Marching away, for which the three Brothers felt great relief, was the searching part of Germans. But this was not at what Roger was looking. It was the sight of a man, in a German uniform, seated on a fallen log at the edge of the clump of trees. The man was looking over some papers, and he must have been there when the searching party passed. Perhaps he had been with them. "Look! Look!" murmured Roger. "It's the captain again. Captain Frank Dickerson--the officer who saved our lives at the red mill; and he's in a German uniform!" CHAPTER XXI BACK WITH FRIENDS There was no doubt of it. So dramatic had been the circumstances under which they had first seen this strange man that the boys would never forget his face. He was dressed differently now--in an unmistakable uniform of the Germans--but it was the same man. "What in the world is he doing here?" demanded Bob. "There can be only one answer to that question," said Jimmy, and his voice was low and intense. "And what is the answer?" Roger wanted to know. "He's a German spy!" was the declaration. "When he saved us at the burning mill he was in an American uniform. And now he is in German uniform. He's a spy!" "He's in German uniform all right, there's no question of that" declared Bob. "But what makes you think he is a spy--I mean a German spy, Jimmy?" "Because he was within our lines, or close to them, in a uniform that was calculated to appear like one of ours. And, instead of going back with us to help us find our own command, he hiked off in the direction of the Huns. And now he's here again." "But maybe he's a regular German, though he didn't talk much like one," suggested Bob. "I mean the time he saved us at the mill. He might be a decent, human sort of German--and he couldn't bear to see us roasted to death. Maybe that's why he saved us. Of course, I remember he acted queerly, and--" "I don't know why he saved us," declared Jimmy. "But I believe he's a German spy, and he was close to, if not actually within, our lines, trying to get information. And if he's a spy he ought to be hanged for it--that's the punishment of all spies." "Yes, hanging isn't any too good, for a German spy," agreed Roger. "And if we ever get the chance we'll denounce this fellow," went on Jimmy. "We can tell how we saw him in an American uniform, or part of it, near the red mill, and now he wears a German outfit. Hanging won't match his crime." "And yet," said Bob slowly, "it would be sort of hard to denounce him." "Why?" asked Jimmy quickly. "Because he saved our lives," was the quick answer. "Of course, we'll have to denounce him, fellows, if we get the chance. But it will go hard. He saved our lives!" Jimmy was silent a moment, as he gazed out amid the trees in the direction of the German searching party and the officer seated, looking over some papers. Then Jimmy said, slowly: "Yes, he saved our lives!"