"Now, my boy," he said, "we can get ready for business."
"They won't hurt him, will they?" asked the boy, pointing after his father.
"They will not," said Frank. "Only keep him safe until the trouble is over."
"All right. Then, I'll help you the best I can, sir."
"That's the way to talk, my boy. Now let me look around a bit."
Lieutenant Hetherton and young Cutlip accompanied Frank on his tour of inspection. The lad found that the cabin was cuddled securely in a miniature forest, or rather at one end of it. On both sides and in the rear were a profusion of dense trees. Only the approach from the front was in the clear.
"It's all right," Frank said. I'll throw my men around the house from three sides, and when the Germans have gone in we can surround it completely. If they come after dark, there is little doubt they will approach from the front."
"And what shall I do, sir?" asked young Cutlip.
Frank turned the matter over in his mind.
"I am afraid I shall have to ask you to play rather a dangerous part," he said at last. "You must be inside to receive them. If there were no one there they might take alarm and run. Now, we'll go inside and see if your father has complied with the enemy's demand."