“Have you searched the attic?” he demanded of his men; “and the cellar?”

“There is no one in the cellar,” came a voice in reply, “and there is no attic.”

“I’ll have a look for myself,” came the reply, and heavy footsteps ascended the stairs into the room directly beneath Hal and Chester.  There came to the lads’ ears the sounds of heavy blows against the floor on which they lay.  Evidently the German officer was making sure that there was not an opening in the ceiling of the room below.  But after a while he desisted.  The boys heard him descend the stairs, and a few moments later the sound of his voice: 

“There is no one up there.”

Both lads drew a breath of relief.  A moment more and a slamming door gave evidence that the Germans had departed.

“I was afraid he would locate the trap-door,” said Hal to Chester, after they had gone.

“Same here,” replied Chester.  “But I wasn’t going to let them take me without a fight.  Only one man could get up here at a time, and we could certainly dispose of him.”

“Yes, but they could starve us out, or set fire to the house or something, which would be worse than being captured.  Besides, we couldn’t let the woman who has aided us come to harm.”

“No, that’s so, too,” agreed Chester.  “I hadn’t thought of that.”

Further conversation was interrupted by a sound of some one at the trap-door.  Chester and Hal both jumped to their feet, and stood ready above the opening in the floor to seize the intruder should it prove to be an enemy.

But when the trap-door came away the head of their benefactress appeared through the opening.

“You can come down now if you want to,” she said.  “The Germans have been here and gone.  I am sure they will not return.”

Chester turned to Hal.

“What do you think?” he asked.  “Shall we go down, or had we better stay up here?”

Hal considered for a moment.

“I guess we might as well go down,” he replied at length.  “I don’t believe there is any likelihood of their coming back.  Besides, it’s too cramped and stuffy up here for comfort.”

Accordingly both boys descended from their refuge, and a few moments later were sitting in the living room with their hostess.

“We can never thank you enough for what you have done for us,” Chester told her, after she had related her experiences with the Germans.

“No, indeed; we can never thank you enough,” agreed Hal.  “Had it not been for your kindness we should have been in the hands of the Germans right now, and there is no telling what they might have done to us.”

The good woman waved aside their thanks.

“Pooh! pooh!” she said.  “And why shouldn’t I help you?  Surely no thanks are necessary because I did my duty.”

“But women—­” Hal began, when she interrupted him.

“I have a son of my own in the war,” she said, her voice growing very low and tears dimming her eyes.