"I should say that was written in a sort of German hand; would you not also?" he asked of Mr. Damon.
"I would, Tom."
"A German!" exclaimed General Waller.
At the mention of the word "German" Koku, the giant, who had entered the room, to be stared at in amazement by the officer, exclaimed:
"That he, Master! That he!"
"What do you mean?" inquired Tom.
"German man give me stuff for to put in your powder. I 'member now, he talk like Hans who make our garden here; and he say 'yah' just the same like. That man German sure."
"What does this mean?" inquired the officer.
Quickly Tom told of the visit of an unknown man who had prevailed on the simple-minded giant to "dope" Tom's new powder under the impression that he was doing his master a favor. Then the flight of the spy on a motor-cycle, just as the experiment failed, was related.
"We have a German gardener," went on Tom, "and Koku now recalls that our mysterious visitor had the same sort of speech. This ought to give us a clue."