Then as the two scoundrels bent lower over the table, handling a number of papers, Jimmy put his lips to Roger's ear and whispered: "If we could sneak around and get their guns, we could make prisoners of 'em!" "That's right!" agreed his chum. "There's some black work going on here. They must have come to this cave to meet two men, who, from their names, are Germans." "Not so loud!" whispered Jimmy. "Come on now! We've got to work fast. You take one gun and I'll get the other. Their backs are toward us, and if they don't hear us they can't see us. Once we have the guns, the jig is up for them." Slowly and cautiously, in the semi-darkness, Roger and Jimmy crept forward. They were almost at the weapons, standing in a corner behind the two men who were bending over the table, when suddenly Roger's foot struck against what seemed to be a tin can lying on the floor of the cave. There was a loud, metallic rattle. "Who's there?" cried Aleck, springing up and wheeling around. "Come on! Rush for it!" yelled Jimmy, all need of silence now being gone. He and his chum made a leap for the guns, but Jimmy's foot slipped and he went down. Wilbur Bixton turned higher the flame of the lamp, and in the sudden illumination the two brothers saw the boys they had, some hours before, dropped over the cliff. For an instant deadly fear showed on the faces of the two plotters. But as they realized that Jimmy and Roger were not ghosts, the Bixtons sprang at them with yells of rage. Then in the cave began a desperate hand-to-hand fight! CHAPTER XXI A DESPERATE RESOLVE Forgetting for the moment the fact that he was a German prisoner, Bob Dalton, at the sight of the long-lost Franz Schnitzel, rushed forward to greet his Brother. The two clasped hands warmly. "Oh, but it's good to see you!" cried Franz. "And it's good to know that you are--alive!" Bob hesitated over the word. For poor Franz did not seem much more than alive. He was wasted away, as were all in that horrible camp. In the American army they had been well fed, and their condition showed accordingly. For some time Franz, and for a shorter time, Bob, had been fed in the German way--underfed, and that on the most miserable of food. "How did it happen that you were captured?" asked Franz, as he and Bob walked off a little by themselves. "I suppose you heard all about me." "Well, not exactly," Bob answered. "We heard part of the story about your capturing some Germans, and then either being captured yourself, or else disappearing--we couldn't be quite sure what it was. We hoped you were alive, even if you were a prisoner, but we couldn't be sure." "Oh, I'm a prisoner all right," replied Franz. "There's no question about that. And it happened just like that! I did capture some Huns, but another party came along, rescued those I had, and copped me. Then I was brought here, after a fearful journey. But tell me about yourself. How did they get you?"