"Well, I can't see that that part makes any difference. The question now is, what are we going to do with it?"
"Yes," replied Chester; "that's the question."
For a long while the boys sat and talked over this strange episode, each suggesting plans and then discarding them as unwise.
Suddenly Chester sprang to his feet with an exclamation.
"We will, eh?" said Hal incredulously. "Would you mind telling me how?"
"I won't tell you anything," was Chester's reply. "But are you willing to do as I say?"
"Yes," replied Hal, after some consideration.
"Good! Then, with luck we shall put this paper in the hands of Grand Duke Nicholas!"
"The first thing to do," said Chester, "is to appropriate two of Lieutenant Strauss's uniforms. That's your job."
"That's right--pick out the easy work for me," replied Hal sarcastically. "How do you figure I'm going to get 'em?"
"I don't know," said Chester. "That's up to you. My job, and a much harder one, it seems to me, is to appropriate one of the general's big maps, so that if we do succeed in getting out of Berlin, we shall know where we are going."
"I take back what I said," exclaimed Hal. "I'll try to get those uniforms."
"Trying is not enough," said Chester. "You've got to get 'em!"
"All right, then," replied Hal, "I'll get 'em!"
Since the two lads had been guests, or prisoners, in the Strauss home, a detail of soldiers had been stationed around the house, with orders not to let either of the lads pass unless accompanied by either the lieutenant or the general. The boys had been given the freedom of the house. The lieutenant had demurred at the placing of a guard around the house, saying that there was not the slightest chance of the boys escaping, anyhow, but the general had held out on that point, remarking:
"I know these Americans better than you do. They're slippery. You have to watch them closely, or they will slip between your very fingers."
Choosing a moment when the lieutenant had left the house, Hal slipped unobserved into his room. He knew the uniforms hung in a closet.
He approached and tried the knob. The door was locked.
"It's up to me to see if I can't pick that lock," he told himself, and set to work with what improvised little tools he could bring from his pocket.