Gently opening the door, he peered in. Nothing but darkness met his eyes. Hal stepped inside, pulling the door to after him, leaving just a little crack that he might not be suffocated.
Then he laid his ear to the floor and listened intently. From below came the faint sound of German voices.
Hal ran an exploring finger over the floor of the closet. His finger felt a little hole, and changing his position the boy saw a very small opening in the floor. He put his eye to the hole and peered down, and as he made out the figures in the room below he chuckled softly to himself.
The first man upon whom he laid his eyes was Count Von Moltke, commander-in-chief of all the German armies, and who, upon one occasion, had saved him from death before a firing squad.
“Wonder what he would say if he could see me now?” Hal asked himself.
His gaze roved over the room, and there at one end of the table sat an imposing figure in gold-trimmed military uniform, sword between his knees, a fierce military mustache curling upward.
There was no mistaking this figure. It was Wilhelm II, Emperor of Germany!