You've got the right idea, Slady."

"It ain't an idea," said Tom soberly, "and if you think it's--kind
of--that I--that I--like her----"

"Surre it ain't, it's 'cause you hate herr," said Archer readily.

"You make me tired," said Tom, flushing.

Since they had to sleep somewhere, they decided to bivouac on the shore
of this water and take their bearings in the morning. As the night was
warm, they took off their coats and hanging them to a spreading branch
above them they sprawled upon the cushiony ground, abandoning for once
their rule of continuous watch, and were soon fast asleep. You do not
need any sleeping powders in the Black Forest, for the soft magic of its
resiny air will lull you to repose.

When they awakened in the morning they squirmed with complicated
gymnastic yawns, and lay gazing in lazy half slumber into the branches
above them. Suddenly Archer jumped to his feet.

"Wherre arre ourr coats?" he cried.

Tom sat up, rubbed his eyes and gazed about. There were no coats to be
seen.

"What d'you know about that?" said Archer. "Maybe they blew away," he
added, looking about.

"There hasn't been any wind," said Tom. "Look at that handkerchief."
Near him lay a handkerchief which Archer remembered spreading on the
ground beside him the night before.

"Well--I'll--be--jiggered," he exclaimed, looking about again in dismay.
"Somebody's been herre," he added conclusively.

Tom fell to scrutinizing the ground for footprints, but there was no
sign of any and he too gazed about him in bewilderment.

"They didn't walk away, that's sure," he said, "and they didn't blow
away either. There wasn't even a breeze."

A thorough search of the immediate locality confirmed their feeling of
certainty that the coats had not blown away. Indeed, they could not have
blown far even if there had been any wind, for the closeness of the
trees to one another would have prevented this. Tom gazed about, then
looked at his companion, utterly dumfounded.

"Maybe they blew into the waterr," Archer suggested. But Tom only shook
his head and pointed to the light handkerchief upon the ground. A mere
breath would have carried that away.

They could only stand and stare at each other. Some one had evidently
taken their coats away in the night.

"It's Gerrman efficiency, that's what it is," said Archer.

"Why didn't they take us, too?" Tom asked.

"They'll be along forr us pretty soon," Archer reassured him. "They'rre
superr