e.

There was even more activity there now than there had been when he had
first set eyes upon it. There were more automobiles; four of them
altogether. At the wheel of each sat a soldier driver in grey uniform,
and with a cloth covered helmet. Each car was of the same type, a long
rakish grey body, low to the ground. As he neared the house an officer
wearing a long, grey coat came out, accompanied by two or three younger
men. He turned to speak to them, then got into one of the cars, which
immediately drove off. As it went a peculiar call was sounded, more like
a trumpet than an automobile horn. Fred guessed then what he afterward
learned to be a fact; that the automobiles used by the German staff
officers on active service had horns that indicated the rank of the
officer using them.

It seemed to Fred that there were more officers than soldiers about.
There seemed to be only enough soldiers to provide a guard. Sentries
were all about, but there were officers almost in swarms. He walked
along, indifferently rather than boldly, and he was sharply challenged
when he drew fairly near to the house.

"You can't go any further, youngster," said the soldier. "The staff has
taken this house."

Fred stared at him rather stupidly, but turned away. Then he was called
back suddenly, and for a moment his heart was in his mouth at the
thought that his disguise had been penetrated and that he was about to
be made a prisoner. Like Boris, he was concerned only with the effect of
this upon his plans. He did not think of his own safety, although, had
he been caught, he might have expected the fate of a spy, since he was
in disguise within the German lines. It proved, however, that he was not
to be arrested. A young captain was eyeing him sharply.

"Come with me, boy," he said. "We are short of servants in the house
here. You will do."

For a moment he was indignant, but then his heart leaped happily. If he
was taken into the house as a servant, he could find out all and more
than he had hoped, and that without risk.

CHAPTER IX

"THERES MANY A SLIP--"

Once inside the house, Fred found a scene of orderly confusion. That is,
it looked like confusion to him, but he could see that, for all the
bustling and the hurrying that went on, everyone knew just what his part
in the work was. Telephone bells were ringing all the time, and Fred
noticed now that wires entered the house through the dining-room window.
Evidently a fiel