men, and thousands on thousands were
slaughtered without accomplishing any favorable result.

Rod did not mean to lie quietly there and allow this sneak-thief time to
rummage around. Of course the precious paper wanted by Jules was
securely hidden; but for all that it went against his grain to allow
such liberties.

Managing to get his mouth close to the ear of Hanky Panky he whispered:

"Shout when I do, and jump out of bed!"

The other gave a sign to the effect that he heard and understood;
although this consisted only of a nudge with his knee it was sufficient
to tell Rod the game was ready for touching off.

When both of them started to yell the effect was weird, and must have
given poor, unsuspicious Josh the scare of his life; for he rolled out
of bed and commenced to thresh wildly about him, perhaps under the
impression that dreams were realities and his clothes actually on fire.

Rod had eyes only for the dusky figure of the unwelcome intruder. The
man made a headlong dive for the open window through which he evidently
must have entered the room of the inn. It was all of ten feet, perhaps
twelve, to the ground, and he went plunging through space like a huge
frog.

They heard him strike heavily, though he managed to gain his feet, and
go limping away, groaning as he vanished in the darkness.

Of course there was more or less excitement about the inn. People could
be heard calling out as they thrust their heads from the windows. Some
men who had been lying asleep in the wagon-yard near by came hurrying
up, asking if it was a fire.

Rod explained to the landlord, who appeared, candle in hand; and as no
damage had been done the excitement soon quieted down. The boys,
however, decided to set a trap by means of a cord, that would warn them
if any one again attempted to enter their room by that exposed window.

Apparently the failure of his plan discouraged the schemer, for they
were not annoyed any further during the remainder of the night. With the
coming of morning they ate an early breakfast, settled their reckoning
with the French landlord, who insisted on apologizing profusely for
their being so rudely disturbed, just as if he was to blame, and then
once more mounted on their reliable motorcycles the trio of boys started
forth.

It was a fine morning in early September. All Nature seemed smiling, and
it required quite a stretch of the imagination to realize that not so
very far away from this fair s