hap who freed that pigeon?"

"No doubt about it," and Tom, stooping, picked up some small object.
"See, here's a feather that was sticking to that dead weed. It's from a
bird of the same color as the pigeon, perhaps from the very one I've got
in my pocket."

"That settles it," snapped the pleased Jack. "I must say you're a clever
hand at finding these things out. I'd have never dreamed of looking down
at my feet, but blundered right into the shack to see if----Oh! What do
you think of the luck we're in this day, Tom? See what stands there on
that poor old three-legged table!"

Jack's excitement was natural, as Tom readily understood when he looked;
for there was a small basket or cage made from oziers or willow wands;
and inside this they could see two blue gray homing pigeons, mates to
the one Tom had shot only a short time before!

CHAPTER III

A SPY BAFFLED

Both young aviators stared at the wicker cage containing the two
pigeons. The birds had been still up to then, but now commenced to make
cooing sounds, as though pleased at having human company. Apparently
they were inclined to be sociable, as Jack afterwards put it.

"So he discovered us coming along," Jack went on to say, "and skipped
out in such a hurry he didn't have time to carry away the cage with
him."

"He must have climbed out of this window in the side of the wall,"
observed Tom. "We could have seen him if he had used the door. Yes,
there are footprints underneath the window. He ran down behind those
bushes and reached the stone wall that leads to the broken country and
what is left of the woods."

"The chances are he had all that mapped out beforehand," suggested Jack.
"Surely a spy has always to keep a door open for retreat."

"Yes. Why not? They take their lives in their hands every time they
enter the hostile lines, and you can't blame a man for wanting to live a
little longer, especially if he believes he can serve his country."

"Perhaps he hasn't got such a good start but that we could overtake him
if we went after him now," suggested Jack.

"We might take a turn that way," his chum agreed. "But not too far
afield. We didn't start out to search for spies, and we've only got a
single gun between us. Even my automatic was left behind, because I
didn't expect to have any use for it, and get tired carrying the thing,
with its belt."

"But these pigeons here, Tom?"

"We can leave them until we get back. That's one reason why