"What?" exclaimed Mr. Cook in surprise.
"Yes," said Heinrich, "that iss what he was doing. He knew there was
plots on foot and he knew every one in High Ridge was suspicious of him.
He decided to expose those plots and prove that he was a good American.
He hired Lena and me mit some others to help him."
"Lena, too, was all right?" demanded Bob.
"Certainly," exclaimed Heinrich. "Of course she iss all right. Mr. Wernberg he knew who these plotters were, but he was not able to prove anything about them. He also knew that they were meeting in that old house out in the woods. The night before last he went out there in a big gray roadster to search the house."
"I didn't know that was his car," said Bob in surprise.
"Yes," said Heinrich, "and I was mit him. You and Hugh followed us and we knew it, so to scare you away I took the automobile and brought it home. You see Mr. Wernberg wanted to do it all himself."
"We couldn't understand it," muttered Hugh. "To think that you were fooling us all the time, Heinie."
"Yes," grinned the chauffeur, "I fool you all right. Well that night we could not find anything so we left and Mr. Wernberg went back the next afternoon to look around. One of the plotter's gang discovered that he was there and tried to blow him up."
"But who locked us in that room?" demanded Bob.
"I did," said Heinrich. "I thought you was part of the German gang."