In the center of the room sat Antoinette Vaubaun. She was no longer attired as an old woman. She was the girl that Hal had seen the night before. Her hair hung down her back. It was perfectly plain to the lad that she had been discovered. Her face, though pale, was set sternly. Hal listened to the conversation that ensued.
"So you are a spy, eh?" said a big German officer who sat on her right.
The girl made no response.
"Why don't you answer?" demanded the third occupant of the room, a heavily bearded man, and shook his fist threateningly in her face.
"I'll answer only what I choose to answer," returned Antoinette quietly. "Neither you nor the whole German army can make me talk."
"Is that so?" sneered the first man. "I suppose you've heard of the fate that came to an English nurse called Edith Cavell, eh?"
"I have," replied the girl angrily, "and it was crime for which Germany will have to pay some day. But you can't frighten me."
"You, too, will be shot as a spy," declared the larger German.
"And do you think that frightens me? I have done a whole lot for my country. Many times I warned my countrymen of an impending German attack. I am only sorry that I shall no longer have the opportunity."
"What!" exclaimed the German. "You admit it!"