CHAPTER XXV
FOILING THE GERMAN PLOT
“This cellar’s a nice place to tell ghost stories in,” remarked Bart. “It would make a fellow creepy to be in here all by his lonesome.”
“I thought I heard a noise down in that end of the cellar,” said Tom.
“You’re dreaming,” said Billy. “Come out of your trance.”
But just then there was another noise that all of them heard. It sounded like a scratching noise, or as though someone were inserting a key in a lock.
“Quick!” whispered Frank. “Hold your guns ready and get down behind these bales.”
Like a flash they obeyed and waited with bated breath for what should come next.
The scratching continued. Then slowly a door swung open at the far end of the cellar and a figure advanced carrying a candle. He walked with faltering steps, and as he drew nearer they could see that it was Mrs. Edsall’s father.
He paused at a part of the wall that was in shadow and seemed to be searching for something. Then with a sigh of satisfaction he found it. He pressed a spring and a concealed door opened, revealing a small aperture.
The old man reached in his hand and brought out a roll of papers. He glanced over them for a moment in the light of the candle. Then he swung the door shut and turned to go.
But just then there was a startling interruption. From behind a barrel in whose shadow he had been hiding, a man leaped out, and throwing himself on the old man grasped the papers and tore them from him.
The attack was stunning in its suddenness, but the man had scarcely straightened up before the Army Boys had swarmed out of their concealment and seized the intruder. He put up a sharp fight, but in the grasp of those sinewy arms he was helpless. In a moment they had overpowered him. The old man stood by, shaking as though with a palsy.
“Now,” said Frank sharply to the intruder, “what does this mean? Tom, bring that lantern here and let’s have a look at this man.”
Tom did so, and as the light fell on the man’s face he uttered an exclamation of surprise that was echoed by Frank and Billy.
“Why,” said Frank, “it’s the man we saw in Luxemburg!”
“I don’t know where you saw me and I don’t care,” answered the stranger angrily. “I only warn you that you’ll get in trouble if you interfere with me in the discharge of my duty. I’m a member of the United States Secret Service.”
“Show your authority,” said Frank, taken a little aback. “Let go his arms, fellows.”
His arms released, the man threw back his coat and showed the badge of his service.
“I’ve been trailing this man for some time,” he said. “We had a suspicion that he was in treasonable relations with the enemy. And I think now I’ve got the goods on him,” he said, as he flourished the bundle of papers.
Here the old man interposed.
“It’s false,” he cried wildly. “No one is more loyal than I am. Look at those papers. Look quick or it may be too late. The Germans plotted to blow up the fortress of Ehrenbreitstein, if it were ever captured by the Americans. Those are the plans. By an oversight of theirs, the papers fell into my hands. I hid them here when I had to leave Coblenz. I did not dare to take them with me for fear I would be searched. That was why I wanted to get back to Coblenz, so that I could give the papers to the American commander. I have been sick, delirious since I returned, and this is the first time I have been able to leave my bed and get here. Look at the plans. And hurry, hurry!”
There was unmistakable sincerity in his tones that startled and impressed even the Secret Service agent. They hurriedly examined the plans. Two minutes sufficed. Ehrenbreitstein, where at that moment thousands of American soldiers were sleeping, might at any moment be blown into atoms!
Two jumps carried Frank out of the cellar. A few more took him to a telephone. There was a quick exchange between him and the fortress. Then the whole party bundled themselves into a car which had been hastily commandeered and were whirled over the bridge and up the hill. A few minutes more, and squads of soldiers, armed to the teeth, had followed the indications of the plans and located enough explosives in a secret passage deep under the fortress to shatter it to fragments. The wires by which they could have been exploded from a distance were found and severed, and only then did the commander of the fortress, who had lived ten years in as many minutes, venture to breathe freely. The bold plot of a desperate band of Germans had been foiled.
But other plots were still to be exposed, and what some of those were will be related in the next volume of this series, to be entitled: “Army Boys on German Soil; Or, Our Doughboys Quelling the Mobs.” In that book we shall meet all our friends again and see how bravely they acted under the most trying of circumstances.
“It was a narrow squeak,” remarked Frank, a few days after the German plot had been exposed.
“Just what I was saying to Helen this afternoon,” said Billy.
“And what were you saying to Alice?” asked Bart, turning to Tom.
“None of your business,” grinned Tom.
“They’re hopeless cases,” remarked Bart.
“Cupid’s got the best of them,” remarked Frank.
“That’s more than the Huns could do,” laughed Billy.
“Yes,” agreed Frank. “That’s more than the Huns could do. They tried their best, but they couldn’t put it over on Uncle Sam’s Army Boys.”
THE END
Air Service Boys Series
By CHARLES AMORY BEACH
12mo, cloth, illustrated and with colored jacket
Two chums join the air service in this country and then go to France and enter the Lafayette Escadrille. After doing their duty to our sister republic they re-enter the American service and are put to the most severe tests as airmen. They manage to locate a long-range German cannon which is doing terrific damage, and are present at the bombing of the last Hun stronghold. A series by one who knows all about army aviation.
AIR SERVICE BOYS FLYING FOR FRANCE Or The Young Heroes of the Lafayette Escadrille
AIR SERVICE BOYS OVER THE ENEMY’S LINES Or The German Spy’s Secret
AIR SERVICE BOYS OVER THE RHINE Or Fighting Above the Clouds
AIR SERVICE BOYS IN THE BIG BATTLE Or Silencing the Big Guns
AIR SERVICE BOYS FLYING FOR VICTORY Or Bombing the Last German Stronghold
Joe Strong Series
12mo, cloth, colored jacket and illustrated
Vance Barnum is a real treasure when it comes to telling about how magicians do their weird tricks, how the circus acrobats pull off their various stunts, how the “fishman” remains under water so long, how the mid-air performers loop the loop and how the slack-wire fellow keeps from tumbling. He has been through it all and he writes freely for the boys from his vast experience. They are real stories bound to hold their audiences breathlessly.
JOE STRONG, THE BOY WIZARD Or Mysteries of Magic Exposed
JOE STRONG ON THE TRAPEZE Or The Daring Feats of a Young Circus Performer
JOE STRONG, THE BOY FISH Or Marvellous Doings in a Big Tank
JOE STRONG ON THE HIGH WIRE Or A Motorcycle of the Air
JOE STRONG AND HIS WINGS OF STEEL Or A Young Acrobat in the Clouds
JOE STRONG AND HIS BOX OF MYSTERY Or The Ten Thousand Dollar Prize Track
JOE STRONG, THE BOY FIRE-EATER Or The Most Dangerous Performance on Record
Army Boys Series
By HOMER RANDALL
12mo, cloth, illustrated and with colored jacket
Here we have true-to-life pictures of what our brave soldier boys did, in the training camps, aboard the transport, and on the battlefields of France. How they went over the top and had thrilling hand-to-hand encounters with the Huns, is told in a manner to interest all. Many side lights are given of how the soldiers enjoyed themselves during the off hours. A series which ought to be on every bookshelf in the land.
ARMY BOYS IN FRANCE Or From Training Camp to Trenches
ARMY BOYS IN THE FRENCH TRENCHES Or Hand to Hand Fights With the Enemy
ARMY BOYS ON THE FIRING LINE Or Holding Back the German Drive
ARMY BOYS IN THE BIG DRIVE Or Smashing Forward to Victory
ARMY BOYS MARCHING INTO GERMANY Or Over the Rhine with the Stars and Stripes
Navy Boys Series
By HALSEY DAVIDSON
12mo, cloth, illustrated and with colored jacket
The true story of the American Jackies of today--clean-cut, brave and always on the alert. The boys join the navy, do a lot of training, and are then assigned to regular service. They aid in sinking a number of submarines, help to capture a notorious German sea raider, and do their share during the taking over of the enemy’s navy. A splendid picture of the American navy of today.
NAVY BOYS AFTER A SUBMARINE Or Protecting the Giant Convoy
NAVY BOYS CHASING A SEA RAIDER Or Landing a Million Dollar Prize
NAVY BOYS BEHIND THE BIG GUNS Or Sinking the German U-Boats
NAVY BOYS TO THE RESCUE Or Answering the Wireless Call for Help
NAVY BOYS AT THE BIG SURRENDER Or Rounding Up the German Fleet
GEORGE SULLY & COMPANY Publishers New York
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:
Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_.
Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.
Archaic or variant spelling has been retained.
New original cover art included with this eBook is granted to the public domain.