sleigh of theirn. Sometimes there's only two of 'em, and then
agin the four are in a bunch. Someone once told me that Duval had German
blood in his veins, and I guess that's right."

"And I'm sure Glutts is German, and maybe Werner too," said Randy.

"My idee is that them Germans are holdin' out at an old house up River
Bend way. It was the old Parkingham estate, but it hasn't been used for
years. It's a mighty lonely place, too, right in the midst of the
woods."

"How far is that from here?" questioned Fred.

"About three miles, I should say."

"Is there a pretty good road?" questioned Jack.

"The way by the mountain road would be all of five miles. But I know a
fair trail through the woods that we might take."

"Then let's get there as soon as possible!" cried Gif. "Will you go with
us, Jed?"

"O' course I will! If them Germans are traitors to this country, or
anything like that, I want to know it," answered the old hunter
decidedly. "I'm too old to enlist for the war, but I ain't too old to do
my duty by Uncle Sam."

"We might combine business with pleasure," remarked Jack. "We can take
our guns and game bags, and also a substantial lunch. Then if we see any
signs of game going or coming, we can take our time about getting back
here."

"One thing that brought me over was this," went on Jed Wallop. "I heard
one of you young fellers sayin' you wanted to get a crack at a silver
fox. Well, I know a holler about two miles from here where quite a few
foxes are hangin' out. I've heard 'em barkin' around there more than
once. I saw a silver fox up that way, too, and if he shows himself you
might git what you are wishin' fer."

"Fine!" exclaimed Jack, with enthusiasm. "But is that hang-out of the
foxes on the way to the old mansion you mentioned?"

"No, it ain't. But we might work around that way comin' back."

A substantial lunch was prepared and packed, and then, after seeing to
it that their guns were in good order, the five cadets and Jed Wallop
left the Lodge.

"Mighty sorry I can't go along," said Spouter dolefully. "However, I
wish you all the best of luck, not only in getting some information
about those Germans, but also in locating the foxes."

"And you can depend on me taking good care of Dick," said Henry Stowell.

"All right, Henry," answered Gif; for he and all of the others had been
told how Codfish hated his nickname, and they had decided to do what
they could toward dropping it, although,