"All right, Henry. We'll have to call you by your right name after this." And at this the sneak of the school seemed much relieved. Secretly, he hated the nickname of Codfish exceedingly.
Early in the morning came a surprise. The boys heard a well-known whistle and beheld Jed Wallop approaching, this time on foot. The old hunter had his gun with him.
"Thought I'd make a day of it with you," he announced. "That is, unless you've some other plans."
"We were thinking of coming over to your place," answered Jack. "We want to get some information."
"All right. I'm the walkin' dictionary and cyclopædia of this hull district," answered Jed Wallop, with a grin. "Go on and fire all the questions at me that you want to."
The old hunter listened with interest to what the cadets had to say concerning the Germans and Tony Duval, and also about the message Glutts and Werner had carried to Timminsport for the strangers.
"That don't look right to me, at all," he said, shaking his head gravely. "I've seen them Germans a few times myself, drivin' around in that big sleigh of theirn. Sometimes there's only two of 'em, and then agin the four are in a bunch. Someone once told me that Duval had German blood in his veins, and I guess that's right."
"And I'm sure Glutts is German, and maybe Werner too," said Randy.
"My idee is that them Germans are holdin' out at an old house up River Bend way. It was the old Parkingham estate, but it hasn't been used for years. It's a mighty lonely place, too, right in the midst of the woods."
"How far is that from here?" questioned Fred.