“A clever dodge, all right,” ventured the Western boy, as they continued to stand there on the road and watch the colored lights in the heavens above. “I wonder what they signify?” “Those who, far away, are looking through night glasses must know,” Jack explained. “Two lights mean a certain fact, and three would carry a different message.” “It’s a bold man who would risk his life to do such a thing,” commented Amos, “for if caught at it he must expect to meet the usual fate of a spy--a file of men, his arms bound, his eyes bandaged, a rattle of guns, and that would wind up his career.” “Still, thousands are taking that chance every day, in France, England and over in Russia,” said Jack. “The spy system of the German army excels by far anything ever dreamed of by other nations.” “Of course we’ll never really know the truth about this business, Jack?” “I was just wondering whether it might be possible to find that out, and if we ought to meddle with matters that are really no concern of ours,” was what Jack surprised him by saying. “Do you really think we could run the thing down, and find the party at the other end of the kite string?” demanded Amos, at once interested. “I should say there was a fair chance,” declared the ranch boy, who figured things out from force of habit on every occasion. “In the first place you know that a kite must always go up directly against the wind. There can be no compromise about that.” “Sure thing,” agreed Amos, already intensely interested. “Well, it’s easy to gauge the direction of the wind, and, after noticing how high the kite must be, we can figure about how far away the man would be standing who held the other end of the cord.” Jack’s reasoning was so simple and yet so convincing that the other immediately fell into his way of thinking. “Let’s do it, Jack!” he exclaimed enthusiastically. “I take it you mean to try and look up the kite-flyer, eh, Amos?” “Yes, and give him a little scare in the bargain. That old kite with its red lights has hung up there long enough.” “It’s probably fulfilled its mission,” suggested Jack, “and conveyed the information that it was planned to send. But I’m curious enough to want to find out whether my theory was sound or not.” “Then you say go, do you, Jack?” “Yes, let’s make a start for it,” came the reply. “In the first place we’ll have to leave the road and cross this field, because we’ve got to advance straight into the wind.” “That’s easy,” said Amos, copying the example set by his comrade. “To begin with we’ve got to put a button on our lips, Amos.” “I suppose by that you mean we mustn’t talk any more, eh, Jack?” “Not unless it’s absolutely necessary, and then in the lowest of whispers.” Amos, being a sensible boy, could understand why there was need of silence, and so he kept along at the heels of his cousin, using both his eyes and his ears, but putting a seal on his tongue.