Clem Stapley lived in the mansion on a hill overlooking the town and the mills. Don Richards dwelt in a big house on the main street. In the days following--the Sunday and Monday preceding Christmas--the lads saw each other but once, and then only to exchange a few words. These had been in effect that if the suspected strangers were up to any mischief here they would probably defer it until after Christmas, and now spend the time having a beer-fest with fat old Shultz. Clem thought more probably that the men had gone away again, or would soon go, but Don believed otherwise; he had been reading of German propaganda and plots against munition factories and ships, and with a mind keen for gathering facts and making deductions, he felt, half instinctively, that there must be an evil purpose in these men stopping in this town where the large factory was turning out war materials for the Government. It was almost with a conscientious protest that he turned now to the immediate business of Christmas gaieties. And the jolliest day of the year came on with its usual zest and pleasure, and went quickly by. Late in the afternoon Don and a younger brother, to try new skates, went out to the pond not far from the Galaville road and as they were returning, just at dusk, they observed three men standing on a high knoll just above the road and looking off toward the town, one pointing, with out-stretched arm, from time to time. The figures could be clearly seen against the sky: one, a short fellow, apparently with whiskers, one a slender, tall chap and the other big, paunchy, heavy-set. It did not require much imagination to identify them as Shultz and his two guests--the Germans of the train. The boys were evidently not seen. Don commanded his brother to follow him and kept on the far side of a row of cedar trees until they were out of sight of the hill. He found himself much disturbed by the circumstance, trivial as it seemed; and yet, was it trivial? It was possible that these men were merely out for exercise, or a bit of novelty; they may have been simply noting the interesting features of the town, or even contemplating the purchase of farm land near that of Shultz.