“My word! what great luck that you caught him before he could send any sort of signal to his companions!” he exclaimed. “And we must see to it that he does not have a chance to even wink an eye toward anyone. It would have ruined everything if he had slipped away. I am a thousand times obliged to you, Frank, for being so much on the alert. It would have ruined my own career if the break had been traced back and placed on my shoulders. We will see to it that this spy gets all that is coming to him.”
“Oh! but you forget your promise, Major Nixon!” remarked the boy coolly.
The soldier looked at him and frowned.
“But Frank, a spy is a dangerous sort of reptile, no matter on which side he is working,” he objected. “These Germans have the most complete system of secret espionage ever known. It is hard to keep anything from their knowledge. This man knew the risk when he hid there in your hangar. He should pay the penalty of his venture. He can expect nothing less than death.”
“Wait, Major Nixon; please remember that he is my prisoner, not yours. If I had spoken the word he could have been set free. You gave me your solemn promise that I should have the say of his fate if I handed him over to the authorities.”
The soldier pondered these words for a minute before continuing.
“Tell me just what you’ve got in your mind, my boy,” he said, “and I feel certain that I can agree to it, because I know how sensible you are.”
“Then listen, sir,” said Frank impressively. “We three are Americans, and while we may sympathize with the Allies in this struggle at the same time we do not hate the German people, but feel the warmest friendship for them. We would not care to remember that we had turned over this spy to the military authorities to be shot. It would grieve us more than I can tell you, sir.”
“But you have a plan, Frank, of course?” ventured the other.
“Yes.”