“What would they be doing that for?”
“Don’t you remember, Spouter, our telling you about how we saw Mr. Brown and Mr. Martell down in Wall Street, New York, talking to those fellows who looked like Germans, and how they mentioned supplies, and canned goods, and machinery, and night work, and a whole lot of things like that?”
“Sure I do! And you think——”
“I’ll bet Andy has it right!” interrupted Randy. “Brown and Martell must be in league with those Germans, and the goods and machinery and other things they spoke about must be connected with this affair of the disabled submarine! They wanted extra pieces of machinery most likely, and they also wanted extra supplies, having probably used those that they had brought along from Germany.”
“You’re making a pretty long guess, it seems to me,” answered Spouter. “Just the same, you may be right.”
Not to be seen by Slugger Brown and Nappy Martell, the three cadets had withdrawn to a safe distance. Now, however, all were anxious to ascertain who might be in the cabin, and so by crouching low and hiding behind one tree and another and then some rocks and low bushes, they at last came up close to the opposite side of the shelter in the forest.
“Now don’t show yourselves if you can help it,” said Randy in a whisper. “And if any one is discovered, leg it for all you are worth, and keep your faces turned away so that they can’t see who you are.”
With this understanding, the three cadets surveyed the situation critically. The cabin consisted of three rooms, each boasting of a window on either side. As it was warm, all the windows and doors were wide open to admit the fresh air.
“And that is what I mean when I say I want to settle this matter,” they heard, in the voice of Slogwell Brown.
“I think it’s a shame that the thing has hung fire so long,” said another person in the cabin, and now the three cadets recognized the voice of Nelson Martell. “I would never have gone into it if I had known there would be so much delay. We took a big risk in getting the supplies for you.”