Suddenly she made a great decision—she would tell Betty all about it. Betty, like as not, would laugh the whole thing off. Then she’d be rid of the spy business for ever.
“Betty,” she said in a low tone, “There is something I want to tell you—a whole lot of things.”
“Betty, do you remember the first night we slept in that stable at Fort Des Moines?”
“Do I?” Betty laughed. “First time I ever slept on a cot, and with fifty other girls! That was one nightmare!”
“Well, on that night Lena sat up in her bed and whispered. ‘Gott in Himmel,’ and Rosa flashed a light in her cot, where no light is supposed to show. That got me going.”
“Spies? Nonsense! But then—” Betty paused for thought. “I did see Lena down by the gate once. She was talking to that Spanish hairdresser and a strange man, who said, ‘Du must!’ There have been whisperings about that hairdresser. Three days before we left the Fort she disappeared.”
“Betty!” Norma exclaimed softly. “You’re no help at all. You just make matters worse.”
“I was hoping you’d rid me of my spy complex—just laugh it off, and here you are, taking the thing seriously. What’s more, I haven’t told you a thing yet.”
“Well then, tell me the rest,” Betty invited. “Then perhaps we’ll both have us a good big laugh.”
“And perhaps we won’t,” Norma added gloomily. “But all right. Here goes.” She leaned over close, talking low. “I saw Rosa’s light three times. One night I asked her why.”
“She said her mother had asked her to read a prayer from her prayer book every night.”
“That was nice,” Betty murmured in approval.
“You have to doubt when you don’t really know. Besides, how about this? We went out to visit the airfield one day, and Rosa, without anyone seeing her, climbed into a fighter plane and started across the field with it.”
“She did?” Betty whispered in astonishment.
“Absolutely.” Norma laughed in spite of herself. “And did that start something! She was almost arrested! You see, they were trying out some secret devices in those planes.”
“How did she ever explain that?” Betty was filled with astonishment.
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[Illustration: _Norma Leaned Over Close, Talking Low_]
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