For his sake, I hope so. As he says, it means a whole
lot to him."
"So do I. And I will bet Fritz would be of great help to his country. He
is a pretty shrewd chap."
"You bet he--Hello! What's that?"
A sudden cry had come from the direction of the kitchen, and the sounds
of a struggle followed.
"Come on!" shouted Chester. "Somebody is in trouble!"
The two boys ran madly around the house.
Dashing through the door into the kitchen, a terrible sight met
their eyes.
Huddled into a corner was Frau Schmidt, and over her, with a naked
knife, stood a man, ragged and unkempt. A second man was ransacking the
drawers of a dresser in the room beyond. The boys could see him through
the open door.
Just as they dashed in the door, the man with the knife snarled in a
low voice:
"Give me the key to the workshop, I tell you. We mean business!"
"You mean business, do you!" shouted Hal, striding toward him.
"Well, so do I!"
The man turned at the sound of Hal's voice, and, with upraised knife,
awaited the lad's attack.
"You cowardly ruffian!" cried Hal, "to attack a defenseless old woman!"
As he spoke, he leaped upon the man, dodging the blow the latter aimed at
him with the wicked-looking knife. Before the latter could recover his
balance, Hal seized the arm that held the knife.
A sharp twist and the knife went spinning across the floor. Both leaped
for it, but Hal was quicker than his opponent, and placed his foot upon
the weapon.
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