"Herr Gott! A spy?" repeated the corporal. "But that would be a bad business. But for you, Belinda——Ach! if you love him——Well, perhaps I might be tempted for your sake to be so far untrue to the Fatherland. Gott! Who knows?"
Around the corner of the hut stormed suddenly Sergeant-major Genau.
"What are you lingering here for, Corporal Baum?" he demanded. "Were you not to report to me immediately on your return?"
"It was a command of the Herr Doktor. I have reported to him already," growled Carl, but not forgetting to salute his superior.
"Tausend Teufel! Did I not tell you to report first to me—to show me all that you found? Dummkopf! See, Belinda," he turned to address the nurse, "what it means to trust this Baum with even a simple detail. And it was for your sake I chose him to go, and told him what to do."
"Oh, Carl!" murmured Belinda reproachfully. "You might have saved——"
The corporal lost his temper completely. "What do you mean? What is this secret? Something between you, Paul, and our cousin? And you blame me if it has gone wrong, eh?"
"What if it were our secret? There are many matters past your comprehension, Carl," retorted Paul bitterly. "It was for Belinda's sake—at her request—I told you to report your success or failure to me. Did you find anything belonging to the Herr Lieutenant or to the other aviator?"
"Yes, yes! He found something!" broke in Belinda, unwisely. "He has told me. A canteen, with a name painted on it."
"Here!" growled Carl, glowering at them both and thrusting the paper under Paul's eyes. "Do you make anything of that? And what is it all about?"