ize 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.

"And I hope," said Hal gently, "should he ever be in a situation
similar to ours, that another good woman may be the means of saving
his life, and that some day he may return to you."

"Just so he does his duty I shall be satisfied," said the woman, who
now introduced herself as Mrs. Madeline Dersi. "He has been a very
wild boy, but I am sure that his heart is true and that he will fight
to the last for his country, as did his father before him."

"And I am sure of it, too," said Chester. "When we return to our lines
we shall make it our business to hunt him up."

And at that moment there was a hasty step outside, the door to the
room in which they were sitting was flung open, and a young man, in
civilian garb, burst in.

Mrs. Dersi was across the room in a moment, her arms wrapped about the
newcomer. Tears streamed down her face, as she repeatedly kissed the
young man, who seemed to take no great interest in the procedure.

Finally Mrs. Dersi turned to Hal and Chester.

"My son," she said proudly, "of whom I was just talking to you."

Now the newc