester." "Rats!" said Chester. "You make me tired, both of you." "Well, we’ll pass all that up," said Anthony Stubbs. "The question to consider now is whether we shall take the general’s statement as sufficient to brand the Austrian peace rumor as a German plot." "It’s enough for me," declared Hal. "Same here," agreed Chester. "I’m perfectly satisfied myself," said Stubbs. "I am afraid the New York Gazette will lose a good story as a result, but I can’t help that. I’m not going to yell peace when there is no peace. Now the thing to do, to my mind, is to get back to our own lines." "Right," said Hal briefly. "We’ll make the attempt to-night, if you are both agreeable." The others nodded their agreement. Hal told Stubbs of the hidden airplane, and it was decided to make the return trip in that craft if the Germans had not discovered it. "In the meantime," said Stubbs, "we’ll just stick close to this room; it’s safer." And so they spent the day in the quiet little hotel of historic Sedan. *CHAPTER VI* *AN ENCOUNTER* It was after dark when Hal, Chester and Stubbs left the seclusion of the hotel and started toward the spot where the lads had hidden their airplane the morning before. There were plenty of signs of military activity in Sedan as the three friends passed along the streets, but no one interfered with them. To all intents and purposes they were precisely what they seemed—two German army officers and a civilian above the military age. And at last they came to the outskirts of the town. "How much farther, Hal?" Stubbs wanted to know.