"What does he mean?" cried Henri, almost frantic with curiosity.
"Why, I saw that the hands of the clock had moved! You said it had stopped, and I looked up. Then the next time I looked, the hands had moved around—two or three hours!"
"But how—and why—if the clock had stopped?"
"That's just it! That clock must be visible for some distance around, Harry. Suppose a German was there? He could be signalling, couldn't he?"
"Oh, a spy! I never thought of that! You mean he would tell other Germans to come here—that there was work for them to do?"
"Yes. I only hope Captain Hardy stopped him in time."
But Hardy was taking no more chances than he could help. He had guessed as quickly as Frank the probable reason for the strange antics of the clock's face. And now he made his dispositions quickly. Counting the armed drivers of each omnibus, and the extra man each carried, he had less than thirty men. But he drew up several of the omnibuses in a square formation in the central square of the village, and thus had an improvised fort. When he had done that he called sharply to the two boys.
"Get along with you—get away from here!" he said. "If we're going to have a fight it's no place for you. You've done us a mighty good turn—I don't want you running into danger because of it."
Even as he spoke a shot rang out. It was from the direction in which they had come!
"Just in time, too," he said, coolly.