inced that it was Ned and his comrades who had
attempted the flight. He watched every movement with great interest.

When he saw the figure of his friend hanging to the truss rod beneath
the Eagle, Jimmie's heart almost stopped beating, so great was his
anxiety for the other's safety. As the sound of the rifle shots
reached his ears the lad turned away his head, for he did not in the
least doubt that the marksmen had been successful.

When he again looked toward the speeding plane he danced with joy, for
he saw the figure still clinging to its perilous position and knew that
by great good fortune the chum he loved so dearly was unharmed.

Both Jimmie and Fritz gazed eagerly toward the soaring plane, and
observed with great interest the movements incident to Jack's rescue.

"Ha!" ejaculated Fritz, drawing a deep breath, as the two saw that Jack
had regained the deck of the Eagle. "He's a plucky boy!"

"You bet he's a plucky boy!" replied Jimmie, condescending to
administer a friendly slap upon the Uhlan's shoulder. "They don't make
'em any more so! And he's a Boy Scout, too!" he added.

"But there is still another boy under the machine," observed Fritz.

"Oh, he'll get out all right!" was Jimmie's confident answer. "You'll
have to go some with your whole army to beat four Boy Scouts!"

"Maybe," admitted Fritz with another smile. "But I see that your
friends are heading this way. Perhaps they intend paying you a little
visit before we start to Verdun," he added.

"They sure are headed this way," the lad said. "And the fellow
underneath is riding that way on purpose. I wonder why?"

"Who can tell why a boy does anything?" was Fritz's comment.

"I can tell you why Boy Scouts do a great many things," declared Jimmie
vehemently. "They do the things that are right and square because it
is best and because they are living up to the rules of conduct that
they are taught. That's why they do those things!"

"And do the Boy Scout rules teach them to be spies?"

"Now you're talking through your hat again!" was the lad's answer.
"Can't you ever get it out of your head that we are not interested in
your war? We don't want to mix up in your private scraps."

Fritz wagged his head sagely and smiled in a manner that spoke more
eloquently than words of his disbelief in Jimmie's protestations.

"All right," continued the boy, "you don't have to believe it if you
don't want to, but if you live long enough we'll s