"We are perfecting our plans for the flying corps," was the answer. "Perhaps you shall know more in a few days."
"Well, I hope we'll be here when the fun begins," said Tom, grimly. "We've got another extension of leave, and I'm going to ask the police now, to co-operate with the military in seeking my father."
"I think that will be a wise plan. We will give you all the help we can."
But the quest for Mr. Raymond seemed a hopeless one, and as no confirmation could be had of his death or injury, the idea gradually became fixed in the minds of Tom and Jack that he had been made a German prisoner.
"If that is so, and I can get any trace of him, I'll go over the Rhine to get him back," snapped Tom.
"And I'll go with you!" declared his chum.
It was a few days after they had inspected the German "dud," and the boys were wondering what new developments might take place, the shelling of Paris meanwhile continuing at intervals, that one evening the boys were visited in their lodgings by Major de Trouville.
"Is there any news?" eagerly asked Tom, for he guessed that the French officer would not be paying a merely social call. Those were the strenuous days when such things had passed.
"Well, yes, news of a sort," was the answer. "But what I came to find out was whether you were so taken with these lodgings that you could not be induced to move."
"To move!" exclaimed Jack.