“I have another idea,” said the father. “You go get your fish net and then you can climb the tree he is now in, and throw it over his head, and we will have him.”
The boy went after his round net on a long pole, climbed the tree and threw it over Button’s head, but just as it came down Button gave a leap for the next tree which was six feet away and lit on a limb as nicely as if he had been a flying squirrel and used to jumping from tree to tree all his life.
“Well, that cat surely beats the devil! He can stay in that tree for all of me! I shan’t try to catch him any more. But I’ll just go and get some sleep, and in the morning we will go to town and get the reward for the little dog and say nothing about ever having seen the cat. Then when we come back, if he is still seen around the premises we will try some other plans to capture him.”
When they had all three gone to bed, Button came down out of the tree and ate the supper they had put out for him early in the evening. After finishing it he went over to the office and jumping up on the window sill he talked to Stubby and Duke through the window and told them how he had been having some fun with the family.
“Don’t worry, boys! You will be able to give him the slip as he takes you to town. And if you don’t, you can get away in a few days. I will go on and tell Billy what has happened and then the two of us will come back and help you escape.”
CHAPTER XI
THE CHUMS ON A CANAL BOAT
NO need to go for Billy or to tell him what has happened,” said a voice behind Button, “for I have heard it all.” Turning around, Button saw Billy standing under the window.
“Billy!” the three exclaimed in one breath. “Where did you come from?”
“The town where I was to meet you. I waited and waited and at last made up my mind that something must have happened to you, so I went back to the hospital, or at least I got nearly there last night when I saw ten or fifteen aeroplanes circling over the hospital. I made out that half were German planes and half American. The Germans evidently were trying to blow up the hospital by dropping bombs on it, and the Americans were trying to fight them off. As I looked, I heard a terrible explosion and by the light of the fire that followed I saw a big building go up in smoke and flames, and as I watched I saw distinctly two human figures outlined on the sky, flying up in the air with the débris. But when the smoke cleared away, I saw that the hospital still stood there and that it was the big barn they had blown up. So the two figures I saw must have been those of the two spies who were going to try to bomb the hospital—those whose eyes you scratched out, Button. So you see they got their just deserts and were blown up themselves just as they had planned to blow up others. I was so thankful to see that it was the barn instead of the hospital that I ran straight on regardless of bombs dropping all around me. All I thought of was to see if Stubby was still in the hospital, and trying to save him, but before I reached there the American aeroplanes had driven off the Germans, and I saw three of their machines lying in wrecks on the ground, the work of the Americans.