o the barn and put you in the loft once
again," declared Otto in the same tone of voice he might have used in
commenting on the fact that the sun was shining.

"Oh, you shall, shall you?" almost sneered Jimmie. "All right, but you
wouldn't put us back there hungry, would you? We were just about to
eat a little lunch. This won't be quite as good as you used to get at
Dick Stein's place, but it's eatable at any rate. If you think you
could eat a bit, we'll ask you to join us."

"I can not eat now," replied the other. "I must guard you as
prisoners. But if you are hungry, we will let you eat."

"Oh, I say," protested Jimmie, "you'll have at least a cup of coffee
with us! That isn't sociable to stand and hold a gun at a fellow's
head while he's eating. It looks rather rough, too!"

"You are now prisoners," replied Otto, shaking his head.

"Why, of course, we are!" admitted the boy with an attempt at a laugh.
"We're prisoners in more ways than one. You have the spark plugs and
we couldn't make a decent get-away if we tried. Besides, you two
fellows have your rifles and we are unarmed."

"I guess you've got us dead to rights," put in Dave.

"Sure you have," resumed Jimmie. "Now, I'll tell you what," he went
on, "you sit here," indicating a position between the fire and the
aeroplane, "and we'll sit on the opposite side of the fire. You may
have your rifles across your laps or ready at your side. If we break
and run for it, you may shoot as fast as you please."

"That's fair enough," urged Ned. "It isn't just the square thing to
take us prisoners without letting us get some food."

"See here," continued Jimmie, reaching out a hand toward the coffee pot
bubbling over the tiny flame and lifting the lid, "did you ever smell
better coffee in your life? That's worth drinking, I say!"

"Dot's goot cooffee!" announced Fritz, solemnly. "I take a cup."

"Sure, you'll both have a cup!" declared Jimmie.

"That's a real compliment, Otto," laughed Jimmie, winking at Dave as he
spoke. "When a German admits that any other nation on earth can make
good coffee it is going some. The Germans can make real coffee!"

"We generally let Dave pour the coffee, because he's an extra boy in
the crowd and we make the newcomers do all the heavy work, but he's
awkward at it yet owing to his just recently coming off a cattle ranch
in Canada, where he had to lasso a lot of cattle every day. This time
I'm going to pour the cof