r possession an address in Northern France where you will likely find
my partner, _under another name_. But you must swear to me that under
no conditions will you imperil his position there. Is it a bargain, my
boys?"

Rob looked at Merritt. The latter, although terribly disappointed, was
still game. He gave not the slightest sign of submitting to the decrees
of a cruel Fate.

"We will accept your hospitality, Herr Haskins," he said quietly, "and
also take from you that address under the promise you ask. Steven
Meredith has no reason to fear that we will betray him. We are
Americans, and our President has asked that every one, old and young,
remain strictly neutral while this war is going on."

"We bound up the wounds of three times as many Germans after the battle
as we did Belgians," Rob added, while Tubby was heard to mutter under
his breath:

"Which was because there were ten times as many Germans hurt as there
were of the brave little Belgian army."

They accompanied Herr Haskins to his fine home, where they were
splendidly entertained that night. Tubby ate so much dinner that he was
incapable of joining in the conversation that immediately followed,
though that fact was of minor importance, because, as a rule, he only
made himself a nuisance when there was any serious discussion on hand.

At least, if they had to be disappointed in not finding the man they had
come so far to deal with, they could deem themselves lucky in meeting
Herr Haskins under conditions that placed him heavily in their debt;
otherwise they might never have discovered in what direction Steven
Meredith had gone when his superiors in the German Secret Service
ordered him on duty again.

As it was, when the boys on the following morning once more headed in
the direction of Antwerp, armed with a letter from Herr Haskins that
would be of considerable service should they be held up by any German
patrol, Merritt also had a small bit of paper secreted inside the lining
of his coat, on which simply an address was written.

As they journeyed they had plenty of opportunities to lay out their new
program and build fresh castles in the air concerning the success which
they meant to attain if it lay in mortal power.

Whether they were as fortunate in the new fields that now stretched
before them as they had been in avoiding pitfalls between the battle
lines in Belgium, you will find recorded in the next volume of this
series, under the title of "