t they could follow a straight
line, except for one break. They did not go near the hilltop at all.

"I'd like to know what they're doing there," said Dick.

"So would I, but it's open country, and they're probably keeping a close
lookout. They're really safer doing that in the open than on the roof of a
house, out here in the country."

"Because they can hide the heliograph? It's portable, isn't it?"

"Yes. They could stow it away in a minute, if they were alarmed. I fancy
we'll find them using hilltops now as much as they can."

"Harry, I've just thought of something. If they've planned so carefully as
this, wouldn't they be likely to have country places, where they'd be less
likely to be disturbed?"

"Yes, they would. You're right, Dick. Especially as we get further and
further away from London. I suppose there must be plenty of places a German
could buy or lease."

"And perhaps people wouldn't even know they were Germans, if they spoke
good English, and didn't have an accent."

That suggestion of Dick's bore fruit. For the third station they found was
evidently hidden away in a private park. It was in the outskirts of a
little village, and Harry and Dick had no trouble at all in finding out
all the villagers knew of the place.

"'Twas taken a year ago by a rich American gentleman, with a sight of motor
cars and foreign-looking servants," they were told. "Very high and mighty
he is, too--does all his buying at the stores in Lunnon, and don't give
local trade any of his patronage."

The two scouts exchanged glances. Their suspicions were confirmed in a way.
But it was necessary to be sure; to be suspicious was not enough for them.

"We'll have to get inside," he said under his breath to Dick. But the
villager heard, and laughed.

"Easy enough, if you're friends of his," he said. "If not--look out,
master! He's got signs up warning off trespassers, and traps and spring
guns all over the place. Wants to be very private, and all that, he does."

"Thanks," said Harry. "Perhaps we'd better not pay him a visit, after all."

The village was a sleepy little place, one of the few spots Harry had seen
to which the war fever had not penetrated. It was not on the line of the
railway, and there was not even a telegraph station. By showing Colonel
Throckmorton's letter, Harry and Dick could have obtained the right to
search the property that they suspected. But that did not seem wise.

"I don't think the village con