ind was bad news; he
feared that in some way they might have learned about the fate of Andre,
and were now hurrying to tell him all their efforts had been in vain,
for the husband of poor Jeanne could never sign his name to the paper
they carried.

"Is he dead, then?" was the way he addressed them as they came panting
up.

"Oh! it isn't about Andre, Rod!" gasped Hanky Panky.

"What then?" questioned the other, at the same time giving a sigh of
relief, for he had feared the worst.

"It's something Josh here hit on, that's given us both a bad shock;
he'll tell you, Rod," continued the other, who was trembling visibly.

"It's just this way, you see," Josh spoke up. "There's a German soldier
hiding close by, a wild-looking chap in the bargain. Whee! but he's got
staring eyes, and he makes me think of a crazy man."

"Oh! he must be one of their wounded," said Rod; "when they pulled out
in such a big hurry they couldn't take all with them, and some had to be
abandoned. This fellow in hiding that you've run across must be hurt in
the legs, and couldn't get away with the rest."

Josh shook his head with a vim.

"Excuse me, Rod, but I don't think you've hit the real secret," he went
on to say. "This man has stayed here _for a purpose_, and he's
about ready to lose his own life, I'd say, so as to carry it out. I
really and truly believe he must have a screw loose in the upper story."

"Go on," said Rod, seeing that Josh evidently knew more than he had as
yet explained.

"I just noticed him by the merest accident," explained the other. "He's
hiding in a hole in the ground. I happened to see him lift his head, and
noticed that he wore the dark green uniform of a German soldier. Then I
discovered something else, Rod, that gave me a cold feeling, and made
the chills run down my back."

"Go on, and hurry, too!" advised Rod.

"It was a wire, Rod, a wire that seemed to come up out of the ground,
and disappear by the side of a tree. It headed straight for the shelter
that used to be the headquarters of the German staff, and where the
French officers are gathering right now, waiting for the general to join
them."

"A wire, did you say, Josh?" demanded Rod, starting up, and looking
white.

"Yes, and ten chances to one there's a mine, planted under headquarters,
which he means to explode so as to blow up the French staff, general and
all."

CHAPTER XXVII.

WONDERFUL NEWS.

"If what you suspect is true, Josh,"