“I had to see what they were like after I heard them whispering in German!” exclaimed Nancy. “But when I saw one was a corporal in the army I thought perhaps I was being too suspicious.”
Mr. Nelson laughed bitterly. “We’ve picked up several spies lately, disguised in soldier’s uniforms. A man isn’t always to be trusted just because he wears our colors.”
“I suppose it would be impossible now to locate the pair,” said Nancy unhappily. “The blond could be anywhere among the thousands back there at the station, or hundreds of miles away by this time.”
The other plainclothes official said, “You underrate our Secret Service, miss. The description you’ve given is elaborate compared with some we get. We’ve sometimes caught ’em on little more than a shoestring.”
He saluted respectfully and their car rolled out to the open country, and across the red clay hills. They were all too tired for conversation, even if they had had the heart for it after such a depressing experience. Captain Lewis did not seem inclined to conversation, and Nancy was glad enough to ride in silence. She snuggled deep into her corner, and was actually asleep before they had left the wreck five miles behind.
Some time later she was startled by a gentle hand shaking her shoulder. “Here we are, my dear,” Miss Lewis was saying. Nancy opened her eyes.
She sat up with a start, wondering if there’d been another wreck. To her amazement she found they had stopped in front of a long, one-story building. Some white-uniformed nurses were coming down the steps. Across the lawn she saw another group in coveralls.
“You mean we are actually there—at camp?” she asked in amazement.
“You slept like a baby all the way,” said Captain Lewis. “That ability to relax at once will stand you in good stead when you get in the thick of things.”
Nancy was pleased. “Mother has always said if anyone would give me a pillow I could go to sleep any time, anywhere.”