water, Sandy Apgar
strolled past. He was told what had happened.

"Plumped himself down in a hen's nest, did he?" exclaimed the young
proprietor of Oak Farm. "Wa'al, now, if you folks go to upsettin' the
domestic arrangements of my fowls that way I'll have t' be charging you
higher prices," and he laughed good-naturedly.

"Ach! Dat is better," said Mr. Switzer, when he had cleansed himself.
"How came it, do you think, Mr. Apgar, that the hen laid her eggs right
where I was to make my landing when escaping from the Confederates?"

"Huh! More than one hen laid her eggs there, I reckon," the farmer said.
"There must have been half a dozen of 'em who had rooms in that
apartment. You see, it's this way. Hens love to steal away and lay their
eggs in secret places. After you folks built this make-believe shed and
put the hay in, I s'pose some of my hens seen it and thought it would be
a good place. So they made a nest there, and they've been layin' in it
for the last few days."

"More as a week, I should say!" declared Mr. Switzer in his best German
comedian manner. "There were many eggs!"

"Yes, you did bust quite a few!" said Sandy, critically looking at the
disrupted nest. "But it can't be helped."

"Well, the film wasn't spoiled, anyhow," observed Mr. Pertell. To him
that was all that counted. "You got him all right as he went through the
window, didn't you, Russ?"

"Oh, yes. It wasn't until he was inside, down behind the boards and out
of sight, that the eggs happened."

"No more eggs for me!" declared the comedian. "I shall never look a
chicken in the face again."

"Go on with the scene," ordered the director. "You are supposed to steal
out to the barn to give the hidden soldier food," he said to Ruth. "You
come out from the house, and are astonished to see a man's head sticking
out of the shed window. You register surprise, and start to run back to
the house, but the soldier implores you to stay, and you reluctantly
listen to him. Then he begs for food----"

"But don't bring me a hard-boiled egg, whatever you do!" called Mr.
Switzer.

"No funny business now," warned the director, with a laugh. "Go on now,
and we'll see how you do it."

After one or two trials Mr. Pertell announced himself as satisfied and
the filming of that part of the war drama went on.

So many details in regard to the taking of moving pictures have been
given in the previous books of this series that they need not be
repeated here.