"There is an item here in the newspaper Gif wants to show you," put in Spouter. "I am sure it will interest every one of us."
"It's not much of an item so far as size goes," said Gif. "But it certainly is important—or at least it may be, especially to you Rovers—seeing that none of us has ever been particularly friendly with Nappy Martell and Slugger Brown."
"What! have you news of those two rascals?" demanded Randy.
"Did they run away from that detention camp in the South?" broke in Fred.
"They'd be fools to do that," returned Andy. "The military authorities would round them up in no time. It's no easy matter to keep out of the clutches of Uncle Sam if he wants you."
"No, they haven't run away. They have simply been given their freedom," answered Gif. "Here—you can read the news for yourselves."
The item he referred to was only twelve lines long and located at the bottom of a column on one of the inside pages of the newspaper. It was dated from a well-known detention camp in the South, and gave a list of six prisoners who had had another hearing and been given their freedom. Two of the names were Napoleon Martell and Slogwell Brown, Jr.
"Well, they're loose, all right enough," was Andy's comment, after they had perused the item. "I wonder what they'll do?"
"One thing is certain, being detained that way by the Government will certainly prove quite a stigma," said Jack. "I shouldn't like to have anything of that sort against me."
"I suppose they'll have it in for us," said Randy. "They always loved us a lot—I don't think!"