this thing?" he demanded, believing that, after
all, the capture might have been concocted by the French soldier who had
sought to kill Hal.

"Matin? Who is Matin?" asked their captor.

Chester explained.

"No, he has nothing to do with it," was the reply.

"Then, in the name of the Great Czar, what's it all about?"

"I can't tell you," was the firm reply.

Chester groaned.

"Of all the fool predicaments," he said, "this is the worst."

The little man had now moved toward the door of the tent.

"I go now," he said, "to make my report. Pleasant dreams to you."

"Hold on a minute," shouted Hal.

"No; I think I had better go. Good-bye, boys!"

There was such a familiar ring to these words that Hal was struck with a
great light. He uttered a loud exclamation, so loud, in fact, that the
little man came running back in the tent.

Even Chester was surprised--but for a moment only--for the words that
escaped Hal were these:

"By all that's holy! If it isn't Stubbs!"

CHAPTER XVIII

STUBBS REFUSES TO EXPLAIN

With two bounds the little man covered the distance to Hal's side and
bent over. Quickly he placed a hand across Hal's mouth and whispered:

"Sh-h-h. Not so loud!"

Hal shook his head free--his hands were tied--and exclaimed:

"So! This is the thanks we get from you, eh! Why, you little fat--"

"Names won't help any," said Anthony Stubbs, quietly. "I've got you here
and, as I told you, here you are going to stay until I arrange for your
transportation back to the good old town where stands the _Gazette_."

"New York, eh?" said Chester. "But why, Stubbs, that's what I want to
know. Come on, be a good fellow and tell us what this is all about."

"If I wasn't so sure you know, I might be tempted to do so," said Stubbs.
"But you do know and there is no need to ask me again. I refuse."

"But I tell you, Stubbs, we don't know," declared Hal. "What's gone wrong
with you? Are you in the employ of the Kaiser?"

"Not by a long shot," was the answer. "That's one reason I want to get
you away from here. I want to see the Kaiser licked properly."

"You don't mean to insinuate--"

"That you are aiding the Kaiser?" Stubbs broke in. "I guess not. But you
know as well as I do that with you here something is sure to go wrong. No
sir. You've got to go back to the old U.S.A. and you're going to go if it
lies in my power to get you there."

"By Jove!" said Chester, suddenly. "I know the answer."

"Wel