ty. He,
too, was dismayed when told of the theft of the airplane. But when the
boys showed him the German Iron Cross he hit the desk before him a
resounding blow with his fist. Their conversation took place in the
library.

"That fits right into the puzzle," said he. "Boys, while you were out
of the house I had a long distance telephone call from New York City.
The man who called said he was a chauffeur who had driven two men down
here yesterday, that he thought they were on legitimate business, but
that when Bob tried to stop them he saw they were bad ones, as he put
it. Later, when they made him drive them over to the radiophone
station and he heard Tom rout them with his pistol shots, he said he
drove off as they ran for his car and left them. He inquired in the
village and learned my name, and so called me up to clear himself in
case I intended starting a pursuit.

"And he said," added Mr. Temple, leaning forward and speaking
impressively, "that he was pretty certain one man was a Greaser and
the other a Hun. Those were his own words. Of course, he meant one was
a Mexican and the other a German."

"So when this chauffeur abandoned them they stole our airplane to get
away," cried Frank excitedly.

"Exactly."

"Maybe," said Bob, "I copped every cent they had in pulling that
Mexican's coat off his back, and they were without carfare back to the
city."

"Oh, I suppose the German had money," said his father. "The German
probably was an aviator. And they stole the airplane in order to
escape from here quickly before we could get in pursuit of them. I
imagine they'll land in some deserted spot--plenty of them in the
sandy reaches along the New Jersey coast, for instance--make their way
to a railroad, after abandoning the plane, and go----"

"To the Southwest," said Frank, emphatically, interrupting Mr. Temple.

"What do you mean?" asked Bob.

"Weren't there a bunch of German spies in Mexico, stirring things up
there against us, during the war? Well, I'll bet there are some of the
same breed there now making all this trouble for Mr. Hampton," said
Frank.

"A good idea," said Mr. Temple, approvingly. "Well, boys, there will
be no church for us today. This matter has got to be attended to."

CHAPTER VII

KIDNAPPED

"Not a trace, Bob. I don't know what to make of this."

"Nor I, Frank. A fellow wouldn't believe that right here near New
York, in the most densely populated part of the East, two men co