Amos was no longer sleepy; indeed, the boy had never been more wideawake in all the course of his life. What his cousin had just whispered in his ear was enough to thrill him through and through. “Can I see, too?” he asked eagerly, as though it would gratify him very much if able to satisfy his curiosity in this regard.
“Yes, but creep along softly, and be careful,” he was instructed by Jack.
Accordingly Amos began to move along after Jack, who led him directly to the spot where he had found the widest crack. Presently both boys were flat on their stomachs, and with their eyes glued to the slender aperture.
Apparently Amos had no trouble about seeing, for before long he drew back again. The murmur[212] of low voices came up to them from below, and he had found that it was just as Jack said.
A young man had come in, and was talking very earnestly with the old people. Whatever it was engrossed their attention they glanced suspiciously about them from time to time. Amos, looking further, had seen that the bar was again across the door, and also that every little window was carefully covered with some sort of dark material that would prevent prying eyes from peering through into the room.
That some of the conversation had a connection with the two lads was evidenced from the way the man pointed upward more than once. Amos, too, believed he caught a German word spoken by one of the conspirators below.
Was this a secret spy, and if so had that apparently harmless old couple been bribed by German gold to betray the cause of their country? It was a dreadful thought, and made Amos feel as cold as ice; for like most American boys he had a perfect horror of treachery.
[213]
“Jack!” he whispered softly, touching the other with his groping hand.
“Yes, what is it?” asked his comrade in the same cautious way, though the patter of the still falling rain on the nearby roof would very likely have drowned what little noise their voices made.
“It looks bad, don’t you think?” asked Amos, as though eager to have his own view confirmed by the opinion of his partner.
“It certainly does, I’m afraid,” said Jack.
“They act like they are plotting with that stranger,” suggested Amos.
It was just what Jack had been telling himself. In fact, the actions of the old couple could be set down as mighty suspicious. All the while they talked in those low tones they were looking toward the barred door, and then up in the direction of the loft, just as guilty persons might be expected to do.
Of course, in those trying times, for a Belgian to be caught having secret connection with the enemy was equivalent to signing his own death warrant, for there would be little[214] mercy shown, no matter how old and infirm he or she chanced to be. If, therefore, this couple were treading on this dangerous ground, their confusion and nervousness when the boys asked lodging could be readily understood; they had expected a visit from the spy, and were afraid that the so-called Americans might learn of his presence.
Jack was puzzled to know what might be the right course for them to pursue under such extraordinary conditions. He felt sorry for that old couple. Necessity might have forced them to accept a bribe and betray their own kind.
Then again the idea of treachery was so repellent that the boy could find no palliation for the dastardly crime. A spy may be a brave man, taking his life in his hand in order to gain secret information that will improve the chances of the cause he advocates; a traitor is a sneak who, for gain, turns on his best friend.
Accordingly Jack hardened his heart against that old couple. They had appealed to his sympathy on account of their age and apparent infirmity;[215] but even that must not be used as a cloak to defend their base conduct. Many lives of brave fighting men among the Allies might be lost through the information they were even now confiding to that heavy-set young German spy.
Jack again lay flat so as to watch, and Amos copied his example. It was not easy to ask questions and hear the answers; so that perhaps he could gather up more information by using his own eyes.
Apparently those below were more than ever alarmed over the possibility of interruption from some source. Even as the two boys in the loft overhead renewed their eavesdropping tactics they saw that the old man had pressed a finger on his lips as though he would entail silence on the other two.
After that he glided over and carefully lifted the table that stood in one part of the apartment, and which was different from the larger one at which they had partaken of that evening meal some time before.
[216]
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