tell that, and I ain't going to say
any more about him. So now he can't do any more harm. And--and I want
you to please go away," he burst forth, "because I--I got to tell him
about how our mother died--'cause maybe he didn't--get the letter."

CHAPTER XIV

HE IS ARRESTED AND PUT IN THE GUARDHOUSE

But of course his brother _had_ received that letter. The circumstances
of his mother's death were the least of his troubles now and he must
have thought his young brother very innocent and sentimental. He did not
understand Tom's wanting to talk about their mother's death any more
than Tom understood how Bill could be a spy and a traitor.

In short, the wily, self-seeking Bill, who would stop at nothing,
probably thought his brother had a screw loose, as the saying is, and
perhaps that is what the others thought also.

Tom was never very lucid in explanation, and his emotion had made his
surprising story choppy and unsatisfactory. His explanation of the use
of the plate and of the telltale piece of cotton which his keen eyes had
not missed, seemed plausible enough, and fell like a bomb-shell among
his questioners.

But they did not give him credit for his discovery nor even for his
apparent innocence. It was, as the captain had said, a serious business,
and Uncle Sam was taking no chances where spies and traitors were
concerned. Probably they thought Tom was a weak-minded tool of his
shrewder brother.

"Well," said the officer rather curtly, "I'm glad you told the truth. If
you had told me the truth last night when I caught you up there, it
would have been better for you. Still, confession made at bay is better
than none," he said to the captain, adding as he left the room, "I'll
have a squad down."

William Slade sat upon the berth, glaring at the detective who stood
guarding the doorway. He looked vicious enough with his disheveled hair
and sooty face and the dirty jumper such as the under engineers wore.
Tom wondered when he had come east and how he had fallen in with his old
patron, Adolf Schmitt.

And this was his own brother! Evidently William had been in the German
spy service for some time, for he had learned the rule of absolute
silence when discovered and he had even acquired some of that lowering
sullenness which sets the Teuton apart from all other beings.

[Illustration: "THERE--_THERE_ IT IS," TOM ALMOST SHOUTED.]

Presently there came the steady footfalls of soldiers in formation and
a s