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+
+Project Gutenberg's The Boy Scout Automobilists, by Robert Maitland
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Boy Scout Automobilists
+       or, Jack Danby in the Woods
+
+Author: Robert Maitland
+
+Release Date: August 15, 2008 [EBook #26625]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY SCOUT AUTOMOBILISTS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Curtis Weyant, Mary Meehan and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/cover.jpg"><img src="images/cover.jpg" alt=""/></a>
+</div>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+
+<h3><i>Boy Scout Series Volume 7</i></h3>
+
+<h1>The Boy Scout Automobilists</h1>
+
+<h3>OR</h3>
+
+<h2>Jack Danby in the Woods</h2>
+
+<h2>By Major Robert Maitland</h2>
+
+
+<h4>THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY<br />
+CHICAGO     AKRON, OHIO     NEW YORK</h4>
+
+<h4><i>Copyright, 1918</i><br />
+<i>By The Saalfield Publishing Co.</i></h4>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+<!-- Autogenerated TOC. Modify or delete as required. -->
+<p>
+<a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I. CALLED TO ACTIVE SERVICE</a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II. THE RED ARMY</a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III. THE SCOUTING AUTO</a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV. IN THE ENEMY'S COUNTRY</a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V. OFF TO CRIPPLE CREEK</a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI. AT THE COVERED BRIDGE</a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII. A TIMELY WARNING</a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII. THE ENEMY'S TRICK</a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX. JACK DANBY'S GOOD NEWS</a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X. THE SCOUTS MEET AN OLD FRIEND</a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI. AN INTENTIONAL BLUNDER</a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII. A RACE FOR FREEDOM</a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII. A REAL ENEMY</a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV. A PARLEY WITH THE ENEMY</a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV. A DECISIVE MOVEMENT</a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI. THE PERIL IN THE WOODS</a><br /><br />
+<a href="#THE_BRADEN_BOOKS">THE BRADEN BOOKS</a><br />
+<a href="#FICTION_FOR_BOYS">FICTION FOR BOYS</a><br />
+</p>
+<!-- End Autogenerated TOC. -->
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2>
+
+<h3>CALLED TO ACTIVE SERVICE</h3>
+
+
+<p>"What's this call for a special meeting of the Boy Scouts, Jack?" asked
+Pete Stubbs, a First Class Boy Scout, of his chum Jack Danby, who had
+just been appointed Assistant Patrol Leader of the Crow Patrol of the
+Thirty-ninth Troop.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I guess it isn't a secret any more," said Jack.</p>
+
+<p>He and Pete Stubbs worked in the same place, and they were great chums,
+especially since Jack had enlisted his chum in the Boy Scouts.</p>
+
+<p>"The fact is," he continued, "that Scout-Master Durland has been trying
+for several days to arrange the biggest treat the Troop, or any other
+Troop, has ever had. You know the State militia begins maneuvers pretty
+soon, Pete?"</p>
+
+<p>"Say, Jack," cried red-haired Pete, dancing up and down in his
+excitement, "you don't mean to say that there's a chance that we are to
+go out with the militia?"</p>
+
+<p>"I think this call means that there's more than a chance, Pete, and that
+the whole business is settled. You see, some of the fellows work in
+places where they might find it hard to get off. In the militia it's
+different. The law makes an employer give a man time off for the militia
+when it's necessary, but there's no reason why it should be that way for
+us. But Mr. Durland has been trying to get permission for all of us."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll bet he didn't have any trouble here when he came to see Mr.
+Simms," said Pete, enthusiastically. "If all the bosses were like him,
+we'd be all right."</p>
+
+<p>"They're not, Pete, though I guess most of them try to do what's fair,
+when they understand just how things are. But, anyhow, Mr. Simms thought
+it was a fine idea, and he went around and helped Mr. Durland with the
+other people, who weren't so ready to let off the Boy Scouts who
+happened to be working for them. And I guess that this call means that
+it's all fixed up, for if it hadn't been nothing would have been said
+about it."</p>
+
+<p>Pete and Jack, with the other members of the Troop, reported at Scout
+headquarters that night, and gave Scout-Master Durland a noisy welcome
+when he rose to address them.</p>
+
+<p>"Now," he said, "I want you to be quiet and listen to me. A great honor
+has been paid to the Troop. We have been invited to take part, as
+Scouts, in the coming maneuvers of the National Guard. There is to be a
+sham war, you know, and the militia of this State and the neighboring
+State, with some help from the regular army, are to take part in it. A
+troop of Boy Scouts has been selected from the other State, and after
+the militia officers had inspected all the Troops in this State they
+chose the Thirty-ninth."</p>
+
+<p>He had to stop then for a minute to give the great cheer that greeted
+his announcement time to die away.</p>
+
+<p>"Gee, Jack, I guess we're all right, what?" asked Pete, happily.</p>
+
+<p>"Be still a minute, Pete. Mr. Durland isn't through yet."</p>
+
+<p>"Now, I have gone around and got permission for all of you to go on this
+trip," the Scout-Master went on. "It's going to be different from
+anything we've ever done before. It's a great big experiment, and we're
+going to be watched by Boy Scouts and army and National Guard officers
+all over the country. It means that the Boy Scouts are going to be
+recognized, if we make good, as a sort of reserve supply for the
+militia. But we are going, if we go, without thinking about that at all.
+Forget the militia, and remember only that you will have a chance to do
+real scouting, and to make real reports of a real enemy."</p>
+
+<p>"Look here," cried Dick Crawford, the Assistant Scout-Master, suddenly,
+"I want everyone to join in and give three cheers for Scout-Master
+Durland. I know how hard he's worked to give every one of us a chance to
+make this trip and get the experience of real scouting. And it's up to
+every one of us to see that he doesn't have any reason to feel sorry
+that he did it. He trusts us to make good, and we've certainly got to
+see to it that we do. Come now&mdash;three times three for the Scout-Master!"</p>
+
+<p>Then came the formal giving of the instructions that were required for
+preparation for the trip. Each Scout got word of the equipment that he
+himself must bring.</p>
+
+<p>"And mind, now, no extras," said Durland, warningly. "If the weather is
+at all hot, it's going to be hard work carrying all we must carry, and
+we don't want any Scouts to have to drop out on the march because their
+knapsacks are too heavy. We will camp by ourselves, and we will keep to
+ourselves, except when we're on duty. Remember that I, as commander of
+the Troop, take rank only as a National Guard captain, and that I am
+subject to the orders of every major and other field officer who may be
+present.</p>
+
+<p>"Some of the militiamen and their officers may be inclined to play
+tricks, and to tease us, but the best way to stop them is to pay no
+attention to them at all. Now, I want every boy to go home and spend the
+time he can spare before the start studying all the Scout rules, and
+brushing up his memory on scoutcraft and campcraft. Polish up your drill
+manual, too. That may be useful. We want to present a good appearance
+when we get out there with the soldiers."</p>
+
+<p>The start for the camp of the State militia, who were to gather under
+the command of Brigadier-General Harkness at a small village near the
+State line, called Guernsey, was to be made on Sunday. The Scouts would
+be in camp Sunday night, ready at the first notes of the general
+reveille on Monday morning to turn out and do their part in the work of
+defending their State against the invasion of the Blue Army, under
+General Bliss, of the rival State.</p>
+
+<p>"You see," said Jack, explaining matters to Pete Stubbs and Tom Binns as
+they went home together after the meeting, "we are classed as the Red
+Army, and we are supposed to be on the defensive. The Blue Army will try
+to capture the State capital, and it is our business to defeat them if
+possible."</p>
+
+<p>"How can they tell whether we beat them or not, if we don't do any
+fighting?" asked Tom Binns.</p>
+
+<p>"In this sort of fighting it's all worked out by theory, just as if it
+were a game of chess, Tom, and there are umpires to decide every point
+that comes up."</p>
+
+<p>"How do they decide things, Jack?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, they ride over the whole scene of operations, either on horseback,
+or, if the field is very extensive, in automobiles. If troops are
+surrounded, they are supposed to be captured, and they are sent to the
+rear, and required to keep out of all the operations that follow. Then
+the umpires, who are high officers in the regular army, decide according
+to the positions that are taken which side has the best chance of
+success. That is, if two brigades, of different sides, line up for
+action, and get into the best tactical positions possible, the umpires
+decide which of them would win if they were really engaged in a true
+war, and the side that gets their decision is supposed to win. The other
+brigade is beaten, or destroyed, as the case may be."</p>
+
+<p>"Then how about the whole affair?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, each commanding general works out his strategy, and does his best
+to bring about a winning position, just as they would at chess, as I
+said. There is a time limit, you see, and when the time is up the
+umpires get together, inspect the whole theatre of war, and make their
+decision."</p>
+
+<p>"It's a regular game, isn't it, Jack?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. The Germans call it Krug-spiel&mdash;which means war-game, and that
+term has been adopted all over the world. It's played with maps and
+pins, too, in the war colleges, both for sea and land, and that's how
+officers get training for war in time of peace. It isn't an easy game to
+learn, either."</p>
+
+<p>"Where do we come in, Jack? What is it we're supposed to do?"</p>
+
+<p>"Obey orders, in the first place, absolutely. And I don't know what the
+orders will be, and neither does anyone else, so I can't tell you just
+what we'll do. But, generally speaking, we'll just have to do regular
+scout duty. It will be up to us to detect the movements of the enemy,
+and report, through Scout-Master Durland, who'll be Captain Durland,
+during the maneuvers, to the staff."</p>
+
+<p>"General Harkness's staff, you mean, Jack? Just what is a staff,
+anyhow?"</p>
+
+<p>"The headquarters staff during a campaign is a sort of extra supply of
+arms and legs and eyes for the commanding general. The staff officers
+carry his orders, and represent him in different parts of the field.
+They carry orders, and receive reports, and they take just as much
+routine work as possible off the hands of the general, so that he'll be
+free to make his plans. You see the general never does any actual
+fighting. He's too valuable to risk his life that way. He's supposed to
+stay behind, and be ready to take advantage of any chance he sees."</p>
+
+<p>"Times have changed, haven't they, Jack? In the old histories we used to
+read about generals who led charges and did all sorts of things like
+that."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, it would be pretty wasteful to put a general in danger that way
+now, Pete. He's had plenty of chance to prove his bravery, as a rule,
+and, when he's a general, and has years of experience behind him, the
+idea is to use his brain. If he is in the rear, and by his eyes and the
+reports he gets in all sorts of ways, can get a general view of what is
+going on, he can tell just what is best to be done. Sometimes the only
+way to win a battle is to sacrifice a whole brigade or a division&mdash;to
+let it be cut to pieces, without a chance to save itself, in order that
+the rest of the army may have time to change its position, so that the
+battle can be won. That's the sort of thing the general has got to
+decide, and if he's in the thick of the fighting in the old-fashioned
+way, he can't possibly do that."</p>
+
+<p>"I think it's going to be great sport, don't you, Jack?" asked Tom
+Binns. "Will there be any real firing?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes&mdash;with smokeless powder, because they want to test some new kinds.
+But they'll use blank cartridges, of course. There'll be just as much
+noise as ever, but there won't be any danger, of course."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't like the sound of firing much," said Tom Binns, a little
+shamefacedly. "Even when I know it's perfectly safe and that there
+aren't any bullets, it makes me awfully nervous."</p>
+
+<p>"This will be good practice for you, then, Tom, because it will help you
+to get used to it. I hope we'll never have another war, but we want to
+be ready if we ever do. 'Be prepared'&mdash;that's our Scout motto, you know,
+and it means for the things that we might have to do in war, as well as
+the regular peaceful things that come up every day."</p>
+
+<p>"Will there be any aeroplanes?" asked Pete Stubbs. "I'm crazy to see one
+of those things flying sometime, Jack. I never saw one yet, except that
+time when the fellow landed here and hurt himself. And I didn't see him
+in the air, but only after he made his landing. The machine was all
+busted up then, too."</p>
+
+<p>"I think there'll be some aeroplane scouting by the signal corps.
+Several of the men in that are pretty well off, you know, and they have
+their own flying machines. I guess that's one of the things they'll try
+to determine in these maneuvers, the actual, practical usefulness of
+aeroplanes, and whether biplanes or monoplanes are the best."</p>
+
+<p>"Say, Jack, why couldn't we Boy Scouts build an aeroplane sometime? If
+we learned something about them this next week, I should think we might
+be able to do something like that. I know a lot of fellows that have
+made experiments with toy ones, that wind up with a spring that's made
+out of rubber bands. They see how far they will fly."</p>
+
+<p>"I think that would be great sport, Pete. But we won't have any time for
+that until after we've been through the maneuvers. But I'll tell you
+what some of us may get a chance to do next week, though it's a good
+deal of a secret yet."</p>
+
+<p>"What's that, Jack! We'll promise not to say a word about it, won't we,
+Tom?"</p>
+
+<p>"You bet we won't, Jack! Tell us&mdash;do!" pleaded Tom Binns.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess it's all right for me to tell you if you won't let it go any
+further. Well, it's just this. They're going to do a lot of
+experimenting with a new sort of automobile for scout duty, and I think
+some of us will get a chance with them."</p>
+
+<p>"Gee, I wish I knew how to run a car the way you do, Jack. I'd love that
+sort of thing."</p>
+
+<p>"I can soon teach you all I know, Pete. It isn't much. Come on down to
+the factory garage after work to-morrow morning, and I'll explain the
+engines to you, instead of eating lunch. Are you on?"</p>
+
+<p>"You bet I am! Will they let us?"</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Simms will, if I ask him, I'm sure."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2>
+
+<h3>THE RED ARMY</h3>
+
+
+<p>The Scouts, under Durland and Dick Crawford, went to Guernsey on a
+special car of a regular train. Durland, in making the arrangements for
+the trip, had told the adjutant-general of the State militia that he
+wanted to keep his Troop separate from the regular militiamen, as far as
+possible.</p>
+
+<p>"I've got an idea, from a few words I've heard dropped," he told that
+official, "that some of the boys rather resent the idea of the Boy
+Scouts being included in the maneuvers. So, for the sake of peace, I
+think perhaps we'd better keep them as far apart as possible. Then, too,
+I think it will make for better discipline if we stick close together
+and have our own camp."</p>
+
+<p>"I guess you're right," said the adjutant-general. "I'll give you
+transportation to Guernsey for your Troop on the noon train on Sunday.
+There'll be a special car hitched to the train for you. Report to
+Colonel Henry at Guernsey station, and he'll assign you to camp
+quarters. You understand&mdash;you'll use a military camp, and not your
+regular Scout camp. The State will provide tents, bedding and utensils,
+and you will draw rations for your Troop from the commissary department
+during the maneuvers."</p>
+
+<p>"I understand, Colonel," said Durland. "You know I served in the Spanish
+war, and I was able to get pretty familiar with conditions."</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't know it, no," said Colonel Roberts, in some surprise. "What
+command were you with? I didn't get any further than Tampa myself."</p>
+
+<p>"I was on General Shafter's staff in Cuba," said Durland, quietly.</p>
+
+<p>Colonel Roberts looked at the Scout-Master a bit ruefully.</p>
+
+<p>"You're a regular," he said, half-believingly. "Great Scott, you must be
+a West Pointer!"</p>
+
+<p>"I was," said Durland, with a laugh. "So I guess you'll find that my
+Troop will understand how to behave itself in camp."</p>
+
+<p>"I surrender!" said the militia colonel, laughing. "If you don't see
+anything you want, Captain, just ask me for it. You can have anything
+I've got power to sign orders for. And say&mdash;be easy on the boys! They're
+a bit green, because this active service is something new for most of
+us. They mean well, but drilling in an armory and actually getting out
+and getting a taste of field-service conditions are two different
+things."</p>
+
+<p>"I think it's all splendid training," said Durland, "and if we'd had
+more of it before the war with Spain there wouldn't have been so many
+graves filled by the fever. Why, Colonel, it used to make me sick to go
+around among the volunteer camps about Siboney and see the conditions
+there, with men who were brave enough to fight the whole Spanish army
+just inviting fever and all sorts of disease by the rankest sort of
+carelessness. Their officers were brave gentleman, but, while they might
+have been good lawyers and doctors and bankers back home, they had never
+taken the trouble to read the most elementary books on camp life and
+sanitation. A day's hard reading would have taught them enough to save
+hundreds of lives. We lost more men by disease than the Spaniards were
+able to kill at El Caney and San Juan. And it was all needless."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm detached from my regiment for this camp," said Colonel Roberts,
+earnestly, "but I'm going to get hold of Major Jones as soon as I get to
+Guernsey, and ask him to have you inspect the Fourteenth and criticize
+it. Don't hesitate, please, Captain! Just pitch in and tell us what's
+wrong, and we'll all be eternally grateful to you. And I wish you'd give
+me a list of those books you were talking about, will you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Gladly," said Durland. "All right, Colonel. I'll have the Troop on hand
+for that train."</p>
+
+<p>The Scouts enjoyed the trip mightily. Durland took occasion to impress
+on them some of the differences between a regular Boy Scout encampment
+and the strict military camp of which, for the next week, they were to
+form a part.</p>
+
+<p>"Remember to stick close to your own camp," he said. "After taps don't
+go out of your own company street. There's no need of it, and I don't
+want any visiting around among the other troops. In a place like this
+camp, boys and men don't mix very well, and you'd better stick by
+yourselves. We won't be there very long, anyway, because we'll probably
+be detached from headquarters Monday. The army will break up, too,
+because this is really only a concentration camp, where the army will be
+mobilized."</p>
+
+<p>"When does the war begin?" asked Dick Crawford.</p>
+
+<p>"War is supposed to be declared at noon to-morrow," said Durland. "It is
+regarded as inevitable already, however, and General Harkness can begin
+throwing out his troops as soon as he has them ready, though not a shot
+can be fired before noon. Neither can a single Red or Blue soldier cross
+the State line before that time. However, I suspect that the line will
+be pretty well patrolled before the actual declaration, so as to prevent
+General Bliss from throwing any considerable force across the line
+before we are ready to meet it. If he could get between Guernsey and the
+State capital in any force, the chances are that we'd be beaten before
+we ever began to fight at all."</p>
+
+<p>"That wouldn't do," said Dick Crawford. "Will we have any fortifications
+to defend at all, sir?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not unless we're driven back pretty well toward the capital. Of course
+there are no real fortifications there, but imaginary lines have been
+established there. However, if we were forced to take to those the moral
+victory would be with the Blues, even though they couldn't actually
+compel the surrender of the city within the time limit. If I were
+General Harkness, I think I would try at once to deceive the enemy by
+presenting a show of strength on his front and carry the war into his
+own territory by a concealed flanking movement, and if that were
+properly covered I think we could get between him and his base and cut
+him off from his supplies."</p>
+
+<p>"You mean you'd really take the offensive as the best means of defense?"</p>
+
+<p>"That's been the principle upon which the best generals always have
+worked, from Hannibal to Kuroki," said Durland, his eyes lighting up.
+"Look at the Japanese in their war with Russia. They didn't wait for the
+Russians to advance through Manchuria. They crossed the border at once,
+though nine critics out of every ten who had studied the situation
+expected them to wait for the Russians to cross the Yalu and make Korea
+the great theater of the war. Instead of that they advanced themselves,
+beat a small Russian army at the Yalu, and pressed on. They met the
+Russians, who were pouring into Manchuria over their great
+Trans-Siberian railway, and drove them back, from Liao Yiang to Mukden.
+They'd have kept on, too, if they hadn't been stopped by peace."</p>
+
+<p>"Could they have kept on, though? I always had an idea that they needed
+the peace even more than the Russians did."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you may be right. That's something that no one can tell. They had
+the confidence of practically unceasing victory from the very beginning
+of the war. They were safe from invasion, because their fleet absolutely
+controlled the Yellow Sea after the battle of Tsushima, and there
+weren't any more Russian battleships to bother them. They had bottled up
+the Russian force in Port Arthur, and they were in the position of
+having everything to gain and very little to lose. Their line of
+communication was perfectly safe."</p>
+
+<p>"They must have weakened themselves greatly, though, in that series of
+battles."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, they did. And, of course, there is the record of Russia to be
+considered. Russia has always been beaten at the start of a war. It has
+taken months of defeat to stiffen the Russians to a real fight. Napoleon
+marched to Moscow fairly easily, though he did have some hard fights,
+like the one at Borodino, on the way. But he had a dreadful time getting
+back, and that was what destroyed him. After that Leipzic and Waterloo
+were inevitable. It was the Russians who really won the fight against
+Napoleon, though it remained for Blucher and Wellington to strike the
+death blows."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, after all, what might have happened doesn't count for so much.
+It's what did really happen that stands in history, and the Japanese
+won. It was by their daring in taking the offensive and striking quickly
+that they did that, you think?"</p>
+
+<p>"It certainly seems so to me! And look at the Germans in the war with
+France. Von Moltke decided that the thing to do was to strike at the
+very heart and soul of France&mdash;Paris. So he swept on, leaving great,
+uncaptured fortresses like Metz and Sedan behind him, which was against
+every rule of war as it was understood then. Of course, Metz and Sedan
+were both captured, but it was daring strategy on the part of Von
+Moltke. It was supposed then to be suicidal for an army to pass by a
+strong fortress, even if it were invested."</p>
+
+<p>"That was how the Boers made so much trouble for the English, too,
+wasn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly it was. The English expected the Boers to sit back and wait
+to be attacked. Instead of that the Boers swept down at once on both
+sides of the continent, and besieged Kimberly and Ladysmith. That was
+how they were able to prolong the war. They took the offensive, in spite
+of being outnumbered, and while they could never have really hoped to
+win, they put up a wonderful fight."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I suppose we'll know in a day or so what General Harkness plans
+to do."</p>
+
+<p>"Hardly! We're not connected with the staff in any way, and he'll
+discuss his plans only with his own staff officers. He has an excellent
+reputation. He commanded a brigade in the Porto Rico campaign, you know,
+and did very well, though that campaign was a good deal of a joke. But
+one reason that it was a joke was that it was so well planned by General
+Miles and the others under him that there was no use, at any stage of
+it, in a real resistance on the part of the Spaniards. They were beaten
+before a shot was fired, and they had sense enough not to waste lives
+uselessly."</p>
+
+<p>"Then they weren't cowardly?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, indeed, and don't let anyone tell you they were, either. The
+Spaniards were a brave and determined enemy, but they were so crippled
+and hampered by orders from home that they were unable to make much of a
+showing in the field. We'll learn some time, I'm afraid, that we won
+that war too easily. Overconfidence is our worst national fault. Just
+because we never have been beaten, we think we're invincible. I hope the
+lesson, when it does come, and if it does come, won't be too costly."</p>
+
+<p>The run to Guernsey was not a very long one. The train arrived there at
+four o'clock in the afternoon, and the Scouts, armed only with their
+clasp knives, Scout axes and sticks, lined up on the platform in
+excellent order. Dick Crawford, who ranked as a lieutenant for the
+encampment, took command, while Durland reported the arrival to Colonel
+Henry, as he had been ordered to do.</p>
+
+<p>Half a dozen extra sidings had been laid for the occasion by the
+railroad, and on these long trains, each carrying militia, had been
+shunted. Clad all in khaki, or, rather, in the substitute adopted by the
+American army as more serviceable and less easy to distinguish at a
+distance, a stout cloth of olive drab, thousands of sturdy militiamen
+were standing at ease, waiting for orders to move. Field guns, too, and
+horses, for the mounted troops, were being unloaded, and the scene was
+one of the greatest activity. Hoarse cries filled the air, but there was
+only the appearance of confusion, since the citizen soldiers understood
+their work thoroughly, and each man had his part to play in the
+spectacle.</p>
+
+<p>From one of the trains, too, three great structures with spreading wings
+had been unloaded, and the eyes of the Boy Scouts turned constantly
+toward the spot where mechanics were busily engaged in assembling the
+aeroplanes which were to serve, to some extent, as the eyes of the army.</p>
+
+<p>"Glad to see you, Captain," Colonel Henry said to Durland when the
+Scout-Master reported the arrival of his Troop. "I'll send an orderly
+with you to show you the location of your camp. Colonel Roberts directed
+me to give you an isolated location, and I have done so. It's a little
+way from drinking water, but I guess you won't mind that."</p>
+
+<p>"Not a bit, sir," said Durland, smilingly.</p>
+
+<p>"Very well, Captain. Report to General Harkness's tent at eight o'clock,
+sir, for your instructions. I think you will find that the General has
+enough work planned to keep your Troop pretty busy to-morrow. We shall
+all watch your work with a great deal of interest. We've been hearing a
+lot about Durland's Scouts."</p>
+
+<p>Durland saluted then, and turned with the orderly to rejoin his Troop.</p>
+
+<p>In two hours the camp was ready. The neat row of tents, making a short
+but perfectly planned and arranged company street, were all up, bedding
+was ready, and supper was being cooked from the rations supplied by the
+commissary department. Durland, with active recollections of commissary
+supplies, had been inclined to bring along extra supplies for his Troop,
+but had decided against doing so, though he knew that many of the
+militia companies had taken the opposite course to his own, and had
+brought along enough supplies to set an excellent table.</p>
+
+<p>"I want the boys to get a taste of real service," he told Dick, "and it
+won't hurt them a bit to rough it for a week. They get enough to eat,
+even if there isn't much variety, and the quality isn't of the best. The
+stuff is wholesome, anyhow&mdash;that's what counts."</p>
+
+<p>By the time he returned from headquarters, the Troop was sound asleep,
+save for the sentries, Tom Binns and Harry French, who challenged him
+briskly.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2>
+
+<h3>THE SCOUTING AUTO</h3>
+
+
+<p>Reveille sounded at five o'clock. There was plenty to be done before the
+war game actually began. There were plans to be laid, codes to be
+determined, umpires to be consulted as to vague and indefinite rules,
+and all sorts of little things that in a real war would have adjusted
+themselves. But the Scouts were well out of the excitement. They struck
+their tents and handed them over, neatly arranged, with all their
+bedding, to the men from the commissary department.</p>
+
+<p>"Sleeping bags for us, after to-day," explained Durland. "That is, if we
+have to sleep in the open. Sometimes we'll get a barn or a hayrick, or
+even a bed in a farmhouse. We won't worry about all that. But we're not
+going to sit still, and we can't scout and carry tents and dunnage of
+that sort along. So I said I'd turn it all in."</p>
+
+<p>Then the Troop waited, quietly, for the orders that seemed so slow in
+coming. But they came at last. A young officer rode up on a horse that
+was dripping wet.</p>
+
+<p>"General Harkness's compliments, Captain," he said, saluting Durland,
+"and you will take your Troop at once to Bremerton, on the State line.
+You will make your headquarters there, where a field telegraph station
+has been established. Please hold your Scouts for the stroke of twelve,
+when they may cross the line. The line for five miles on each side of
+Bremerton is in your territory."</p>
+
+<p>"My compliments to General Harkness, and we will start at once," replied
+Durland.</p>
+
+<p>And a moment later they were on the hike. There was plenty of time,
+since Bremerton was less than three miles away, and it was scarcely
+seven o'clock, but it was cooler then than it would be later, and
+Durland was glad to get his Troop away from the bustle and apparent
+confusion of the camp where the Red army was beginning to move.</p>
+
+<p>"Where are the divisional headquarters to be to-day?" Durland asked a
+hurrying staff officer who passed just then.</p>
+
+<p>"Hardport&mdash;across the line," the staff man replied, as he paused a
+moment. A wide grin illuminated his features. "That's nerve for you, eh?
+The old man's pretty foxy. He's going to start us moving so that we'll
+begin crossing the State line on the stroke of twelve, and he'll fling a
+brigade into Hardport before two o'clock."</p>
+
+<p>Durland whistled.</p>
+
+<p>"That's fine, if it works," he remarked to Dick Crawford, later. "But
+Hardport practically is the key to the railroad situation, and it isn't
+conceivable that the Blues will leave it unguarded. I'm inclined to be a
+wee bit dubious about that."</p>
+
+<p>However, as he reflected, it was really none of his business. He was
+responsible for his own Troop, not for the conduct of the campaign, and
+that let him out.</p>
+
+<p>It was a hot, hazy day, when the sun was fully up, and the Scouts
+marched into Bremerton, to find it a sleepy, lazy, old-fashioned little
+town. Above a building in the center the national flag was floating, and
+next to it a Red standard. Durland turned the Troop over to Dick
+Crawford, with instructions to make a bivouac near the centre of the
+little place, and then walked over to the building where the flag was
+flying.</p>
+
+<p>As he surmised, it had become unexpectedly brigade headquarters for the
+fourth brigade of the Red army, which had left Guernsey before the
+breakfast call had been sounded for most of the army, and had arrived
+too soon.</p>
+
+<p>"Where is your brigade, Tomlinson?" he asked a young officer, who almost
+ran into him as he came out.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, hello, Durland!" said the officer, wheeling briskly to shake hands
+with the Scout-Master. "Why, we're hidden in the woods. Old Beansy's
+fuming and fretting because he's here too soon. The men are lying back
+there, but he's moved up here for brigade headquarters because it's a
+field telegraph station and he can talk as much as he likes with General
+Harkness."</p>
+
+<p>"Your brigade commander is Beansy, I take it?" said Durland, with a
+grin.</p>
+
+<p>"You're right, he is! General Beverly Bean, bless him! He'll want to see
+you, too, now that you've blundered into his territory. Go on up&mdash;third
+door to the left!"</p>
+
+<p>Durland stopped to report his arrival to division headquarters and then
+went on, getting into the presence of General Bean after a few minutes'
+delay.</p>
+
+<p>"Glad to see you sir," said the testy old officer, who was a real
+soldier. "Suppose you know we're intended to get into Hardport just as
+soon after this war begins as we can get there."</p>
+
+<p>"How soon will that be?" asked Durland.</p>
+
+<p>"About two hours, if we're not cut to pieces on the way. I want your
+help here, Captain. Can you send some of your Scouts over there to
+investigate? I've an idea that getting into Hardport may be easier than
+getting out again. If Bliss knows his business, he will be regarding
+that as a pretty important place."</p>
+
+<p>"I've orders to cover five miles each side of Bremerton," said Durland.
+"I can spare two Scouts for any duty you may wish done, General. Could
+they have a car?"</p>
+
+<p>"Do they know how to run one?"</p>
+
+<p>The question was asked in evident surprise, but Durland replied
+confidently.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, General," said he. "I've got two Scouts, at least, who are
+perfectly capable of handling an automobile under any conditions. I'd
+trust myself to them, no matter how hard the road might be."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm glad to hear it," said the general, rather dryly. "I've got two of
+those new-fangled scout duty cars, with an armored hood and those new
+non-explosive tires, that can't be stopped by a bullet aimed at the
+wheels. But they didn't send me anyone to run them. There may be some
+chauffeurs in my brigade, but I'm not too anxious to take any men from
+their regiments. Here&mdash;I'll give you an order for one of the cars. Let
+your Scouts make the best use they can of it."</p>
+
+<p>Durland had heard of the new scouting cars, but had never seen one. He
+went now, since there was plenty of time, to look it over, and found a
+heavy but high-powered and fast machine of a most unusual type.</p>
+
+<p>The hood was armored, so that no stray bullets could reach the engine,
+as would be easy enough in the ordinary car. Similar protection was
+afforded to the big gasoline tank in the rear of the car, and the seats,
+intended for two men, were covered by a shield, also of bullet-proof
+armor, that was so pierced with small holes that the road ahead could be
+seen.</p>
+
+<p>But the most extraordinary feature of the car was the new type of wheel.
+There were no tires in the ordinary sense at all. Instead, there was a
+tough, but springy steel substitute, and Durland spent an hour in
+looking the queer contrivance over, having first satisfied himself that
+the car was not sufficiently different from the ordinary automobile to
+make it impossible for Jack Danby to operate it. For it was Jack Danby
+he had had in mind when he asked for the use of the machine.</p>
+
+<p>His friend Lieutenant Tomlinson came up while he was looking it over.</p>
+
+<p>"Queer lookin' critter, isn't it?" said Tomlinson. He seemed quite
+enthusiastic. "I tell you what," he went on, "if that thing works out
+all right, it's going to revolutionize certain things in warfare. And
+it's perfect, theoretically. Tires are the things that have barred
+automobiles from use in warfare so far. Ping!&mdash;a bullet hits a tire, and
+the car is stalled. Or suppose the chauffeur wants to leave the road and
+go 'cross country? His tires again. He's afraid to."</p>
+
+<p>"And this has tires that won't be afraid of bullets or rocks, either,
+eh?"</p>
+
+<p>"I should say they wouldn't! Bullets wouldn't have a chance against that
+stuff. And the man who drives it is protected, too. That bullet-proof
+shield makes him as safe as if he were at home. And the blooming thing
+is good for sixty miles an hour over a half-way decent road&mdash;though it
+can be slowed down to just about two miles an hour, and still be ready
+for a quick jump."</p>
+
+<p>"They're being used in both armies, aren't they?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. There are about a dozen of them altogether. They're evenly
+divided, and both armies are under orders to try them out pretty
+thoroughly. If they make good, there will be a lot of them put in use by
+the regular army. They're making their own tests, but tests under actual
+service conditions count for more than any number of trials when all the
+conditions are made to order for the people who are trying to put the
+cars over."</p>
+
+<p>It was Tomlinson's busy day, and he didn't have time to dally long in
+talk. So he went off, and Durland sent Tom Binns, who was acting as his
+orderly for the day, to bring Jack Danby to him.</p>
+
+<p>Durland carried in his pockets a number of large scale maps of the
+sections all around the State line, in both of the States. The scale was
+two inches to the mile, so it took a considerable number of the maps to
+show at all adequately the theatre of the imaginary war. But so full of
+detail, thanks to the large scale, were the maps, that they showed every
+house in the territory they covered, and every grade. He spread three of
+these maps out, side by side, as he waited for Jack, and traced a course
+over them with a pencil.</p>
+
+<p>Jack appeared in due time, and saluted&mdash;not with the Scout salute of
+thumb and little finger bent, with the three other fingers held straight
+up, but with the military salute.</p>
+
+<p>"Danby," said Durland, "I'm going to entrust you with a piece of work
+that is so important that the whole result of the maneuvers may depend
+upon it. Do you think you can run that car?"</p>
+
+<p>Jack, who had a positive genius for mechanical matters of all sorts,
+looked the strange looking car over carefully before he answered.</p>
+
+<p>"It looks straight enough, sir," he said. "Self starter, I guess. And
+you ought to be able to go anywhere you like with those wheels. What is
+it that I am to do, sir?"</p>
+
+<p>"I can explain better with these maps," said Durland. "Come close here,
+and I will show you what I mean."</p>
+
+<p>Jack bent over the maps with the Scout-Master, and Durland began tracing
+a line with a sharp pencil.</p>
+
+<p>"Here we are, in Bremerton," he said. "Now, about four miles across the
+State line is Hardport. You can see the smoke from its factories, and
+the railroad yards there, because it's quite an important little city.
+Now, there is a straight road from here that leads there&mdash;the
+continuation of this very road we are on now. What I want you to do is
+to circle around"&mdash;he pointed on the map&mdash;"and strike into Hardport from
+the other side. Find out, if possible, what troops of the Blue army are
+in the neighborhood, and particularly along this main road. If they
+occupy it in force, report as quickly as possible. If they advance
+immediately after war is declared, return, but try to see if there is
+not some way in which our own troops can get behind them."</p>
+
+<p>"Am I to go into Hardport itself, sir?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. And you need not stop, if challenged. Your car is regarded as
+bullet proof, and the only way in which they can legitimately capture
+you is by stretching a rope or providing some sort of an obstruction
+that enables two of them to get a foot on your running board. Remember
+your rights, and don't surrender to a mere challenge from a sentry. And
+keep your hood well down, so that they won't recognize you."</p>
+
+<p>"I understand, sir. What time am I to start from here?"</p>
+
+<p>"Start as soon as you like. You'd better get off and circle pretty
+widely, so as to get used to the car. But don't cross the State line,
+whatever you do, before twelve o'clock. That is strictly against
+orders."</p>
+
+<p>There was a lot of good-natured talk among the Scouts when they heard of
+the great chance to distinguish himself that had come to the Assistant
+Patrol Leader of the Crows.</p>
+
+<p>"Gee, Jack's lucky!" said one member of the Whip-poor-will Patrol.</p>
+
+<p>"He is not!" defended Pete Stubbs, loyally. "He's a hard worker. He's
+spent a lot of his own time in the last year learnin' all about an
+automobile. He knows how to run one, and he knows how to fix it, too, if
+it goes wrong on a trip. That isn't luck, and don't you call it luck!"</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't mean anything against Jack when I said he was lucky, Pete. No
+call to get so mad about it!"</p>
+
+<p>"I'm not so mad, but it does get my goat to hear people say that
+everything that happens to Jack Danby that's good comes because he's
+lucky. I guess he isn't any luckier than any of the rest of us, but he
+sticks to the job harder."</p>
+
+<p>No amount of coaxing, of course, would have induced Jack to tell what
+his orders were; and as a matter of fact, only one or two of the Scouts
+tried to find out. Durland had not even thought it necessary to warn
+Jack to be quiet, for he knew that Jack was on his honor as a Scout, and
+that nothing more was necessary to lead him to maintain a resolute
+silence on the subject of the strange scouting trip into the enemy's
+country which he was soon to begin.</p>
+
+<p>"Good luck," cried the Scout-Master, finally, as Jack started off. "You
+know your orders&mdash;now make good!"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2>
+
+<h3>IN THE ENEMY'S COUNTRY</h3>
+
+
+<p>Almost at the last moment Scout-Master Durland, or Captain Durland, as
+he was again for this week, had decided not to send Jack Danby on his
+trip into the enemy's country alone. Seated beside Jack, therefore,
+under the protective hood of the scout car, was little Tom Binns.</p>
+
+<p>"Keep your eye on your watch, Tom," said Jack. "We don't want to make
+any mistake and cross the line too soon&mdash;but we don't want to be late,
+either. This job is too important to run any risks of bungling it. I'd
+hate to think that I'd been trusted with something really big for the
+first time and then fallen down on it."</p>
+
+<p>"Where will you cross the line, Jack?" asked Tom. "I should think it
+would be pretty hard to tell just where the boundary was."</p>
+
+<p>Jack pointed to a road map, on a slightly smaller scale than the one
+from which Captain Durland had given him his course, which was pasted
+right before his eyes on the metal dashboard of the car.</p>
+
+<p>"I can't lose my way with that, Tom," he said. "See, there's a road that
+we're getting pretty near to now. It crosses the State line about six
+miles east of Bremerton, if you'll notice the map, at a little village
+called Mardean. That's all on this side of the line. They may be
+watching the road there, so what we want to do is to get where we can't
+be seen, and then, about a minute before noon, go ahead as fast as the
+car will carry us. That ought to take us through all right, even if
+they've got a guard on duty. Then we can circle around in a big sweep
+and come down to Hardport from behind. The country people ought to be
+able to tell us part of what we want to know, and we can confirm what
+they tell us by what we can see ourselves."</p>
+
+<p>"They wouldn't lie to us, would they, Jack?"</p>
+
+<p>"You couldn't call it regular lying if they gave us false information
+about their own army, Tom. Remember that this is supposed to be like a
+real war, and in a war the invading army wouldn't expect to get correct
+information from the people along the roads. On the contrary, they'd do
+their best to delay the enemy, and make all the trouble they could, and
+they'd be patriotic. So we've got to be mighty careful this next week
+about how we take any information we pick up in that fashion. If the
+people on the farms take the game seriously, and enter into the spirit
+of it, they'll do all they can to harass us and bother us."</p>
+
+<p>Jack drove his car well and carefully, but made no great attempt to get
+high speed out of it, though it was, as he knew, capable of going three
+or four times as fast as he was driving it. But there is always a
+certain danger in driving an automobile at high speed, and Jack saw no
+use in taking any risk that was not necessary.</p>
+
+<p>"You can go a lot faster than this, can't you, Jack?" asked Tom, as they
+bowled along easily, at little more than fifteen miles an hour.</p>
+
+<p>"What's the use, Tom? We'll get to Mardean before we can cross the line,
+anyhow. I'll go fast enough then for a spell, if you're anxious for
+speed. Don't be impatient! We'll get all the speed you want before very
+long."</p>
+
+<p>Jack was a true prophet, as one ought to be when he has the means of
+fulfilling the prophecy in his own hands. At Mardean, just out of sight
+of the line, they waited while the minutes dragged slowly by.</p>
+
+<p>"One minute more!" cried Tom Binns, breathless with excitement and
+suspense.</p>
+
+<p>"All right," said Jack, quietly. "Hold tight now, Tom! I'm going to let
+her out a bit."</p>
+
+<p>Swiftly the grey car gathered speed. In a rush of dust, with horn
+blowing and exhaust sputtering behind them, the car shot over the line,
+and, just as a whistle boomed out the twelve o'clock dinner signal, Jack
+was in hostile territory. The war was on!</p>
+
+<p>Behind them there was a confused shouting. The car was built so that it
+was easy to look behind.</p>
+
+<p>"There was an outpost there," said Tom, as he looked back. "They're
+kicking up a tremendous fuss, Jack. I guess we rather put one over on
+them that time."</p>
+
+<p>"We've got to put another one over on them in a hurry, then," said Jack,
+"or they'll put one over on us. Let me know as soon as that outpost is
+well out of sight, Tom. And keep your eyes skinned for any sign that
+they're after us with a motorcycle or anything like that, will you?"</p>
+
+<p>"They're out of sight now&mdash;and there's nothing on the road. Hey, Jack,
+where are you going?"</p>
+
+<p>For Jack, after a swift glance at his map, had run deliberately off the
+road, reducing speed considerably as he did so, but not so much that the
+car did not rattle around considerably as it left the smooth roadbed and
+plunged into a field that had not long since been ploughed.</p>
+
+<p>"They'll telephone ahead of us, and they'll be waiting," Jack explained.
+"I've got to cut through the fields here, so that we can get on another
+road where they won't be looking for us. Otherwise I'm afraid we
+wouldn't get very far before we ran into a trap that all our armor and
+all our speed wouldn't get us out of without capture. You don't want to
+lose this car on its first trip, do you, Tom?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not by a good deal!" yelled Tom, who was beginning to feel the
+exhilaration of the wild, bumping ride over the furrows of the field.
+"It was sort of sudden, that's all, Jack; I wasn't expecting it, you
+see."</p>
+
+<p>"I meant to tell you we'd do that, but I forgot. I had it all doped out.
+See, we're coming to another road, now. This is a pretty big field, and
+it was marked accurately on that map. This whole section was surveyed
+and mapped especially for this war game."</p>
+
+<p>"Say, if they do many things like that, it must cost something," said
+Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"War's the most expensive thing in the world, Tom, and the next most
+expensive, I guess, is getting ready for it, and having such a strong
+army and navy that no one will want to fight you. But it pays to be
+ready for war, no matter how much it costs, for the country that isn't
+ready is always the one that has to fight when it least expects it. And
+fighting when you're not ready is the most expensive of all. It costs
+money and lives."</p>
+
+<p>Then, with a sickening bump, the car took the road again, and Jack was
+heading straight for Hardport.</p>
+
+<p>"Those wheels worked splendidly," he said. "And the car, too. An
+ordinary car would have bumped itself to pieces a mile or so back, and
+this one is running just as easily as when we started. I suppose it cost
+a lot, but it was certainly worth it."</p>
+
+<p>"Every time we hit a new furrow I thought we were going to break down,"
+confessed Tom. "I was scared at first. But I soon decided that we were
+all right. But I don't believe, even if I knew how to drive a car, that
+I'd have the nerve to take it through a ploughed field that way."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, you would, Tom, if you knew it was the only thing you could do.
+You couldn't be any worse scared than I was when we left the road&mdash;but I
+knew, you see, that there simply wasn't any other way out of it. When
+you have to do a thing, you can usually manage it. I've found that out."</p>
+
+<p>"What's next?"</p>
+
+<p>"The outskirts of Hardport. I want to skirt the railroad track. Their
+mobilization was at Smithville, back along the railroad about twenty
+miles, and if they've sent any force to Hardport, the railroad will show
+it. If they haven't, I'm going to mark the railroad cut."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean, Jack?"</p>
+
+<p>"In a real war, if people got a chance, this railroad would be cut. A
+lot of rails would be torn up and burnt. We don't want to interfere with
+regular traffic, so in this game we build a fire with spare ties, and
+mark as much rail as we'd have time to tear up, allowing ten minutes for
+each length of rail. Then if a troop train comes along and sees that
+signal, it is held to be delayed an hour for each torn up rail, as that
+is the time it would take the sappers to repair the damage."</p>
+
+<p>They paused for thirty minutes, therefore, when they reached a spot
+about three miles and a half from the city line of Hardport.</p>
+
+<p>"There," said Jack, when he had set his marks, "that will hold them up
+for three hours, and give General Bean a chance to occupy Hardport and
+destroy the railroad bridge. That will take a day to rebuild, without
+interference, and I guess it makes it pretty safe for us. Now we'll go
+on into town."</p>
+
+<p>But they didn't go into the town. They did not have to, to discover that
+Hardport was occupied by a Blue regiment, which had outposts well
+scattered around the place, anticipating an attack, just as Captain
+Durland had said he thought would be the case.</p>
+
+<p>"We'll do some more circling, now," said Jack, "and get around their
+outposts. I know a way we can do that. What they're planning is to let
+General Bean advance and walk into a trap. They've got enough men
+waiting for him along here to smash him on a frontal attack. What we've
+got to do is to get word to him in time to prevent him from doing that."</p>
+
+<p>Twice, as the grey car sped along, now on the road, now in the fields,
+they saw parties of the enemy, but never were they near enough seriously
+to threaten the Boy Scouts with capture. And at last, striking into the
+main road for Bremerton, they saw a cloud of dust approaching, which
+they recognized as the signal of the coming of General Bean's brigade.</p>
+
+<p>The soldiers cheered them as they recognized the scout car, and opened
+up a way for the big car to pass through them to the brigade commander
+himself.</p>
+
+<p>"What's your name, eh?" asked the General, sharply. "Danby, eh?
+Excellent work, Scout Danby! I shall make it a point to report my
+appreciation to your Troop commander. You'd better come along in the
+rear now, and watch the rest of the operations. Thanks to you, I rather
+think they'll be worth watching."</p>
+
+<p>And, touching the spurs to his speedy black horse, he cantered up to the
+front of the column, chuckling and laughing as he thought of how the
+enemy had been outwitted by his youthful Scout.</p>
+
+<p>The direct forward march of the brigade was interrupted immediately. One
+regiment, indeed, continued along the straight road to Hardport, but the
+rest of the brigade was deployed at once.</p>
+
+<p>"What will they do now, Jack?" asked Tom Binns.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I wouldn't be able to say for certain," replied Jack, with a
+smile, "but I rather think they'll manage to get behind the town in some
+fashion, and close in on the Blue troops in the garrison while the
+regiment in front here keeps them busy with a strong feint of an
+attack."</p>
+
+<p>A colonel of regular cavalry, with a white badge on his arm to show he
+was serving as an umpire, drove past just then in a big white
+automobile.</p>
+
+<p>"See, there's one of the umpires," said Jack. "He goes all about, and
+determines the result. I'm glad he's here&mdash;that means there can't be any
+dispute this time. General Bean has probably told him what he plans to
+do, and he will see how it comes out. Of course, he doesn't communicate
+in any way with the enemy, or tell them what we're planning to do."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course not! That wouldn't be fair, Jack. I'm glad he's here, too. Do
+you suppose he's heard about the way we blocked the railroad?"</p>
+
+<p>"I think he may have seen our signs and come this way just to find out
+what was doing."</p>
+
+<p>"Listen!" cried Jack, suddenly. "There's firing ahead! Let's get on and
+find out what's going on."</p>
+
+<p>There was heavy firing ahead of them for a few minutes, and then it
+became intermittent.</p>
+
+<p>"Our attack is being repelled, I guess," said Jack. "That's the first
+engagement of the war, too. Well, we may seem to be beaten in that, but
+I guess we can afford to lose a skirmish, if we can capture Hardport and
+a whole Blue regiment."</p>
+
+<p>Again, after the firing had almost ceased, a rattle of shots burst on
+the quiet air. Then, too, came the screaming of a shell, as it burst
+harmlessly above the city.</p>
+
+<p>"Hooray!" cried Jack. "We've surrounded them! Come on!"</p>
+
+<p>And this time there was no opposing the entry of the grey car into
+Hardport. The city had been surrounded and captured, just as Jack had
+predicted, and the Blue regiment that had been so completely outwitted,
+thanks to the cleverness of Jack Danby, was out of the war entirely. It
+was an important victory, in more ways than one. General Bliss could ill
+afford to lose so many men, and the capture of Hardport, moreover, was a
+crippling blow, since it interfered with the operation of the railroad
+which he had relied upon for bringing his troops across the State line
+in large numbers.</p>
+
+<p>The umpires lost no time in telling General Bean of their decision, and
+in congratulating him on the strategy he had displayed.</p>
+
+<p>"Cutting the railroad was a masterly stroke," said one of the umpires.</p>
+
+<p>"That's what I say!" said the General, with enthusiasm. "And it was a
+little tike of a Boy Scout, in my grey scout car, who did it&mdash;and that
+without orders!"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2>
+
+<h3>OFF TO CRIPPLE CREEK</h3>
+
+
+<p>Jack and Tom Binns waited only to see the surrender of Hardport before
+Jack turned the car about and made for Bremerton, taking the direct road
+this time, since the advance of General Bean and his division of the Red
+army had swept aside all danger from the invading Blue forces. The
+outposts, of course, which Jack had had to dodge as he scouted in
+advance of the Red advance guard, had all been driven back upon
+Hardport, and they were prisoners of war now, and the way was clear for
+the day, at least.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Durland listened with scarcely concealed enthusiasm to Jack's
+clear and concise account of what had been accomplished.</p>
+
+<p>"You two saved the day," he said, finally. "We would have been in a very
+tight hole indeed if you hadn't cut the railroad, which was the only
+thing that made it possible for General Bean to effect the capture of
+Hardport as he did."</p>
+
+<p>"How is that, sir?" asked Jack. "I thought we gave him useful
+information, and I cut the railroad because there seemed to be a good
+chance to do it, without thinking very much of the consequences of doing
+so."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, if you hadn't cut the railroad," said Durland, "General Bliss
+would have thrown a division into Hardport as soon as he heard at his
+headquarters, by telegraph, that the place was threatened. Then he could
+have moved troops over from Mardean, where I imagine he had at least a
+couple of regiments, and General Bean's brigade would have been in a
+trap that would have been absolutely impossible to escape from. Now it's
+all different. We've got Hardport. By this time General Bean has
+unquestionably theoretically destroyed the railroad bridge and has
+artillery mounted so that the guns will have to be captured before
+General Bliss can make an attempt to rebuild it."</p>
+
+<p>"I see! If the bridge is covered with guns, the theory is that the enemy
+couldn't do any work, eh?"</p>
+
+<p>"Exactly! They've got to work in a narrow place, and they'd be blown to
+pieces, a squad at a time, while they were trying to work. That was the
+decisive move of the whole action. What did General Bean say to you?"</p>
+
+<p>"He said it was good work, sir, and that he was going to speak to you of
+it."</p>
+
+<p>"Excellent, Jack! I am very pleased that one of my Scouts should have
+played so important a part in the first decisive engagement of the
+campaign. And General Bean is the sort of a man who is sure to see that
+you get the credit for what you've done."</p>
+
+<p>"What shall we do next, sir?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'll hold you in reserve until I get further orders from headquarters,
+I think. General Harkness evidently plans an aggressive fight from the
+very outset. I have heard nothing from his headquarters direct as yet,
+but I probably shall pretty soon. I shall send in a report of General
+Bean's success at Hardport at once, though he has probably done that
+already."</p>
+
+<p>The Scouts were working well all along the line. The enemy, as Pete
+Stubbs had reported, had crossed the State line in some small force at
+Mardean. Two regiments had occupied that village, which was on the Red
+side of the line, and had thrown out skirmishers for a couple of miles
+in both directions. Warner, one of the Raccoon Patrol, had been
+captured, but he was the only one of the Troop who had not made good his
+escape in the face of the enemy's advance, and even he had accomplished
+the purpose for which he had been sent out, since he had managed to
+wig-wag the news of the advance of a troop of cavalry before they had
+run him down, and the news had been flashed all along the line, from
+Scout to Scout, until it had reached Durland.</p>
+
+<p>The wireless was not in use here, though experiments were being made
+with a field wireless installation some miles away, but the Scouts did
+not need it. They were spread out within plain sight of one another, and
+with their little red and white flags they sent messages by the Morse
+alphabet, and in a special code, as fast as wireless could have done.
+They also were prepared to use, when there was a bright sun, which was
+not the case that day, the heliograph system, which sends messages for
+great distances.</p>
+
+<p>In that system of field signalling, extensively employed by the British
+during the Boer war, since wireless had not at that time been at all
+perfected, a man stands on a slight elevation, and catches the rays of
+the sun on a great reflector. Those flashes are visible for many miles
+in a clear atmosphere, in a flat country, and the flashes, of course,
+are practically instantaneous.</p>
+
+<p>"We don't need to worry about wireless for communications of a few
+miles," said Durland. "The system of signalling that depends on seeing
+flashes, smokes, flags and other signals, is as old as warfare, really.
+The Indians, in this country, used to send news an astonishing distance
+in an amazingly short time. They used smokes, as we know, since we have
+all worked out those signals ourselves from time to time. And all
+nations in time of war have employed relays of men with flags, stationed
+at fixed intervals for scores of miles, for the sending of despatches
+and important news. Napoleon used the system on a great scale, and,
+until the telegraph was invented and made practicable for field work,
+that was the only way it could be done."</p>
+
+<p>"The telegraph was first used in our Civil War, wasn't it, sir?" asked
+Tom Binns.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. But even then it was done in a very crude way. There was none of
+the modern elaborate work of field telegraph systems. Nowadays, you see,
+an army builds its telegraph lines as it goes along. Then they were
+dependent upon the lines already built, mostly along the railroad
+tracks. The first really great war in which such systems were in use was
+the struggle between Russia and Japan. The French and the Germans didn't
+have them in their war."</p>
+
+<p>A few minutes later an orderly from the building in which the field
+telegraph station had been established came running up to Durland.</p>
+
+<p>"Despatch from General Harkness, Captain," he said, saluting, and
+Durland took the slip of paper. He flushed with pleasure as he read it.</p>
+
+<p>"Concentrate your troop at Hardport," he read. "Send Danby and companion
+in scout car ahead, to report to me for special duty. Congratulations on
+his splendid work, reported to me fully by General Bean."</p>
+
+<p>"That is the sort of thing that makes it worth while to do good work,"
+he said. "I think we saved General Harkness from an embarrassing
+position this morning, and it is good to think that he appreciates what
+we were able to do. Get along, now, Jack, and report to headquarters
+just as soon as you can."</p>
+
+<p>There was now no need to take the grey car through the fields as Jack
+retraced their course over the straight road from Bremerton. They met
+pickets, but those they met, who had heard something of the deeds Jack
+had already accomplished, cheered his progress now, since this was no
+longer the enemy's country but a part of Red territory, by virtue of
+Bean's swift and successful attack of the morning. The soldiers they saw
+were a part of their own army, and Jack waved his hand in grateful
+acknowledgment of the cheers that pursued them as they sped by.</p>
+
+<p>"Those fellows are regulars," he told Tom, as they passed one small
+detachment. "It makes you feel good to think that they regard us as
+comrades in arms, doesn't it, Tom? Those fellows know what they're
+about, and they must regard some of our militia as a good deal of a
+joke."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think that's a bit fair, Jack," said Tom. "The militia have
+their own work to do most of the time, and they do the best they can
+when they turn soldiers. And if we had a war, the regulars wouldn't be
+able to go very far without help&mdash;they must know that!"</p>
+
+<p>"They're not mean about it, Tom. They help the militia as much as they
+can when they're in camp together, and teach them the tricks of the
+trade. But they're trained men who don't do anything but work at their
+soldiering, and the trained men always feel a bit superior to the
+volunteers."</p>
+
+<p>"Some countries have a much bigger army than we do, don't they, Jack?"</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed they do! Why, in Europe, in every country except England, every
+man has to serve in the army, unless he's too weak to do it. You see,
+they have possible enemies on all sides of them. Over here we don't
+realize how lucky we are to have the sea guarding us from the most
+dangerous enemies we might have. We haven't any reason to fear trouble
+with England, and Canada, of course, isn't any better off than we when
+it comes to an army. We could take care of them easily enough with the
+trained troops we have. And Mexico, while they might fight us, couldn't
+put up any sort of a real fight. The Mexicans couldn't invade this
+country, and if we ever had to invade Mexico, we'd have all the time we
+needed to train an army to go across and fight them, the way we did
+before. We may have to do that some time, but I hope not, because
+fighting in the sort of country there is down there would mean an awful
+loss of life."</p>
+
+<p>"You mean that they know the country so well that a small force of them
+could worry us and make a lot of trouble, even if we won all the big
+battles?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. The Boers couldn't stand up to the British very long in their
+fight, but they kept under arms and made the English armies work mighty
+hard to bring about peace."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I hope we never do have a war, Jack. This is only a game, of
+course, but it gives you an idea of what the real thing would be like,
+and it must be dreadful. It makes me realize, somehow, what it might
+have been like in the Civil War, when we were killing one another.
+Somehow reading about those battles doesn't give you as much of an idea
+of how it must have been as even a single morning of this sham war."</p>
+
+<p>They were moving along fast as they talked, and they were in the
+outskirts of Hardport now. The town was full of soldiers. General Bean's
+brigade had been reinforced by the arrival of nearly ten thousand more
+men, and there were, altogether, about sixteen thousand troops there.
+General Harkness, thanks to Jack Danby and the quick wit of General
+Bean, who had understood the necessity of altering his plans for the
+capture of the place when he got Jack's report, had made good his boast
+that he would make the place his divisional headquarters for the night.</p>
+
+<p>The place was all astir. Small automobiles, painted red, carried
+bustling officers from place to place, delivering orders, preparing for
+the next step in the defense of the State capital. General Harkness,
+Jack found, after making several fruitless inquiries of officers who
+seemed to be too busy to bother with a small boy, who, had they known
+it, was a far more important factor in the campaign than they were at
+all likely to be, had established his headquarters at the Hardport
+House, the leading hotel of the town, and there Jack went.</p>
+
+<p>He was kept waiting for some time, after he had stated his name, and
+that he was under orders to report to the commanding general, but when
+he reached General Harkness he found him a pleasant, courteous man, and
+very much pleased with the work that he and Tom Binns had done.</p>
+
+<p>"Now," said the General, "I've got some more and very important work for
+you to do. I've got to find out as soon as I can what the enemy's plans
+are. I don't expect you to do all of that, but you can play a part."</p>
+
+<p>He walked over to a great wall map of the whole field of the operations,
+and pointed out a road on it.</p>
+
+<p>"That road is the key to the situation this afternoon," he said.
+"General Bean is pressing forward to reach it as soon as possible, and
+occupy this bridge here in force. If he can get there in time, the
+enemy's advance will be checked. It is likely, in fact, that we may be
+able to force a decisive engagement there before the enemy is at all
+ready for it. Our capture of Hardport to-day, you see, has given us a
+great advantage. Before that, the enemy was in a position to choose his
+fighting ground. He could make us meet him where he liked, and with all
+the advantage of position in his favor. Now that will be no longer
+possible for him. The ground at Cripple Creek Bridge here is the best we
+could have, since, if General Bean can occupy the position there,
+General Bliss will have no choice but to give battle there, and I think
+we can turn him back on his own mobilization point."</p>
+
+<p>Jack saluted.</p>
+
+<p>"I am to report on the number and disposition of the enemy's forces
+about Cripple Creek, then, sir?" he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Those are your orders. I shall expect a report within two hours."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, General. I will do my best to have one within that time."</p>
+
+<p>Off in the distance, as Jack whirled out of Hardport, and beyond the
+last pickets of the Red army, he saw a cloud of dust spreading across
+the country.</p>
+
+<p>"There's General Bean," he said to Tom. "Gee, his fellows must be pretty
+tired! They've fought a battle and captured a town already, and now
+they're off on a fifteen-mile march. Going some, I think!"</p>
+
+<p>Cripple Creek was fifteen miles by the straight route the troops were
+forced to take, but by short cuts and taking bad roads, Jack could reach
+it by less than nine miles of traveling.</p>
+
+<p>"Keep your eyes skinned, Tom!" said Jack, as he drove along. "I've got
+to watch the road, and we're in the enemy's country again with a
+vengeance."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2>
+
+<h3>AT THE COVERED BRIDGE</h3>
+
+
+<p>There was not a sign of the enemy as they neared the bridge, one of
+those covered affairs so common a few years ago in country districts.
+The countryside was serene and undisturbed.</p>
+
+<p>"This doesn't look much like war," said Jack. "But I guess Gettysburg
+itself looked just as peaceful a few days before the big battle in 1863.
+You can't always tell by appearances. We'll go pretty easy here, anyhow,
+until we're certain that it's all right."</p>
+
+<p>But the most careful investigation failed to reveal a trace of hostile
+occupation or passage. At the end of the bridge Jack got out of the car,
+leaving Tom Binns at the wheel, and ready to start at an instant's
+notice should there be a sudden attack.</p>
+
+<p>"The tracks here don't show anything much," he said, looking up to Tom
+with a puzzled face. "I don't believe anything but a couple of farm
+wagons have passed this way to-day. If General Bliss thought this was
+his only line of advance, he'd have been certain to have had a few
+pickets here&mdash;or at least one of his scout cars. And I'll swear that
+nothing of that sort has happened here to-day. They'd have been bound to
+leave all sorts of traces, that's certain!"</p>
+
+<p>"What do you think it means, Jack?"</p>
+
+<p>"That there's something cooking and on the stove that we don't know
+about or suspect, even," said Jack. "I guess that General Bliss gets as
+good information as we do, and he must have figured out that he wouldn't
+be able to get here in time. If he went this way, anyhow, he'd have to
+leave Hardport in our possession behind him. And somehow I don't believe
+he'd do that."</p>
+
+<p>"Say, Jack," called Tom Binns, suddenly, "I just saw a flash over there
+behind you&mdash;upon that hillock."</p>
+
+<p>Jack began whistling indifferently. He strolled around, as if he were
+interested only in the view. Gradually he worked over closer to Tom and
+the big car, and then, and only then, he turned so that he could follow
+Tom's eyes with his own.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't want anyone that's around here to think I'm looking at them,"
+he said in a low tone to Tom. "What does it seem like to you, Tom?
+Scouts?"</p>
+
+<p>"I think so, Jack. I caught just a glimpse, after I called to you, of
+something that looked like a Scout uniform. I think that they're
+watching us."</p>
+
+<p>"That's much better," said Jack, greatly relieved. "It didn't seem
+natural, somehow, to find this place so deserted. Say, Tom, you can run
+the car, can't you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, if I don't have to go too fast."</p>
+
+<p>"All right. I'm going to climb in. Then pull the hood pretty well over
+and run her slowly through the bridge. It's covered, you see, and they
+can't see us after we're on it. Then, as soon as we're under cover, I'm
+going to drop out. They can't see how many of us there are in the car.
+I'll stay behind, and you run on around the bend, drop out of the car,
+quietly, and leave it at the side of the road."</p>
+
+<p>"Will that be safe, Jack? Couldn't anyone who came along run off with
+it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not if you take the spark plug out and put it in your pocket. That
+cripples the car absolutely, and you ought always to do that, even if
+you just leave a car outside a store for a couple of minutes when you go
+in to buy something. This car is great, too, because you don't have to
+crank it. It has a self-starting device, so that you can start the motor
+automatically without leaving your seat."</p>
+
+<p>"All right, Jack. What am I to do after I leave the car?"</p>
+
+<p>"Work up quietly into the woods there. When you get up a way, scout down
+easily, and try to trail them. You'll find traces of them up there on
+the ridge, I'm sure, if they're really up there. I'll do the same thing
+from the other side here. I think we've got a good chance to break one
+of their signalling relays, don't you see?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'll take my flags along, shall I, Jack?"</p>
+
+<p>"Good idea! No telling what we'll be able to find out and do here. All
+right&mdash;I'm going to drop out now!"</p>
+
+<p>The car slowed down and he dropped off silently, and laughed as he saw
+Tom Binns guide the big machine off into the light beyond the covered
+bridge again. Then, the laughter gone from his face, he slipped
+cautiously back in the opposite direction, and at the entrance to the
+bridge dropped down to the bed of the creek. The season had been dry,
+and the water in the creek was very shallow. His plan was definite in
+his own mind, and he had had enough experience in scouting to know that
+there was at least a good chance of success in his enterprise, although
+a difficult one.</p>
+
+<p>His destination was the ridge where Tom Binns had seen the flashing of
+red and white signal flags. Step by step now, climbing slowly and
+carefully, he made his way up the bank, sure that even if whoever was on
+the ridge had guessed the ruse of the way in which he had left the
+automobile, they would not be looking for an attack from the direction
+in which he was making his stealthy, Indian-like advance. Another reason
+for slow and deliberate progress was to give Tom Binns time to reach the
+ridge, and take up a position favorable for the playing of his part in
+the scheme.</p>
+
+<p>Before him now, as he moved on, he could hear sounds of quiet and
+stealthy movement, and at last, standing before him, as he peeped
+through a small opening in the thick undergrowth, he could see a Boy
+Scout, standing stiff and straight, and working his signal flags. He had
+to stand on a high spot and in a clearing to do this, as otherwise, of
+course, his flags could not have been seen at any distance. Jack
+measured the place with his eyes. His whole plan would collapse if the
+body of the signalling Scout were visible from the next relay stations,
+but he quickly decided that only the flags would show.</p>
+
+<p>From behind the Scout with the flags now came the call of a crow&mdash;caw,
+caw, caw!</p>
+
+<p>Jack grinned as he answered it. For a moment a look of suspicious
+alertness showed on the face of the Blue Scout. He whirled around to
+face the sound behind him, and in the moment that his back was turned
+Jack sprang on him.</p>
+
+<p>The Blue Scout put up a fine struggle, but he was helpless against the
+combined attack of Jack Danby and Tom Binns, who sprang to his comrade's
+aid as soon as he saw what Jack had done.</p>
+
+<p>"Two to one isn't fair," gasped Jack as he sat on his prisoner's chest,
+"but we had to do it. This is war, you see, and they say all's fair in
+love and war. Who are you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Canfield, Tiger Patrol, Twenty-first Troop, Hampton's Scouts," said the
+prisoner. "Detailed for Scout service with the Blue army. You got me
+fair and square. We caught one of your fellows near Mardean, we heard,
+soon after the war began. Sorry&mdash;but it's all in the game.</p>
+
+<p>"How on earth did you get to me so quietly? I was watching you in the
+road by the bridge, and I thought you'd gone off in your car. You
+certainly fooled me to the queen's taste."</p>
+
+<p>"Fortune of war," said Jack. "The car gave us a big advantage. You're
+not to blame a bit. I guess you'll be exchanged pretty soon, too. We'll
+give you for Warner, you see. He's the one of our Troop who was caught.
+And a fair exchange isn't any robbery."</p>
+
+<p>"Have we got to tie him up?" asked Tom Binns.</p>
+
+<p>"Not if he'll give his parole not to escape or accept a rescue," said
+Jack. "How about that, Canfield? Will you give me your word of honor?
+I'm Jack Danby, Assistant Patrol Leader of the Crow Patrol of Durland's
+Troop, and ranking as a corporal for the maneuvers in the Red army."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll give you my parole all right," said Canfield. He saluted stiffly.
+"Glad to meet you, Corporal Danby. Sorry the tables aren't turned,
+though. We've got a special dinner for our prisoners to-night&mdash;but we
+haven't caught many prisoners yet, worse luck!"</p>
+
+<p>"All right! See if the flags are just the same, Tom."</p>
+
+<p>Tom Binns compared the flags captured from Canfield with those he
+himself carried.</p>
+
+<p>"They're exactly the same," he said. "We can use either his or ours. It
+doesn't make any difference."</p>
+
+<p>"That's good. Stand up there now, Tom, and see what's coming. Can you
+see the next stations on both sides?"</p>
+
+<p>"Sure I can, Jack. They're wig-wagging like the very dickens now, asking
+Canfield here why he doesn't answer."</p>
+
+<p>"Signal that he was watching a grey scout car of the Red army, going
+north," said Jack, with a laugh.</p>
+
+<p>Canfield heard the laugh with a rueful smile.</p>
+
+<p>"You're certainly going to mess things up!" he said. "I ought to be
+court-martialled for letting you break up our signal chain this way."</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile Tom Binns was working his flags frantically.</p>
+
+<p>"O. K.," he reported to Jack. "Message coming!"</p>
+
+<p>Jack sprang to his side, and together the two Red Scouts watched the
+flags flashing in the distance. Jack showed a good deal of excitement.</p>
+
+<p>"Gee," he said, "this is all to the good! That's a message from General
+Bliss himself, I'll bet! See, Tom? He's sending orders to General Brown,
+who commands his right wing. They're going to swing around back toward
+Hardport in a big half-circle, of which this place where we are now is
+pretty nearly the centre. And it's the Newville road that's the line of
+their march, and not this road over the creek at all. That's nerve for
+you, if you like, because the Newville pike is right in our lines, and
+if we move fast we can turn that right wing right in on their center."</p>
+
+<p>For half an hour they stayed there, realizing more and more with every
+passing minute that the whole Blue army was developing a great and
+sweeping attack on Hardport, and in a direction entirely different from
+that being taken by General Bean. The information so far obtained by
+General Harkness obviously was entirely misleading, and in sending
+General Bean to Cripple Creek, as he had, he had simply deprived himself
+of a brigade, and, as he would learn in the morning, when the attack
+would most certainly begin, weakened a vital part of his lines. Bean was
+moving directly away from the spot where the attack would be
+concentrated, and the enemy would be able, unless something were quickly
+done, to strike at the unprotected center of the Red line, drive right
+through it, and throw the main portion of his army, like a great wedge,
+between the two sections of the Red forces.</p>
+
+<p>Jack's face grew grave as message after message confirmed his fears. He
+looked at his watch.</p>
+
+<p>"We've got to get word of this to General Harkness," he said. "Tom, I'm
+afraid you'll have to stay here and take chances on being caught. I've
+got to get back to headquarters and tell General Harkness what we've
+learned here. And if we both go, and leave the relay broken here,
+they'll smell a rat at once, and investigate. There's enough of a trail
+here to show a blind man, much less a bunch of Scouts who are just as
+good in their State as we're supposed to be in our own, just what's
+happened. So you stay here, and I'll take Canfield along with me in the
+car and make my way back to headquarters. You'll be able to leave pretty
+soon, anyhow, because it will be too dark for effective long-range
+signalling less than an hour from now. You can do it all right, can't
+you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Tom Binns, pluckily. It was plain that he didn't like the
+prospect of staying there alone, but he could see the necessity as
+easily as Jack himself, and that there was no other way of meeting the
+circumstance that had arisen.</p>
+
+<p>"Do your best, of course, to avoid being captured," said Jack, as he
+turned to go, with Canfield at his side. "But it will be no reflection
+on you if you are made a prisoner, and we won't need to feel that
+they've put one over on us if they catch you. We've got more than a fair
+return for the loss of even a First Class Scout in the information that
+they've unknowingly given us. It may mean the difference between the
+success and failure of the whole campaign."</p>
+
+<p>"You're a wonder, Danby," said Canfield, as they made their way down to
+the car. Being on parole, of course, and, as a Boy Scout should always
+be, honorable and incapable of breaking his given word, Canfield made no
+attempt to escape or hamper Jack in any way. "I've heard a lot about
+you, and I'm glad to see you at work, even if it does make it bad for
+me. You seem to be able to tell just about what's going on around here.
+I couldn't do that. I didn't think about the larger meaning of the
+orders I was passing on."</p>
+
+<p>"I may be wrong, you know," said Jack, as he waited for Canfield to step
+into the car before climbing into the driver's seat. "I'm really only
+making a guess, but I think it's a pretty good one. And, anyhow, with
+the notes I've got for him, General Harkness ought to be able to get a
+pretty good line on what's doing."</p>
+
+<p>"He ought to be," admitted Canfield, regretfully, but smiling at the
+same time. "You're certainly one jim-dandy as a Scout! I'd hate to be
+against you in a real war. If you can handle things always the way
+you've done this time, you'd be a pretty hard proposition in a real
+honest-to-goodness fight."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2>
+
+<h3>A TIMELY WARNING</h3>
+
+
+<p>Jack debated the advisability of meeting General Bean and telling him
+what he had learned, but he decided that since that detour would take up
+nearly half an hour of time that was now most valuable, he had better
+hurry right through to headquarters, and carry his news direct to the
+commander-in-chief. He cared little now for the danger of meeting stray
+detachments of the enemy. He was not afraid of them, since he knew that
+they would not, in all probability, be keeping a particularly careful
+watch for him, and he was confident of the ability of his car to
+outdistance any pursuit that might be attempted.</p>
+
+<p>Twice, indeed, as he raced for Hardport, he met patrols of the enemy's
+cavalry, but he was burning up the ground at such a rate that they
+probably were not able to distinguish the nature of his car, especially
+as it was nearly dark.</p>
+
+<p>"Gee, Danby, you certainly make this old car go!" said Canfield,
+admiringly. "She's a daisy, too. I never was in a car before that rode
+as easily as this, and I think you're going twice as fast as I've ever
+ridden in my life before."</p>
+
+<p>Going at such speed, it did not take long for Jack to reach
+headquarters. He rushed at once into the hotel, and his earnest,
+dust-streaked face so impressed the officer on duty outside the
+General's door that he took Jack in at once.</p>
+
+<p>"I have the honor to report that I have carried out your instructions,
+General," said Jack. "I have used more than the two hours you allowed
+me, but I felt that that was necessary."</p>
+
+<p>Then he explained the capture he and Tom Binns had effected, and how, by
+taking the place of their prisoner with the flags, they had been able to
+discover the enemy's real plans.</p>
+
+<p>General Harkness wasted no words then for a few minutes. He pressed two
+or three buttons, and, as staff officers answered, his orders flew like
+hail.</p>
+
+<p>"Telegraph General Bean to change his route at once," he ordered, "and
+make Newville his objective point, throwing out heavy skirmish lines and
+advance pickets to prevent a surprise. He will march all night, if
+necessary&mdash;but he must be at Newville before five o'clock."</p>
+
+<p>The officer who took the order saluted, turned on his heel, and left the
+room.</p>
+
+<p>"Direct Colonel Abbey to bring up his cavalry regiment at once from
+Bremerton," was the next order. "He will march across the line, and then
+follow it until he reaches the Newville pike. Thence he will turn to
+support any movement General Bean may find it necessary to make there.
+Colonel Abbey will not engage the enemy, however, even to the extent of
+feeling him out, without direct orders from either General Bean or
+myself. Repeat a copy of Colonel Abbey's orders to General Bean."</p>
+
+<p>"That's good work, Danby, once more," he said, then, turning to Jack.
+"We'd have been in a nice mess if you hadn't discovered that. They
+masked their turning movement beautifully. If they had got hold of
+Newville and cut General Bean off from the main body of this army we
+would have had to abandon Hardport at once. General Bean would certainly
+have been captured, and we would have had to fall back on the capital,
+with an excellent prospect of being attacked and forced to fight at a
+great disadvantage on our retreat. As it is, even if General Bean is
+forced to circle around Newville, we can concentrate at Bremerton and
+fight on ground of our own choosing, though that would make this place
+untenable."</p>
+
+<p>Receiving no further orders, Jack remained to listen. He stood at
+attention, and he enjoyed the experience of being in the room of a
+general on active service, for the constant stream of orders General
+Harkness was giving was hardly checked at all by his pause to speak to
+Jack and thank him for the good work he had done.</p>
+
+<p>"Instruct Colonel Henry to complete preparations for the theoretical
+destruction of the railroad station, the sidings, and all passenger and
+freight cars now here," he directed next. "If we are forced to abandon
+the place, we will leave plenty of evidence behind us that it is no
+longer of any use to the enemy. Rather a dog-in-the-manger policy, I
+suppose&mdash;" this to Jack, since the officer had gone to obey the
+order&mdash;"but that's war. If you can't make any use of a town or a lot of
+supplies yourself, remember always that that is no reason why the enemy
+should not find them of the utmost service, and see to it that he can
+get no benefit from them. That was General Sherman's way. He left a
+trail of desolation fifty miles wide wherever he marched with his army,
+and he was always sure that the enemy, even if he came along after him,
+would find no chance to live in that country."</p>
+
+<p>Jack offered no comment at all. He knew his place, as a Boy Scout, and,
+while he realized that it was a great compliment for the General to talk
+to him in that fashion, he had no intention of presuming on the fact.</p>
+
+<p>Just then an orderly entered.</p>
+
+<p>"Scout Thomas Binns, of Durland's Troop, General," he said, saluting.
+"He says he has important information."</p>
+
+<p>"Another of you?" asked the General, smiling as he faced Jack. "Send him
+in!"</p>
+
+<p>"He was with me in the car, sir," said Jack. "I left him behind when I
+came to make my report."</p>
+
+<p>"I have the honor to report, General," said little Tom Binns, standing
+at the salute when he appeared, "that the enemy now has reason to
+believe that General Bean is advancing for Cripple Creek and will camp
+there to-night."</p>
+
+<p>"How do you know that, my boy?" said the General.</p>
+
+<p>"The signal station next to me on the side nearest Hardport flashed the
+news that General Bean had changed his course, sir," replied Tom. "I
+didn't think they ought to hear that at General Bliss's headquarters, so
+I changed the message in relaying it, and said that it was now
+positively determined that General Bean was heading for Cripple Creek,
+and would proceed to occupy the bridge. In fact, I added that his
+pickets were already in sight."</p>
+
+<p>"Excellent!" laughed the General. "But how did you get here, my boy? I
+don't see how you escaped falling into their hands."</p>
+
+<p>"That was the last message we got before dark, sir," said Tom. "After
+that we all got orders to report at their Scout headquarters, and I
+decided to try to make my way back here. On the way I ran into one of
+their outposts, and a man with a motorcycle chased me. But he had a
+puncture&mdash;I think that was because I dropped my knife in the road&mdash;and
+he had to stop to repair that. While he was doing it, I worked up behind
+him, and I managed to get the motorcycle and came on. I knew he'd have a
+good chance to catch me, because I didn't know the roads very well."</p>
+
+<p>"Ha, ha!" laughed General Harkness. The incident seemed to amuse him
+immensely, for he laughed till the tears rolled down his cheeks. "I wish
+I had a whole army of you, my boy. We'd have little trouble with the
+enemy, then. Now you two can go back to Bremerton. That is likely to be
+nearer the scene of battle in the morning than this town, and you have
+both done a good day's work in any case. I am highly pleased with you.
+Carry my compliments to Captain Durland, and say to him that I shall be
+glad to see him in my headquarters in the morning. He will have to find
+out where they are, for I don't know myself at this moment. I shall
+probably be up most of the night myself, but do you be off now, and get
+a good night's rest. You have earned it."</p>
+
+<p>So once more Jack drove the grey car to Bremerton. He was almost reeling
+with fatigue by this time, for it was nearly nine o'clock, and he had
+done enough since noon to tire out a full-grown man.</p>
+
+<p>"That was mighty clever work of yours with the motorcycle," he said to
+Tom. "How did you ever think of it?"</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't want to be caught, Jack, that's all. I guess you were right
+the other day when you said we never knew what we could do until we had
+to do it. It's certainly true with me, because if anyone had ever told
+me that I would do a thing like that, I'd have told them they were
+crazy."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, whatever the reason was, it was good work. If they'd caught you
+with your signal flags, they might have smelled a rat, and the best part
+of our catching Canfield was that they didn't know anything about it.
+That's what made him such a very valuable prisoner for us to have."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2>
+
+<h3>THE ENEMY'S TRICK</h3>
+
+
+<p>Jack Danby was pretty tired after his exertions. Captain Durland, glad
+that his Troop, except for the one prisoner, poor Harry Warner, of the
+Raccoons, was still all together under his command in Bremerton, found
+quarters for them in the little village hotel.</p>
+
+<p>"We'll turn in early," he said, "and get all the sleep we can. I think
+there'll be some hard fighting to-morrow, and we can't tell yet what
+part we'll be called on to play in it when it comes. So we'll get all
+the sleep we can. I shouldn't wonder if the battle to-morrow began long
+before dawn. If we can turn the right wing of the Blue army, which
+doesn't seem very likely now, we will want to start the action as soon
+as possible, because, when you have the enemy trapped, the thing to do
+is to strike at him just as quickly as you can. Every minute of delay
+you give him gives him just that much more of a chance to get out of the
+trap."</p>
+
+<p>"That means if General Bean gets to Newville in time, doesn't it, sir?"
+asked Dick Crawford.</p>
+
+<p>All the Scouts had listened with the greatest interest to what Jack had
+told them of his day's adventures. He had been at the very heart of
+things, and he was able, from the information that he and Tom Binns had
+intercepted, to get a complete view of the whole scene of the
+operations, far superior to that of any of the others, who knew, of
+course, only what was going on in their own immediate neighborhood.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes&mdash;that's what I mean, of course," said Durland. "But it's a forlorn
+hope. There's a limit to human endurance. Even regular troops would call
+what Bean's brigade did before sunset a hard day's work. Just think of
+it&mdash;they were in motion before daybreak this morning, ready for their
+dash across the line. Then they marched several miles toward Hardport,
+turned aside for a big flanking movement, and had hardly occupied the
+city when they were started off for the Cripple Creek Bridge. Then they
+were turned off again from that, and sent to march another twenty miles
+to Newville. That was necessary, of course&mdash;they'd have been cut off and
+captured, to a man, if they'd kept on for the bridge, without even the
+fun of putting up a fight for their colors. But that doesn't make it any
+easier work. I know Bean&mdash;he won't ask his men to do the impossible. And
+that means that he'll be five miles from Newville when morning comes."</p>
+
+<p>"Then nothing is likely to be decided to-morrow?" said Bob Hart.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't see how it can be. The two armies are playing at cross purposes
+to-night, you see. Unless the Blues have corrected their mistake, they
+will be working on the assumption that Bean's brigade is out of it
+entirely, and that they can eat up the main body of our army, and then
+turn around and capture Bean when they like. While they're working on
+that idea, General Harkness is making a desperate effort to turn the
+tables on them, and lead them into just the same sort of a trap that
+Jack Danby has enabled him to escape. His strategy is perfectly sound,
+and he can't lose seriously, even if his plan fails. But I think the
+umpires will call the fight to-morrow a drawn battle."</p>
+
+<p>"What will happen then?"</p>
+
+<p>"Now you're asking a question I can't answer. We've got to wait more or
+less on the movements of the Blue army, you see. After all, we're on the
+defensive. Of course, we've taken the offensive to-day, and on the
+showing that's been made so far the Blues are very much out of it. On
+the single day the umpires would have to give the decision to General
+Harkness. He's in a better position right now to prevent an attack on
+the capital itself than he was before the war began."</p>
+
+<p>Then Durland called the order to sound taps, and in a few minutes the
+Troop was sound asleep.</p>
+
+<p>Bremerton that night was peaceful and quiet. Over in the telegraph
+office watchful soldier operators were at work, but the clicking of
+their keys did not disturb the Scouts in their well-earned rest. For
+miles all about them there was bustle and activity. Troops, exhausted
+after a day of work that was very real indeed for a good many of the
+militiamen, clerks and office workers, camped along the roads and took
+such rest as they could get. This game was proving as much of an
+imitation of war as many of them wanted to see.</p>
+
+<p>They had come out expecting a restful, pleasant vacation, with the
+thrill of a war game as an additional incentive for them to turn out,
+but they were finding that it closely resembled hard work&mdash;the sort of
+work they got too little of in their crowded days of office routine.
+Later they would enjoy the recollection of it, but while they were doing
+it there was a good deal of roughing that wasn't so pleasant.</p>
+
+<p>A late moon made the countryside brilliant, and easy to cover with the
+eye, and when, a couple of hours after midnight, the roll of rifle
+firing in the distance, coming like light thunder, awoke the Scouts, who
+were sleeping three in a room, many of them rushed to their windows.</p>
+
+<p>Jack Danby shared a room with Pete Stubbs and Tom Binns, his particular
+chums, and he laughed at them.</p>
+
+<p>"What are you looking for, powder smoke?" he asked them. "Don't you
+remember that they're using smokeless powder in this war? You couldn't
+see that firing if it were within a hundred yards."</p>
+
+<p>The firing soon became general and Jack himself grew interested.</p>
+
+<p>"That doesn't sound just like outposts coming together," he said. "It
+seems to me that it's pretty general firing, as if considerable bodies
+of men were getting engaged. I'd like to be out there and see what's
+going on."</p>
+
+<p>The distant din increased, and there was no longer a chance for the
+Scouts to sleep. In real warfare tired men, it is said, can sleep with a
+battle raging all about them, but the Scouts weren't inured to such
+heavy firing yet, and it disturbed and excited them. Durland himself
+wasn't bothered, but he sensed the restlessness of his Troop, and he
+rose and dressed. One by one, too, the Scouts followed his example, and
+gathered on the big veranda of the village inn.</p>
+
+<p>"Come on over to the telegraph office, Dick," said Durland. "Let's see
+if we can't find out who's kicking up all this fuss and what it's
+about."</p>
+
+<p>The telegraph wires, which never slept, were clicking busily when the
+Scout-Master and his assistant entered the office.</p>
+
+<p>"Abbey's cavalry running into the enemy on the Newville pike," said a
+tired operator, flicking a cigarette from his mouth as Durland spoke to
+him. "Funny, too! We thought he'd join General Bean before he saw a sign
+of the enemy."</p>
+
+<p>Durland felt himself growing anxious; then laughed at himself for his
+own anxiety. He turned to find Dick Crawford at his elbow.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm taking this thing too seriously, Dick," he said, with a smile.
+"After all, it's only a game. But I'd certainly like to know the inner
+meaning of that firing. Unless we've been grossly deceived, Abbey had no
+business to bump into any considerable force of the Blue army to-night."</p>
+
+<p>"I guess we're all taking it pretty seriously, sir," said Dick. "Isn't
+that the right way, too? Of course, it's only a game&mdash;but we might be
+playing it seriously some time."</p>
+
+<p>"You're right, Dick," said the Scout-Master. "We can't take this too
+seriously. I'm going to horn in here and see if there isn't something we
+can do."</p>
+
+<p>He walked over to the key.</p>
+
+<p>"See if you can report my Troop to General Harkness as ready for any
+service required," he said.</p>
+
+<p>It took some little time for the operator to get the message through.
+Then, however, he sat back with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess they'll be able to use you, all right, Captain," he said. "They
+seem to be a mile up in the air about what Colonel Abbey's doing. All
+the Colonel can report himself is that he's run into a considerable
+force, and he's engaging him tentatively. He seems to be afraid of being
+cut off if he goes on without feeling his way."</p>
+
+<p>Then followed another delay.</p>
+
+<p>"Here you are, Captain," said the operator, at last. "Coming, now!"</p>
+
+<p>"Take it," said Durland. "I can read it as it comes."</p>
+
+<p>Out of the chatter of the sounding key both Durland and Dick Crawford
+could make sense.</p>
+
+<p>"Take your Troop up to Colonel Abbey," came the order. "Report to him
+for any service possible. But detail two Scouts, with automobile, to
+make an attempt to discover the nature of the enemy's operations on the
+Newville road beyond the point where Colonel Abbey's command has engaged
+the enemy. General Bean is within three miles of Newville, waiting for
+daylight, owing to the firing in that direction. It is most important to
+apprise him of the actual conditions."</p>
+
+<p>"Report that orders are received and will be obeyed at once," Durland
+flung back to the operator, and he and Crawford hurried from the
+building to rejoin the Scouts, who were waiting eagerly on the porch of
+the hotel for any news that might come.</p>
+
+<p>"Get ready to hike," ordered Dick Crawford, as he reached the Scouts.
+"Danby, report to Captain Durland at once."</p>
+
+<p>Jack listened to his instructions carefully.</p>
+
+<p>"This is a harder job than any you've had yet, Jack," said his
+commander. "But it counts for more, too. Are you sure you're not too
+tired to handle your car?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not a bit of it, sir!" protested Jack. "I've had all the sleep I need.
+What the General wants to know chiefly is whether there are enough
+troops of the enemy between Colonel Abbey and Newville to prevent a
+junction between the cavalry and General Bean's brigade, isn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Right! I can't give you any special orders. You'll have to use your own
+judgment, and do whatever seems best when the time comes. This is the
+sort of a situation that changes literally from minute to minute, and if
+I gave you special orders before you started they would probably hamper
+you more than they helped you."</p>
+
+<p>"Can I have Tom Binns again, sir?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly! I'll have Crawford tell him to report to you at the garage.
+Overhaul your car carefully&mdash;you don't want any little mechanical
+trouble to come along and spoil your work just as you are on the verge
+of success."</p>
+
+<p>"The car's all right, sir. I went over every bit of it before I turned
+in. I had an idea I might be called for some sort of emergency work when
+every minute would count, and she's ready for any sort of a run right
+now."</p>
+
+<p>"Good enough! That's the way to be. 'Be prepared'&mdash;that's a pretty good
+motto. It has certainly been proved abundantly in the last few hours."</p>
+
+<p>It would take the Scouts a good three hours to come up with Colonel
+Abbey's regiment of cavalry, but Jack and Tom Binns, in the big grey car
+that moved silently, like a grey ghost, in the moonlight, were well
+ahead of them as the column swung out of the little town.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, we're off again!" said Jack. "No telling what's going to come up
+before the night's over, either, Tom. We've got a roving commission,
+with no orders to hold us down, and I'm out to see just as much as the
+road will show us."</p>
+
+<p>"Are you going to stick to the main road, Jack?"</p>
+
+<p>"No. There's a cross road a little way beyond here. If they've blocked
+Colonel Abbey's advance on this road, we couldn't get beyond his
+position, anyhow, and it won't do us any good to get as far as that and
+no further. It's what they're doing beyond there that General Harkness
+wants to know."</p>
+
+<p>"Where is the main body of our army now, Jack?"</p>
+
+<p>"Right around Hardport. The only troops that are moving to-night are
+Abbey's cavalry regiment, and General Bean's brigade. General Bean, with
+the rest of the army closing toward him, is to hold the enemy in check
+if they occupy Newville before we get to the place ourselves. The rest
+of the army, at Hardport, can move to his support, or it can develop a
+big flanking movement that will bring Bremerton into the centre of our
+line, with the forces toward Newville making a sort of a triangular
+wedge stuck out in front. That wedge, you see, will have the whole army
+as a reserve. It isn't as favorable a situation as if they had made for
+Cripple Creek, for there we would have been in a position to force them
+back on Smithville, where they mobilized."</p>
+
+<p>"They'd have gone right into a trap if they had kept on for Newville,
+wouldn't they?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; but that was too much for us to hope for, really. It's good enough
+as it is. It was General Harkness's plan from the first to make a stand
+at Bremerton, unless they gave him the chance to make it an offensive
+campaign. The mistake we made in sending a brigade to Cripple Creek more
+than made up for the capture of Hardport, however, and so we lost that
+chance. If we could have made sure of Newville to-night, nothing could
+have saved the Blue army."</p>
+
+<p>"Who's to blame for that, Jack?"</p>
+
+<p>"No one. You can't expect the enemy to tell you what he's going to do,
+and even Napoleon couldn't always guess right. I think we'll beat them
+all right&mdash;that is, I don't think they'll get within twenty miles of the
+capital in the time they've got, even if we get badly beaten in this
+battle that's starting now."</p>
+
+<p>"Here we are at the cross roads, Jack. Which way are you going now?"</p>
+
+<p>"Toward Mardean, at first. I'm going to swing in a great big circle
+around Hardport, and way beyond it. I want to come down on them from
+behind and see just as much as I can."</p>
+
+<p>"If you swing very far around that way it'll take you pretty near
+Smithville, won't it?"</p>
+
+<p>"That's just where I want to get, Tom. The place to find out what the
+enemy is going to do is the place where he is doing it, it seems to me."</p>
+
+<p>Hardport, a patch of light against the sky, held little interest for
+Jack. The road he took swung back toward the State line, so that he
+passed very near Hardport before he reached the road that he and Tom had
+first traveled when they crossed the line at full speed after war had
+been declared. But Mardean wasn't held by the enemy now. The troops that
+had crossed there had been recalled after the capture of Hardport and
+the wreck of the early Blue plans, and some of them probably were in
+Hardport now as prisoners of war, but with none of the rigors commonly
+attaching to imprisonment to distress them.</p>
+
+<p>"This road is safer than it was when we took it before," said Jack.
+"Remember how we had to take to the fields a little way along here? That
+was pretty exciting."</p>
+
+<p>"You bet it was, Jack! I'm glad we can stick to the roads here."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't be too glad yet, Tom. No telling what we may have to do before
+the night's over, you know. It's early yet&mdash;or late, as you happen to
+look at it."</p>
+
+<p>Mile after mile of road, looking like a silver streak in the moonlight,
+dropped beneath the wheels of the big grey car. They sped around and
+beyond Hardport, and Jack, studying his road map, lighted now by a
+little electric light, began to slow down, since they were in country
+where it was possible, though not probable, that the enemy's outposts
+might be encountered.</p>
+
+<p>"I've got an idea that they're marching hard and fast to-night," said
+Jack. "Somehow, I'm not easy in my mind. I'm afraid they may have had
+some way of finding out what our army was doing. You know that we're not
+the only people who can detect concealed and covered movements. And they
+may be setting a trap for us again, just as they were doing when General
+Bean was drawn off toward Cripple Creek."</p>
+
+<p>"I've lost track of where we're going, Jack. Where does this road we're
+on now come from?"</p>
+
+<p>"Practically straight from Mardean. You see, Mardean will be about the
+right of our army to-morrow. A brigade will drop back that way from
+Hardport, if we give up that town in the morning, and the main force
+will move for Bremerton."</p>
+
+<p>"Then if the enemy should happen to get around this way and break over
+the State line near Mardean, they'd be in a good position to meet us
+to-morrow, wouldn't they?"</p>
+
+<p>"First rate! But that's not the idea, at all. They're all over in the
+other direction, nearer Bremerton, and east of Hardport. The trouble
+Colonel Abbey encountered seems to indicate that it's their plan to
+cross in force near Bremerton. That's why holding Newville would be so
+important to them."</p>
+
+<p>Now Jack threw in the high speed again. And at once, almost, as the car
+sped on, something about the song of the throbbing engine bothered Jack.
+In a moment he had shifted his gears, and in another, the car, coughing
+and rattling, came to a sudden stop.</p>
+
+<p>"Good thing I heard that," said Jack, a few moments later, "or we'd have
+been stuck properly a few miles further on. Won't take me five minutes
+to fix it now."</p>
+
+<p>As he tinkered on the machine, his ears were busy, and he and Tom heard
+the sound of approaching horses in the same instant. At once Jack leaped
+to his driver's seat, and ran the car through an open fence into a field
+beside the road.</p>
+
+<p>"I want to see what's doing here," he said. "That doesn't sound very
+good to me."</p>
+
+<p>The trouble with his engine had been providential, for ten minutes later
+he realized that had he gone on at full speed he would have encountered
+the advance guard of at least a full division of the enemy.</p>
+
+<p>Quietly and steadily the Blue troops were marching on. There was purpose
+in the look of them, and a grim earnestness that made Jack whistle.</p>
+
+<p>"Tom," he whispered, "you certainly hit it! They're setting a trap all
+right. They're going to cross at Mardean and swing around to cut off our
+troops from Bremerton. They've got a nice plan&mdash;just to steal our
+position, and make us fight on our ground&mdash;but with positions reversed."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2>
+
+<h3>JACK DANBY'S GOOD NEWS</h3>
+
+
+<p>Hardly daring to breathe lest they be heard, the two Scouts waited while
+the Blue troops passed. It took more than two hours for the regiments,
+marching in close order, to get by them, and it was nearly light when
+the last stragglers had passed their hiding-place.</p>
+
+<p>"Gee," cried Jack, "that's certainly a surprise to me! Say, Tom, do you
+know what they've done? They've buffaloed General Bean, and fooled him
+completely&mdash;and our whole army! They've left not more than two regiments
+there. Of course, that was a stronger force than Abbey had, but they
+managed it so cleverly that they're holding up General Bean and his
+whole brigade."</p>
+
+<p>"How can that be, Jack? I thought the umpires decided on the strength
+and the probable result of any encounter between the armies&mdash;and they
+surely couldn't decide that two regiments could beat a brigade?"</p>
+
+<p>"No&mdash;but if the two regiments masked their real weakness so cleverly
+that they weren't attacked by the brigade, there wouldn't be anything
+for the umpires to decide&mdash;and that's what I'm afraid of. That's clever
+tactics, you see, and they'd get the credit for it, of course&mdash;and
+they'd deserve it, too. Well, here's where we stop loafing. We've got to
+cut a telegraph wire somewhere and get word of the true state of affairs
+to General Harkness. He can't wait until full daylight to move his
+troops now."</p>
+
+<p>"What good will cutting a wire do, Jack?"</p>
+
+<p>"Lots of good, Tom. This car has a regular apparatus for cutting in on a
+wire, and a set of sending and receiving instruments. If we cut the
+wire, it goes dead until we connect it with our instruments. Then only
+the section beyond where we cut in is dead. There's a telegraph wire
+direct from Hardport to Smithville. Cutting the wire is legitimate, even
+in the war game, because it's necessary to do the actual cutting. It
+isn't like the railroad, which can be destroyed theoretically, and left
+actually ready for use."</p>
+
+<p>Jack had started his car, still running through the fields when the
+troops had passed, and now, looking carefully at the telegraph poles and
+wires, he dropped from his seat and, with wire cutters and repair tools,
+and his pocket set of instruments, he proceeded to put into practice the
+theory that he had explained to Tom. He cut the wire neatly and
+carefully. Then he connected the broken end with his instruments,
+completing the circuit again, and began calling for General Harkness's
+headquarters in Hardport.</p>
+
+<p>"See how it's done, Tom?" he asked. "Easy when you know how, you see."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; it's like lots of other things that way, Jack. The trouble is you
+always seem to know just how to do things like that and I never do."</p>
+
+<p>"Got 'em!" cried Jack, enthusiastically, at that moment, and began at
+once to send his important news.</p>
+
+<p>"I want to get permission now to go on and tell General Bean what we've
+learned," he explained to Tom as he still waited after sending his
+message. "Then, as soon as I get it, I'll splice this wire and fix it so
+that the line will be open for regular service again. We don't want to
+interrupt traffic by telegraph or telephone, if we can help it. But this
+won't make much difference at this hour of the night. I don't believe
+that many messages are sent over this wire after midnight as a rule."</p>
+
+<p>They had to wait twenty minutes for the reply, but when it came Jack was
+told to use his own best judgment, and that General Harkness would rely
+upon him to get the highly important information he had sent to
+headquarters to General Bean.</p>
+
+<p>"I thought we'd be allowed to do that," said Jack, after he had put the
+wire in order again. In the car there was plenty of telegraph wire for
+repairing lines cut by the enemy, so the task was not at all a difficult
+one.</p>
+
+<p>"Gee, Jack," said Tom, "I've certainly learned one thing lately, and
+that is that there's nothing you know that isn't likely to come in handy
+sometime or another. I didn't know you knew as much as this about
+telegraphy."</p>
+
+<p>"I've always been interested in it, Tom. It's so fascinating. You can
+use all sorts of knowledge if you're in the army, too. Think of the
+engineers. They have to be able to build bridges, and destroy them, and
+erect fortifications without the proper materials. Not in this war, of
+course, but if there was real fighting. These maneuvers are different
+from the ordinary sort. They're not so cut and dried, and there aren't
+so many rules. I've read about maneuvers when there were rules to govern
+every sort of situation that came up&mdash;in fact, surprising situations
+couldn't come up, because everything that was to happen had been worked
+out ahead of time."</p>
+
+<p>"This is better for us, isn't it, Jack? I mean, we're really learning
+how a war would actually be fought."</p>
+
+<p>"We're getting a pretty good idea of it, anyhow. It isn't a bit the way
+I thought it was going to be."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, we ought to be getting in touch with General Bean pretty soon, I
+should think."</p>
+
+<p>"We've got another ten or twelve miles to drive yet. I took a pretty
+wide swing around, thinking we'd avoid the enemy altogether. Instead of
+that, we bumped right into them. It's surely a good thing we had that
+little engine trouble. We'd be prisoners right now if we'd been able to
+go on at full speed, because I don't believe we'd have been able to see
+them in time to turn around and get away. And we got a much better
+chance to see what they were up to, too."</p>
+
+<p>As they approached General Bean's brigade the firing in the direction of
+Bremerton, where Colonel Abbey had encountered the enemy, began to be
+audible again. It had died away for a time, and Jack had wondered
+whether Abbey had retired. The sound of the heavy rifle fire, however,
+with an occasional explosion of a shell to make it louder, reassured
+him.</p>
+
+<p>Newville was deserted when they entered it, and Jack laughed. Not a Blue
+soldier was in sight&mdash;and yet General Bean was waiting for full
+daylight, convinced that the main body of the Blue army was there.</p>
+
+<p>"They certainly did make a clever shift," he said to Tom. "General Bliss
+has a reputation for moving quickly, and striking like a snake. He
+covers his movements well, and I'll bet that if we ever do have another
+war, he'll cut a pretty big figure. Captain Durland says he's a real
+fighter, of the sort that was developed in the Civil War. Some of the
+best fighters on both sides in that war, you know, were men who never
+went to West Point at all."</p>
+
+<p>"The great generals were regulars, though, weren't they?"</p>
+
+<p>"Most of them, yes. Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, Lee&mdash;they were all West
+Pointers, and a lot more of them, too. But there were others. They say,
+in the histories, that a great crisis brings up the men to meet it. It's
+perfectly true that Grant and Sherman had been in the regular army, but
+they had resigned before the war, and they hadn't made good particularly
+before that, either in the army or afterward, when they went into
+business. It was the war that made them famous, and a good many others,
+too."</p>
+
+<p>They had turned now toward Hardport, and the pickets of General Bean's
+waiting brigade, eagerly looking for the enemy, were in sight. Time
+after time they were challenged and stopped, but Jack, despite questions
+from officers and men, all eager for the news they were sure he was
+bringing, since his exploits had already won him a considerable
+reputation in the Red army, refused to tell what he knew to anyone save
+General Bean himself. They did not have to go all the way to the rear of
+the army. General Bean himself, small, wiry, active and peppery, met
+them soon after they had come into the midst of his lines. He was riding
+his big, black horse, and, although he had had no sleep that night, he
+looked fresh and ready for another day in the saddle.</p>
+
+<p>"Hum," he said, pulling his moustache, as he listened to them, "they
+fooled us, didn't they? Captain Jenks, you will give my compliments to
+Colonel Jones, and instruct him to put his regiment in motion at once.
+We will occupy Newville, and then close in on the enemy, supporting
+Colonel Abbey by an attack on the enemy's rear."</p>
+
+<p>He rubbed his hands together delightedly as the officer rode off to give
+the order.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you know the enemy's position now?" he asked Jack. "He's the nut,
+and Abbey and I are the crackers. You've done good work. This is the
+second time within twenty-four hours that the information you have
+obtained has rescued us from a situation of a good deal of danger. Did
+you learn what General Harkness's plans were?"</p>
+
+<p>"He intends moving at once to Bremerton, sir," said Jack. "The enemy, as
+nearly as I could guess, was heading for that place, planning to cross
+the line by the Mardean road, and then swing cast to Bremerton."</p>
+
+<p>"Right! That's what they must intend to do. Well, I reckon they will
+find we're ready for them, and that we'll hold a position that the
+umpires will have to give us credit for."</p>
+
+<p>The brigade was already in motion while they spoke. The men had
+bivouacked in their lines, as they had marched, and the whole section of
+country was lighted with their fires. In the faint light of dawn,
+growing stronger every minute now, the twinkling fires had a strange and
+ghost-like effect.</p>
+
+<p>"Looks like the real thing, doesn't it?" asked General Bean. "I wish I'd
+had such a chance when I was a boy as you have now. We don't ever want
+another war&mdash;but there's no use acting as if it was beyond the range of
+possibility, and the next best thing to not fighting at all is knowing
+how to do it and getting it over quickly when it does become inevitable.
+If I had my way these maneuvers would take place in a score of different
+parts of the country every year. It isn't asking much to ask the militia
+to turn out for one week of the fifty-two, and a week of this sort of
+thing is worth a year of ordinary drill and theory work in armories. I
+don't mean that the drill isn't useful; it is. But it isn't everything,
+as we've seemed inclined to think. This sort of work, and constant
+practice at the ranges is what makes soldiers. These fellows, if they
+ever go to a real war, won't have to work any harder than my brigade has
+had to work in the last few hours. They're so tired now that they
+haven't got enough energy to know they are tired. They'd just as soon
+march as rest&mdash;and that's the way they ought to be. Do 'em good!"</p>
+
+<p>Jack led the way of Colonel Jones's regiment into Newville, and then
+turned down the pike. The firing in front was very sharp now. And soon
+it was redoubled, as the advance of the main body of General Bean's
+brigade came into touch with the Blue troops who had so decidedly
+worried Abbey during the night.</p>
+
+<p>Finally, on the crest of a hill which overlooked the valley beneath,
+Jack stopped the car.</p>
+
+<p>"This is a splendid chance to see a battle on a small scale, Tom," he
+said. "There's nothing else for us to do now&mdash;we might as well take a
+look at things."</p>
+
+<p>There was light enough now to make it worth while to stop and look on.
+Abbey's men were dismounted. In a field a mile or so back of the line of
+battle they could see the horses of his regiment, hobbled, and under
+guard. Before them, lower down, was the enemy, doing little of the
+firing, and with his real strength pretty well masked. And, as they
+knew, Bean's troops were advancing slowly, ready to take them in the
+rear, and cut them off.</p>
+
+<p>"Where are the umpires?" asked Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"They're somewhere around&mdash;trust them for that!" said Jack. "They're not
+only supposed to umpire, but they've got to make a detailed report of
+all the operations to the War Department, and criticize everything that
+both armies do, too. The firing brought them up as soon as it began, you
+may be sure."</p>
+
+<p>Slowly but steadily and surely the drama unfolded itself before their
+fascinated eyes. They could see the slow advance of Abbey's dismounted
+troopers as soon as the firing in the enemy's rear convinced them that
+the support they had been awaiting had come at last. And before long the
+enemy was completely surrounded by a chain of Red troops, firing
+steadily. It lasted for nearly twenty minutes and then a bugle blew,
+over to their right, and in another moment the "Cease Firing" call had
+passed from regiment to regiment. The appeal to the umpires had been
+made, and now the troops that had been seeking all possible cover showed
+themselves, that the umpires might inspect the position and see whether
+there was any possible chance for the entrapped regiments of the Blue
+army to extricate themselves.</p>
+
+<p>"They hung on too long," said Jack. "They ought to have begun their
+retreat before daylight. Then they might have been able to fall back and
+slip away and around to join the main Blue army at Mardean. I'm afraid
+they'll all be written down as captured now."</p>
+
+<p>Jack was right in his idea, too. The umpires, after a careful inspection
+of the situation, decided that General Bean's tactics had been
+successful.</p>
+
+<p>"You are to be congratulated, General," said a Brigadier General of the
+regular army, the chief umpire, riding up to the militia commander. "A
+very neat evolution, carefully planned and worked out. We were inclined
+to think that they had fooled you. Abbey was in a bad way until you came
+up. But you came out very well."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2>
+
+<h3>THE SCOUTS MEET AN OLD FRIEND</h3>
+
+
+<p>Jack Danby's clever scouting had changed the entire situation. The
+capture of his two regiments made General Bliss's situation decidedly
+precarious. His case was not hopeless yet, by any means, since, as the
+attacking force, the Blue army had been the stronger to begin with,
+because the War Department had so arranged matters that the advantage of
+position favored the Red forces sufficiently to make up for the superior
+force of General Bliss. General Bean's quick following up of the
+information Jack had given, however, had enabled the Red army to
+equalize the forces of the contending armies, and General Harkness, who
+threw a cavalry brigade into Bremerton within three hours of the timely
+warning Jack sent him, was now in no danger of being forced to fight on
+ground where his original advantage of position would be transferred to
+the enemy.</p>
+
+<p>Now the position was one of open tactics. The lines were drawn, and some
+sort of a battle would have to be fought, theoretically, before further
+movements were in order. With Bremerton as his centre, General Harkness
+and his army lay directly across the line of the Blue advance, already
+across the border at Mardean, and seeking, or intending, rather, to seek
+the control of the railroad at Fessenden Junction, a dozen miles back of
+Bremerton.</p>
+
+<p>The Junction was the key to the situation now, so far as the hopes of
+the invading forces were concerned. Its possession would, theoretically,
+cut the defenders off from their base of supplies, and, once it was
+captured, General Bliss would force the Red army immediately to fall
+back and occupy the defenses of the capital city itself, since the
+railroad would enable him to cut off its supplies and advance his troops
+against it with great speed. That would mean the immediate abandonment
+of any offensive tactics on the part of General Harkness, and would make
+up for the capture of the two regiments that General Bean had sent into
+Bremerton as prisoners of war.</p>
+
+<p>But there seemed little chance of an engagement on Tuesday. Ever since
+noon the day before, when hostilities had begun, both armies had been
+constantly on the march. There had been severe fighting, and the plans
+of the commanders had involved the rapid movement of considerable bodies
+of troops. As a result, the troops on both sides were nearly exhausted.
+In the first place, they did not have the stamina that is the portion of
+regular troops. They were, in the main, militiamen, clerks, lawyers,
+brokers, and men of that sort, who do not have the chance of regular
+exercise, and who do not keep such strict hours as do trained soldiers.</p>
+
+<p>"There'll be no fighting until to-morrow, in my opinion," said Durland,
+when Jack and Tom reported to him; "it's a pretty situation as it stands
+now, but these fellows can't do any more. Bean's brigade in particular
+must be about ready to drop. I never saw troops worked harder. They've
+done mighty well, and, while there won't be any formal arrangement to
+that effect, I suppose, I guess that both generals will understand that
+they can't accomplish any more without some rest. They'd have to
+recognize that in a war, for the wise general never requires his men to
+fight when exhausted, except in the case of attack."</p>
+
+<p>The Scouts retained their headquarters in Bremerton, which was now,
+after the abandonment of Hardport, headquarters for the Red army, also.
+But General Harkness had his headquarters in tents, despising the chance
+to use the small hotel of the town. He was exceedingly busy with his
+plans. General Bean had come in from the lines facing the enemy, who had
+been forced, reluctantly enough, to shift their base of attack, so that
+Newville was the focus of their semi-circular advance. Other brigade
+commanders and other high officers with them had also come in, and for
+the first time since hostilities had begun, General Harkness was able to
+consult with his subordinate officers.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess the strategy of the campaign for the next two days will be
+pretty well worked out about now," said Durland, glancing over toward
+the tent of General Harkness, from which the smoke of the cigars and
+pipes of the officers was curling.</p>
+
+<p>Before General Harkness's tent two orderlies were waiting. Now,
+suddenly, one of them, evidently hearing a call inside, answered it, and
+a few seconds later went off. He returned presently with a young officer
+of militia, and a few minutes later that officer came over to the Scout
+headquarters.</p>
+
+<p>"Captain Durland?" he began, then broke off. "Great Scott!" he cried,
+"it's my old friend the Scout-Master, isn't it? I had no idea it was
+your Troop that was doing so well here."</p>
+
+<p>"Jim Burroughs! Is that really you? I'm glad to see you!" exclaimed
+Durland.</p>
+
+<p>Jack Danby, Tom Binns, Pete Stubbs and the rest of the Scouts, with
+happy memories of their days at Eagle Lake, and of the time when they
+had turned out in the woods at night to search for Burroughs and Bess
+Benton, crowded around to greet the young militia officer.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm a lieutenant in the Sixteenth Regiment," said Burroughs. "Captain
+Durland, you're wanted in the General's tent. I went there to make a
+report, and he asked me to tell you to come to him at once."</p>
+
+<p>Then the Scouts and Burroughs, who had nothing else to do for the time,
+began to exchange reminiscences and talk over old times.</p>
+
+<p>"I've been hearing a lot about the good work a Scout called Danby was
+doing in one of the new scouting autos," said Jim Burroughs, "but
+somehow I didn't have any idea that it was a Boy Scout they were talking
+of. But I might have guessed it! If it hadn't been for you when we had
+the forest fires up at the lake, Camp Benton would have been wiped out."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I guess you'd have managed all right with the guides," said Jack.
+"You always try to make out that I do more than I do, Jim. You must be
+trying to give me a swelled head."</p>
+
+<p>"No danger of that, I guess," said Burroughs, laughing. "You're pretty
+level-headed, young man. By the way, I heard you had some trouble lately
+with a man called Broom. Anything in that?"</p>
+
+<p>Jack's face darkened. Jim was bringing up a painful subject. But Pete
+Stubbs spoke up for him.</p>
+
+<p>"Trouble?" he said. "Well, I guess yes, Mr. Burroughs! You heard about
+how Jack broke up the plot to wreck the train and rob it when he and Tom
+Binns were on a hike together?"</p>
+
+<p>Jim nodded.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Broom was mixed up with that gang in some fashion. Then,
+afterward, we found that he was really after Jack. You know all about
+Jack's queer life up at Woodleigh&mdash;about Old Dan and all that?"</p>
+
+<p>"I know that Jack never knew much about himself&mdash;his real name and who
+his mother and father were. You're still trying to find out about all
+that, aren't you, Jack?"</p>
+
+<p>"You bet I am!" said Jack, his face lighting up at the thought. "And I'm
+going to do it, too!"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, this Broom," Pete Stubbs went on, "was trying to find out where
+Jack had gone from Woodleigh. He didn't know that our Jack was the one
+he was looking for, or we don't know what he'd have done. So he had a
+double reason to be after him, though all he knew was that Jack might
+give dangerous evidence against those pals of his who were mixed up with
+the train business."</p>
+
+<p>"I see! He was really playing against himself, without knowing it,
+wasn't he?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. That was the funny part of it. Well, Broom and some other crooked
+people got an old gentleman and his daughter to trust them. The old
+gentleman, whose name was Burton, was looking for a boy, his brother's
+son, who was kidnaped when he was a baby. We think it may be Jack, and
+we're going to try to find out. Broom made the Burtons think that he
+could find the boy they were looking for, and he got a lot of money out
+of them."</p>
+
+<p>"Gee, Pete, that sounds pretty interesting! Was that how the trouble
+came with Broom?"</p>
+
+<p>"One of the ways, yes. When we were down at the shore a little while ago
+they tried to get hold of Jack. One night there was a pretty bad storm,
+and that was the night they picked out. Jack and I, with Mr. Durland and
+Dick Crawford, went out to rescue the Burtons, who had been left on
+their yacht, and when we got back some of us caught Broom and a friend
+of his. But they were rescued afterward by the sailors who had quit the
+yacht, and Jack raced into Wellbourne, and got most of them arrested.
+But Broom got away, in some fashion, after they had taken him to jail.
+So we don't know what's become of him."</p>
+
+<p>"How about the Burtons, Pete? Have you found out yet whether they're
+really Jack's long-lost relatives or not?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, not yet. Mr. Burton was terribly ill after the wreck of his yacht.
+He was exposed to the sea and the wind for a long time that night, you
+see, and as soon as he could be moved, he was sent to Europe by his
+doctor. Until they get back we sha'n't be able to tell for certain."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm glad they're over there, anyhow," said Jack, breaking in. "I think
+they're safe from Broom over there."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll tell you someone that isn't glad, though," said red-headed Pete
+Stubbs, mischievously. "That's Dick Crawford!"</p>
+
+<p>The Assistant Scout-Master, who hadn't heard the conversation that had
+preceded Pete's mischievous remark, came up just then.</p>
+
+<p>"What is it that doesn't make me glad like everyone else?" asked Dick,
+unsuspiciously, and everyone laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"Discovered, Dick!" cried Jim Burroughs, laughing. "I hear that a
+certain beautiful young lady has charmed you&mdash;the one man I knew that I
+thought was proof against the ladies!"</p>
+
+<p>Dick flushed furiously, but he saw that there was no use in attempting
+to deny the charge. He seized Pete Stubbs, jestingly, by the neck,
+however, and shook him hard.</p>
+
+<p>"I've a good mind to give you the licking of your young life, you
+red-headed rascal!" he cried, but there was no malice in his tone, and
+Pete knew that the threat would never be carried out.</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't do anything but tell the truth," protested Pete. "Let go of
+me, Dick! If it wasn't true, you wouldn't be so mad!"</p>
+
+<p>"He's right, Dick, my boy," said Burroughs, much amused. "We've caught
+you with the goods. It's nothing to be ashamed of&mdash;we all do it, sooner
+or later, you know. You've done well to escape the charms of the other
+sex so long, it seems to me."</p>
+
+<p>Then the Scouts began to drift away, and Dick and Jim Burroughs were
+left alone.</p>
+
+<p>"Did they tell you of the way Jack's been pursued by this fellow Broom?"
+asked Dick.</p>
+
+<p>"They told me enough to worry me, Dick. We mustn't let anything happen
+to that boy."</p>
+
+<p>"I'd a good deal rather have something happen to me, Jim. But he's shown
+that he's pretty well able to take care of himself. Down at the beach
+there we all helped, but he was the one who really beat them, after all,
+when it came to the point. They were mighty determined. I think myself
+that they know who he is, although Jack himself and some of the others
+don't. But my idea is that there is a very queer secret about him, that
+they know all about it, and that they think it is to their advantage to
+keep Jack from learning the truth and also to keep those who may be
+looking for him from finding him."</p>
+
+<p>"How about these Burtons, Dick? Do you really think that Jack is the boy
+they're looking for, or is that just one of Pete's wild guesses?"</p>
+
+<p>"Miss Burton and I have talked that over two or three times, and while
+we're not sure, owing to Mr. Burton's illness, which made it impossible
+for us to discover certain things which would probably have made matters
+clear, we both agree that it looks very much as if Jack were the one.
+She thinks so, anyway, and she's quite prepared to acknowledge him as
+her cousin."</p>
+
+<p>"Is she pretty, Dick, you sly old fox?"</p>
+
+<p>"She certainly is, Jim! You can't tease me about her. I'm crazy about
+her, and I don't care who knows it. But she'd never look at me, I know
+that!"</p>
+
+<p>"You can't tell, Dick. They're funny that way. You'd never think that
+Bess Benton would have any use for me, but we're engaged, and we're
+going to be married in a few months. Never give up hope, old chap!
+You've got as good a chance as anyone else. What more do you want?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I'm not going to worry about that now, anyhow, Jim. She'll be
+away for some time yet, I'm afraid. And I've got to wait until I'm doing
+better than I am now before I can even think about getting engaged, much
+less married."</p>
+
+<p>"You can think about it as much as you like, Dick, and it will do you
+good. The more you think about it, the harder you'll work and the better
+you'll get on. I've found that out, and I guess it's true with most of
+us."</p>
+
+<p>"I guess the council's over, Jim. Here comes Captain Durland, and the
+other officers seem to be leaving, too. I wonder what's doing."</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing much, probably. But I'll leave you to find out and get back to
+my regiment."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2>
+
+<h3>AN INTENTIONAL BLUNDER</h3>
+
+
+<p>"You're wanted for duty again, Jack," said Captain Durland, when he
+returned from the council of war in General Harkness's tent.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm all ready, sir," said Jack. "Gee, I think I've had it easy, riding
+around in an automobile, when all the rest of the fellows were scouting
+on foot."</p>
+
+<p>"You'll make up for it, if you have been having it any easier," said the
+Scout-Master, with a smile. "This job that you've got on your hands now
+means a whole lot of work. You're to go to Fessenden Junction first, and
+make a detail map of the tracks about the depot there. I don't know just
+why it's wanted, or why it wasn't done before, but that's none of our
+business. Then when that's done, you're to bring it back here. After
+that I guess you'll have plenty more to do. But I won't tell you about
+the rest of it until you've finished that."</p>
+
+<p>"Am I to go alone?" asked Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"No. I want it done as quickly as possible, so you'd better take Peter
+Stubbs and Tom Binns along with you. Divide the work up and it won't
+take you very long. That's the easy part of it."</p>
+
+<p>The Boy Scouts had studied map-making from a practical, working point of
+view, and it was no sort of a job for the three of them to make the
+required map.</p>
+
+<p>"I see why they need this map, all right," said Jack. "There are a whole
+lot of new tracks in here, and the whole yard has been changed around
+within the last few weeks. That explains it. The old maps wouldn't be of
+much use for anyone who was depending on them for quick understanding of
+the railroad situation here."</p>
+
+<p>"Now," said Durland, when they returned, "I've got the most difficult
+task that's been assigned to you yet, Jack. You've got only about one
+chance in a thousand of succeeding in it, but it's my own plan, and I'll
+be very pleased and proud if you do accomplish it. I want two of you to
+take the car, get inside the enemy's lines, with or without the car, as
+far as you can, and then get yourselves taken prisoners. What we want is
+for you to be near enough to General Bliss's headquarters to get some
+sort of an inkling of the nature of the attack that will be made.</p>
+
+<p>"There is a dangerous weakness of the position here, which could hardly
+have been foreseen when the campaign was laid out in advance. That is,
+anyone getting control of Tryon Creek, which is practically dry in the
+summer, is in a position to dominate one side of the prospective
+battlefield. There are two lines of attack open to General Bliss. If he
+chooses Tryon Creek we must keep him from occupying it at all costs. To
+do that we would have to uncover the other side&mdash;the road from Mardean."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm to try to find out which line of attack they will follow, then,
+sir? Is that it?" asked Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. We must know before the actual attack begins, or it will be too
+late. Now I want you to understand my plan. I haven't thought of the
+details, because they will depend absolutely on conditions as you may
+find them to be. But here is the outline. Three of you will take the
+car. You, Jack, and one other Scout will leave that, when there is no
+longer a chance of continuing to use it, and proceed on foot until you
+are well within the enemy's lines. Then you will manage to get captured,
+while seeming to make an effort to escape."</p>
+
+<p>"Are we to give our parole then, sir?"</p>
+
+<p>"On no account! But pretend to be frightened and discouraged. That is
+legitimate. You mustn't give your word not to attempt to escape, because
+that is an essential part of the plan. I have an idea that they will not
+keep a very close watch on you, and that you will find it quite possible
+to make a dash for liberty after dark. But before you do that you must
+try to discover where the attack is to be made, by keeping your ears
+open and your eyes as well, for possible movements of guns. Then you can
+try to get away, rejoin the automobile, and get back to our lines. Do
+you understand?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir, I do! I think Pete Stubbs would be a good one to go with me,
+with Tom Binns to look after the car, because he knows how to drive it.
+Then if Pete and I couldn't both get away, one of us ought to be able to
+manage it, I should think, anyhow."</p>
+
+<p>"That's the reason for sending two of you, of course," said Durland.
+"It's an outside chance, but you've done things almost as difficult.
+Remember that you must exercise the utmost caution. In time of real
+warfare no enterprise could be more dangerous, and the mere fact that
+there is no actual danger involved now is no reason for you to grow
+careless, though I need hardly give you such a warning."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll do my best, sir," said Jack, enthusiastically. "It would certainly
+be a great joke on them if we could work it."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, do the best you can. I don't want you to think that I really
+expect you to succeed. I think the chances are desperate. But, even if
+you cannot escape, there will be no difficulty about exchanging you, for
+we have a great many of their prisoners, including a number of officers,
+and they will be very glad to get them back. Otherwise I am sure General
+Harkness would never have consented to let you make the effort."</p>
+
+<p>"If this were real war, and they saw us trying to escape, they would
+fire at us, wouldn't they?" asked Jack. "What I want to know is whether
+we're assumed to be shot, and have to stop if they see us and get a
+shot?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, at any range less than a hundred yards. Above that range a
+prisoner escaping is supposed to have a good chance to get away. He has
+to stop, but need not show himself, and unless he is found he can resume
+his attempts to escape."</p>
+
+<p>Then Durland explained briefly to Pete Stubbs and Tom Binns the parts
+they were assigned to play in this newest development of the war game,
+and, thrilling with excitement, they took their seats with Jack in the
+grey scout car.</p>
+
+<p>"It won't be dark for a couple of hours yet," said Jack. "I think that's
+a good thing because we couldn't get very far in the enemy's lines with
+this car in daylight. So I'm going to take a long circle again and come
+down on them from behind. I'm not sure of where General Bliss's quarters
+are, but I should think they were probably pretty near Newville. If we
+come down the Newville pike from the direction of Smithville, it will be
+safe enough. Their watch will be closer in this direction, and by going
+around for about fifty miles we can manage that easily enough."</p>
+
+<p>"Gee, you talk about driving a car fifty miles the way I would about
+getting on the trolley car at home," said Pete, admiringly.</p>
+
+<p>"If you can drive at all, it isn't much harder, if you've got the time,
+to drive fifty miles than it is to drive five," said Jack. "And this
+time it's a lot safer. It's certainly one time when the longest way
+around is the shortest cut. We don't want to be caught until about ten
+o'clock, Pete. You understand that."</p>
+
+<p>They roared through Smithville as it began to get dark, and then down
+the Newville pike. Jack slowed down when he was sure that he had plenty
+of margin in time, and through the growing dusk they saw the campfires
+of the Blue army springing up in all directions before them.</p>
+
+<p>"Gee, there must be an awful lot of them," said Pete. "This is the
+closest I've been to them since we got started. You know, it makes me
+feel kind of shivery, even though I know that they won't do anything to
+us when they do catch us, Jack."</p>
+
+<p>"That just shows that you really get into the spirit of it," said Jack,
+laughing happily. "If we remembered all the time that this was only a
+game, we wouldn't be doing things the right way at all. If you feel a
+little scary, and something like the way you'd feel if it was a real
+enemy in front of us, it'll only make you a bit more careful, and that's
+just what we want. We want them to think, when they catch us, that we're
+surprised and scared, and if we can make ourselves feel that way, so
+much the better. It's much easier to make other people believe a thing
+if you half believe it yourself, even if you know down at the bottom of
+your heart it isn't so at all."</p>
+
+<p>A few rods farther on Jack swerved the car into a field.</p>
+
+<p>"Here's a good place to stop, I guess," said Jack. "It's pretty quiet
+here, and we'll get along, Pete, and find out as much as we can before
+we let them catch us. You'll be all right here, Tom. Turn the car around
+and keep it right here, no matter what happens. If there seems to be a
+chance of your being caught, leave the car, but keep the spark plug in
+your pocket. Then they'll find it impossible to do much with it. It's
+too heavy to do much pushing, and I don't believe you're likely to be
+seen, anyhow, under the hedge here. We may have to make a mighty quick
+run for it if we get back here at all."</p>
+
+<p>"Suppose you don't get away, Jack? Shall I wait here?"</p>
+
+<p>"Wait until daylight, no longer. Not quite daylight, either. Let's
+see&mdash;figure to the sunrise, and wait till half an hour before that. And
+if you do have to go back alone, don't take any chances at all on being
+caught. Make even a wider circle than we did coming here, and don't go
+near Mardean. The car is a good deal more important than any of us. And
+don't forget, if you do have to leave the car and take to the woods, to
+take the spark plug with you. Do that, even if you just get out to get a
+drink at a well, or anything like that. Remember that we're right in the
+heart of the enemy's country, and you can't tell what minute you're
+likely to be attacked."</p>
+
+<p>"All right, Jack. I don't believe they'll see me here, either. But I'll
+do the best I can if they do, and I'll be here, unless they pick me up
+and carry me away."</p>
+
+<p>"That's the right spirit, Tom! I think you've got the hardest part of
+all. Pete and I've got something to do, and something pretty exciting,
+too. But you've just got to wait here in the dark for something to
+happen."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't let it get on your nerves, Tom," said Pete. "It's hard work, but
+keep your nerve, and you'll be all right. Coming, Jack? So long, Tom!"</p>
+
+<p>"So long, Pete and Jack! Good luck! I hope you'll get away from them all
+right&mdash;and get what you're after, too."</p>
+
+<p>It was almost pitch dark by this time. The moon would not rise until
+very late, and the night had the peculiar blackness that sometimes comes
+before the moon appears. The country was thickly wooded here, which
+worked to the advantage of Jack and his companion. Most of the country
+in which Jack had been operating so far had been fairly open, which
+would have increased the difficulty of their task very much if the scene
+of operations had not been shifted eastward by the action near Newville
+that morning.</p>
+
+<p>"How far are we from their headquarters now, Jack?" asked Pete.</p>
+
+<p>"About a mile and a half, I think, Pete. I can't be sure, of course, but
+I think that's a pretty good guess. I could have run the car a little
+nearer and probably still been safe, but I didn't want to take chances.
+If we lose the car we can't get it back. If we're captured, why, they
+can get someone else to run the car, but we wouldn't be any good if we
+lost the machine."</p>
+
+<p>"We'll want to be pretty careful, though, as we go along, Jack."</p>
+
+<p>"Sure we will! But it won't be any harder than scouting the way we've
+learned to do, Pete. These people aren't looking for us, and we've done
+a lot of scouting when other fellows who were on the lookout for us knew
+just about where we were."</p>
+
+<p>The lay of the land favored the two Scouts decidedly as they made their
+way onward. They were able to progress through the woods, but they did
+not have to go so deep into them that they could not observe, as they
+moved along, the situation in the open country that marched with the
+woods. In these fields they saw the twinkling of numerous fires, and
+they judged that the enemy was thick alongside, so to speak.</p>
+
+<p>"They ought to watch these woods better than they do," whispered Jack.
+"Gee, I can see how their whole camp is laid out! That's one thing
+they're weak in&mdash;and it shows how important it is. They have fine
+strategy, but they're weak on details, like guarding their camp. If they
+don't watch these woods better when we start to make our get-away, we'll
+have it pretty easy."</p>
+
+<p>"That looks like headquarters, Jack. See, over there?"</p>
+
+<p>"You're right, Pete. And I'll bet they're planning to move before
+daylight, too. That's why 'Lights out!' was sounded so early. That was
+the call we heard about three quarters of an hour ago."</p>
+
+<p>A light still showed in one of two big, adjoining tents, however, and
+the sound of voices came distinctly from it.</p>
+
+<p>Jack waited until they were abreast of the tent.</p>
+
+<p>"This will be a good place, Pete," he said. "There'll be a guard there.
+We want to pretend to make a run for it. Come on, now&mdash;make a little
+noise!"</p>
+
+<p>Pete obeyed. The next moment the sharp challenge of a sentry rang out,
+and a shot followed. Jack and Pete ran, as if frightened and confused,
+right out into the midst of the sleeping men, and a moment later they
+were the prisoners of a group of laughing militiamen.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2>
+
+<h3>A RACE FOR FREEDOM</h3>
+
+
+<p>"They've got us, Pete," said Jack, dejectedly.</p>
+
+<p>"Here, who are you, and where did you come from?" said a sleepy officer,
+running up.</p>
+
+<p>"We've caught a couple of spies, sir," said one of their captors.</p>
+
+<p>"We are not spies!" cried Pete, indignantly. "Can't you see that we're
+in uniform?"</p>
+
+<p>"Hello, that's an aggressive young fighter, all right!" said the
+officer, smiling at Pete's red-headed wrath. "No wonder&mdash;look at his
+hair! Boy Scouts, eh? Do you belong to Durland's Troop?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir," said Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"How did you get here?"</p>
+
+<p>"I d&mdash;don't know, sir. We hadn't any idea we were right among you till
+we heard the sentry challenge us."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, we won't eat you, my boy. No need to be frightened. Here,
+Corporal, put them in the guard tent. We haven't many prisoners&mdash;I guess
+we can take them along in the morning and let them see us lick the Reds
+at Tryon Creek."</p>
+
+<p>Jack almost betrayed himself by the involuntary gasp he gave as the
+lieutenant revealed the secret he had taken so much trouble to surprise.
+Here was luck with a vengeance! The very information they wanted was
+being handed to them on a silver platter. But he managed to restrain his
+emotions, so that no one should suspect the elation he felt at the
+discovery.</p>
+
+<p>Tryon Creek! That meant it was doubly important for the news to be
+carried back to General Harkness, for it showed that General Bliss had
+seized upon the weak spot in the Red line of defense, the necessity for
+weakening one spot to strengthen another, and, moreover, that the Blue
+army was far from being out of it as a result of the success of General
+Bean in the minor engagement of Tuesday morning.</p>
+
+<p>Jack nudged Pete as they were being led away to the guard tent. And Pete
+nudged back, to show that he understood. That pleased Jack, for he knew
+now that the all-important information had a double chance of being
+carried to General Harkness. If he were baffled in his attempt to escape
+and Pete did manage to get away, the news would go with him.</p>
+
+<p>"You two boys can give your parole in the morning," said the young
+officer. "The guard tent's the only place where there's room for you
+to-night, and anyhow you'll be just as comfortable there as if you'd
+given your parole."</p>
+
+<p>Then he went off, leaving them to the care of the corporal of the guard,
+who seemed immensely amused. That relieved Jack, too. He had feared that
+they would be offered their parole, and that to refuse to give it would
+mean an added watchfulness on the part of their captors and jailers, as
+the Blue soldiers had become. Now he was relieved from that danger. It
+was lucky, he thought, that the officer was loose and careless in his
+methods.</p>
+
+<p>In the guard tent they found themselves alone.</p>
+
+<p>"Guess you can sleep all right in here," said the corporal. "It's a
+pretty comfortable prison, and there's lots of room. If you get lonely,
+call the sentry. He'll talk to you."</p>
+
+<p>"Thanks," said Jack. "I'm sure you're very kind."</p>
+
+<p>But he was really angry at the condescending way in which the Blue
+corporal spoke. As soon as he was alone with Pete he expressed his
+disgust, too.</p>
+
+<p>"Gee, Pete," said he, "I thought this was going to be hard. It's like
+taking candy from a kid. They'll catch us if we go up to them and ask
+them please to do it, just the way we did before. And that corporal was
+acting as if we were little boys! I hope he finds out some time that
+we're the ones that spoiled their Tryon Creek plan for them."</p>
+
+<p>"Hold on," said Pete, laughing. "We haven't done it yet, Jack. Gee,
+usually you're the one that keeps me from going off at halfcock. We're
+not out of the woods yet, old boy."</p>
+
+<p>"That's right, too, Pete, but he did get my goat. He's so cocky! Some of
+our fellows are a little like that, too, I guess, but I haven't happened
+to run into any of them yet."</p>
+
+<p>"I was just as mad as you were, Jack, but we have got a lot to do yet
+before we get back to Tom. How are we going to get out of here?"</p>
+
+<p>"Cut our way out," he said, shortly. He looked back toward the flap of
+the tent in disgust. "They didn't even take our knives away from us. I
+wonder if they thought we were going to stay here like little lambs. And
+they didn't even ask us for our parole! I'll bet someone will get
+court-martialed for this&mdash;and they ought to, too."</p>
+
+<p>Still looking his disgust, he began to cut through the stout canvas of
+the tent. As he had suspected, there was no sentry at all in the rear of
+the tent, and it was a matter of five minutes to cut a hole big enough
+to let them get out.</p>
+
+<p>"Here we go, Pete!" he whispered. "We can get away now any time we want
+to. Might as well do it now, too. No use waiting any longer than we have
+to."</p>
+
+<p>They slipped out quietly, within ten minutes of the time when they were
+put in the guard tent. Quietly still, and using every bit of Scout craft
+that they knew, they made their way to the shelter of the woods,
+wondering every minute why some alarm was not raised. But a dead silence
+still prevailed behind them when they crept into the sheltering shadow
+of the trees, and, once there, they straightened up and began to more
+fast.</p>
+
+<p>First they went some distance into the woods, so as to lessen the danger
+of discovery should their absence from the tent be discovered, and then
+they struck out boldly in the direction which they had traveled only a
+short time before, making their way back toward the place where they had
+left Tom and the grey scout car.</p>
+
+<p>"Gee," said Pete, drawing a long breath, "that certainly was easy! You
+were right, Jack. I thought they must be setting some sort of a trap for
+us. It didn't really seem as if they could be going to leave things
+fixed so nicely for us. Why, they might better have turned us loose at
+once! Then someone with more sense might have picked us up and really
+held on to us before we could get out."</p>
+
+<p>"They ought to be licked for being so careless," said Jack. "I'll put
+everything that happened in the camp into my report. I'll bet the next
+time they get prisoners, they'll look after them all right! It makes me
+sore, because they're supposed to be learning how to act in case of a
+real war just as much as we are, and it shows that there's an awful lot
+of things they don't know at all."</p>
+
+<p>In the east now the first faint stirrings of the light of the coming
+moon that would soon make the country light began to show.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm glad we got through so soon, anyhow," said Jack, then. "For Tom
+Binns' sake, mostly. It must have been scary work for him, just sitting
+there in the dark, waiting for us."</p>
+
+<p>"He won't have to wait much longer, Jack. He's certainly a plucky one! I
+know that waiting that way scares him half to death, but you never hear
+a peep out of him. He just does as he's told, and never whimpers at
+all."</p>
+
+<p>"He's got what's really the highest courage of all, though he doesn't
+know it himself, Pete. He's got the pluck to do things when he's deadly
+afraid of doing them. There are a lot of people like that who are
+accused of being cowards, when they're really heroes for trying to do
+things they're afraid of. I've got much more respect for them than I
+have for people who aren't afraid of things. There's nothing brave about
+doing a thing you're not afraid of."</p>
+
+<p>"There's the car now, Jack! We haven't wasted much time coming back,
+anyhow."</p>
+
+<p>Jack put his hand to his lips and imitated the cry of a crow. That was
+the sign of the Crow Patrol, to which all three of the Scouts belonged.</p>
+
+<p>"There comes his answer! That means the coast is clear. I was half
+afraid they might have caught him and the car. It wouldn't have done at
+all for us to escape as we have and then walk into a trap here&mdash;that
+would make us look pretty foolish, it seems to me."</p>
+
+<p>"You're right it would, Jack. Hello, Tom! Anything doing here while we
+were gone?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not a thing! How on earth did you get back so soon? Did you get what
+you were looking for?"</p>
+
+<p>"I guess we did! Get the spark plug in, Tom, and we'll be off."</p>
+
+<p>A few moments saw them on the road again, and moving fast. In the
+distance now, as they sped along, Jack's practiced ear caught a strange
+sound, and he slowed down so that he might listen the better.</p>
+
+<p>"Say," he cried, in sudden excitement, "that's another car! And what's
+an automobile doing here at this time of night?"</p>
+
+<p>The same thought came to the three of them at once.</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder if it's one of their scout cars," cried Tom Binns, voicing the
+thought. "I've been thinking it was funny we hadn't run into them at
+all, Jack."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, we'll have to look out if it is," said Jack.</p>
+
+<p>The sound grew louder, and it was soon apparent that the other car was
+coming toward them. Jack slowed down, and kept to a slow pace, keeping
+his car as much as possible in the shadow of the trees that hung over
+one side of the road. The other car came on fast, and, as it swept
+around a bend of the road that had hidden it from them, they were almost
+blinded by the great ray from the searchlight it carried. Jack himself
+had been running without lights of any sort, for greater safety from
+detection.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as the driver of the other car saw the machine in which the
+three Scouts were riding, he slowed down. It came alongside in a few
+moments and a man leaned out and hailed Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"What are you doing here?" he cried, and then, before Jack could answer
+the question: "Come on, men, it's one of their cars! We've got to
+capture them!"</p>
+
+<p>As he spoke he slewed his car around, so that it half filled the road,
+and two men leaped to the ground and made for Jack's car.</p>
+
+<p>But Jack had a different plan. He had no mind to surrender tamely now
+when victory was within his grasp. In a moment the big grey car shot
+down the road, and the next moment it was roaring at full speed ahead.
+Behind it, after a stunned moment of surprise and silent inaction,
+thundered the other car, a scout car of the Blue army.</p>
+
+<p>"Gee, this is going to be a real road race!" yelled Jack. "That car is
+this one's twin. They can go just as fast as we can. And they're
+stronger than we are, if they ever catch us&mdash;three men to three boys.
+But they'll have to go some to catch us!"</p>
+
+<p>For the first time since his dash across the State line when the war
+began, Jack let the grey car do its best for him now. It leaped forward
+along the road as if it were alive. But behind, going just as fast,
+keeping the gap between the cars the same, pounded the hostile machine.</p>
+
+<p>Over roads as empty as if they had been cleared by the police for a race
+for the Vanderbilt cup, the two cars sped, kicking up a tremendous dust,
+their exhausts roaring and spitting blue flame, and the noise of their
+passage making a din that Jack thought could be heard for miles. Only
+the big metal hood saved them from being cut to ribbons by the wind and
+the flying dirt and stones that their mad rush threw back from the road
+before them. But Jack had one big advantage, as he guessed. He knew the
+country better, and he was making baffling turns every few minutes. One
+thing he dared not do. He stuck to the road, afraid, at the frightful
+speed, to risk a side trip into the fields, and equally afraid to slow
+down, since that would mean that the other car, never very far behind,
+would be able to catch up to them.</p>
+
+<p>So fast they went that, by making many corner turns, Jack was able to
+turn completely around without attracting the attention of the pursuing
+car. He was heading straight for Bremerton, finally, and his heart
+leaped at the thought that this new and unforeseen danger was going to
+be thrown off. Just to lose the car behind would not be enough, he knew.
+He was playing for high stakes now, and at last he slowed down&mdash;not
+much, but enough to let the other car make a perceptible gain. He felt
+safe now. He knew that the other car was no faster than his own, though
+it was just as fast, and if he had even a hundred yards of lead, he was
+sure he could hold it.</p>
+
+<p>Other campfires were twinkling near by now. The sentries that guarded
+them, he knew, would not fail to hear and guess at the reason for the
+roaring race of the war automobiles.</p>
+
+<p>And at last, making the sharpest sort of a turn, he baffled the
+pursuers. Before they realized what they were doing, they were in the
+midst of Colonel Abbey's regiment, and a minute later they were forced
+to stop by a volley of shots, and instead of capturing the Red scout
+car, as they had hoped, were themselves prisoners.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess that's going some!" cried Pete, as they turned back toward the
+captured car. "We got the news we were after, and we led one of their
+scout cars into a trap, too. That's what I call a pretty good night's
+work. Fine business, Jack! And that was certainly some ride, too! If you
+hadn't been able to drive as well as you do, we'd never have got away
+from them."</p>
+
+<p>"We had a lot of luck," said Jack. "But it certainly was a great race!
+I'll be glad to get some sleep, now. That was pretty tiring work."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2>
+
+<h3>A REAL ENEMY</h3>
+
+
+<p>Jack had led the hostile scout car into the most hopeless sort of a
+trap. He had twisted and turned and doubled on his course so cleverly
+that his pursuers had completely lost their sense of direction. In a
+chase of that sort, with his quarry in front of him, the driver of a
+racing automobile, making from sixty to seventy miles an hour, has no
+chance to watch objects about him.</p>
+
+<p>There Jack's almost uncanny sense of direction and locality had helped
+him mightily. The speed at which he had driven his car had not at all
+confused him. He had known exactly what he was doing, and just where he
+was going, at all times. A few miles had taken him into country over
+which he had already driven, and his memory for any place he had once
+seen was phenomenal. So he had been able, by constant turning and
+doubling, to fool the driver of the enemy's car completely, and lead
+him, all unknowing the fate in store for him, into the very midst of the
+Red troops.</p>
+
+<p>Jack had taken his final turn from the road so sharply that it had been
+impossible for his pursuer to turn quickly enough to follow him. Any
+attempt to do so would have resulted in disaster, and, since this was
+only a mock war, the driver of the other scout car was not justified in
+taking the chance of killing himself and his companions in the effort to
+make the turn. He had gone straight on, therefore, and a few rods had
+carried him into the midst of Abbey's cavalry regiment. A minute was
+enough to surround his car, and a line of troops in front of him made
+him see the hopelessness of escape. Therefore he stopped and
+surrendered.</p>
+
+<p>Jack and his two companions sprang at once from their own car and ran
+quickly, glad of the chance to loosen their tired and aching muscles,
+stiff, sore and cramped from the confinement in one position that the
+wild race had forced, toward the group that was gathered around the
+captured car. Colonel Abbey, himself, the type of a true cavalry leader,
+was questioning the prisoners.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm Captain Beavers, of the regular army," said the man who had driven
+the car, "detached from my regiment to serve on the staff of General
+Bliss. We were returning from a scouting trip in our car when we ran
+into this machine, and we chased it. The driver certainly knew his roads
+better than I did. I haven't had any idea for the last forty minutes of
+where we were going&mdash;I could only see the car ahead, and do all I could
+to catch it."</p>
+
+<p>"How are you, Danby?" said Colonel Abbey, trying to hide a smile.
+"You'll excuse me, Captain, but you remind me a little of the dog that
+chased the railroad train. You know the old story about the farmer who
+watched him do it, and, when he got tired, turned around and said: 'What
+in tarnation do you reckon he'd do with that engine if he caught it?'"</p>
+
+<p>Beavers laughed a bit ruefully.</p>
+
+<p>"Something in that, Colonel!" he admitted. "I suppose it was a good deal
+like chasing a bird to put salt on its tail. But it was sheer instinct
+with us&mdash;nothing more. We saw that car start up, and we chased it. A
+fine lot of trouble it's got us into, too! But I guess we'd do the same
+thing again, probably."</p>
+
+<p>"Any of us would, Captain," said Abbey. "Don't feel bad about it. We'll
+have to impound your car, but if you'll give me your parole, I'll be
+glad to give you the run of the camp."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you," said Captain Beavers. "I say, I'd like to see the man who
+led me that chase. I had an idea that I knew something about driving a
+fast car, but he can show me lots of things I never knew at all."</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly his eye fell upon Jack Danby, whose hands gave abundant
+evidence that he was the chauffeur. The captain's jaw dropped and he
+stared at the Scout in amazement.</p>
+
+<p>"You don't mean to tell me that it was you who was driving that car?" he
+gasped, finally.</p>
+
+<p>"Permit me," said Colonel Abbey, smiling. "Scout Jack Danby, of
+Durland's Troop, Captain, and the operator of our first scout automobile
+ever since these maneuvers began."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I'll be jiggered!" said Beavers, speaking slowly. "You're all
+right, my boy! You drove that car like a Lancia. If you entered one of
+the big road races I believe you'd win it&mdash;upon my word I do!"</p>
+
+<p>"We had a big lead at the start," said Jack; then, flushing a little at
+this public praise, "You see, the two cars are supposed to be exactly
+alike, and if one is just as fast as the other, and two of them get into
+a race, it's only natural for the one that has the start to keep its
+lead. I don't think I deserve any special credit for that. All I had to
+do was to keep her at full speed and steer."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, but it took more than that to lead us into this little man trap
+you had ready for us. Don't forget that!"</p>
+
+<p>"Danby," said Colonel Abbey then, significantly, "you'd better get over
+to your headquarters and report to Captain Durland, if you have any
+information as a result of your trip. He is probably anxious to learn
+what you have accomplished."</p>
+
+<p>Jack saluted at once, and turned on his heel. The headquarters of the
+Scouts was a mile or so distant from Abbey's camp, so the three Scouts
+got in the car again.</p>
+
+<p>"Gee," said Jack, as he tested his gasoline tank, "we couldn't have gone
+much farther, that's sure! The juice is pretty low here, and if we had
+had to go a mile or so farther I don't know what might have happened. I
+guess he could have put the salt he was talking about on our tails
+easily enough."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, he didn't, anyhow," said Tom Binns. "It isn't what they might
+have done, but what they did, that counts, Jack. I think we came out of
+it jolly well. Gee, but I was scared when that headlight hit us first!"</p>
+
+<p>Durland was up and waiting for them when they arrived.</p>
+
+<p>"Tryon Creek, eh?" said he, when Jack had made his report. "I thought as
+much. They may have weaknesses of their own in the matter of keeping a
+close guard, but General Bliss doesn't overlook anything in the way of
+strategy. He is mighty wide-awake on any point of that sort. I think
+I'll let you drive me over to General Harkness's headquarters and go in
+with you while you make your report in person, Jack."</p>
+
+<p>General Harkness had to be awakened, but he had left orders that he was
+to be called at once should the Boy Scouts bring any news, and they had
+no difficulty in reaching him.</p>
+
+<p>"You don't think there can be any mistake about their intention to march
+by way of Tryon Creek, do you?" he asked, with a grave face, when Jack
+had finished making his report.</p>
+
+<p>"No, general, I do not," said Jack, and he explained the manner in which
+he had obtained his information.</p>
+
+<p>"That lieutenant, you see, thought we were pretty well scared, and it
+never entered his head that we might try to escape," he said. "I've got
+an idea myself that they haven't found out yet that we've gone, really.
+There was no hue and cry raised while we were slipping out of their
+lines and back to the automobile, and I'm sure that we would have heard
+if there had been any pursuit. It's my idea that they won't discover
+that we're missing until breakfast. Even then, they're not likely to
+suspect that we know as much as we do, and I don't believe it will occur
+to that lieutenant to tell anyone that we learned from him where their
+attack was to be made. He'll probably forget that he said what he did."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope so," said General Harkness. "In any case we will act on the
+information. If they knew that you had escaped with that news, I think
+General Bliss would be quite likely to change his plan. But I imagine
+that you are right about the officer who put you in the guard tent. His
+every action shows that he is careless and unlikely to think of the
+really important nature of the disclosure he made so lightly. I think we
+may assume with a fair amount of safety that they will attack by way of
+Tryon Creek, and I shall lay my plans accordingly and mass my troops at
+that point."</p>
+
+<p>Jack had referred only incidentally to the race with the other car, but
+now the bell of the field telephone in the General's tent rang sharply,
+and an orderly answered it.</p>
+
+<p>"Colonel Abbey, General," he said. "He wishes to know if he may talk to
+you."</p>
+
+<p>Jack and Durland waited during the conversation that followed. General
+Harkness began laughing in a moment, and, after a conversation of five
+or six minutes, he hung up the receiver, his eyes wet with the tears his
+laughter had produced and his sides shaking.</p>
+
+<p>"You leave out the most interesting part of your adventures when you
+think you can, don't you?" said he. "Do you know that Captain Beavers is
+regarded as the most expert driver of automobiles in the regular army?
+He invented the type of scout car that is being tried out, and you have
+beaten him squarely at a game that he should be the absolute master of."</p>
+
+<p>"I hadn't heard a word about this," said Durland, showing a good deal of
+interest.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose we never would have from Danby," said the general. "That's
+what Abbey said&mdash;that was why he called me up."</p>
+
+<p>And he proceeded to recount, while Jack, embarrassed, stood first on one
+foot and then on the other, the events that led up to the capture of the
+enemy's car, as Abbey had learned them from Captain Beavers. Far from
+being sore at his capture, Beavers regarded the whole affair as a fine
+joke on himself, and was only eager to find listeners who would give him
+a chance to repeat the story.</p>
+
+<p>"That was fine work, Jack," said the Scout-Master, his eyes showing how
+proud he was of the Scout who had done his duty so well. "You
+accomplished something to-night that General Harkness and I were agreed
+was next door to impossible."</p>
+
+<p>"It certainly seemed so to me," said the general, nodding his head. "But
+we needed that information badly, and I was ready to consent to any
+plan, however desperate the chances of success seemed to be, if it gave
+us even an outside chance to learn what it was that the enemy intended
+to do. We couldn't defend Tryon Creek and the Mardean road together,
+though we could block either one or the other, if we only knew where to
+look for the attack. As it is, thanks to what you have brought back, I
+think that we need have no fear of the outcome of the battle."</p>
+
+<p>General Harkness, once aroused, and understanding what he had to do,
+stayed up. It was no time for him to sleep, and, as was presently
+proved, the army had had all the rest that was its due that night. For
+even as Jack and Durland made their way back to their own headquarters,
+the bugles began to blow, and the sleeping ranks began to stir all over
+the great encampment.</p>
+
+<p>The transition from sleep to wakefulness and activity was brief enough.
+The bugles, blowing in all directions, aroused the sleepers, and soon
+all was bustle and apparent confusion all over the camp. But it was only
+apparent. Soon ordered ranks appeared, and all around the odor of frying
+bacon, and the aroma of coffee told of breakfast being cooked under the
+stars and the late moon, for it was recognized that there might be hard
+marching and plenty of it before there would be a chance for another
+meal. Two brigades were to start at once on the march to Tryon Creek,
+and General Harkness had ordered that the men eat their breakfast and
+receive a field ration before the march began.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess we can turn in," said Jack to Pete and Tom, with a sigh of
+utter weariness. "Seems funny to be going to bed when everyone else is
+getting up&mdash;but they got in ahead of us on their sleep, so I guess it's
+our turn all right."</p>
+
+<p>"Me for the hay, too!" said Pete Stubbs, without much thought for
+elegance of expression, but in such a tone as to convince anyone who
+heard him that he really needed sleep. As for Tom Binns, he hadn't been
+more than half awake since he had tumbled out of the car after the race,
+and he was leaning against a post, nodding, when the others aroused him
+to go upstairs.</p>
+
+<p>The bustle and din of the army getting underway didn't keep Jack and his
+companions from sleeping. They cared little for all the noise, and even
+the rumbling of the gun caissons as the artillery went by was not enough
+to disturb them at all.</p>
+
+<p>When Jack awoke it was broad daylight. He sprang to the window and
+looked out, to see that the sun was high, and that it must be after
+noon. In the distance the sound of firing told him that the troops were
+finding plenty of action. But the village street of Bremerton was
+deserted. There was no sign, except a litter of papers and scraps, that
+an army had ever disturbed the peace of the little border line village.</p>
+
+<p>"Here, Pete, wake up!" he cried. "The whole army's gone&mdash;and we're left
+behind! Let's get dressed and see if there are any orders down below for
+us."</p>
+
+<p>Pete got up, shaking his tousled red head disgustedly. He struggled over
+to the window, and a moment later a sharp cry from him brought Jack to
+his side.</p>
+
+<p>"Jack! Look! Over there&mdash;looking up this way, now. See, it's Broom!"</p>
+
+<p>Jack looked. There could be no doubt about it. The man who was lounging
+across the street was Broom, the villain who had escaped after Jack had
+caused his arrest at Wellbourne, and who had more than once tried to
+harm Jack and his friends.</p>
+
+<p>"You're right, Pete," said Jack, quietly. "It's Broom!"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV</h2>
+
+<h3>A PARLEY WITH THE ENEMY</h3>
+
+
+<p>Even Tom Binns, sleepy as he was, and hard as it usually was to arouse
+him, was wide awake as soon as he heard what his companions had seen.</p>
+
+<p>"Broom!" he cried. "What's he doing here?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know," said Jack, as he dressed hurriedly. "But I guess we'll
+soon find out, unless he's changed his ways. Whenever he appears it's a
+first-rate sign that there's trouble in the air. He's as good as a storm
+warning. Whenever you see him, look out for squalls, and you're not
+likely to be disappointed."</p>
+
+<p>"He won't try to make any mischief here, with a whole army ready to drop
+on him if he starts anything," said Pete. "I believe he's all sorts of a
+scoundrel, and he's got plenty of nerve&mdash;but not enough for that."</p>
+
+<p>"That's what we thought at the seashore, too, Pete, didn't we?" said
+Jack. "But he made trouble, all right, and it was only by good luck,
+really, that we got on to what he had in his dirty mind and stopped
+him."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, that's so, too, Jack. Gee, I wish I was a little bigger&mdash;I'd jump
+him myself and do all I could to lick him within an inch of his life!"</p>
+
+<p>"What do you think we'd better do, Jack?" asked Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"We've got to find out first what orders there are from Captain Durland.
+Then we can tell better. If Broom leaves me alone, I won't do anything
+about him. We're on active duty now, and we're not supposed to let any
+of our private affairs interfere with our duty. We're just as much bound
+to obey orders as if the country were really at war."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm not worrying about interfering with him, Jack," said Pete, with a
+grin. "I'm perfectly willing to let him alone&mdash;in this State. His pull
+is in good working order here, you know. It wouldn't do any good, even
+if we did have him arrested. I don't believe he'd ever be taken back to
+Wellbourne for trial, because he and his gang know that there's a good
+chance that he might be sent to prison if he were ever taken there. But
+suppose he interferes with us? That's just what he's here to do, I
+think, if the way he always has acted is any guide to what he's likely
+to do now."</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said Jack, "all we can do is to mind our own business and pay no
+attention to him at all, Pete, unless he bothers us. If he lets us
+alone, why, we'll do the same by him."</p>
+
+<p>Then they went downstairs, and Jack found a note left for him by
+Durland.</p>
+
+<p>"I have left orders that you are not to be awakened, unless you wake up
+yourselves, before three o'clock," the Scout-Master had written; "you
+three have had plenty of work, and you are entitled to a good rest. The
+Troop will be on scout duty near Tryon Creek, but your orders are to use
+the car, and reconnoiter in the direction of Mardean. The fighting will
+swing the Blue center over in that direction, unless we are badly
+beaten, and your orders are to keep a close watch on the roads leading
+to Fessenden Junction. It is possible that General Bliss may make a raid
+in that direction, probably with his cavalry brigade. Timely warning of
+any such plan is important, as it is not desirable to detach any
+considerable number of troops to guard the Junction."</p>
+
+<p>"What would they want to make a raid toward the Junction for?" asked
+Pete, after Jack had shown him the note.</p>
+
+<p>"Why not, Pete?"</p>
+
+<p>"A cavalry brigade couldn't hold it a day, Jack. We would drive them out
+in no time at all. Don't you think so?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, even so, a day would be enough to do an awful lot of damage. They
+could destroy the station,&mdash;theoretically, of course,&mdash;tear up miles of
+track, burn all the cars there, and destroy or capture and carry off
+with them a great many of our reserve stores. That was why our capture
+of Hardport was such a blow to them. We didn't hold it very long, of
+course, but it wasn't much use to them when they got it back."</p>
+
+<p>"I see, Jack. Yes, they could do a lot of mischief."</p>
+
+<p>"You see, Pete, as it is now, even if we're beaten, we can fall back on
+the Junction, hold it with a relatively small force, and retreat on the
+capital and the inner line of defenses. But if our supplies and the
+railroad cars, and everything of that sort that are massed there were
+rendered useless by being marked destroyed, we couldn't do anything but
+make our way back toward the capital as best we could, with a victorious
+enemy harrying us all the way, which is a bad situation in warfare."</p>
+
+<p>"Shall we cook breakfast for ourselves, Jack?"</p>
+
+<p>"No! On account of Broom. Captain Durland will understand. We'll get our
+breakfast here. I think that's better. If he's waiting for us, we'll
+give him a good long wait, anyhow."</p>
+
+<p>"Fine, Jack! I think that's a good idea, too. Gee, but I hate that man!"</p>
+
+<p>"I can't say I exactly love him, myself, Pete. I wish I was big enough
+to have it out with him with my fists. That's certainly one fight that I
+wouldn't have any regrets for after it was over."</p>
+
+<p>They had an excellent breakfast, and then they went out in the street
+together. Broom was still waiting, and save for one or two of the idlers
+commonly to be seen in a little country town, he was about the only
+person in sight. He came over toward them at once.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't shoot, Colonel," he said to Jack, smiling amiably. "I ain't
+looking for no more trouble. I've been up against you and your pals
+often enough now to know that it don't pay to tackle you. You're too
+much class for me, and I'll give you best."</p>
+
+<p>"We don't want to have anything to do with you," said Jack. "We know the
+sort of a man you are, and you'll get your deserts some time. But right
+now, if you'll let us alone, we'll do the same for you. We've got other
+things to do beside talk to you. Good-day!"</p>
+
+<p>Jack really was rather relieved at Broom's pacific advances. He had not
+known what to expect from his enemy's appearance, and he knew that if
+Broom had any considerable number of his allies on hand, he and his
+companions would not be able to make a very effective resistance, try as
+they would. After all, they were only boys, though in some respects they
+had proved that they could do as well as men, and Broom and his fellows
+were grown men, without scruples, who had no idea, apparently, of what
+fair fighting meant. But though he was secretly pleased, he did not
+intend to let Broom see it, and moreover he felt that he must be
+constantly on the lookout for treachery.</p>
+
+<p>"No use bearing malice and hard feelings," said Broom. "We never meant
+to hurt you, my boy. You'd have been safe enough with us, and, as you
+wouldn't come willing, we tried to get you to come the other way. We
+didn't do it, so you've got no call to be sore."</p>
+
+<p>"I've had plenty of samples of your good intentions," said Jack, his lip
+curling in a sneer. "I'm not afraid of you, but you can't fool me with
+your soft, friendly talk, either. I know you, and all about you, and
+I'll thank you to keep away from us. We aren't going to stay here,
+anyhow, and we haven't got time to talk to you, even if we wanted to."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, you have!" said Broom, suddenly, coming close to Jack and dropping
+his voice. "Suppose I told you that I knew all about you, and could tell
+you who you were and everything else you want to know? You'd have had a
+better time at Woodleigh if you'd had a name of your own, like all the
+other fellows, wouldn't you? You know you would! Well, that's what I can
+do for you, if I want to. Now will you talk to me?"</p>
+
+<p>"If you know all that about me, why don't you tell me?" asked Jack.</p>
+
+<p>Despite himself, he was curious, and he was forced to admit that Broom
+interested him. The secret of his birth, which seemed resolved to elude
+him, was one that he would never tire of pursuing, and he was ready to
+make use of Broom, villain though he knew him to be, or anyone else who
+could shed some light on the mysterious beginnings of his life.</p>
+
+<p>"I can't tell you now and here," said Broom. "But I tell you what I'll
+do. Meet me here to-night at eleven o'clock, if you're off duty, and
+I'll tell you the whole story. It's worth your while to hear it, too,
+I'll promise you."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm likely to do that," said Jack, with a laugh. "Do you know that
+sounds like 'Will you walk into my parlor? said the spider to the fly.'
+You must certainly think I'm an easy mark if you think I'll go into a
+trap you set as openly as that! Not if I know myself!"</p>
+
+<p>"You think you're mighty smart, don't you?" asked Broom, his face
+working with disappointment and anger. "I'm not setting any trap for
+you. If I'd wanted to do that, I couldn't have had a better chance than
+there was here this morning, when your Scouts and all the rest of your
+people went off and left you behind. If you're scared to come alone,
+bring anyone you like&mdash;Durland, Crawford, or anyone. Bring them all&mdash;the
+whole Troop! I don't care! But come yourself, or you'll always be
+sorry!"</p>
+
+<p>Jack was impressed, despite himself, by the man's earnestness. He knew
+that Broom had been crooked in many ways, and he knew, also, that
+Captain Haskin, the railroad detective, had given him the reputation of
+being a clever criminal, whose scruples were as rare as his mistakes.
+But there was some truth in what the fellow said. Had he meant to make
+any attempt on Jack's liberty, he had already let the best chance he was
+likely to have for a long time, slip by.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll think it over, and talk to Captain Durland about it," he said. "I
+won't promise to be here, but I may decide to come, after all."</p>
+
+<p>"That's better," said Broom. "You think it over, and you'll see I'm
+right. If I wanted to hurt you, I'd have done it before this."</p>
+
+<p>"One thing more, Broom. If I do come, I shall certainly not be alone.
+And if you try any tricks, it won't be healthy for you. I know you're
+not afraid of the law in this State, but I've got friends that won't be
+as easy on you as the police. And I'll have them along with me, too, if
+I come, to see that you don't forget yourself, and go back to some of
+your old tricks. If you're ready to take the chance, knowing that, I may
+come."</p>
+
+<p>"You surely won't think of meeting him, will you, Jack?" asked Pete, in
+deep anxiety, after this conversation was ended and Broom had taken
+himself off. "I didn't offer to butt in, because I thought you could
+handle him better by yourself. But you won't let him take you in by just
+pretending that he's got something to tell you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I shan't meet him alone, anyhow, Pete. But I don't know whether he's
+just pretending or not, you see. The trouble is this mystery about me is
+so hard to untangle that I hate to let even the slightest chance of
+doing so pass."</p>
+
+<p>"I know, Jack, but please don't take any chances. You know what he's
+tried to do to you before, and I'm certain this is only some new trick.
+He's probably tickled to death to think that you didn't turn him down
+absolutely."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll promise you one thing, anyhow, Pete. I won't make a move toward
+meeting him, nor have anything to do with him, without telling Dick
+Crawford and Mr. Durland about it first. And I won't do anything that
+they don't thoroughly approve of. Will that satisfy you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Sure it will, Jack! Thanks! I hate to seem like a coward, but I'm a lot
+more afraid for you when you're in some danger than I would be if it
+were myself. That's why I'm so leery of this fellow Broom. I'm sure he
+means some sort of mischief, and I surely do hope that Mr. Durland and
+Dick Crawford will make you feel the same way about it that Tom Binns
+and I do."</p>
+
+<p>"What, are you in on this, too?" asked Jack, with a smile, turning to
+little Tom Binns.</p>
+
+<p>"I certainly am, Jack!" answered Tom. "I think Pete's quite right."</p>
+
+<p>Then they got the car, and took the road for Mardean, prepared to turn
+back when they reached the right cross roads, and scout along toward
+Fessenden Junction.</p>
+
+<p>Before them, on the other branch of the Mardean road, toward Tryon
+Creek, there had been heavy firing. That had gradually died away,
+however, and presently, as they sped on, they met a single soldier on
+horseback. It proved to be their friend, Jim Burroughs.</p>
+
+<p>"Hello, Lieutenant!" called Jack, cheerily, as he stopped his car and
+saluted. "How is the battle going?"</p>
+
+<p>"Fine and dandy," returned Jim Burroughs, reigning up his horse. "We got
+to Tryon Creek, and we licked them there. They didn't come along for
+more than two hours after we were in position. The umpires stopped the
+fighting after a while, and gave us the decision. I don't see how
+they're going to get through to Fessenden Junction, and, if we hold them
+on this line, they'll never get near enough to the capital even to
+threaten it, that's one sure thing!"</p>
+
+<p>"I'm certainly glad we got the true news," said Jack, after Jim
+Burroughs had ridden on. "It would have been fierce if that fresh
+lieutenant had been wrong himself, and we had given our own army false
+information that would have enabled them to beat us. But it's all right,
+as it turns out, and I guess that they haven't got any chance at all of
+beating us now."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm glad of that, too," said Pete. "We certainly took enough trouble to
+get the right dope, didn't we?"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV</h2>
+
+<h3>A DECISIVE MOVEMENT</h3>
+
+
+<p>Pete Stubbs was secretly glad that the scouting trip toward Fessenden
+Junction had been ordered. He was terribly afraid of the consequences to
+Jack should he accept Broom's defiance and meet him that night, and he
+did not know whether Durland and Dick Crawford would share his views. So
+he hoped that the work in the scout car would distract Jack's mind and
+lead him to forget his promise to Broom to see what the Scout-Master and
+his assistant thought of the plan.</p>
+
+<p>As the car made its swift way along the roads towards Fessenden
+Junction, the sound of firing constantly came to them.</p>
+
+<p>"I thought Jim Burroughs said the fighting had been stopped," said Tom
+Binns.</p>
+
+<p>"The main bodies were stopped, but that doesn't mean the whole fight is
+over," explained Jack. "Bean's brigade, you see, probably hasn't been in
+action at all yet. His troops were not among those sent to Tryon Creek,
+and he has to cover the roads leading in this direction. It's just
+because General Harkness is afraid that some of the Blue troops may have
+been detached to make a raid by a roundabout route that we are coming
+over here."</p>
+
+<p>"Suppose we ran into them, Jack? Would we be able to get word back in
+time to be of any use?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why not? This is our own country. We have the telegraph and the
+telephone wires, and the railroad is within a mile of General Harkness's
+quarters at Tryon Creek. All he needs to do is to pack troops aboard the
+trains he undoubtedly has waiting there and send them on to Fessenden
+Junction. We have the same advantage here that the enemy had when they
+held Hardport. Then we had to move our troops entirely on foot while
+they could use the railroad, and move ten miles to our one. Now that
+position is reversed&mdash;as long as we hold the key of the railroad
+situation, Fessenden Junction."</p>
+
+<p>The road to Fessenden Junction was perfectly clear. They rolled into the
+busy railroad centre without having seen a sign of troops of either
+army. A single company was stationed at the depot in Fessenden Junction,
+impatient at the duty that held it there while the other companies of
+the same regiment were at the front, getting a chance to take part in
+all the thrilling moves of the war game.</p>
+
+<p>Jack told the officers all he knew as they crowded around his car while
+he stopped to replenish his stock of gasoline. There was little in his
+narrative that had not come to them already over the wires, but they
+were interested in him and in the scouting car.</p>
+
+<p>"We've heard all about you," said a lieutenant. "You've certainly done
+yourself proud in this war! They tell me that the car will surely be
+adopted as a result of your success with it. Do you know if that's so?"</p>
+
+<p>"I hadn't heard, Lieutenant," said Jack, his face lighting up. "But I
+certainly hope it's true. It's a dandy car!"</p>
+
+<p>"You didn't expect to see anything of the enemy the way we came, did
+you, Jack?" asked Pete Stubbs, when they were in motion once more.</p>
+
+<p>"No, I didn't, Pete. But it was a good chance to study a road we didn't
+know. We may have considerable work in this section before we get
+through, and I want to know the roads. That road, of course, is guarded
+this morning by General Bean's brigade. It would take more than a
+raiding cavalry brigade to break through his line and make for the
+Junction this way, and if General Bliss sent troops to Fessenden, they
+wouldn't stop to fight on the way. They would choose a road that was
+open, if they could, or very weakly defended, at least. Otherwise they'd
+be beaten before they got here. Even a couple of regiments would be able
+to hold up a brigade, no matter how well it was led, long enough for
+General Harkness to find out what was going on and occupy Fessenden
+Junction in force."</p>
+
+<p>"Where are you going now, then?"</p>
+
+<p>"East of Bremerton, on the way back. I know that isn't exactly orders,
+but it seems to me it's common sense. General Bliss had a long line this
+morning, and Mardean was practically its centre. Hardport had become his
+base again. He's held Hardport now for two days, practically, and he's
+had time to repair all the damage we did. Why shouldn't he have thrown
+his brigade, if he planned a raid on the Junction at all, thirty miles
+east from Hardport, to swing across the State line at about Freeport,
+cut the railroad east of Fessenden Junction, and so approach it from the
+east, when everyone expects an attack to be made from the west?"</p>
+
+<p>"That would be pretty risky, wouldn't it, Jack?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly it would&mdash;and yet, if he could fool everyone into thinking he
+was going to do just the opposite, it would be the safest thing he could
+do. You see, all the fighting to-day has been well west of Bremerton and
+Fessenden Junction. Our orders were to do our scouting on the western
+side of the Junction. I've obeyed those orders, and I haven't found out
+a thing. Now I think I've a right to use my own discretion, and see if
+there are signs of danger on this side."</p>
+
+<p>"Gee, that certainly sounds reasonable, Jack! They've been doing the
+thing that wasn't expected ever since the business started. I guess
+they're just as likely as not to keep on doing it, too."</p>
+
+<p>"We ought to know in a little while, anyhow, Pete. I'm going to circle
+around here, strike a road that runs parallel to the railroad as it runs
+east of the Junction, and see what's doing."</p>
+
+<p>Jack hurried along then for a time, and none of those in the car had
+anything to say, since, when Jack was pushing her, the noise was too
+great to make conversation pleasant or easy in any sense of the words.</p>
+
+<p>They were in the road now that ran along parallel with the railroad
+that, running east from Fessenden Junction and away from the State
+capital, which lay southwest of that important point, approached
+gradually a junction with the main line of the railroad from Hardport at
+Freeport.</p>
+
+<p>Jack was keeping his eyes open. He hardly knew what he expected to see,
+but he had an idea that there would be something to repay their trip.</p>
+
+<p>And, about fifteen miles from Fessenden Junction, the soundness of his
+judgment was proved once more.</p>
+
+<p>"Look up there!" cried Pete, suddenly. The eyes of three Scouts were
+turned upward in a moment, and there, perhaps two miles away, and three
+hundred feet above them, they saw a biplane hovering.</p>
+
+<p>"Gee!" cried Jack. "That's the first we've seen in the air&mdash;a Blue
+biplane! None of our machines would be in this direction."</p>
+
+<p>Swiftly he looked along the fence until he saw an opening.</p>
+
+<p>"Here, jump out and let those bars down!" he cried, stopping the car.</p>
+
+<p>The others obeyed at once, and in a moment he ran the car gently into
+the field and stopped beside a hayrick.</p>
+
+<p>"Sorry to disturb the farmer's hayrick," said he, then, jumping out in
+his turn, "but this is important!"</p>
+
+<p>And a moment later the three Scouts, following his example, were as busy
+as bees, covering the grey automobile with new hay, that hid it
+effectually from any spying eyes that might be looking down on them from
+above.</p>
+
+<p>"Now we'll make ourselves look small," said Jack.</p>
+
+<p>He looked around the field.</p>
+
+<p>"I shouldn't wonder if they picked this out for a landing spot, if they
+decide to land at all," said he. "We want to see them if they do
+anything like that, and hear them, too, if we can. We may want to find
+out something from them."</p>
+
+<p>Swiftly, then, they burrowed into the hay. They could look out and see
+anything that went on about them, but unless an enemy came very close,
+they themselves were entirely safe from detection.</p>
+
+<p>"Now we'll know what they're up to, I guess," said Jack, with a good
+deal of satisfaction. "It's a good thing I sort of half disobeyed orders
+and came this way, isn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>"You didn't really disobey orders, did you, Jack?" asked Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"No, I didn't, really, Tom. I did what I was ordered to do, but I did
+something more, too, as there was no special time limit set for the job
+they gave us. But a scout is supposed to use his own judgment a good
+deal, anyhow. Otherwise he wouldn't be any use as a scout, so far as I
+can see."</p>
+
+<p>It was very quiet in the hay. But above them, and sounding all the more
+clearly and distinctly for the silence that was everywhere else, they
+could hear the great hum of the motor of the aeroplane. With no muffler,
+the engine of the flying-machine kicked up a lot of noise, and, as it
+gradually grew louder, Jack was able to tell, even without looking up,
+that it was coming down.</p>
+
+<p>"By George," said he, "I think they are going to land! They're getting
+more cautious, you see. They scout ahead now, and they're using their
+war aeroplane the way we have been using this car of ours."</p>
+
+<p>"What are our flying-machines doing, Jack? I haven't seen them on the
+job at all."</p>
+
+<p>"General Harkness is using them in the actual battles. They go up to
+spot concealed bodies of the enemy, so that our gunners can get the
+range and drive the enemy, theoretically, out of any cover they have
+found. That's one of the ways in which flying machines are expected to
+be most useful in the next war. You see, as it is now, with smokeless
+powder and practically invisible uniforms, ten thousand men can do a lot
+of damage before anyone on the other side can locate them at all. But
+with a flying-machine, they won't be able to hide themselves. A man a
+thousand feet above them can see them, and direct the fire of artillery
+by signals so that the troops that were in entire security until he
+discovered them can be cut to pieces by heavy shell fire."</p>
+
+<p>"That's what our men have been doing, eh?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes&mdash;and theirs, too, mostly. This is the first time I've seen one of
+their machines scouting. Look out now&mdash;keep quiet! They're landing, and
+they're not more than a hundred feet away!"</p>
+
+<p>The scraping of the flying-machine, as it came to rest in the field, was
+plainly audible as the Scouts stopped talking and devoted themselves to
+listening intently. Also, by craning their necks a little, though they
+were in no danger of being seen themselves, they could make out what the
+two men in the aeroplane were doing.</p>
+
+<p>"Pretty lucky, Bill!" said one of them. "This is a good landing-place,
+and we can get an idea of the situation and cut the telegraph wire to
+send back word."</p>
+
+<p>"Right, Harry!" said the other. "I guess the coast is clear. The brigade
+isn't more than five miles back, and with three train loads, they'll be
+able to make that Fessenden Junction look like a desert before
+night&mdash;theoretically."</p>
+
+<p>"It's all theory, Bill, but it's pretty good fun, at that. I tell you,
+we would be in a tight place if they'd guarded this approach at all.
+That brigade of ours would be cut off in a minute. But if we can mess up
+Fessenden Junction for them, they'll be so busy trying to cover their
+line of retreat that they won't have any time to bother about our
+fellows."</p>
+
+<p>"What's the matter with that engine, anyhow?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing much, I guess. But sometimes, if she starts missing, the way
+she did when we were up there, you can fix things and avoid a lot of
+trouble by a little timely tinkering. I was up once when my engine began
+missing that way, and I didn't pay any attention to it. Then, about
+twenty minutes later, she went dead on me while I was over the water,
+and I had to drop, whether I wanted to or not. The water was cold, too,
+I don't mind saying."</p>
+
+<p>"You hear that?" said Jack, in a tense whisper. "Now, as soon as they
+go, we've got to destroy that railroad track, right across the road. We
+may have half an hour; we may have only a few minutes. And while two of
+us do that&mdash;you and Tom, Pete&mdash;the other will have to cut the telegraph
+wire and send word to Fessenden Junction. General Bean is in the best
+position to get over there. I don't think we can hold them up more than
+an hour or so, but that ought to be enough. At least, if there's nothing
+else to be done, the fellows at Fessenden Junction can tear up a lot of
+track."</p>
+
+<p>For five breathless minutes they watched the two aviators tinkering with
+their engine. Then the big bird rose in the air again, and winged its
+way eastward. In a moment Jack was out of the hay and calling to his
+companions to follow him.</p>
+
+<p>"Get your tools from the car, now," he said. "Mark a rail torn up for
+every ten minutes you spend there. I'll get busy with the telegraph
+wire."</p>
+
+<p>It took Jack twenty minutes to finish his task, which was exceedingly
+quick work. But he had had practice in it, and he worked feverishly,
+since he did not know at what minute they would be surprised and forced
+to abandon the task by the on-coming enemy.</p>
+
+<p>Ten minutes after he had completed his part of the task, when,
+theoretically, the others had been able to destroy three lengths of
+rail, and had left a pile of smouldering brushwood as proof that they
+had had time to build a fire of the ties, they heard the hum of
+approaching trains along the rails.</p>
+
+<p>"All right!" cried Jack. "This is as far as they can go now until they
+make repairs. It's time for us to be off!"</p>
+
+<p>And he led the way swiftly toward the car, still hidden in the field.</p>
+
+<p>Swiftly he adjusted the spark plug, which he had carried with him, and,
+just as the first of the trains from the east appeared in sight, the car
+was ready to move. But Jack, instead of returning to the road, and
+retracing his course toward Fessenden Junction, headed north across the
+field, toward the State line.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm going to take a short cut to General Bean's brigade and get him
+word of the chance he has to end things right now," he cried. "If he can
+capture this brigade of the enemy, the war will be as good as over. It's
+the best chance we've had yet."</p>
+
+<p>Jack knew the country perfectly, and soon he was on a country road,
+which, while it would have been hard on the tires of an ordinary car,
+was easy for the big scouting machine. They made splendid time, and in
+an hour they were in touch with the outposts of General Bean's troops,
+waiting, since the attack of the enemy in front had ceased, for any news
+that might come.</p>
+
+<p>"I've just heard that the enemy is threatening Fessenden Junction from
+the east," the general told Jack, when the Boy Scout made his report.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, General," said Jack, eagerly. "And the roads are open in this
+direction. They will not be able to get very far along the railroad. The
+troops in Fessenden Junction will undoubtedly cut the tracks, just as we
+did, somewhere near the village of Bridgeton, and that will be a
+splendid place to make a flank attack. They won't be expecting that at
+all, and I think you can finish them up."</p>
+
+<p>General Bean reached at once for a field map.</p>
+
+<p>"You've got it!" he cried. "That's just what I'll do!"</p>
+
+<p>And in a moment he had given his orders accordingly. Ten minutes later
+the troops were on the march, and Jack was scouting ahead, to make sure
+that no shift of the enemy's plan had made it impossible for his idea to
+be carried out successfully.</p>
+
+<p>Bean's troops marched quickly and well, and within two hours they were
+in touch with the enemy, near Bridgeton. Jack and his companions, in the
+rear, heard the sound of firing, which soon became general. And then,
+unhampered, Jack sped for the place where he had already cut the
+railroad, and, in two hours theoretically destroyed nearly half a mile
+of track.</p>
+
+<p>"They're in a trap, now," he cried. "They'll never get by here!"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI</h2>
+
+<h3>THE PERIL IN THE WOODS</h3>
+
+
+<p>It was nearly seven o'clock that evening, and quite dark, when Jack and
+the others rejoined the main body of the Troop of Scouts at Bremerton.</p>
+
+<p>Durland was full of enthusiasm.</p>
+
+<p>"The war is as good as over," he said, happily. "We've licked them
+utterly! It's just a question now of what they'll be able to save from
+the wreck. The brigade that made the raid toward Fessenden Junction was
+annihilated by Bean, cut off, and forced to surrender. General Bliss is
+in full retreat upon Hardport from Mardean, and the invasion has been
+repelled. Our cavalry is pursuing him, and I think we will be in
+Hardport again to-morrow. Whatever fighting remains to be done will be
+on their side of the line, and the capital is safe."</p>
+
+<p>"Will there be any more fighting to-night, Captain?" asked Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"Only by the cavalry. They are worrying Bliss as much as possible in his
+retreat, and we'll probably pick up a few guns. We outnumber them
+decidedly now, as we have taken nearly eleven thousand prisoners in the
+last two days, and there is no chance at all for them to take the
+offensive again. General Bliss will be lucky to escape the capture of
+his whole army. One of the umpires told me to-day that our success was
+due entirely to the speed and accuracy with which we got information of
+the movements of the enemy, which seemed to him to be remarkably well
+covered."</p>
+
+<p>"That's what Jack Danby's done for us," said Dick Crawford. "He's
+certainly proved that the scout car has come to stay. And it was more or
+less by accident that he got the chance to handle it, too."</p>
+
+<p>"That's true," said Durland, "but a great many men have opportunities
+just as good, and can't make use of them. It's not how a man gets a
+chance to do things that counts, it's the way he uses the chance when he
+gets it. And that's where Jack's skill and courage have helped him.
+You've covered the Troop with glory, Jack, and we're all proud of you."</p>
+
+<p>"Is there anything more for us to do to-night, sir?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, indeed! I think everyone feels that the Boy Scouts have done rather
+more than their share already in the fighting we've had, and have been
+very largely responsible for our victory. There may be more work to do
+to-morrow, but I doubt it. I think myself that the umpires will call the
+invasion off to-morrow, and devote the rest of the time to field
+training for both armies, working together.</p>
+
+<p>"About all the lessons that the war can teach have been learned by both
+sides already, and the training is useful, even when the war game itself
+is over. That's only a guess, of course, but if we are in a position
+to-morrow that leaves General Bliss as small a chance for getting away
+as seems likely now, I think the umpires will feel that there is no use
+in going through the form of further fighting. We are masters of the
+situation now, and our superiority in numbers is so great that there
+will be very little that is instructive about a further campaign."</p>
+
+<p>Then Jack asked Captain Durland and Dick Crawford if he could speak to
+them apart, and when the Scout-Master consented, he told them of his
+interview with Broom.</p>
+
+<p>"That's a queer shift for him to make," said Durland, thoughtfully.
+"It's true, of course, that he was in a good position to make an attack
+on you this morning. But it's also possible that he was alone, and
+didn't have any help handy. I don't think he'd ever try any of his dirty
+work single-handed. He's a good deal of a coward, and he likes to have a
+lot of help when he tries anything, so that there is practically no
+chance for his opponent. His idea is to fight when he is in overwhelming
+force, and only then. What do you think of it, Dick?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't trust him, sir, and yet, if it is at all possible that he has
+given up his designs against Jack and is willing to tell him what we are
+so anxious to find out, it would be a great pity to let the chance
+slip."</p>
+
+<p>"That's what I think, sir," said Jack. "Pete Stubbs and Tom Binns heard
+him, and they think I ought not to meet him. But I'm afraid he's right,
+and that if I didn't do it, I'd always regret it."</p>
+
+<p>"It seems safe enough," said Durland. "He didn't insist on your meeting
+him alone. He probably knew that you wouldn't do that, anyhow, and took
+the only chance he had of persuading you, but I don't see what harm
+could come to you if you went to meet him with Dick Crawford and myself,
+and perhaps two or three others, to see that there was no foul play."</p>
+
+<p>"It's risky to have any dealings with him at all, I think," said Dick
+Crawford, "but if it was ever safe, I should say that this was the time.
+He's an awfully smooth scoundrel, or he wouldn't have been able to fool
+the Burtons the way he did. Still, it's hard, as you say, sir, to see
+what harm could come to Jack to-night."</p>
+
+<p>"I think it's worth risking, anyhow," said Durland. "You and I will go
+along, Dick. And I think I'll have a talk with Jim Burroughs, too. It
+might be that he would feel like coming along with us."</p>
+
+<p>"Can I bring Pete Stubbs and Tom Binns with us, sir?" asked Jack. "I
+think they'd like to be along."</p>
+
+<p>"By all means," said Durland.</p>
+
+<p>Jack went off then to look for his two chums. But they were nowhere to
+be seen. He was surprised, for, since they were on active duty, they
+were supposed to be always in readiness at the headquarters of the Troop
+unless detached with special orders. Finally, after hunting for them for
+half an hour, he asked Bob Hart about them.</p>
+
+<p>Bob, who, as Patrol Leader of the Crow Patrol, ranked during the
+maneuvers as a sergeant, seemed surprised.</p>
+
+<p>"I gave them permission to be absent from headquarters until eleven
+o'clock," he said. "Didn't you know they were going to ask for it?"</p>
+
+<p>"I did not," said Jack, decidedly surprised.</p>
+
+<p>Pete and Tom had known of the chance that he might meet Broom, and he
+wondered how it was that they were willing to be absent at a time when
+he might need them. It was the first time either of them had ever failed
+him, and he was puzzled and bothered by their absence.</p>
+
+<p>"That's certainly mighty queer!" he said to himself. "I wonder if they
+forgot about Broom, or if they thought I would?"</p>
+
+<p>But there was no sense in trying to puzzle out the reason for their
+having gone. They were off&mdash;that was plain, and he would have to go
+without them.</p>
+
+<p>While he waited for Durland and Dick Crawford to return, he began to
+speculate a good deal as to what the reason for Broom's new shift might
+be. He was sure, from the way Broom had acted, that the man was as much
+his enemy as ever. And yet he had seemed to feel that he and Jack
+together might be able to accomplish something that was beyond the power
+of either of them, alone, to get done.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps he's had trouble of some sort with the people who want to keep
+me from finding out about myself," thought Jack. "In that case, he's
+simply turned traitor to them, and is trying to use me to get even with
+them. Well, I don't care! They must be a pretty bad lot, and if I can
+find out about myself I don't see why I should mind helping him to that
+extent. But I'd certainly like to know the answer!"</p>
+
+<p>He waited some time longer before the Scout-Master and Dick Crawford
+returned.</p>
+
+<p>"Jim Burroughs isn't there," said Dick, with a puzzled expression on his
+face. "His captain says that he and several of the men got leave before
+dinner, because they wanted to see if they couldn't pick up some birds a
+little way off, in a preserve that belongs to a man who is a friend of
+Jim's. But we went over in that direction, and there wasn't any sign of
+them."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, it's no great matter, anyhow," said Durland, with a smile. "There
+are enough of us left to attend to the matter. We'd better be getting
+along, Jack. Where are Stubbs and Binns?"</p>
+
+<p>"They got leave for a little while from Sergeant Hart, sir," said Jack.
+"That seems mighty funny to me, because they knew about Broom, and that
+I might want them along with me to-night."</p>
+
+<p>"They've probably forgotten it, Jack," said Dick. "You've all had a
+pretty full day and things slip the mind sometimes in such
+circumstances. No use worrying about them. We'll go ahead, anyhow."</p>
+
+<p>At the place where Broom had made his appointment a man was waiting for
+them.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Broom said this place was too public," the man whispered. "If
+you'll come along with me, I'll show you where he is waiting for you
+now."</p>
+
+<p>"We'll come," said Durland. "But look here, my man, no tricks!"</p>
+
+<p>He drew his hand from his holster, and showed the guide, a sullen,
+scowling fellow, the big pistol that reposed there.</p>
+
+<p>"If I see any sign of treachery, I'm going to use this and see who's to
+blame afterward," Durland went on, grimly. "You'd better play level with
+us, or you'll have a mighty good reason to regret it. That's a fair
+warning, now. See that you profit by it. The next will be from my
+pistol!"</p>
+
+<p>"Aw, g'wan, what's eatin' youse?" asked the man. But, despite his
+bluster, he was obviously frightened.</p>
+
+<p>"I ain't here to hoit youse," he said, sullenly, after a minute's
+silence. "Just youse come along wid me, and I'll take youse to Broom.
+That's all the job I got, see?"</p>
+
+<p>He led them some distance into the woods. Once or twice they thought
+they heard sounds as if others were near them, but they made up their
+minds that this idea was due to their imaginations. And finally, when
+they were nearly two miles from the nearest troops, as far as they could
+tell, their guide stopped in a little clearing in the woods.</p>
+
+<p>"Wait here," he said. "I'll go tell Broom you're ready."</p>
+
+<p>He crashed off through the undergrowth, and, with what patience they
+could, they waited in the darkness.</p>
+
+<p>They realized afterward that the waiting was a blind. No one had crept
+up on them, but they were suddenly seized, each one from behind, so that
+there was no chance at all for Durland and Crawford to use the pistols
+that they held in their hands. Their assailants, as they guessed later,
+had been waiting all the time for them, ready to spring, upon them as
+soon as they were thoroughly off their guard. And in a moment they saw
+Broom, an electric torch in his hand, which he directed at the faces of
+the three prisoners in turn.</p>
+
+<p>"You walked into the trap all right, didn't you?" he said to Jack, with
+an ugly sneer on his face. "You was mighty smart this morning! Glad you
+brought your friends along. They've bothered us, too. And now we've
+caught you all together. That's much better, you see! You won't get in
+my way again, any one of you!"</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly he gave a curse.</p>
+
+<p>"Where's the others?" he snarled. "The red-headed one and the little
+shaver? I want them, too!"</p>
+
+<p>"There weren't but the three of them," said the man who had served as
+their guide. "I don't know where the others are."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, it can't be helped," said Broom, with an oath. "I'll get rid of
+these, anyhow."</p>
+
+<p>"You'll spoil no more games of mine!" he told them. "Get the ropes,
+there, men!"</p>
+
+<p>"What are you goin' to do?" asked one of Broom's men.</p>
+
+<p>"String them up," replied Broom, with a brutal laugh. "Hanging leaves no
+evidence behind. No weapons&mdash;no wounds to show the sort of a blow that
+killed. There's good advice for you, my friend. If you want to get rid
+of an enemy, hang him!"</p>
+
+<p>All three of the prisoners had been gagged. They had to stand silent,
+now, while the rope was placed about their necks. They were all forced
+to stand under the spreading branch of a big tree, and the ropes were
+thrown over it.</p>
+
+<p>"We'll let them swing all together, now," said Broom. "When I give the
+word! Plenty of time, though! We'll let them have a minute or two to
+think it over."</p>
+
+<p>"NOW!" cried a voice in the woods beyond the small circle of light from
+Broom's electric torch.</p>
+
+<p>A second later the click of falling hammers fell on the air. And, even
+as Broom turned, a dozen men stepped into the light, with leveled
+rifles, covering every one of the gang that Broom had gathered to make
+his trap.</p>
+
+<p>"Fire if they make a single movement!" ordered Jim Burroughs. "Good
+work, Pete! Release them now! You brought us here&mdash;it's only fair to let
+you turn them loose, you and Tom Binns."</p>
+
+<p>"Go ahead and shoot!" yelled Broom, suddenly, and made a dash for the
+woods. A dozen rifles spoke out, but he crashed away in the darkness,
+and one or two of the others ran also.</p>
+
+<p>"He got away!" said Durland. "Pretty bad shooting, Jim!"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you can't expect much from blank cartridges," said Jim Burroughs,
+with a grin. "We didn't have any loaded with ball, you know. It was just
+a bluff, but it worked pretty well!"</p>
+
+<p>"But how did you get here at all?"</p>
+
+<p>"Pete Stubbs and Tom Binns are responsible for that. They didn't like
+the idea of this expedition at all, and neither did I, when they told me
+about it. We stuck pretty close to you. But I wanted to make sure of
+Broom, or I'd have butted in before."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="THE_BRADEN_BOOKS" id="THE_BRADEN_BOOKS"></a>THE BRADEN BOOKS</h2>
+
+<h4><i>By</i> JAMES A. BRADEN</h4>
+
+<h3>FAR PAST THE FRONTIER</h3>
+
+
+<p>The sub-title "Two Boy Pioneers" indicates the nature of this
+story&mdash;that it has to do with the days when the Ohio Valley and the
+Northwest country were sparsely settled. Such a topic is an unfailing
+fund of interest to boys, especially when involving a couple of stalwart
+young men who leave the East to make their fortunes and to incur untold
+dangers.</p>
+
+<p>"Strong, vigorous, healthy, manly."&mdash;<i>Seattle Times.</i></p>
+
+
+<h3>CONNECTICUT BOYS IN THE WESTERN RESERVE</h3>
+
+
+<p>The author once more sends his heroes toward the setting sun. "In all
+the glowing enthusiasm of youth, the youngsters seek their fortunes in
+the great, fertile wilderness of northern Ohio, and eventually achieve
+fair success, though their progress is hindered and sometimes halted by
+adventures innumerable. It is a lively, wholesome tale, never dull, and
+absorbing in interest for boys who love the fabled life of the
+frontier."&mdash;<i>Chicago Tribune.</i></p>
+
+
+<h3>THE TRAIL of THE SENECA</h3>
+
+
+
+<p>In which we follow the romantic careers of John Jerome and Return
+Kingdom a little farther.</p>
+
+<p>These two self-reliant boys are living peaceably in their cabin on the
+Cuyahoga when an Indian warrior is found dead in the woods nearby. The
+Seneca accuses John of witchcraft. This means death at the stake if he
+is captured. They decide that the Seneca's charge is made to shield
+himself, and set out to prove it. Mad Anthony, then on the Ohio, comes
+to their aid, but all their efforts prove futile and the lone cabin is
+found in ashes on their return.</p>
+
+
+<h3>CAPTIVES THREE</h3>
+
+
+<p>A tale of frontier life, and how three children&mdash;two boys and a
+girl&mdash;attempt to reach the settlements in a canoe, but are captured by
+the Indians. A common enough occurrence in the days of our
+great-grandfathers has been woven into a thrilling story.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="FICTION_FOR_BOYS" id="FICTION_FOR_BOYS"></a>FICTION FOR BOYS</h2>
+
+
+<h3>LITTLE RHODY</h3>
+
+<h4><i>By</i> JEAN K. BAIRD</h4>
+
+<h4><i>Illustrated by</i> <span class="smcap">R. G. Vosburgh</span></h4>
+
+<p>At The Hall, a boys' school, there is a set of boys known as the "Union
+of States," to which admittance is gained by excelling in some
+particular the boys deem worthy of their mettle.</p>
+
+<p>Rush Petriken, a hunchback boy, comes to The Hall, and rooms with
+Barnes, the despair of the entire school because of his prowess in
+athletics. Petriken idolizes him, and when trouble comes to him, the
+poor crippled lad gladly shoulders the blame, and is expelled. But
+shortly before the end of the term he returns and is hailed as "little
+Rhody," the "capitalest State of all."</p>
+
+
+<h3>BIGELOW BOYS</h3>
+
+<h4><i>By</i> <span class="smcap">Mrs. A. F. RANSOM</span></h4>
+
+<h4><i>Illustrated by</i> <span class="smcap">Henry Miller</span></h4>
+
+<p>Four boys, all bubbling over with energy and love of good times, and
+their mother, an authoress, make this story of a street-car strike in
+one of our large cities move with leaps and bounds. For it is due to the
+four boys that a crowded theatre car is saved from being wrecked, and
+the instigators of the plot captured.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Ransom is widely known by her patriotic work among the boys in the
+navy, and she now proves herself a friend of the lads on land by writing
+more especially for them.</p>
+
+
+<h3><i>THE BOY SCOUT SERIES</i></h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">THE BOY SCOUTS IN CAMP<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">THE BOY SCOUTS TO THE RESCUE<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">THE BOY SCOUTS ON THE TRAIL<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">THE BOY SCOUT FIRE-FIGHTERS<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">THE BOY SCOUTS AFLOAT<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">THE BOY SCOUT PATHFINDERS<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">THE BOY SCOUT AUTOMOBILISTS<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">THE BOY SCOUT AVIATORS<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">THE BOY SCOUTS' CHAMPION RECRUIT<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">THE BOY SCOUTS' DEFIANCE<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">THE BOY SCOUTS' CHALLENGE<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">THE BOY SCOUTS' VICTORY<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">THE BOY SCOUTS UNDER KING GEORGE<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">THE BOY SCOUTS WITH THE ALLIES<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">THE BOY SCOUTS UNDER THE KAISER<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">THE BOY SCOUTS AT LIEGE<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">THE BOY SCOUTS WITH THE COSSACKS<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">THE BOY SCOUTS BEFORE BELGRADE<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">THE BOY SCOUTS' TEST<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">THE BOY SCOUTS IN FRONT OF WARSAW<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">THE BOY SCOUTS UNDER THE RED CROSS<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Boy Scout Automobilists, by Robert Maitland
+
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+Project Gutenberg's The Boy Scout Automobilists, by Robert Maitland
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Boy Scout Automobilists
+       or, Jack Danby in the Woods
+
+Author: Robert Maitland
+
+Release Date: August 15, 2008 [EBook #26625]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY SCOUT AUTOMOBILISTS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Curtis Weyant, Mary Meehan and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                      _Boy Scout Series Volume 7_
+
+                      The Boy Scout Automobilists
+
+                                   OR
+
+                        Jack Danby in the Woods
+
+                        By Major Robert Maitland
+
+
+THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY
+CHICAGO, AKRON, OHIO, NEW YORK
+
+_Copyright, 1918_
+_By The Saalfield Publishing Co._
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+CALLED TO ACTIVE SERVICE
+
+
+"What's this call for a special meeting of the Boy Scouts, Jack?" asked
+Pete Stubbs, a First Class Boy Scout, of his chum Jack Danby, who had
+just been appointed Assistant Patrol Leader of the Crow Patrol of the
+Thirty-ninth Troop.
+
+"Well, I guess it isn't a secret any more," said Jack.
+
+He and Pete Stubbs worked in the same place, and they were great chums,
+especially since Jack had enlisted his chum in the Boy Scouts.
+
+"The fact is," he continued, "that Scout-Master Durland has been trying
+for several days to arrange the biggest treat the Troop, or any other
+Troop, has ever had. You know the State militia begins maneuvers pretty
+soon, Pete?"
+
+"Say, Jack," cried red-haired Pete, dancing up and down in his
+excitement, "you don't mean to say that there's a chance that we are to
+go out with the militia?"
+
+"I think this call means that there's more than a chance, Pete, and that
+the whole business is settled. You see, some of the fellows work in
+places where they might find it hard to get off. In the militia it's
+different. The law makes an employer give a man time off for the militia
+when it's necessary, but there's no reason why it should be that way for
+us. But Mr. Durland has been trying to get permission for all of us."
+
+"I'll bet he didn't have any trouble here when he came to see Mr.
+Simms," said Pete, enthusiastically. "If all the bosses were like him,
+we'd be all right."
+
+"They're not, Pete, though I guess most of them try to do what's fair,
+when they understand just how things are. But, anyhow, Mr. Simms thought
+it was a fine idea, and he went around and helped Mr. Durland with the
+other people, who weren't so ready to let off the Boy Scouts who
+happened to be working for them. And I guess that this call means that
+it's all fixed up, for if it hadn't been nothing would have been said
+about it."
+
+Pete and Jack, with the other members of the Troop, reported at Scout
+headquarters that night, and gave Scout-Master Durland a noisy welcome
+when he rose to address them.
+
+"Now," he said, "I want you to be quiet and listen to me. A great honor
+has been paid to the Troop. We have been invited to take part, as
+Scouts, in the coming maneuvers of the National Guard. There is to be a
+sham war, you know, and the militia of this State and the neighboring
+State, with some help from the regular army, are to take part in it. A
+troop of Boy Scouts has been selected from the other State, and after
+the militia officers had inspected all the Troops in this State they
+chose the Thirty-ninth."
+
+He had to stop then for a minute to give the great cheer that greeted
+his announcement time to die away.
+
+"Gee, Jack, I guess we're all right, what?" asked Pete, happily.
+
+"Be still a minute, Pete. Mr. Durland isn't through yet."
+
+"Now, I have gone around and got permission for all of you to go on this
+trip," the Scout-Master went on. "It's going to be different from
+anything we've ever done before. It's a great big experiment, and we're
+going to be watched by Boy Scouts and army and National Guard officers
+all over the country. It means that the Boy Scouts are going to be
+recognized, if we make good, as a sort of reserve supply for the
+militia. But we are going, if we go, without thinking about that at all.
+Forget the militia, and remember only that you will have a chance to do
+real scouting, and to make real reports of a real enemy."
+
+"Look here," cried Dick Crawford, the Assistant Scout-Master, suddenly,
+"I want everyone to join in and give three cheers for Scout-Master
+Durland. I know how hard he's worked to give every one of us a chance to
+make this trip and get the experience of real scouting. And it's up to
+every one of us to see that he doesn't have any reason to feel sorry
+that he did it. He trusts us to make good, and we've certainly got to
+see to it that we do. Come now--three times three for the Scout-Master!"
+
+Then came the formal giving of the instructions that were required for
+preparation for the trip. Each Scout got word of the equipment that he
+himself must bring.
+
+"And mind, now, no extras," said Durland, warningly. "If the weather is
+at all hot, it's going to be hard work carrying all we must carry, and
+we don't want any Scouts to have to drop out on the march because their
+knapsacks are too heavy. We will camp by ourselves, and we will keep to
+ourselves, except when we're on duty. Remember that I, as commander of
+the Troop, take rank only as a National Guard captain, and that I am
+subject to the orders of every major and other field officer who may be
+present.
+
+"Some of the militiamen and their officers may be inclined to play
+tricks, and to tease us, but the best way to stop them is to pay no
+attention to them at all. Now, I want every boy to go home and spend the
+time he can spare before the start studying all the Scout rules, and
+brushing up his memory on scoutcraft and campcraft. Polish up your drill
+manual, too. That may be useful. We want to present a good appearance
+when we get out there with the soldiers."
+
+The start for the camp of the State militia, who were to gather under
+the command of Brigadier-General Harkness at a small village near the
+State line, called Guernsey, was to be made on Sunday. The Scouts would
+be in camp Sunday night, ready at the first notes of the general
+reveille on Monday morning to turn out and do their part in the work of
+defending their State against the invasion of the Blue Army, under
+General Bliss, of the rival State.
+
+"You see," said Jack, explaining matters to Pete Stubbs and Tom Binns as
+they went home together after the meeting, "we are classed as the Red
+Army, and we are supposed to be on the defensive. The Blue Army will try
+to capture the State capital, and it is our business to defeat them if
+possible."
+
+"How can they tell whether we beat them or not, if we don't do any
+fighting?" asked Tom Binns.
+
+"In this sort of fighting it's all worked out by theory, just as if it
+were a game of chess, Tom, and there are umpires to decide every point
+that comes up."
+
+"How do they decide things, Jack?"
+
+"Why, they ride over the whole scene of operations, either on horseback,
+or, if the field is very extensive, in automobiles. If troops are
+surrounded, they are supposed to be captured, and they are sent to the
+rear, and required to keep out of all the operations that follow. Then
+the umpires, who are high officers in the regular army, decide according
+to the positions that are taken which side has the best chance of
+success. That is, if two brigades, of different sides, line up for
+action, and get into the best tactical positions possible, the umpires
+decide which of them would win if they were really engaged in a true
+war, and the side that gets their decision is supposed to win. The other
+brigade is beaten, or destroyed, as the case may be."
+
+"Then how about the whole affair?"
+
+"Well, each commanding general works out his strategy, and does his best
+to bring about a winning position, just as they would at chess, as I
+said. There is a time limit, you see, and when the time is up the
+umpires get together, inspect the whole theatre of war, and make their
+decision."
+
+"It's a regular game, isn't it, Jack?"
+
+"Yes. The Germans call it Krug-spiel--which means war-game, and that
+term has been adopted all over the world. It's played with maps and
+pins, too, in the war colleges, both for sea and land, and that's how
+officers get training for war in time of peace. It isn't an easy game to
+learn, either."
+
+"Where do we come in, Jack? What is it we're supposed to do?"
+
+"Obey orders, in the first place, absolutely. And I don't know what the
+orders will be, and neither does anyone else, so I can't tell you just
+what we'll do. But, generally speaking, we'll just have to do regular
+scout duty. It will be up to us to detect the movements of the enemy,
+and report, through Scout-Master Durland, who'll be Captain Durland,
+during the maneuvers, to the staff."
+
+"General Harkness's staff, you mean, Jack? Just what is a staff,
+anyhow?"
+
+"The headquarters staff during a campaign is a sort of extra supply of
+arms and legs and eyes for the commanding general. The staff officers
+carry his orders, and represent him in different parts of the field.
+They carry orders, and receive reports, and they take just as much
+routine work as possible off the hands of the general, so that he'll be
+free to make his plans. You see the general never does any actual
+fighting. He's too valuable to risk his life that way. He's supposed to
+stay behind, and be ready to take advantage of any chance he sees."
+
+"Times have changed, haven't they, Jack? In the old histories we used to
+read about generals who led charges and did all sorts of things like
+that."
+
+"Well, it would be pretty wasteful to put a general in danger that way
+now, Pete. He's had plenty of chance to prove his bravery, as a rule,
+and, when he's a general, and has years of experience behind him, the
+idea is to use his brain. If he is in the rear, and by his eyes and the
+reports he gets in all sorts of ways, can get a general view of what is
+going on, he can tell just what is best to be done. Sometimes the only
+way to win a battle is to sacrifice a whole brigade or a division--to
+let it be cut to pieces, without a chance to save itself, in order that
+the rest of the army may have time to change its position, so that the
+battle can be won. That's the sort of thing the general has got to
+decide, and if he's in the thick of the fighting in the old-fashioned
+way, he can't possibly do that."
+
+"I think it's going to be great sport, don't you, Jack?" asked Tom
+Binns. "Will there be any real firing?"
+
+"Yes--with smokeless powder, because they want to test some new kinds.
+But they'll use blank cartridges, of course. There'll be just as much
+noise as ever, but there won't be any danger, of course."
+
+"I don't like the sound of firing much," said Tom Binns, a little
+shamefacedly. "Even when I know it's perfectly safe and that there
+aren't any bullets, it makes me awfully nervous."
+
+"This will be good practice for you, then, Tom, because it will help you
+to get used to it. I hope we'll never have another war, but we want to
+be ready if we ever do. 'Be prepared'--that's our Scout motto, you know,
+and it means for the things that we might have to do in war, as well as
+the regular peaceful things that come up every day."
+
+"Will there be any aeroplanes?" asked Pete Stubbs. "I'm crazy to see one
+of those things flying sometime, Jack. I never saw one yet, except that
+time when the fellow landed here and hurt himself. And I didn't see him
+in the air, but only after he made his landing. The machine was all
+busted up then, too."
+
+"I think there'll be some aeroplane scouting by the signal corps.
+Several of the men in that are pretty well off, you know, and they have
+their own flying machines. I guess that's one of the things they'll try
+to determine in these maneuvers, the actual, practical usefulness of
+aeroplanes, and whether biplanes or monoplanes are the best."
+
+"Say, Jack, why couldn't we Boy Scouts build an aeroplane sometime? If
+we learned something about them this next week, I should think we might
+be able to do something like that. I know a lot of fellows that have
+made experiments with toy ones, that wind up with a spring that's made
+out of rubber bands. They see how far they will fly."
+
+"I think that would be great sport, Pete. But we won't have any time for
+that until after we've been through the maneuvers. But I'll tell you
+what some of us may get a chance to do next week, though it's a good
+deal of a secret yet."
+
+"What's that, Jack! We'll promise not to say a word about it, won't we,
+Tom?"
+
+"You bet we won't, Jack! Tell us--do!" pleaded Tom Binns.
+
+"I guess it's all right for me to tell you if you won't let it go any
+further. Well, it's just this. They're going to do a lot of
+experimenting with a new sort of automobile for scout duty, and I think
+some of us will get a chance with them."
+
+"Gee, I wish I knew how to run a car the way you do, Jack. I'd love that
+sort of thing."
+
+"I can soon teach you all I know, Pete. It isn't much. Come on down to
+the factory garage after work to-morrow morning, and I'll explain the
+engines to you, instead of eating lunch. Are you on?"
+
+"You bet I am! Will they let us?"
+
+"Mr. Simms will, if I ask him, I'm sure."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE RED ARMY
+
+
+The Scouts, under Durland and Dick Crawford, went to Guernsey on a
+special car of a regular train. Durland, in making the arrangements for
+the trip, had told the adjutant-general of the State militia that he
+wanted to keep his Troop separate from the regular militiamen, as far as
+possible.
+
+"I've got an idea, from a few words I've heard dropped," he told that
+official, "that some of the boys rather resent the idea of the Boy
+Scouts being included in the maneuvers. So, for the sake of peace, I
+think perhaps we'd better keep them as far apart as possible. Then, too,
+I think it will make for better discipline if we stick close together
+and have our own camp."
+
+"I guess you're right," said the adjutant-general. "I'll give you
+transportation to Guernsey for your Troop on the noon train on Sunday.
+There'll be a special car hitched to the train for you. Report to
+Colonel Henry at Guernsey station, and he'll assign you to camp
+quarters. You understand--you'll use a military camp, and not your
+regular Scout camp. The State will provide tents, bedding and utensils,
+and you will draw rations for your Troop from the commissary department
+during the maneuvers."
+
+"I understand, Colonel," said Durland. "You know I served in the Spanish
+war, and I was able to get pretty familiar with conditions."
+
+"I didn't know it, no," said Colonel Roberts, in some surprise. "What
+command were you with? I didn't get any further than Tampa myself."
+
+"I was on General Shafter's staff in Cuba," said Durland, quietly.
+
+Colonel Roberts looked at the Scout-Master a bit ruefully.
+
+"You're a regular," he said, half-believingly. "Great Scott, you must be
+a West Pointer!"
+
+"I was," said Durland, with a laugh. "So I guess you'll find that my
+Troop will understand how to behave itself in camp."
+
+"I surrender!" said the militia colonel, laughing. "If you don't see
+anything you want, Captain, just ask me for it. You can have anything
+I've got power to sign orders for. And say--be easy on the boys! They're
+a bit green, because this active service is something new for most of
+us. They mean well, but drilling in an armory and actually getting out
+and getting a taste of field-service conditions are two different
+things."
+
+"I think it's all splendid training," said Durland, "and if we'd had
+more of it before the war with Spain there wouldn't have been so many
+graves filled by the fever. Why, Colonel, it used to make me sick to go
+around among the volunteer camps about Siboney and see the conditions
+there, with men who were brave enough to fight the whole Spanish army
+just inviting fever and all sorts of disease by the rankest sort of
+carelessness. Their officers were brave gentleman, but, while they might
+have been good lawyers and doctors and bankers back home, they had never
+taken the trouble to read the most elementary books on camp life and
+sanitation. A day's hard reading would have taught them enough to save
+hundreds of lives. We lost more men by disease than the Spaniards were
+able to kill at El Caney and San Juan. And it was all needless."
+
+"I'm detached from my regiment for this camp," said Colonel Roberts,
+earnestly, "but I'm going to get hold of Major Jones as soon as I get to
+Guernsey, and ask him to have you inspect the Fourteenth and criticize
+it. Don't hesitate, please, Captain! Just pitch in and tell us what's
+wrong, and we'll all be eternally grateful to you. And I wish you'd give
+me a list of those books you were talking about, will you?"
+
+"Gladly," said Durland. "All right, Colonel. I'll have the Troop on hand
+for that train."
+
+The Scouts enjoyed the trip mightily. Durland took occasion to impress
+on them some of the differences between a regular Boy Scout encampment
+and the strict military camp of which, for the next week, they were to
+form a part.
+
+"Remember to stick close to your own camp," he said. "After taps don't
+go out of your own company street. There's no need of it, and I don't
+want any visiting around among the other troops. In a place like this
+camp, boys and men don't mix very well, and you'd better stick by
+yourselves. We won't be there very long, anyway, because we'll probably
+be detached from headquarters Monday. The army will break up, too,
+because this is really only a concentration camp, where the army will be
+mobilized."
+
+"When does the war begin?" asked Dick Crawford.
+
+"War is supposed to be declared at noon to-morrow," said Durland. "It is
+regarded as inevitable already, however, and General Harkness can begin
+throwing out his troops as soon as he has them ready, though not a shot
+can be fired before noon. Neither can a single Red or Blue soldier cross
+the State line before that time. However, I suspect that the line will
+be pretty well patrolled before the actual declaration, so as to prevent
+General Bliss from throwing any considerable force across the line
+before we are ready to meet it. If he could get between Guernsey and the
+State capital in any force, the chances are that we'd be beaten before
+we ever began to fight at all."
+
+"That wouldn't do," said Dick Crawford. "Will we have any fortifications
+to defend at all, sir?"
+
+"Not unless we're driven back pretty well toward the capital. Of course
+there are no real fortifications there, but imaginary lines have been
+established there. However, if we were forced to take to those the moral
+victory would be with the Blues, even though they couldn't actually
+compel the surrender of the city within the time limit. If I were
+General Harkness, I think I would try at once to deceive the enemy by
+presenting a show of strength on his front and carry the war into his
+own territory by a concealed flanking movement, and if that were
+properly covered I think we could get between him and his base and cut
+him off from his supplies."
+
+"You mean you'd really take the offensive as the best means of defense?"
+
+"That's been the principle upon which the best generals always have
+worked, from Hannibal to Kuroki," said Durland, his eyes lighting up.
+"Look at the Japanese in their war with Russia. They didn't wait for the
+Russians to advance through Manchuria. They crossed the border at once,
+though nine critics out of every ten who had studied the situation
+expected them to wait for the Russians to cross the Yalu and make Korea
+the great theater of the war. Instead of that they advanced themselves,
+beat a small Russian army at the Yalu, and pressed on. They met the
+Russians, who were pouring into Manchuria over their great
+Trans-Siberian railway, and drove them back, from Liao Yiang to Mukden.
+They'd have kept on, too, if they hadn't been stopped by peace."
+
+"Could they have kept on, though? I always had an idea that they needed
+the peace even more than the Russians did."
+
+"Well, you may be right. That's something that no one can tell. They had
+the confidence of practically unceasing victory from the very beginning
+of the war. They were safe from invasion, because their fleet absolutely
+controlled the Yellow Sea after the battle of Tsushima, and there
+weren't any more Russian battleships to bother them. They had bottled up
+the Russian force in Port Arthur, and they were in the position of
+having everything to gain and very little to lose. Their line of
+communication was perfectly safe."
+
+"They must have weakened themselves greatly, though, in that series of
+battles."
+
+"Yes, they did. And, of course, there is the record of Russia to be
+considered. Russia has always been beaten at the start of a war. It has
+taken months of defeat to stiffen the Russians to a real fight. Napoleon
+marched to Moscow fairly easily, though he did have some hard fights,
+like the one at Borodino, on the way. But he had a dreadful time getting
+back, and that was what destroyed him. After that Leipzic and Waterloo
+were inevitable. It was the Russians who really won the fight against
+Napoleon, though it remained for Blucher and Wellington to strike the
+death blows."
+
+"Well, after all, what might have happened doesn't count for so much.
+It's what did really happen that stands in history, and the Japanese
+won. It was by their daring in taking the offensive and striking quickly
+that they did that, you think?"
+
+"It certainly seems so to me! And look at the Germans in the war with
+France. Von Moltke decided that the thing to do was to strike at the
+very heart and soul of France--Paris. So he swept on, leaving great,
+uncaptured fortresses like Metz and Sedan behind him, which was against
+every rule of war as it was understood then. Of course, Metz and Sedan
+were both captured, but it was daring strategy on the part of Von
+Moltke. It was supposed then to be suicidal for an army to pass by a
+strong fortress, even if it were invested."
+
+"That was how the Boers made so much trouble for the English, too,
+wasn't it?"
+
+"Certainly it was. The English expected the Boers to sit back and wait
+to be attacked. Instead of that the Boers swept down at once on both
+sides of the continent, and besieged Kimberly and Ladysmith. That was
+how they were able to prolong the war. They took the offensive, in spite
+of being outnumbered, and while they could never have really hoped to
+win, they put up a wonderful fight."
+
+"Well, I suppose we'll know in a day or so what General Harkness plans
+to do."
+
+"Hardly! We're not connected with the staff in any way, and he'll
+discuss his plans only with his own staff officers. He has an excellent
+reputation. He commanded a brigade in the Porto Rico campaign, you know,
+and did very well, though that campaign was a good deal of a joke. But
+one reason that it was a joke was that it was so well planned by General
+Miles and the others under him that there was no use, at any stage of
+it, in a real resistance on the part of the Spaniards. They were beaten
+before a shot was fired, and they had sense enough not to waste lives
+uselessly."
+
+"Then they weren't cowardly?"
+
+"No, indeed, and don't let anyone tell you they were, either. The
+Spaniards were a brave and determined enemy, but they were so crippled
+and hampered by orders from home that they were unable to make much of a
+showing in the field. We'll learn some time, I'm afraid, that we won
+that war too easily. Overconfidence is our worst national fault. Just
+because we never have been beaten, we think we're invincible. I hope the
+lesson, when it does come, and if it does come, won't be too costly."
+
+The run to Guernsey was not a very long one. The train arrived there at
+four o'clock in the afternoon, and the Scouts, armed only with their
+clasp knives, Scout axes and sticks, lined up on the platform in
+excellent order. Dick Crawford, who ranked as a lieutenant for the
+encampment, took command, while Durland reported the arrival to Colonel
+Henry, as he had been ordered to do.
+
+Half a dozen extra sidings had been laid for the occasion by the
+railroad, and on these long trains, each carrying militia, had been
+shunted. Clad all in khaki, or, rather, in the substitute adopted by the
+American army as more serviceable and less easy to distinguish at a
+distance, a stout cloth of olive drab, thousands of sturdy militiamen
+were standing at ease, waiting for orders to move. Field guns, too, and
+horses, for the mounted troops, were being unloaded, and the scene was
+one of the greatest activity. Hoarse cries filled the air, but there was
+only the appearance of confusion, since the citizen soldiers understood
+their work thoroughly, and each man had his part to play in the
+spectacle.
+
+From one of the trains, too, three great structures with spreading wings
+had been unloaded, and the eyes of the Boy Scouts turned constantly
+toward the spot where mechanics were busily engaged in assembling the
+aeroplanes which were to serve, to some extent, as the eyes of the army.
+
+"Glad to see you, Captain," Colonel Henry said to Durland when the
+Scout-Master reported the arrival of his Troop. "I'll send an orderly
+with you to show you the location of your camp. Colonel Roberts directed
+me to give you an isolated location, and I have done so. It's a little
+way from drinking water, but I guess you won't mind that."
+
+"Not a bit, sir," said Durland, smilingly.
+
+"Very well, Captain. Report to General Harkness's tent at eight o'clock,
+sir, for your instructions. I think you will find that the General has
+enough work planned to keep your Troop pretty busy to-morrow. We shall
+all watch your work with a great deal of interest. We've been hearing a
+lot about Durland's Scouts."
+
+Durland saluted then, and turned with the orderly to rejoin his Troop.
+
+In two hours the camp was ready. The neat row of tents, making a short
+but perfectly planned and arranged company street, were all up, bedding
+was ready, and supper was being cooked from the rations supplied by the
+commissary department. Durland, with active recollections of commissary
+supplies, had been inclined to bring along extra supplies for his Troop,
+but had decided against doing so, though he knew that many of the
+militia companies had taken the opposite course to his own, and had
+brought along enough supplies to set an excellent table.
+
+"I want the boys to get a taste of real service," he told Dick, "and it
+won't hurt them a bit to rough it for a week. They get enough to eat,
+even if there isn't much variety, and the quality isn't of the best. The
+stuff is wholesome, anyhow--that's what counts."
+
+By the time he returned from headquarters, the Troop was sound asleep,
+save for the sentries, Tom Binns and Harry French, who challenged him
+briskly.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE SCOUTING AUTO
+
+
+Reveille sounded at five o'clock. There was plenty to be done before the
+war game actually began. There were plans to be laid, codes to be
+determined, umpires to be consulted as to vague and indefinite rules,
+and all sorts of little things that in a real war would have adjusted
+themselves. But the Scouts were well out of the excitement. They struck
+their tents and handed them over, neatly arranged, with all their
+bedding, to the men from the commissary department.
+
+"Sleeping bags for us, after to-day," explained Durland. "That is, if we
+have to sleep in the open. Sometimes we'll get a barn or a hayrick, or
+even a bed in a farmhouse. We won't worry about all that. But we're not
+going to sit still, and we can't scout and carry tents and dunnage of
+that sort along. So I said I'd turn it all in."
+
+Then the Troop waited, quietly, for the orders that seemed so slow in
+coming. But they came at last. A young officer rode up on a horse that
+was dripping wet.
+
+"General Harkness's compliments, Captain," he said, saluting Durland,
+"and you will take your Troop at once to Bremerton, on the State line.
+You will make your headquarters there, where a field telegraph station
+has been established. Please hold your Scouts for the stroke of twelve,
+when they may cross the line. The line for five miles on each side of
+Bremerton is in your territory."
+
+"My compliments to General Harkness, and we will start at once," replied
+Durland.
+
+And a moment later they were on the hike. There was plenty of time,
+since Bremerton was less than three miles away, and it was scarcely
+seven o'clock, but it was cooler then than it would be later, and
+Durland was glad to get his Troop away from the bustle and apparent
+confusion of the camp where the Red army was beginning to move.
+
+"Where are the divisional headquarters to be to-day?" Durland asked a
+hurrying staff officer who passed just then.
+
+"Hardport--across the line," the staff man replied, as he paused a
+moment. A wide grin illuminated his features. "That's nerve for you, eh?
+The old man's pretty foxy. He's going to start us moving so that we'll
+begin crossing the State line on the stroke of twelve, and he'll fling a
+brigade into Hardport before two o'clock."
+
+Durland whistled.
+
+"That's fine, if it works," he remarked to Dick Crawford, later. "But
+Hardport practically is the key to the railroad situation, and it isn't
+conceivable that the Blues will leave it unguarded. I'm inclined to be a
+wee bit dubious about that."
+
+However, as he reflected, it was really none of his business. He was
+responsible for his own Troop, not for the conduct of the campaign, and
+that let him out.
+
+It was a hot, hazy day, when the sun was fully up, and the Scouts
+marched into Bremerton, to find it a sleepy, lazy, old-fashioned little
+town. Above a building in the center the national flag was floating, and
+next to it a Red standard. Durland turned the Troop over to Dick
+Crawford, with instructions to make a bivouac near the centre of the
+little place, and then walked over to the building where the flag was
+flying.
+
+As he surmised, it had become unexpectedly brigade headquarters for the
+fourth brigade of the Red army, which had left Guernsey before the
+breakfast call had been sounded for most of the army, and had arrived
+too soon.
+
+"Where is your brigade, Tomlinson?" he asked a young officer, who almost
+ran into him as he came out.
+
+"Oh, hello, Durland!" said the officer, wheeling briskly to shake hands
+with the Scout-Master. "Why, we're hidden in the woods. Old Beansy's
+fuming and fretting because he's here too soon. The men are lying back
+there, but he's moved up here for brigade headquarters because it's a
+field telegraph station and he can talk as much as he likes with General
+Harkness."
+
+"Your brigade commander is Beansy, I take it?" said Durland, with a
+grin.
+
+"You're right, he is! General Beverly Bean, bless him! He'll want to see
+you, too, now that you've blundered into his territory. Go on up--third
+door to the left!"
+
+Durland stopped to report his arrival to division headquarters and then
+went on, getting into the presence of General Bean after a few minutes'
+delay.
+
+"Glad to see you sir," said the testy old officer, who was a real
+soldier. "Suppose you know we're intended to get into Hardport just as
+soon after this war begins as we can get there."
+
+"How soon will that be?" asked Durland.
+
+"About two hours, if we're not cut to pieces on the way. I want your
+help here, Captain. Can you send some of your Scouts over there to
+investigate? I've an idea that getting into Hardport may be easier than
+getting out again. If Bliss knows his business, he will be regarding
+that as a pretty important place."
+
+"I've orders to cover five miles each side of Bremerton," said Durland.
+"I can spare two Scouts for any duty you may wish done, General. Could
+they have a car?"
+
+"Do they know how to run one?"
+
+The question was asked in evident surprise, but Durland replied
+confidently.
+
+"Yes, General," said he. "I've got two Scouts, at least, who are
+perfectly capable of handling an automobile under any conditions. I'd
+trust myself to them, no matter how hard the road might be."
+
+"I'm glad to hear it," said the general, rather dryly. "I've got two of
+those new-fangled scout duty cars, with an armored hood and those new
+non-explosive tires, that can't be stopped by a bullet aimed at the
+wheels. But they didn't send me anyone to run them. There may be some
+chauffeurs in my brigade, but I'm not too anxious to take any men from
+their regiments. Here--I'll give you an order for one of the cars. Let
+your Scouts make the best use they can of it."
+
+Durland had heard of the new scouting cars, but had never seen one. He
+went now, since there was plenty of time, to look it over, and found a
+heavy but high-powered and fast machine of a most unusual type.
+
+The hood was armored, so that no stray bullets could reach the engine,
+as would be easy enough in the ordinary car. Similar protection was
+afforded to the big gasoline tank in the rear of the car, and the seats,
+intended for two men, were covered by a shield, also of bullet-proof
+armor, that was so pierced with small holes that the road ahead could be
+seen.
+
+But the most extraordinary feature of the car was the new type of wheel.
+There were no tires in the ordinary sense at all. Instead, there was a
+tough, but springy steel substitute, and Durland spent an hour in
+looking the queer contrivance over, having first satisfied himself that
+the car was not sufficiently different from the ordinary automobile to
+make it impossible for Jack Danby to operate it. For it was Jack Danby
+he had had in mind when he asked for the use of the machine.
+
+His friend Lieutenant Tomlinson came up while he was looking it over.
+
+"Queer lookin' critter, isn't it?" said Tomlinson. He seemed quite
+enthusiastic. "I tell you what," he went on, "if that thing works out
+all right, it's going to revolutionize certain things in warfare. And
+it's perfect, theoretically. Tires are the things that have barred
+automobiles from use in warfare so far. Ping!--a bullet hits a tire, and
+the car is stalled. Or suppose the chauffeur wants to leave the road and
+go 'cross country? His tires again. He's afraid to."
+
+"And this has tires that won't be afraid of bullets or rocks, either,
+eh?"
+
+"I should say they wouldn't! Bullets wouldn't have a chance against that
+stuff. And the man who drives it is protected, too. That bullet-proof
+shield makes him as safe as if he were at home. And the blooming thing
+is good for sixty miles an hour over a half-way decent road--though it
+can be slowed down to just about two miles an hour, and still be ready
+for a quick jump."
+
+"They're being used in both armies, aren't they?"
+
+"Yes. There are about a dozen of them altogether. They're evenly
+divided, and both armies are under orders to try them out pretty
+thoroughly. If they make good, there will be a lot of them put in use by
+the regular army. They're making their own tests, but tests under actual
+service conditions count for more than any number of trials when all the
+conditions are made to order for the people who are trying to put the
+cars over."
+
+It was Tomlinson's busy day, and he didn't have time to dally long in
+talk. So he went off, and Durland sent Tom Binns, who was acting as his
+orderly for the day, to bring Jack Danby to him.
+
+Durland carried in his pockets a number of large scale maps of the
+sections all around the State line, in both of the States. The scale was
+two inches to the mile, so it took a considerable number of the maps to
+show at all adequately the theatre of the imaginary war. But so full of
+detail, thanks to the large scale, were the maps, that they showed every
+house in the territory they covered, and every grade. He spread three of
+these maps out, side by side, as he waited for Jack, and traced a course
+over them with a pencil.
+
+Jack appeared in due time, and saluted--not with the Scout salute of
+thumb and little finger bent, with the three other fingers held straight
+up, but with the military salute.
+
+"Danby," said Durland, "I'm going to entrust you with a piece of work
+that is so important that the whole result of the maneuvers may depend
+upon it. Do you think you can run that car?"
+
+Jack, who had a positive genius for mechanical matters of all sorts,
+looked the strange looking car over carefully before he answered.
+
+"It looks straight enough, sir," he said. "Self starter, I guess. And
+you ought to be able to go anywhere you like with those wheels. What is
+it that I am to do, sir?"
+
+"I can explain better with these maps," said Durland. "Come close here,
+and I will show you what I mean."
+
+Jack bent over the maps with the Scout-Master, and Durland began tracing
+a line with a sharp pencil.
+
+"Here we are, in Bremerton," he said. "Now, about four miles across the
+State line is Hardport. You can see the smoke from its factories, and
+the railroad yards there, because it's quite an important little city.
+Now, there is a straight road from here that leads there--the
+continuation of this very road we are on now. What I want you to do is
+to circle around"--he pointed on the map--"and strike into Hardport from
+the other side. Find out, if possible, what troops of the Blue army are
+in the neighborhood, and particularly along this main road. If they
+occupy it in force, report as quickly as possible. If they advance
+immediately after war is declared, return, but try to see if there is
+not some way in which our own troops can get behind them."
+
+"Am I to go into Hardport itself, sir?"
+
+"Yes. And you need not stop, if challenged. Your car is regarded as
+bullet proof, and the only way in which they can legitimately capture
+you is by stretching a rope or providing some sort of an obstruction
+that enables two of them to get a foot on your running board. Remember
+your rights, and don't surrender to a mere challenge from a sentry. And
+keep your hood well down, so that they won't recognize you."
+
+"I understand, sir. What time am I to start from here?"
+
+"Start as soon as you like. You'd better get off and circle pretty
+widely, so as to get used to the car. But don't cross the State line,
+whatever you do, before twelve o'clock. That is strictly against
+orders."
+
+There was a lot of good-natured talk among the Scouts when they heard of
+the great chance to distinguish himself that had come to the Assistant
+Patrol Leader of the Crows.
+
+"Gee, Jack's lucky!" said one member of the Whip-poor-will Patrol.
+
+"He is not!" defended Pete Stubbs, loyally. "He's a hard worker. He's
+spent a lot of his own time in the last year learnin' all about an
+automobile. He knows how to run one, and he knows how to fix it, too, if
+it goes wrong on a trip. That isn't luck, and don't you call it luck!"
+
+"I didn't mean anything against Jack when I said he was lucky, Pete. No
+call to get so mad about it!"
+
+"I'm not so mad, but it does get my goat to hear people say that
+everything that happens to Jack Danby that's good comes because he's
+lucky. I guess he isn't any luckier than any of the rest of us, but he
+sticks to the job harder."
+
+No amount of coaxing, of course, would have induced Jack to tell what
+his orders were; and as a matter of fact, only one or two of the Scouts
+tried to find out. Durland had not even thought it necessary to warn
+Jack to be quiet, for he knew that Jack was on his honor as a Scout, and
+that nothing more was necessary to lead him to maintain a resolute
+silence on the subject of the strange scouting trip into the enemy's
+country which he was soon to begin.
+
+"Good luck," cried the Scout-Master, finally, as Jack started off. "You
+know your orders--now make good!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+IN THE ENEMY'S COUNTRY
+
+
+Almost at the last moment Scout-Master Durland, or Captain Durland, as
+he was again for this week, had decided not to send Jack Danby on his
+trip into the enemy's country alone. Seated beside Jack, therefore,
+under the protective hood of the scout car, was little Tom Binns.
+
+"Keep your eye on your watch, Tom," said Jack. "We don't want to make
+any mistake and cross the line too soon--but we don't want to be late,
+either. This job is too important to run any risks of bungling it. I'd
+hate to think that I'd been trusted with something really big for the
+first time and then fallen down on it."
+
+"Where will you cross the line, Jack?" asked Tom. "I should think it
+would be pretty hard to tell just where the boundary was."
+
+Jack pointed to a road map, on a slightly smaller scale than the one
+from which Captain Durland had given him his course, which was pasted
+right before his eyes on the metal dashboard of the car.
+
+"I can't lose my way with that, Tom," he said. "See, there's a road that
+we're getting pretty near to now. It crosses the State line about six
+miles east of Bremerton, if you'll notice the map, at a little village
+called Mardean. That's all on this side of the line. They may be
+watching the road there, so what we want to do is to get where we can't
+be seen, and then, about a minute before noon, go ahead as fast as the
+car will carry us. That ought to take us through all right, even if
+they've got a guard on duty. Then we can circle around in a big sweep
+and come down to Hardport from behind. The country people ought to be
+able to tell us part of what we want to know, and we can confirm what
+they tell us by what we can see ourselves."
+
+"They wouldn't lie to us, would they, Jack?"
+
+"You couldn't call it regular lying if they gave us false information
+about their own army, Tom. Remember that this is supposed to be like a
+real war, and in a war the invading army wouldn't expect to get correct
+information from the people along the roads. On the contrary, they'd do
+their best to delay the enemy, and make all the trouble they could, and
+they'd be patriotic. So we've got to be mighty careful this next week
+about how we take any information we pick up in that fashion. If the
+people on the farms take the game seriously, and enter into the spirit
+of it, they'll do all they can to harass us and bother us."
+
+Jack drove his car well and carefully, but made no great attempt to get
+high speed out of it, though it was, as he knew, capable of going three
+or four times as fast as he was driving it. But there is always a
+certain danger in driving an automobile at high speed, and Jack saw no
+use in taking any risk that was not necessary.
+
+"You can go a lot faster than this, can't you, Jack?" asked Tom, as they
+bowled along easily, at little more than fifteen miles an hour.
+
+"What's the use, Tom? We'll get to Mardean before we can cross the line,
+anyhow. I'll go fast enough then for a spell, if you're anxious for
+speed. Don't be impatient! We'll get all the speed you want before very
+long."
+
+Jack was a true prophet, as one ought to be when he has the means of
+fulfilling the prophecy in his own hands. At Mardean, just out of sight
+of the line, they waited while the minutes dragged slowly by.
+
+"One minute more!" cried Tom Binns, breathless with excitement and
+suspense.
+
+"All right," said Jack, quietly. "Hold tight now, Tom! I'm going to let
+her out a bit."
+
+Swiftly the grey car gathered speed. In a rush of dust, with horn
+blowing and exhaust sputtering behind them, the car shot over the line,
+and, just as a whistle boomed out the twelve o'clock dinner signal, Jack
+was in hostile territory. The war was on!
+
+Behind them there was a confused shouting. The car was built so that it
+was easy to look behind.
+
+"There was an outpost there," said Tom, as he looked back. "They're
+kicking up a tremendous fuss, Jack. I guess we rather put one over on
+them that time."
+
+"We've got to put another one over on them in a hurry, then," said Jack,
+"or they'll put one over on us. Let me know as soon as that outpost is
+well out of sight, Tom. And keep your eyes skinned for any sign that
+they're after us with a motorcycle or anything like that, will you?"
+
+"They're out of sight now--and there's nothing on the road. Hey, Jack,
+where are you going?"
+
+For Jack, after a swift glance at his map, had run deliberately off the
+road, reducing speed considerably as he did so, but not so much that the
+car did not rattle around considerably as it left the smooth roadbed and
+plunged into a field that had not long since been ploughed.
+
+"They'll telephone ahead of us, and they'll be waiting," Jack explained.
+"I've got to cut through the fields here, so that we can get on another
+road where they won't be looking for us. Otherwise I'm afraid we
+wouldn't get very far before we ran into a trap that all our armor and
+all our speed wouldn't get us out of without capture. You don't want to
+lose this car on its first trip, do you, Tom?"
+
+"Not by a good deal!" yelled Tom, who was beginning to feel the
+exhilaration of the wild, bumping ride over the furrows of the field.
+"It was sort of sudden, that's all, Jack; I wasn't expecting it, you
+see."
+
+"I meant to tell you we'd do that, but I forgot. I had it all doped out.
+See, we're coming to another road, now. This is a pretty big field, and
+it was marked accurately on that map. This whole section was surveyed
+and mapped especially for this war game."
+
+"Say, if they do many things like that, it must cost something," said
+Tom.
+
+"War's the most expensive thing in the world, Tom, and the next most
+expensive, I guess, is getting ready for it, and having such a strong
+army and navy that no one will want to fight you. But it pays to be
+ready for war, no matter how much it costs, for the country that isn't
+ready is always the one that has to fight when it least expects it. And
+fighting when you're not ready is the most expensive of all. It costs
+money and lives."
+
+Then, with a sickening bump, the car took the road again, and Jack was
+heading straight for Hardport.
+
+"Those wheels worked splendidly," he said. "And the car, too. An
+ordinary car would have bumped itself to pieces a mile or so back, and
+this one is running just as easily as when we started. I suppose it cost
+a lot, but it was certainly worth it."
+
+"Every time we hit a new furrow I thought we were going to break down,"
+confessed Tom. "I was scared at first. But I soon decided that we were
+all right. But I don't believe, even if I knew how to drive a car, that
+I'd have the nerve to take it through a ploughed field that way."
+
+"Yes, you would, Tom, if you knew it was the only thing you could do.
+You couldn't be any worse scared than I was when we left the road--but I
+knew, you see, that there simply wasn't any other way out of it. When
+you have to do a thing, you can usually manage it. I've found that out."
+
+"What's next?"
+
+"The outskirts of Hardport. I want to skirt the railroad track. Their
+mobilization was at Smithville, back along the railroad about twenty
+miles, and if they've sent any force to Hardport, the railroad will show
+it. If they haven't, I'm going to mark the railroad cut."
+
+"What do you mean, Jack?"
+
+"In a real war, if people got a chance, this railroad would be cut. A
+lot of rails would be torn up and burnt. We don't want to interfere with
+regular traffic, so in this game we build a fire with spare ties, and
+mark as much rail as we'd have time to tear up, allowing ten minutes for
+each length of rail. Then if a troop train comes along and sees that
+signal, it is held to be delayed an hour for each torn up rail, as that
+is the time it would take the sappers to repair the damage."
+
+They paused for thirty minutes, therefore, when they reached a spot
+about three miles and a half from the city line of Hardport.
+
+"There," said Jack, when he had set his marks, "that will hold them up
+for three hours, and give General Bean a chance to occupy Hardport and
+destroy the railroad bridge. That will take a day to rebuild, without
+interference, and I guess it makes it pretty safe for us. Now we'll go
+on into town."
+
+But they didn't go into the town. They did not have to, to discover that
+Hardport was occupied by a Blue regiment, which had outposts well
+scattered around the place, anticipating an attack, just as Captain
+Durland had said he thought would be the case.
+
+"We'll do some more circling, now," said Jack, "and get around their
+outposts. I know a way we can do that. What they're planning is to let
+General Bean advance and walk into a trap. They've got enough men
+waiting for him along here to smash him on a frontal attack. What we've
+got to do is to get word to him in time to prevent him from doing that."
+
+Twice, as the grey car sped along, now on the road, now in the fields,
+they saw parties of the enemy, but never were they near enough seriously
+to threaten the Boy Scouts with capture. And at last, striking into the
+main road for Bremerton, they saw a cloud of dust approaching, which
+they recognized as the signal of the coming of General Bean's brigade.
+
+The soldiers cheered them as they recognized the scout car, and opened
+up a way for the big car to pass through them to the brigade commander
+himself.
+
+"What's your name, eh?" asked the General, sharply. "Danby, eh?
+Excellent work, Scout Danby! I shall make it a point to report my
+appreciation to your Troop commander. You'd better come along in the
+rear now, and watch the rest of the operations. Thanks to you, I rather
+think they'll be worth watching."
+
+And, touching the spurs to his speedy black horse, he cantered up to the
+front of the column, chuckling and laughing as he thought of how the
+enemy had been outwitted by his youthful Scout.
+
+The direct forward march of the brigade was interrupted immediately. One
+regiment, indeed, continued along the straight road to Hardport, but the
+rest of the brigade was deployed at once.
+
+"What will they do now, Jack?" asked Tom Binns.
+
+"Well, I wouldn't be able to say for certain," replied Jack, with a
+smile, "but I rather think they'll manage to get behind the town in some
+fashion, and close in on the Blue troops in the garrison while the
+regiment in front here keeps them busy with a strong feint of an
+attack."
+
+A colonel of regular cavalry, with a white badge on his arm to show he
+was serving as an umpire, drove past just then in a big white
+automobile.
+
+"See, there's one of the umpires," said Jack. "He goes all about, and
+determines the result. I'm glad he's here--that means there can't be any
+dispute this time. General Bean has probably told him what he plans to
+do, and he will see how it comes out. Of course, he doesn't communicate
+in any way with the enemy, or tell them what we're planning to do."
+
+"Of course not! That wouldn't be fair, Jack. I'm glad he's here, too. Do
+you suppose he's heard about the way we blocked the railroad?"
+
+"I think he may have seen our signs and come this way just to find out
+what was doing."
+
+"Listen!" cried Jack, suddenly. "There's firing ahead! Let's get on and
+find out what's going on."
+
+There was heavy firing ahead of them for a few minutes, and then it
+became intermittent.
+
+"Our attack is being repelled, I guess," said Jack. "That's the first
+engagement of the war, too. Well, we may seem to be beaten in that, but
+I guess we can afford to lose a skirmish, if we can capture Hardport and
+a whole Blue regiment."
+
+Again, after the firing had almost ceased, a rattle of shots burst on
+the quiet air. Then, too, came the screaming of a shell, as it burst
+harmlessly above the city.
+
+"Hooray!" cried Jack. "We've surrounded them! Come on!"
+
+And this time there was no opposing the entry of the grey car into
+Hardport. The city had been surrounded and captured, just as Jack had
+predicted, and the Blue regiment that had been so completely outwitted,
+thanks to the cleverness of Jack Danby, was out of the war entirely. It
+was an important victory, in more ways than one. General Bliss could ill
+afford to lose so many men, and the capture of Hardport, moreover, was a
+crippling blow, since it interfered with the operation of the railroad
+which he had relied upon for bringing his troops across the State line
+in large numbers.
+
+The umpires lost no time in telling General Bean of their decision, and
+in congratulating him on the strategy he had displayed.
+
+"Cutting the railroad was a masterly stroke," said one of the umpires.
+
+"That's what I say!" said the General, with enthusiasm. "And it was a
+little tike of a Boy Scout, in my grey scout car, who did it--and that
+without orders!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+OFF TO CRIPPLE CREEK
+
+
+Jack and Tom Binns waited only to see the surrender of Hardport before
+Jack turned the car about and made for Bremerton, taking the direct road
+this time, since the advance of General Bean and his division of the Red
+army had swept aside all danger from the invading Blue forces. The
+outposts, of course, which Jack had had to dodge as he scouted in
+advance of the Red advance guard, had all been driven back upon
+Hardport, and they were prisoners of war now, and the way was clear for
+the day, at least.
+
+Captain Durland listened with scarcely concealed enthusiasm to Jack's
+clear and concise account of what had been accomplished.
+
+"You two saved the day," he said, finally. "We would have been in a very
+tight hole indeed if you hadn't cut the railroad, which was the only
+thing that made it possible for General Bean to effect the capture of
+Hardport as he did."
+
+"How is that, sir?" asked Jack. "I thought we gave him useful
+information, and I cut the railroad because there seemed to be a good
+chance to do it, without thinking very much of the consequences of doing
+so."
+
+"Why, if you hadn't cut the railroad," said Durland, "General Bliss
+would have thrown a division into Hardport as soon as he heard at his
+headquarters, by telegraph, that the place was threatened. Then he could
+have moved troops over from Mardean, where I imagine he had at least a
+couple of regiments, and General Bean's brigade would have been in a
+trap that would have been absolutely impossible to escape from. Now it's
+all different. We've got Hardport. By this time General Bean has
+unquestionably theoretically destroyed the railroad bridge and has
+artillery mounted so that the guns will have to be captured before
+General Bliss can make an attempt to rebuild it."
+
+"I see! If the bridge is covered with guns, the theory is that the enemy
+couldn't do any work, eh?"
+
+"Exactly! They've got to work in a narrow place, and they'd be blown to
+pieces, a squad at a time, while they were trying to work. That was the
+decisive move of the whole action. What did General Bean say to you?"
+
+"He said it was good work, sir, and that he was going to speak to you of
+it."
+
+"Excellent, Jack! I am very pleased that one of my Scouts should have
+played so important a part in the first decisive engagement of the
+campaign. And General Bean is the sort of a man who is sure to see that
+you get the credit for what you've done."
+
+"What shall we do next, sir?"
+
+"I'll hold you in reserve until I get further orders from headquarters,
+I think. General Harkness evidently plans an aggressive fight from the
+very outset. I have heard nothing from his headquarters direct as yet,
+but I probably shall pretty soon. I shall send in a report of General
+Bean's success at Hardport at once, though he has probably done that
+already."
+
+The Scouts were working well all along the line. The enemy, as Pete
+Stubbs had reported, had crossed the State line in some small force at
+Mardean. Two regiments had occupied that village, which was on the Red
+side of the line, and had thrown out skirmishers for a couple of miles
+in both directions. Warner, one of the Raccoon Patrol, had been
+captured, but he was the only one of the Troop who had not made good his
+escape in the face of the enemy's advance, and even he had accomplished
+the purpose for which he had been sent out, since he had managed to
+wig-wag the news of the advance of a troop of cavalry before they had
+run him down, and the news had been flashed all along the line, from
+Scout to Scout, until it had reached Durland.
+
+The wireless was not in use here, though experiments were being made
+with a field wireless installation some miles away, but the Scouts did
+not need it. They were spread out within plain sight of one another, and
+with their little red and white flags they sent messages by the Morse
+alphabet, and in a special code, as fast as wireless could have done.
+They also were prepared to use, when there was a bright sun, which was
+not the case that day, the heliograph system, which sends messages for
+great distances.
+
+In that system of field signalling, extensively employed by the British
+during the Boer war, since wireless had not at that time been at all
+perfected, a man stands on a slight elevation, and catches the rays of
+the sun on a great reflector. Those flashes are visible for many miles
+in a clear atmosphere, in a flat country, and the flashes, of course,
+are practically instantaneous.
+
+"We don't need to worry about wireless for communications of a few
+miles," said Durland. "The system of signalling that depends on seeing
+flashes, smokes, flags and other signals, is as old as warfare, really.
+The Indians, in this country, used to send news an astonishing distance
+in an amazingly short time. They used smokes, as we know, since we have
+all worked out those signals ourselves from time to time. And all
+nations in time of war have employed relays of men with flags, stationed
+at fixed intervals for scores of miles, for the sending of despatches
+and important news. Napoleon used the system on a great scale, and,
+until the telegraph was invented and made practicable for field work,
+that was the only way it could be done."
+
+"The telegraph was first used in our Civil War, wasn't it, sir?" asked
+Tom Binns.
+
+"Yes. But even then it was done in a very crude way. There was none of
+the modern elaborate work of field telegraph systems. Nowadays, you see,
+an army builds its telegraph lines as it goes along. Then they were
+dependent upon the lines already built, mostly along the railroad
+tracks. The first really great war in which such systems were in use was
+the struggle between Russia and Japan. The French and the Germans didn't
+have them in their war."
+
+A few minutes later an orderly from the building in which the field
+telegraph station had been established came running up to Durland.
+
+"Despatch from General Harkness, Captain," he said, saluting, and
+Durland took the slip of paper. He flushed with pleasure as he read it.
+
+"Concentrate your troop at Hardport," he read. "Send Danby and companion
+in scout car ahead, to report to me for special duty. Congratulations on
+his splendid work, reported to me fully by General Bean."
+
+"That is the sort of thing that makes it worth while to do good work,"
+he said. "I think we saved General Harkness from an embarrassing
+position this morning, and it is good to think that he appreciates what
+we were able to do. Get along, now, Jack, and report to headquarters
+just as soon as you can."
+
+There was now no need to take the grey car through the fields as Jack
+retraced their course over the straight road from Bremerton. They met
+pickets, but those they met, who had heard something of the deeds Jack
+had already accomplished, cheered his progress now, since this was no
+longer the enemy's country but a part of Red territory, by virtue of
+Bean's swift and successful attack of the morning. The soldiers they saw
+were a part of their own army, and Jack waved his hand in grateful
+acknowledgment of the cheers that pursued them as they sped by.
+
+"Those fellows are regulars," he told Tom, as they passed one small
+detachment. "It makes you feel good to think that they regard us as
+comrades in arms, doesn't it, Tom? Those fellows know what they're
+about, and they must regard some of our militia as a good deal of a
+joke."
+
+"I don't think that's a bit fair, Jack," said Tom. "The militia have
+their own work to do most of the time, and they do the best they can
+when they turn soldiers. And if we had a war, the regulars wouldn't be
+able to go very far without help--they must know that!"
+
+"They're not mean about it, Tom. They help the militia as much as they
+can when they're in camp together, and teach them the tricks of the
+trade. But they're trained men who don't do anything but work at their
+soldiering, and the trained men always feel a bit superior to the
+volunteers."
+
+"Some countries have a much bigger army than we do, don't they, Jack?"
+
+"Indeed they do! Why, in Europe, in every country except England, every
+man has to serve in the army, unless he's too weak to do it. You see,
+they have possible enemies on all sides of them. Over here we don't
+realize how lucky we are to have the sea guarding us from the most
+dangerous enemies we might have. We haven't any reason to fear trouble
+with England, and Canada, of course, isn't any better off than we when
+it comes to an army. We could take care of them easily enough with the
+trained troops we have. And Mexico, while they might fight us, couldn't
+put up any sort of a real fight. The Mexicans couldn't invade this
+country, and if we ever had to invade Mexico, we'd have all the time we
+needed to train an army to go across and fight them, the way we did
+before. We may have to do that some time, but I hope not, because
+fighting in the sort of country there is down there would mean an awful
+loss of life."
+
+"You mean that they know the country so well that a small force of them
+could worry us and make a lot of trouble, even if we won all the big
+battles?"
+
+"Yes. The Boers couldn't stand up to the British very long in their
+fight, but they kept under arms and made the English armies work mighty
+hard to bring about peace."
+
+"Well, I hope we never do have a war, Jack. This is only a game, of
+course, but it gives you an idea of what the real thing would be like,
+and it must be dreadful. It makes me realize, somehow, what it might
+have been like in the Civil War, when we were killing one another.
+Somehow reading about those battles doesn't give you as much of an idea
+of how it must have been as even a single morning of this sham war."
+
+They were moving along fast as they talked, and they were in the
+outskirts of Hardport now. The town was full of soldiers. General Bean's
+brigade had been reinforced by the arrival of nearly ten thousand more
+men, and there were, altogether, about sixteen thousand troops there.
+General Harkness, thanks to Jack Danby and the quick wit of General
+Bean, who had understood the necessity of altering his plans for the
+capture of the place when he got Jack's report, had made good his boast
+that he would make the place his divisional headquarters for the night.
+
+The place was all astir. Small automobiles, painted red, carried
+bustling officers from place to place, delivering orders, preparing for
+the next step in the defense of the State capital. General Harkness,
+Jack found, after making several fruitless inquiries of officers who
+seemed to be too busy to bother with a small boy, who, had they known
+it, was a far more important factor in the campaign than they were at
+all likely to be, had established his headquarters at the Hardport
+House, the leading hotel of the town, and there Jack went.
+
+He was kept waiting for some time, after he had stated his name, and
+that he was under orders to report to the commanding general, but when
+he reached General Harkness he found him a pleasant, courteous man, and
+very much pleased with the work that he and Tom Binns had done.
+
+"Now," said the General, "I've got some more and very important work for
+you to do. I've got to find out as soon as I can what the enemy's plans
+are. I don't expect you to do all of that, but you can play a part."
+
+He walked over to a great wall map of the whole field of the operations,
+and pointed out a road on it.
+
+"That road is the key to the situation this afternoon," he said.
+"General Bean is pressing forward to reach it as soon as possible, and
+occupy this bridge here in force. If he can get there in time, the
+enemy's advance will be checked. It is likely, in fact, that we may be
+able to force a decisive engagement there before the enemy is at all
+ready for it. Our capture of Hardport to-day, you see, has given us a
+great advantage. Before that, the enemy was in a position to choose his
+fighting ground. He could make us meet him where he liked, and with all
+the advantage of position in his favor. Now that will be no longer
+possible for him. The ground at Cripple Creek Bridge here is the best we
+could have, since, if General Bean can occupy the position there,
+General Bliss will have no choice but to give battle there, and I think
+we can turn him back on his own mobilization point."
+
+Jack saluted.
+
+"I am to report on the number and disposition of the enemy's forces
+about Cripple Creek, then, sir?" he said.
+
+"Those are your orders. I shall expect a report within two hours."
+
+"Yes, General. I will do my best to have one within that time."
+
+Off in the distance, as Jack whirled out of Hardport, and beyond the
+last pickets of the Red army, he saw a cloud of dust spreading across
+the country.
+
+"There's General Bean," he said to Tom. "Gee, his fellows must be pretty
+tired! They've fought a battle and captured a town already, and now
+they're off on a fifteen-mile march. Going some, I think!"
+
+Cripple Creek was fifteen miles by the straight route the troops were
+forced to take, but by short cuts and taking bad roads, Jack could reach
+it by less than nine miles of traveling.
+
+"Keep your eyes skinned, Tom!" said Jack, as he drove along. "I've got
+to watch the road, and we're in the enemy's country again with a
+vengeance."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+AT THE COVERED BRIDGE
+
+
+There was not a sign of the enemy as they neared the bridge, one of
+those covered affairs so common a few years ago in country districts.
+The countryside was serene and undisturbed.
+
+"This doesn't look much like war," said Jack. "But I guess Gettysburg
+itself looked just as peaceful a few days before the big battle in 1863.
+You can't always tell by appearances. We'll go pretty easy here, anyhow,
+until we're certain that it's all right."
+
+But the most careful investigation failed to reveal a trace of hostile
+occupation or passage. At the end of the bridge Jack got out of the car,
+leaving Tom Binns at the wheel, and ready to start at an instant's
+notice should there be a sudden attack.
+
+"The tracks here don't show anything much," he said, looking up to Tom
+with a puzzled face. "I don't believe anything but a couple of farm
+wagons have passed this way to-day. If General Bliss thought this was
+his only line of advance, he'd have been certain to have had a few
+pickets here--or at least one of his scout cars. And I'll swear that
+nothing of that sort has happened here to-day. They'd have been bound to
+leave all sorts of traces, that's certain!"
+
+"What do you think it means, Jack?"
+
+"That there's something cooking and on the stove that we don't know
+about or suspect, even," said Jack. "I guess that General Bliss gets as
+good information as we do, and he must have figured out that he wouldn't
+be able to get here in time. If he went this way, anyhow, he'd have to
+leave Hardport in our possession behind him. And somehow I don't believe
+he'd do that."
+
+"Say, Jack," called Tom Binns, suddenly, "I just saw a flash over there
+behind you--upon that hillock."
+
+Jack began whistling indifferently. He strolled around, as if he were
+interested only in the view. Gradually he worked over closer to Tom and
+the big car, and then, and only then, he turned so that he could follow
+Tom's eyes with his own.
+
+"I don't want anyone that's around here to think I'm looking at them,"
+he said in a low tone to Tom. "What does it seem like to you, Tom?
+Scouts?"
+
+"I think so, Jack. I caught just a glimpse, after I called to you, of
+something that looked like a Scout uniform. I think that they're
+watching us."
+
+"That's much better," said Jack, greatly relieved. "It didn't seem
+natural, somehow, to find this place so deserted. Say, Tom, you can run
+the car, can't you?"
+
+"Yes, if I don't have to go too fast."
+
+"All right. I'm going to climb in. Then pull the hood pretty well over
+and run her slowly through the bridge. It's covered, you see, and they
+can't see us after we're on it. Then, as soon as we're under cover, I'm
+going to drop out. They can't see how many of us there are in the car.
+I'll stay behind, and you run on around the bend, drop out of the car,
+quietly, and leave it at the side of the road."
+
+"Will that be safe, Jack? Couldn't anyone who came along run off with
+it?"
+
+"Not if you take the spark plug out and put it in your pocket. That
+cripples the car absolutely, and you ought always to do that, even if
+you just leave a car outside a store for a couple of minutes when you go
+in to buy something. This car is great, too, because you don't have to
+crank it. It has a self-starting device, so that you can start the motor
+automatically without leaving your seat."
+
+"All right, Jack. What am I to do after I leave the car?"
+
+"Work up quietly into the woods there. When you get up a way, scout down
+easily, and try to trail them. You'll find traces of them up there on
+the ridge, I'm sure, if they're really up there. I'll do the same thing
+from the other side here. I think we've got a good chance to break one
+of their signalling relays, don't you see?"
+
+"I'll take my flags along, shall I, Jack?"
+
+"Good idea! No telling what we'll be able to find out and do here. All
+right--I'm going to drop out now!"
+
+The car slowed down and he dropped off silently, and laughed as he saw
+Tom Binns guide the big machine off into the light beyond the covered
+bridge again. Then, the laughter gone from his face, he slipped
+cautiously back in the opposite direction, and at the entrance to the
+bridge dropped down to the bed of the creek. The season had been dry,
+and the water in the creek was very shallow. His plan was definite in
+his own mind, and he had had enough experience in scouting to know that
+there was at least a good chance of success in his enterprise, although
+a difficult one.
+
+His destination was the ridge where Tom Binns had seen the flashing of
+red and white signal flags. Step by step now, climbing slowly and
+carefully, he made his way up the bank, sure that even if whoever was on
+the ridge had guessed the ruse of the way in which he had left the
+automobile, they would not be looking for an attack from the direction
+in which he was making his stealthy, Indian-like advance. Another reason
+for slow and deliberate progress was to give Tom Binns time to reach the
+ridge, and take up a position favorable for the playing of his part in
+the scheme.
+
+Before him now, as he moved on, he could hear sounds of quiet and
+stealthy movement, and at last, standing before him, as he peeped
+through a small opening in the thick undergrowth, he could see a Boy
+Scout, standing stiff and straight, and working his signal flags. He had
+to stand on a high spot and in a clearing to do this, as otherwise, of
+course, his flags could not have been seen at any distance. Jack
+measured the place with his eyes. His whole plan would collapse if the
+body of the signalling Scout were visible from the next relay stations,
+but he quickly decided that only the flags would show.
+
+From behind the Scout with the flags now came the call of a crow--caw,
+caw, caw!
+
+Jack grinned as he answered it. For a moment a look of suspicious
+alertness showed on the face of the Blue Scout. He whirled around to
+face the sound behind him, and in the moment that his back was turned
+Jack sprang on him.
+
+The Blue Scout put up a fine struggle, but he was helpless against the
+combined attack of Jack Danby and Tom Binns, who sprang to his comrade's
+aid as soon as he saw what Jack had done.
+
+"Two to one isn't fair," gasped Jack as he sat on his prisoner's chest,
+"but we had to do it. This is war, you see, and they say all's fair in
+love and war. Who are you?"
+
+"Canfield, Tiger Patrol, Twenty-first Troop, Hampton's Scouts," said the
+prisoner. "Detailed for Scout service with the Blue army. You got me
+fair and square. We caught one of your fellows near Mardean, we heard,
+soon after the war began. Sorry--but it's all in the game.
+
+"How on earth did you get to me so quietly? I was watching you in the
+road by the bridge, and I thought you'd gone off in your car. You
+certainly fooled me to the queen's taste."
+
+"Fortune of war," said Jack. "The car gave us a big advantage. You're
+not to blame a bit. I guess you'll be exchanged pretty soon, too. We'll
+give you for Warner, you see. He's the one of our Troop who was caught.
+And a fair exchange isn't any robbery."
+
+"Have we got to tie him up?" asked Tom Binns.
+
+"Not if he'll give his parole not to escape or accept a rescue," said
+Jack. "How about that, Canfield? Will you give me your word of honor?
+I'm Jack Danby, Assistant Patrol Leader of the Crow Patrol of Durland's
+Troop, and ranking as a corporal for the maneuvers in the Red army."
+
+"I'll give you my parole all right," said Canfield. He saluted stiffly.
+"Glad to meet you, Corporal Danby. Sorry the tables aren't turned,
+though. We've got a special dinner for our prisoners to-night--but we
+haven't caught many prisoners yet, worse luck!"
+
+"All right! See if the flags are just the same, Tom."
+
+Tom Binns compared the flags captured from Canfield with those he
+himself carried.
+
+"They're exactly the same," he said. "We can use either his or ours. It
+doesn't make any difference."
+
+"That's good. Stand up there now, Tom, and see what's coming. Can you
+see the next stations on both sides?"
+
+"Sure I can, Jack. They're wig-wagging like the very dickens now, asking
+Canfield here why he doesn't answer."
+
+"Signal that he was watching a grey scout car of the Red army, going
+north," said Jack, with a laugh.
+
+Canfield heard the laugh with a rueful smile.
+
+"You're certainly going to mess things up!" he said. "I ought to be
+court-martialled for letting you break up our signal chain this way."
+
+Meanwhile Tom Binns was working his flags frantically.
+
+"O. K.," he reported to Jack. "Message coming!"
+
+Jack sprang to his side, and together the two Red Scouts watched the
+flags flashing in the distance. Jack showed a good deal of excitement.
+
+"Gee," he said, "this is all to the good! That's a message from General
+Bliss himself, I'll bet! See, Tom? He's sending orders to General Brown,
+who commands his right wing. They're going to swing around back toward
+Hardport in a big half-circle, of which this place where we are now is
+pretty nearly the centre. And it's the Newville road that's the line of
+their march, and not this road over the creek at all. That's nerve for
+you, if you like, because the Newville pike is right in our lines, and
+if we move fast we can turn that right wing right in on their center."
+
+For half an hour they stayed there, realizing more and more with every
+passing minute that the whole Blue army was developing a great and
+sweeping attack on Hardport, and in a direction entirely different from
+that being taken by General Bean. The information so far obtained by
+General Harkness obviously was entirely misleading, and in sending
+General Bean to Cripple Creek, as he had, he had simply deprived himself
+of a brigade, and, as he would learn in the morning, when the attack
+would most certainly begin, weakened a vital part of his lines. Bean was
+moving directly away from the spot where the attack would be
+concentrated, and the enemy would be able, unless something were quickly
+done, to strike at the unprotected center of the Red line, drive right
+through it, and throw the main portion of his army, like a great wedge,
+between the two sections of the Red forces.
+
+Jack's face grew grave as message after message confirmed his fears. He
+looked at his watch.
+
+"We've got to get word of this to General Harkness," he said. "Tom, I'm
+afraid you'll have to stay here and take chances on being caught. I've
+got to get back to headquarters and tell General Harkness what we've
+learned here. And if we both go, and leave the relay broken here,
+they'll smell a rat at once, and investigate. There's enough of a trail
+here to show a blind man, much less a bunch of Scouts who are just as
+good in their State as we're supposed to be in our own, just what's
+happened. So you stay here, and I'll take Canfield along with me in the
+car and make my way back to headquarters. You'll be able to leave pretty
+soon, anyhow, because it will be too dark for effective long-range
+signalling less than an hour from now. You can do it all right, can't
+you?"
+
+"Yes," said Tom Binns, pluckily. It was plain that he didn't like the
+prospect of staying there alone, but he could see the necessity as
+easily as Jack himself, and that there was no other way of meeting the
+circumstance that had arisen.
+
+"Do your best, of course, to avoid being captured," said Jack, as he
+turned to go, with Canfield at his side. "But it will be no reflection
+on you if you are made a prisoner, and we won't need to feel that
+they've put one over on us if they catch you. We've got more than a fair
+return for the loss of even a First Class Scout in the information that
+they've unknowingly given us. It may mean the difference between the
+success and failure of the whole campaign."
+
+"You're a wonder, Danby," said Canfield, as they made their way down to
+the car. Being on parole, of course, and, as a Boy Scout should always
+be, honorable and incapable of breaking his given word, Canfield made no
+attempt to escape or hamper Jack in any way. "I've heard a lot about
+you, and I'm glad to see you at work, even if it does make it bad for
+me. You seem to be able to tell just about what's going on around here.
+I couldn't do that. I didn't think about the larger meaning of the
+orders I was passing on."
+
+"I may be wrong, you know," said Jack, as he waited for Canfield to step
+into the car before climbing into the driver's seat. "I'm really only
+making a guess, but I think it's a pretty good one. And, anyhow, with
+the notes I've got for him, General Harkness ought to be able to get a
+pretty good line on what's doing."
+
+"He ought to be," admitted Canfield, regretfully, but smiling at the
+same time. "You're certainly one jim-dandy as a Scout! I'd hate to be
+against you in a real war. If you can handle things always the way
+you've done this time, you'd be a pretty hard proposition in a real
+honest-to-goodness fight."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+A TIMELY WARNING
+
+
+Jack debated the advisability of meeting General Bean and telling him
+what he had learned, but he decided that since that detour would take up
+nearly half an hour of time that was now most valuable, he had better
+hurry right through to headquarters, and carry his news direct to the
+commander-in-chief. He cared little now for the danger of meeting stray
+detachments of the enemy. He was not afraid of them, since he knew that
+they would not, in all probability, be keeping a particularly careful
+watch for him, and he was confident of the ability of his car to
+outdistance any pursuit that might be attempted.
+
+Twice, indeed, as he raced for Hardport, he met patrols of the enemy's
+cavalry, but he was burning up the ground at such a rate that they
+probably were not able to distinguish the nature of his car, especially
+as it was nearly dark.
+
+"Gee, Danby, you certainly make this old car go!" said Canfield,
+admiringly. "She's a daisy, too. I never was in a car before that rode
+as easily as this, and I think you're going twice as fast as I've ever
+ridden in my life before."
+
+Going at such speed, it did not take long for Jack to reach
+headquarters. He rushed at once into the hotel, and his earnest,
+dust-streaked face so impressed the officer on duty outside the
+General's door that he took Jack in at once.
+
+"I have the honor to report that I have carried out your instructions,
+General," said Jack. "I have used more than the two hours you allowed
+me, but I felt that that was necessary."
+
+Then he explained the capture he and Tom Binns had effected, and how, by
+taking the place of their prisoner with the flags, they had been able to
+discover the enemy's real plans.
+
+General Harkness wasted no words then for a few minutes. He pressed two
+or three buttons, and, as staff officers answered, his orders flew like
+hail.
+
+"Telegraph General Bean to change his route at once," he ordered, "and
+make Newville his objective point, throwing out heavy skirmish lines and
+advance pickets to prevent a surprise. He will march all night, if
+necessary--but he must be at Newville before five o'clock."
+
+The officer who took the order saluted, turned on his heel, and left the
+room.
+
+"Direct Colonel Abbey to bring up his cavalry regiment at once from
+Bremerton," was the next order. "He will march across the line, and then
+follow it until he reaches the Newville pike. Thence he will turn to
+support any movement General Bean may find it necessary to make there.
+Colonel Abbey will not engage the enemy, however, even to the extent of
+feeling him out, without direct orders from either General Bean or
+myself. Repeat a copy of Colonel Abbey's orders to General Bean."
+
+"That's good work, Danby, once more," he said, then, turning to Jack.
+"We'd have been in a nice mess if you hadn't discovered that. They
+masked their turning movement beautifully. If they had got hold of
+Newville and cut General Bean off from the main body of this army we
+would have had to abandon Hardport at once. General Bean would certainly
+have been captured, and we would have had to fall back on the capital,
+with an excellent prospect of being attacked and forced to fight at a
+great disadvantage on our retreat. As it is, even if General Bean is
+forced to circle around Newville, we can concentrate at Bremerton and
+fight on ground of our own choosing, though that would make this place
+untenable."
+
+Receiving no further orders, Jack remained to listen. He stood at
+attention, and he enjoyed the experience of being in the room of a
+general on active service, for the constant stream of orders General
+Harkness was giving was hardly checked at all by his pause to speak to
+Jack and thank him for the good work he had done.
+
+"Instruct Colonel Henry to complete preparations for the theoretical
+destruction of the railroad station, the sidings, and all passenger and
+freight cars now here," he directed next. "If we are forced to abandon
+the place, we will leave plenty of evidence behind us that it is no
+longer of any use to the enemy. Rather a dog-in-the-manger policy, I
+suppose--" this to Jack, since the officer had gone to obey the
+order--"but that's war. If you can't make any use of a town or a lot of
+supplies yourself, remember always that that is no reason why the enemy
+should not find them of the utmost service, and see to it that he can
+get no benefit from them. That was General Sherman's way. He left a
+trail of desolation fifty miles wide wherever he marched with his army,
+and he was always sure that the enemy, even if he came along after him,
+would find no chance to live in that country."
+
+Jack offered no comment at all. He knew his place, as a Boy Scout, and,
+while he realized that it was a great compliment for the General to talk
+to him in that fashion, he had no intention of presuming on the fact.
+
+Just then an orderly entered.
+
+"Scout Thomas Binns, of Durland's Troop, General," he said, saluting.
+"He says he has important information."
+
+"Another of you?" asked the General, smiling as he faced Jack. "Send him
+in!"
+
+"He was with me in the car, sir," said Jack. "I left him behind when I
+came to make my report."
+
+"I have the honor to report, General," said little Tom Binns, standing
+at the salute when he appeared, "that the enemy now has reason to
+believe that General Bean is advancing for Cripple Creek and will camp
+there to-night."
+
+"How do you know that, my boy?" said the General.
+
+"The signal station next to me on the side nearest Hardport flashed the
+news that General Bean had changed his course, sir," replied Tom. "I
+didn't think they ought to hear that at General Bliss's headquarters, so
+I changed the message in relaying it, and said that it was now
+positively determined that General Bean was heading for Cripple Creek,
+and would proceed to occupy the bridge. In fact, I added that his
+pickets were already in sight."
+
+"Excellent!" laughed the General. "But how did you get here, my boy? I
+don't see how you escaped falling into their hands."
+
+"That was the last message we got before dark, sir," said Tom. "After
+that we all got orders to report at their Scout headquarters, and I
+decided to try to make my way back here. On the way I ran into one of
+their outposts, and a man with a motorcycle chased me. But he had a
+puncture--I think that was because I dropped my knife in the road--and
+he had to stop to repair that. While he was doing it, I worked up behind
+him, and I managed to get the motorcycle and came on. I knew he'd have a
+good chance to catch me, because I didn't know the roads very well."
+
+"Ha, ha!" laughed General Harkness. The incident seemed to amuse him
+immensely, for he laughed till the tears rolled down his cheeks. "I wish
+I had a whole army of you, my boy. We'd have little trouble with the
+enemy, then. Now you two can go back to Bremerton. That is likely to be
+nearer the scene of battle in the morning than this town, and you have
+both done a good day's work in any case. I am highly pleased with you.
+Carry my compliments to Captain Durland, and say to him that I shall be
+glad to see him in my headquarters in the morning. He will have to find
+out where they are, for I don't know myself at this moment. I shall
+probably be up most of the night myself, but do you be off now, and get
+a good night's rest. You have earned it."
+
+So once more Jack drove the grey car to Bremerton. He was almost reeling
+with fatigue by this time, for it was nearly nine o'clock, and he had
+done enough since noon to tire out a full-grown man.
+
+"That was mighty clever work of yours with the motorcycle," he said to
+Tom. "How did you ever think of it?"
+
+"I didn't want to be caught, Jack, that's all. I guess you were right
+the other day when you said we never knew what we could do until we had
+to do it. It's certainly true with me, because if anyone had ever told
+me that I would do a thing like that, I'd have told them they were
+crazy."
+
+"Well, whatever the reason was, it was good work. If they'd caught you
+with your signal flags, they might have smelled a rat, and the best part
+of our catching Canfield was that they didn't know anything about it.
+That's what made him such a very valuable prisoner for us to have."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+THE ENEMY'S TRICK
+
+
+Jack Danby was pretty tired after his exertions. Captain Durland, glad
+that his Troop, except for the one prisoner, poor Harry Warner, of the
+Raccoons, was still all together under his command in Bremerton, found
+quarters for them in the little village hotel.
+
+"We'll turn in early," he said, "and get all the sleep we can. I think
+there'll be some hard fighting to-morrow, and we can't tell yet what
+part we'll be called on to play in it when it comes. So we'll get all
+the sleep we can. I shouldn't wonder if the battle to-morrow began long
+before dawn. If we can turn the right wing of the Blue army, which
+doesn't seem very likely now, we will want to start the action as soon
+as possible, because, when you have the enemy trapped, the thing to do
+is to strike at him just as quickly as you can. Every minute of delay
+you give him gives him just that much more of a chance to get out of the
+trap."
+
+"That means if General Bean gets to Newville in time, doesn't it, sir?"
+asked Dick Crawford.
+
+All the Scouts had listened with the greatest interest to what Jack had
+told them of his day's adventures. He had been at the very heart of
+things, and he was able, from the information that he and Tom Binns had
+intercepted, to get a complete view of the whole scene of the
+operations, far superior to that of any of the others, who knew, of
+course, only what was going on in their own immediate neighborhood.
+
+"Yes--that's what I mean, of course," said Durland. "But it's a forlorn
+hope. There's a limit to human endurance. Even regular troops would call
+what Bean's brigade did before sunset a hard day's work. Just think of
+it--they were in motion before daybreak this morning, ready for their
+dash across the line. Then they marched several miles toward Hardport,
+turned aside for a big flanking movement, and had hardly occupied the
+city when they were started off for the Cripple Creek Bridge. Then they
+were turned off again from that, and sent to march another twenty miles
+to Newville. That was necessary, of course--they'd have been cut off and
+captured, to a man, if they'd kept on for the bridge, without even the
+fun of putting up a fight for their colors. But that doesn't make it any
+easier work. I know Bean--he won't ask his men to do the impossible. And
+that means that he'll be five miles from Newville when morning comes."
+
+"Then nothing is likely to be decided to-morrow?" said Bob Hart.
+
+"I don't see how it can be. The two armies are playing at cross purposes
+to-night, you see. Unless the Blues have corrected their mistake, they
+will be working on the assumption that Bean's brigade is out of it
+entirely, and that they can eat up the main body of our army, and then
+turn around and capture Bean when they like. While they're working on
+that idea, General Harkness is making a desperate effort to turn the
+tables on them, and lead them into just the same sort of a trap that
+Jack Danby has enabled him to escape. His strategy is perfectly sound,
+and he can't lose seriously, even if his plan fails. But I think the
+umpires will call the fight to-morrow a drawn battle."
+
+"What will happen then?"
+
+"Now you're asking a question I can't answer. We've got to wait more or
+less on the movements of the Blue army, you see. After all, we're on the
+defensive. Of course, we've taken the offensive to-day, and on the
+showing that's been made so far the Blues are very much out of it. On
+the single day the umpires would have to give the decision to General
+Harkness. He's in a better position right now to prevent an attack on
+the capital itself than he was before the war began."
+
+Then Durland called the order to sound taps, and in a few minutes the
+Troop was sound asleep.
+
+Bremerton that night was peaceful and quiet. Over in the telegraph
+office watchful soldier operators were at work, but the clicking of
+their keys did not disturb the Scouts in their well-earned rest. For
+miles all about them there was bustle and activity. Troops, exhausted
+after a day of work that was very real indeed for a good many of the
+militiamen, clerks and office workers, camped along the roads and took
+such rest as they could get. This game was proving as much of an
+imitation of war as many of them wanted to see.
+
+They had come out expecting a restful, pleasant vacation, with the
+thrill of a war game as an additional incentive for them to turn out,
+but they were finding that it closely resembled hard work--the sort of
+work they got too little of in their crowded days of office routine.
+Later they would enjoy the recollection of it, but while they were doing
+it there was a good deal of roughing that wasn't so pleasant.
+
+A late moon made the countryside brilliant, and easy to cover with the
+eye, and when, a couple of hours after midnight, the roll of rifle
+firing in the distance, coming like light thunder, awoke the Scouts, who
+were sleeping three in a room, many of them rushed to their windows.
+
+Jack Danby shared a room with Pete Stubbs and Tom Binns, his particular
+chums, and he laughed at them.
+
+"What are you looking for, powder smoke?" he asked them. "Don't you
+remember that they're using smokeless powder in this war? You couldn't
+see that firing if it were within a hundred yards."
+
+The firing soon became general and Jack himself grew interested.
+
+"That doesn't sound just like outposts coming together," he said. "It
+seems to me that it's pretty general firing, as if considerable bodies
+of men were getting engaged. I'd like to be out there and see what's
+going on."
+
+The distant din increased, and there was no longer a chance for the
+Scouts to sleep. In real warfare tired men, it is said, can sleep with a
+battle raging all about them, but the Scouts weren't inured to such
+heavy firing yet, and it disturbed and excited them. Durland himself
+wasn't bothered, but he sensed the restlessness of his Troop, and he
+rose and dressed. One by one, too, the Scouts followed his example, and
+gathered on the big veranda of the village inn.
+
+"Come on over to the telegraph office, Dick," said Durland. "Let's see
+if we can't find out who's kicking up all this fuss and what it's
+about."
+
+The telegraph wires, which never slept, were clicking busily when the
+Scout-Master and his assistant entered the office.
+
+"Abbey's cavalry running into the enemy on the Newville pike," said a
+tired operator, flicking a cigarette from his mouth as Durland spoke to
+him. "Funny, too! We thought he'd join General Bean before he saw a sign
+of the enemy."
+
+Durland felt himself growing anxious; then laughed at himself for his
+own anxiety. He turned to find Dick Crawford at his elbow.
+
+"I'm taking this thing too seriously, Dick," he said, with a smile.
+"After all, it's only a game. But I'd certainly like to know the inner
+meaning of that firing. Unless we've been grossly deceived, Abbey had no
+business to bump into any considerable force of the Blue army to-night."
+
+"I guess we're all taking it pretty seriously, sir," said Dick. "Isn't
+that the right way, too? Of course, it's only a game--but we might be
+playing it seriously some time."
+
+"You're right, Dick," said the Scout-Master. "We can't take this too
+seriously. I'm going to horn in here and see if there isn't something we
+can do."
+
+He walked over to the key.
+
+"See if you can report my Troop to General Harkness as ready for any
+service required," he said.
+
+It took some little time for the operator to get the message through.
+Then, however, he sat back with a smile.
+
+"I guess they'll be able to use you, all right, Captain," he said. "They
+seem to be a mile up in the air about what Colonel Abbey's doing. All
+the Colonel can report himself is that he's run into a considerable
+force, and he's engaging him tentatively. He seems to be afraid of being
+cut off if he goes on without feeling his way."
+
+Then followed another delay.
+
+"Here you are, Captain," said the operator, at last. "Coming, now!"
+
+"Take it," said Durland. "I can read it as it comes."
+
+Out of the chatter of the sounding key both Durland and Dick Crawford
+could make sense.
+
+"Take your Troop up to Colonel Abbey," came the order. "Report to him
+for any service possible. But detail two Scouts, with automobile, to
+make an attempt to discover the nature of the enemy's operations on the
+Newville road beyond the point where Colonel Abbey's command has engaged
+the enemy. General Bean is within three miles of Newville, waiting for
+daylight, owing to the firing in that direction. It is most important to
+apprise him of the actual conditions."
+
+"Report that orders are received and will be obeyed at once," Durland
+flung back to the operator, and he and Crawford hurried from the
+building to rejoin the Scouts, who were waiting eagerly on the porch of
+the hotel for any news that might come.
+
+"Get ready to hike," ordered Dick Crawford, as he reached the Scouts.
+"Danby, report to Captain Durland at once."
+
+Jack listened to his instructions carefully.
+
+"This is a harder job than any you've had yet, Jack," said his
+commander. "But it counts for more, too. Are you sure you're not too
+tired to handle your car?"
+
+"Not a bit of it, sir!" protested Jack. "I've had all the sleep I need.
+What the General wants to know chiefly is whether there are enough
+troops of the enemy between Colonel Abbey and Newville to prevent a
+junction between the cavalry and General Bean's brigade, isn't it?"
+
+"Right! I can't give you any special orders. You'll have to use your own
+judgment, and do whatever seems best when the time comes. This is the
+sort of a situation that changes literally from minute to minute, and if
+I gave you special orders before you started they would probably hamper
+you more than they helped you."
+
+"Can I have Tom Binns again, sir?"
+
+"Certainly! I'll have Crawford tell him to report to you at the garage.
+Overhaul your car carefully--you don't want any little mechanical
+trouble to come along and spoil your work just as you are on the verge
+of success."
+
+"The car's all right, sir. I went over every bit of it before I turned
+in. I had an idea I might be called for some sort of emergency work when
+every minute would count, and she's ready for any sort of a run right
+now."
+
+"Good enough! That's the way to be. 'Be prepared'--that's a pretty good
+motto. It has certainly been proved abundantly in the last few hours."
+
+It would take the Scouts a good three hours to come up with Colonel
+Abbey's regiment of cavalry, but Jack and Tom Binns, in the big grey car
+that moved silently, like a grey ghost, in the moonlight, were well
+ahead of them as the column swung out of the little town.
+
+"Well, we're off again!" said Jack. "No telling what's going to come up
+before the night's over, either, Tom. We've got a roving commission,
+with no orders to hold us down, and I'm out to see just as much as the
+road will show us."
+
+"Are you going to stick to the main road, Jack?"
+
+"No. There's a cross road a little way beyond here. If they've blocked
+Colonel Abbey's advance on this road, we couldn't get beyond his
+position, anyhow, and it won't do us any good to get as far as that and
+no further. It's what they're doing beyond there that General Harkness
+wants to know."
+
+"Where is the main body of our army now, Jack?"
+
+"Right around Hardport. The only troops that are moving to-night are
+Abbey's cavalry regiment, and General Bean's brigade. General Bean, with
+the rest of the army closing toward him, is to hold the enemy in check
+if they occupy Newville before we get to the place ourselves. The rest
+of the army, at Hardport, can move to his support, or it can develop a
+big flanking movement that will bring Bremerton into the centre of our
+line, with the forces toward Newville making a sort of a triangular
+wedge stuck out in front. That wedge, you see, will have the whole army
+as a reserve. It isn't as favorable a situation as if they had made for
+Cripple Creek, for there we would have been in a position to force them
+back on Smithville, where they mobilized."
+
+"They'd have gone right into a trap if they had kept on for Newville,
+wouldn't they?"
+
+"Yes; but that was too much for us to hope for, really. It's good enough
+as it is. It was General Harkness's plan from the first to make a stand
+at Bremerton, unless they gave him the chance to make it an offensive
+campaign. The mistake we made in sending a brigade to Cripple Creek more
+than made up for the capture of Hardport, however, and so we lost that
+chance. If we could have made sure of Newville to-night, nothing could
+have saved the Blue army."
+
+"Who's to blame for that, Jack?"
+
+"No one. You can't expect the enemy to tell you what he's going to do,
+and even Napoleon couldn't always guess right. I think we'll beat them
+all right--that is, I don't think they'll get within twenty miles of the
+capital in the time they've got, even if we get badly beaten in this
+battle that's starting now."
+
+"Here we are at the cross roads, Jack. Which way are you going now?"
+
+"Toward Mardean, at first. I'm going to swing in a great big circle
+around Hardport, and way beyond it. I want to come down on them from
+behind and see just as much as I can."
+
+"If you swing very far around that way it'll take you pretty near
+Smithville, won't it?"
+
+"That's just where I want to get, Tom. The place to find out what the
+enemy is going to do is the place where he is doing it, it seems to me."
+
+Hardport, a patch of light against the sky, held little interest for
+Jack. The road he took swung back toward the State line, so that he
+passed very near Hardport before he reached the road that he and Tom had
+first traveled when they crossed the line at full speed after war had
+been declared. But Mardean wasn't held by the enemy now. The troops that
+had crossed there had been recalled after the capture of Hardport and
+the wreck of the early Blue plans, and some of them probably were in
+Hardport now as prisoners of war, but with none of the rigors commonly
+attaching to imprisonment to distress them.
+
+"This road is safer than it was when we took it before," said Jack.
+"Remember how we had to take to the fields a little way along here? That
+was pretty exciting."
+
+"You bet it was, Jack! I'm glad we can stick to the roads here."
+
+"Don't be too glad yet, Tom. No telling what we may have to do before
+the night's over, you know. It's early yet--or late, as you happen to
+look at it."
+
+Mile after mile of road, looking like a silver streak in the moonlight,
+dropped beneath the wheels of the big grey car. They sped around and
+beyond Hardport, and Jack, studying his road map, lighted now by a
+little electric light, began to slow down, since they were in country
+where it was possible, though not probable, that the enemy's outposts
+might be encountered.
+
+"I've got an idea that they're marching hard and fast to-night," said
+Jack. "Somehow, I'm not easy in my mind. I'm afraid they may have had
+some way of finding out what our army was doing. You know that we're not
+the only people who can detect concealed and covered movements. And they
+may be setting a trap for us again, just as they were doing when General
+Bean was drawn off toward Cripple Creek."
+
+"I've lost track of where we're going, Jack. Where does this road we're
+on now come from?"
+
+"Practically straight from Mardean. You see, Mardean will be about the
+right of our army to-morrow. A brigade will drop back that way from
+Hardport, if we give up that town in the morning, and the main force
+will move for Bremerton."
+
+"Then if the enemy should happen to get around this way and break over
+the State line near Mardean, they'd be in a good position to meet us
+to-morrow, wouldn't they?"
+
+"First rate! But that's not the idea, at all. They're all over in the
+other direction, nearer Bremerton, and east of Hardport. The trouble
+Colonel Abbey encountered seems to indicate that it's their plan to
+cross in force near Bremerton. That's why holding Newville would be so
+important to them."
+
+Now Jack threw in the high speed again. And at once, almost, as the car
+sped on, something about the song of the throbbing engine bothered Jack.
+In a moment he had shifted his gears, and in another, the car, coughing
+and rattling, came to a sudden stop.
+
+"Good thing I heard that," said Jack, a few moments later, "or we'd have
+been stuck properly a few miles further on. Won't take me five minutes
+to fix it now."
+
+As he tinkered on the machine, his ears were busy, and he and Tom heard
+the sound of approaching horses in the same instant. At once Jack leaped
+to his driver's seat, and ran the car through an open fence into a field
+beside the road.
+
+"I want to see what's doing here," he said. "That doesn't sound very
+good to me."
+
+The trouble with his engine had been providential, for ten minutes later
+he realized that had he gone on at full speed he would have encountered
+the advance guard of at least a full division of the enemy.
+
+Quietly and steadily the Blue troops were marching on. There was purpose
+in the look of them, and a grim earnestness that made Jack whistle.
+
+"Tom," he whispered, "you certainly hit it! They're setting a trap all
+right. They're going to cross at Mardean and swing around to cut off our
+troops from Bremerton. They've got a nice plan--just to steal our
+position, and make us fight on our ground--but with positions reversed."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+JACK DANBY'S GOOD NEWS
+
+
+Hardly daring to breathe lest they be heard, the two Scouts waited while
+the Blue troops passed. It took more than two hours for the regiments,
+marching in close order, to get by them, and it was nearly light when
+the last stragglers had passed their hiding-place.
+
+"Gee," cried Jack, "that's certainly a surprise to me! Say, Tom, do you
+know what they've done? They've buffaloed General Bean, and fooled him
+completely--and our whole army! They've left not more than two regiments
+there. Of course, that was a stronger force than Abbey had, but they
+managed it so cleverly that they're holding up General Bean and his
+whole brigade."
+
+"How can that be, Jack? I thought the umpires decided on the strength
+and the probable result of any encounter between the armies--and they
+surely couldn't decide that two regiments could beat a brigade?"
+
+"No--but if the two regiments masked their real weakness so cleverly
+that they weren't attacked by the brigade, there wouldn't be anything
+for the umpires to decide--and that's what I'm afraid of. That's clever
+tactics, you see, and they'd get the credit for it, of course--and
+they'd deserve it, too. Well, here's where we stop loafing. We've got to
+cut a telegraph wire somewhere and get word of the true state of affairs
+to General Harkness. He can't wait until full daylight to move his
+troops now."
+
+"What good will cutting a wire do, Jack?"
+
+"Lots of good, Tom. This car has a regular apparatus for cutting in on a
+wire, and a set of sending and receiving instruments. If we cut the
+wire, it goes dead until we connect it with our instruments. Then only
+the section beyond where we cut in is dead. There's a telegraph wire
+direct from Hardport to Smithville. Cutting the wire is legitimate, even
+in the war game, because it's necessary to do the actual cutting. It
+isn't like the railroad, which can be destroyed theoretically, and left
+actually ready for use."
+
+Jack had started his car, still running through the fields when the
+troops had passed, and now, looking carefully at the telegraph poles and
+wires, he dropped from his seat and, with wire cutters and repair tools,
+and his pocket set of instruments, he proceeded to put into practice the
+theory that he had explained to Tom. He cut the wire neatly and
+carefully. Then he connected the broken end with his instruments,
+completing the circuit again, and began calling for General Harkness's
+headquarters in Hardport.
+
+"See how it's done, Tom?" he asked. "Easy when you know how, you see."
+
+"Yes; it's like lots of other things that way, Jack. The trouble is you
+always seem to know just how to do things like that and I never do."
+
+"Got 'em!" cried Jack, enthusiastically, at that moment, and began at
+once to send his important news.
+
+"I want to get permission now to go on and tell General Bean what we've
+learned," he explained to Tom as he still waited after sending his
+message. "Then, as soon as I get it, I'll splice this wire and fix it so
+that the line will be open for regular service again. We don't want to
+interrupt traffic by telegraph or telephone, if we can help it. But this
+won't make much difference at this hour of the night. I don't believe
+that many messages are sent over this wire after midnight as a rule."
+
+They had to wait twenty minutes for the reply, but when it came Jack was
+told to use his own best judgment, and that General Harkness would rely
+upon him to get the highly important information he had sent to
+headquarters to General Bean.
+
+"I thought we'd be allowed to do that," said Jack, after he had put the
+wire in order again. In the car there was plenty of telegraph wire for
+repairing lines cut by the enemy, so the task was not at all a difficult
+one.
+
+"Gee, Jack," said Tom, "I've certainly learned one thing lately, and
+that is that there's nothing you know that isn't likely to come in handy
+sometime or another. I didn't know you knew as much as this about
+telegraphy."
+
+"I've always been interested in it, Tom. It's so fascinating. You can
+use all sorts of knowledge if you're in the army, too. Think of the
+engineers. They have to be able to build bridges, and destroy them, and
+erect fortifications without the proper materials. Not in this war, of
+course, but if there was real fighting. These maneuvers are different
+from the ordinary sort. They're not so cut and dried, and there aren't
+so many rules. I've read about maneuvers when there were rules to govern
+every sort of situation that came up--in fact, surprising situations
+couldn't come up, because everything that was to happen had been worked
+out ahead of time."
+
+"This is better for us, isn't it, Jack? I mean, we're really learning
+how a war would actually be fought."
+
+"We're getting a pretty good idea of it, anyhow. It isn't a bit the way
+I thought it was going to be."
+
+"Well, we ought to be getting in touch with General Bean pretty soon, I
+should think."
+
+"We've got another ten or twelve miles to drive yet. I took a pretty
+wide swing around, thinking we'd avoid the enemy altogether. Instead of
+that, we bumped right into them. It's surely a good thing we had that
+little engine trouble. We'd be prisoners right now if we'd been able to
+go on at full speed, because I don't believe we'd have been able to see
+them in time to turn around and get away. And we got a much better
+chance to see what they were up to, too."
+
+As they approached General Bean's brigade the firing in the direction of
+Bremerton, where Colonel Abbey had encountered the enemy, began to be
+audible again. It had died away for a time, and Jack had wondered
+whether Abbey had retired. The sound of the heavy rifle fire, however,
+with an occasional explosion of a shell to make it louder, reassured
+him.
+
+Newville was deserted when they entered it, and Jack laughed. Not a Blue
+soldier was in sight--and yet General Bean was waiting for full
+daylight, convinced that the main body of the Blue army was there.
+
+"They certainly did make a clever shift," he said to Tom. "General Bliss
+has a reputation for moving quickly, and striking like a snake. He
+covers his movements well, and I'll bet that if we ever do have another
+war, he'll cut a pretty big figure. Captain Durland says he's a real
+fighter, of the sort that was developed in the Civil War. Some of the
+best fighters on both sides in that war, you know, were men who never
+went to West Point at all."
+
+"The great generals were regulars, though, weren't they?"
+
+"Most of them, yes. Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, Lee--they were all West
+Pointers, and a lot more of them, too. But there were others. They say,
+in the histories, that a great crisis brings up the men to meet it. It's
+perfectly true that Grant and Sherman had been in the regular army, but
+they had resigned before the war, and they hadn't made good particularly
+before that, either in the army or afterward, when they went into
+business. It was the war that made them famous, and a good many others,
+too."
+
+They had turned now toward Hardport, and the pickets of General Bean's
+waiting brigade, eagerly looking for the enemy, were in sight. Time
+after time they were challenged and stopped, but Jack, despite questions
+from officers and men, all eager for the news they were sure he was
+bringing, since his exploits had already won him a considerable
+reputation in the Red army, refused to tell what he knew to anyone save
+General Bean himself. They did not have to go all the way to the rear of
+the army. General Bean himself, small, wiry, active and peppery, met
+them soon after they had come into the midst of his lines. He was riding
+his big, black horse, and, although he had had no sleep that night, he
+looked fresh and ready for another day in the saddle.
+
+"Hum," he said, pulling his moustache, as he listened to them, "they
+fooled us, didn't they? Captain Jenks, you will give my compliments to
+Colonel Jones, and instruct him to put his regiment in motion at once.
+We will occupy Newville, and then close in on the enemy, supporting
+Colonel Abbey by an attack on the enemy's rear."
+
+He rubbed his hands together delightedly as the officer rode off to give
+the order.
+
+"Do you know the enemy's position now?" he asked Jack. "He's the nut,
+and Abbey and I are the crackers. You've done good work. This is the
+second time within twenty-four hours that the information you have
+obtained has rescued us from a situation of a good deal of danger. Did
+you learn what General Harkness's plans were?"
+
+"He intends moving at once to Bremerton, sir," said Jack. "The enemy, as
+nearly as I could guess, was heading for that place, planning to cross
+the line by the Mardean road, and then swing cast to Bremerton."
+
+"Right! That's what they must intend to do. Well, I reckon they will
+find we're ready for them, and that we'll hold a position that the
+umpires will have to give us credit for."
+
+The brigade was already in motion while they spoke. The men had
+bivouacked in their lines, as they had marched, and the whole section of
+country was lighted with their fires. In the faint light of dawn,
+growing stronger every minute now, the twinkling fires had a strange and
+ghost-like effect.
+
+"Looks like the real thing, doesn't it?" asked General Bean. "I wish I'd
+had such a chance when I was a boy as you have now. We don't ever want
+another war--but there's no use acting as if it was beyond the range of
+possibility, and the next best thing to not fighting at all is knowing
+how to do it and getting it over quickly when it does become inevitable.
+If I had my way these maneuvers would take place in a score of different
+parts of the country every year. It isn't asking much to ask the militia
+to turn out for one week of the fifty-two, and a week of this sort of
+thing is worth a year of ordinary drill and theory work in armories. I
+don't mean that the drill isn't useful; it is. But it isn't everything,
+as we've seemed inclined to think. This sort of work, and constant
+practice at the ranges is what makes soldiers. These fellows, if they
+ever go to a real war, won't have to work any harder than my brigade has
+had to work in the last few hours. They're so tired now that they
+haven't got enough energy to know they are tired. They'd just as soon
+march as rest--and that's the way they ought to be. Do 'em good!"
+
+Jack led the way of Colonel Jones's regiment into Newville, and then
+turned down the pike. The firing in front was very sharp now. And soon
+it was redoubled, as the advance of the main body of General Bean's
+brigade came into touch with the Blue troops who had so decidedly
+worried Abbey during the night.
+
+Finally, on the crest of a hill which overlooked the valley beneath,
+Jack stopped the car.
+
+"This is a splendid chance to see a battle on a small scale, Tom," he
+said. "There's nothing else for us to do now--we might as well take a
+look at things."
+
+There was light enough now to make it worth while to stop and look on.
+Abbey's men were dismounted. In a field a mile or so back of the line of
+battle they could see the horses of his regiment, hobbled, and under
+guard. Before them, lower down, was the enemy, doing little of the
+firing, and with his real strength pretty well masked. And, as they
+knew, Bean's troops were advancing slowly, ready to take them in the
+rear, and cut them off.
+
+"Where are the umpires?" asked Tom.
+
+"They're somewhere around--trust them for that!" said Jack. "They're not
+only supposed to umpire, but they've got to make a detailed report of
+all the operations to the War Department, and criticize everything that
+both armies do, too. The firing brought them up as soon as it began, you
+may be sure."
+
+Slowly but steadily and surely the drama unfolded itself before their
+fascinated eyes. They could see the slow advance of Abbey's dismounted
+troopers as soon as the firing in the enemy's rear convinced them that
+the support they had been awaiting had come at last. And before long the
+enemy was completely surrounded by a chain of Red troops, firing
+steadily. It lasted for nearly twenty minutes and then a bugle blew,
+over to their right, and in another moment the "Cease Firing" call had
+passed from regiment to regiment. The appeal to the umpires had been
+made, and now the troops that had been seeking all possible cover showed
+themselves, that the umpires might inspect the position and see whether
+there was any possible chance for the entrapped regiments of the Blue
+army to extricate themselves.
+
+"They hung on too long," said Jack. "They ought to have begun their
+retreat before daylight. Then they might have been able to fall back and
+slip away and around to join the main Blue army at Mardean. I'm afraid
+they'll all be written down as captured now."
+
+Jack was right in his idea, too. The umpires, after a careful inspection
+of the situation, decided that General Bean's tactics had been
+successful.
+
+"You are to be congratulated, General," said a Brigadier General of the
+regular army, the chief umpire, riding up to the militia commander. "A
+very neat evolution, carefully planned and worked out. We were inclined
+to think that they had fooled you. Abbey was in a bad way until you came
+up. But you came out very well."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THE SCOUTS MEET AN OLD FRIEND
+
+
+Jack Danby's clever scouting had changed the entire situation. The
+capture of his two regiments made General Bliss's situation decidedly
+precarious. His case was not hopeless yet, by any means, since, as the
+attacking force, the Blue army had been the stronger to begin with,
+because the War Department had so arranged matters that the advantage of
+position favored the Red forces sufficiently to make up for the superior
+force of General Bliss. General Bean's quick following up of the
+information Jack had given, however, had enabled the Red army to
+equalize the forces of the contending armies, and General Harkness, who
+threw a cavalry brigade into Bremerton within three hours of the timely
+warning Jack sent him, was now in no danger of being forced to fight on
+ground where his original advantage of position would be transferred to
+the enemy.
+
+Now the position was one of open tactics. The lines were drawn, and some
+sort of a battle would have to be fought, theoretically, before further
+movements were in order. With Bremerton as his centre, General Harkness
+and his army lay directly across the line of the Blue advance, already
+across the border at Mardean, and seeking, or intending, rather, to seek
+the control of the railroad at Fessenden Junction, a dozen miles back of
+Bremerton.
+
+The Junction was the key to the situation now, so far as the hopes of
+the invading forces were concerned. Its possession would, theoretically,
+cut the defenders off from their base of supplies, and, once it was
+captured, General Bliss would force the Red army immediately to fall
+back and occupy the defenses of the capital city itself, since the
+railroad would enable him to cut off its supplies and advance his troops
+against it with great speed. That would mean the immediate abandonment
+of any offensive tactics on the part of General Harkness, and would make
+up for the capture of the two regiments that General Bean had sent into
+Bremerton as prisoners of war.
+
+But there seemed little chance of an engagement on Tuesday. Ever since
+noon the day before, when hostilities had begun, both armies had been
+constantly on the march. There had been severe fighting, and the plans
+of the commanders had involved the rapid movement of considerable bodies
+of troops. As a result, the troops on both sides were nearly exhausted.
+In the first place, they did not have the stamina that is the portion of
+regular troops. They were, in the main, militiamen, clerks, lawyers,
+brokers, and men of that sort, who do not have the chance of regular
+exercise, and who do not keep such strict hours as do trained soldiers.
+
+"There'll be no fighting until to-morrow, in my opinion," said Durland,
+when Jack and Tom reported to him; "it's a pretty situation as it stands
+now, but these fellows can't do any more. Bean's brigade in particular
+must be about ready to drop. I never saw troops worked harder. They've
+done mighty well, and, while there won't be any formal arrangement to
+that effect, I suppose, I guess that both generals will understand that
+they can't accomplish any more without some rest. They'd have to
+recognize that in a war, for the wise general never requires his men to
+fight when exhausted, except in the case of attack."
+
+The Scouts retained their headquarters in Bremerton, which was now,
+after the abandonment of Hardport, headquarters for the Red army, also.
+But General Harkness had his headquarters in tents, despising the chance
+to use the small hotel of the town. He was exceedingly busy with his
+plans. General Bean had come in from the lines facing the enemy, who had
+been forced, reluctantly enough, to shift their base of attack, so that
+Newville was the focus of their semi-circular advance. Other brigade
+commanders and other high officers with them had also come in, and for
+the first time since hostilities had begun, General Harkness was able to
+consult with his subordinate officers.
+
+"I guess the strategy of the campaign for the next two days will be
+pretty well worked out about now," said Durland, glancing over toward
+the tent of General Harkness, from which the smoke of the cigars and
+pipes of the officers was curling.
+
+Before General Harkness's tent two orderlies were waiting. Now,
+suddenly, one of them, evidently hearing a call inside, answered it, and
+a few seconds later went off. He returned presently with a young officer
+of militia, and a few minutes later that officer came over to the Scout
+headquarters.
+
+"Captain Durland?" he began, then broke off. "Great Scott!" he cried,
+"it's my old friend the Scout-Master, isn't it? I had no idea it was
+your Troop that was doing so well here."
+
+"Jim Burroughs! Is that really you? I'm glad to see you!" exclaimed
+Durland.
+
+Jack Danby, Tom Binns, Pete Stubbs and the rest of the Scouts, with
+happy memories of their days at Eagle Lake, and of the time when they
+had turned out in the woods at night to search for Burroughs and Bess
+Benton, crowded around to greet the young militia officer.
+
+"I'm a lieutenant in the Sixteenth Regiment," said Burroughs. "Captain
+Durland, you're wanted in the General's tent. I went there to make a
+report, and he asked me to tell you to come to him at once."
+
+Then the Scouts and Burroughs, who had nothing else to do for the time,
+began to exchange reminiscences and talk over old times.
+
+"I've been hearing a lot about the good work a Scout called Danby was
+doing in one of the new scouting autos," said Jim Burroughs, "but
+somehow I didn't have any idea that it was a Boy Scout they were talking
+of. But I might have guessed it! If it hadn't been for you when we had
+the forest fires up at the lake, Camp Benton would have been wiped out."
+
+"Oh, I guess you'd have managed all right with the guides," said Jack.
+"You always try to make out that I do more than I do, Jim. You must be
+trying to give me a swelled head."
+
+"No danger of that, I guess," said Burroughs, laughing. "You're pretty
+level-headed, young man. By the way, I heard you had some trouble lately
+with a man called Broom. Anything in that?"
+
+Jack's face darkened. Jim was bringing up a painful subject. But Pete
+Stubbs spoke up for him.
+
+"Trouble?" he said. "Well, I guess yes, Mr. Burroughs! You heard about
+how Jack broke up the plot to wreck the train and rob it when he and Tom
+Binns were on a hike together?"
+
+Jim nodded.
+
+"Well, Broom was mixed up with that gang in some fashion. Then,
+afterward, we found that he was really after Jack. You know all about
+Jack's queer life up at Woodleigh--about Old Dan and all that?"
+
+"I know that Jack never knew much about himself--his real name and who
+his mother and father were. You're still trying to find out about all
+that, aren't you, Jack?"
+
+"You bet I am!" said Jack, his face lighting up at the thought. "And I'm
+going to do it, too!"
+
+"Well, this Broom," Pete Stubbs went on, "was trying to find out where
+Jack had gone from Woodleigh. He didn't know that our Jack was the one
+he was looking for, or we don't know what he'd have done. So he had a
+double reason to be after him, though all he knew was that Jack might
+give dangerous evidence against those pals of his who were mixed up with
+the train business."
+
+"I see! He was really playing against himself, without knowing it,
+wasn't he?"
+
+"Yes. That was the funny part of it. Well, Broom and some other crooked
+people got an old gentleman and his daughter to trust them. The old
+gentleman, whose name was Burton, was looking for a boy, his brother's
+son, who was kidnaped when he was a baby. We think it may be Jack, and
+we're going to try to find out. Broom made the Burtons think that he
+could find the boy they were looking for, and he got a lot of money out
+of them."
+
+"Gee, Pete, that sounds pretty interesting! Was that how the trouble
+came with Broom?"
+
+"One of the ways, yes. When we were down at the shore a little while ago
+they tried to get hold of Jack. One night there was a pretty bad storm,
+and that was the night they picked out. Jack and I, with Mr. Durland and
+Dick Crawford, went out to rescue the Burtons, who had been left on
+their yacht, and when we got back some of us caught Broom and a friend
+of his. But they were rescued afterward by the sailors who had quit the
+yacht, and Jack raced into Wellbourne, and got most of them arrested.
+But Broom got away, in some fashion, after they had taken him to jail.
+So we don't know what's become of him."
+
+"How about the Burtons, Pete? Have you found out yet whether they're
+really Jack's long-lost relatives or not?"
+
+"No, not yet. Mr. Burton was terribly ill after the wreck of his yacht.
+He was exposed to the sea and the wind for a long time that night, you
+see, and as soon as he could be moved, he was sent to Europe by his
+doctor. Until they get back we sha'n't be able to tell for certain."
+
+"I'm glad they're over there, anyhow," said Jack, breaking in. "I think
+they're safe from Broom over there."
+
+"I'll tell you someone that isn't glad, though," said red-headed Pete
+Stubbs, mischievously. "That's Dick Crawford!"
+
+The Assistant Scout-Master, who hadn't heard the conversation that had
+preceded Pete's mischievous remark, came up just then.
+
+"What is it that doesn't make me glad like everyone else?" asked Dick,
+unsuspiciously, and everyone laughed.
+
+"Discovered, Dick!" cried Jim Burroughs, laughing. "I hear that a
+certain beautiful young lady has charmed you--the one man I knew that I
+thought was proof against the ladies!"
+
+Dick flushed furiously, but he saw that there was no use in attempting
+to deny the charge. He seized Pete Stubbs, jestingly, by the neck,
+however, and shook him hard.
+
+"I've a good mind to give you the licking of your young life, you
+red-headed rascal!" he cried, but there was no malice in his tone, and
+Pete knew that the threat would never be carried out.
+
+"I didn't do anything but tell the truth," protested Pete. "Let go of
+me, Dick! If it wasn't true, you wouldn't be so mad!"
+
+"He's right, Dick, my boy," said Burroughs, much amused. "We've caught
+you with the goods. It's nothing to be ashamed of--we all do it, sooner
+or later, you know. You've done well to escape the charms of the other
+sex so long, it seems to me."
+
+Then the Scouts began to drift away, and Dick and Jim Burroughs were
+left alone.
+
+"Did they tell you of the way Jack's been pursued by this fellow Broom?"
+asked Dick.
+
+"They told me enough to worry me, Dick. We mustn't let anything happen
+to that boy."
+
+"I'd a good deal rather have something happen to me, Jim. But he's shown
+that he's pretty well able to take care of himself. Down at the beach
+there we all helped, but he was the one who really beat them, after all,
+when it came to the point. They were mighty determined. I think myself
+that they know who he is, although Jack himself and some of the others
+don't. But my idea is that there is a very queer secret about him, that
+they know all about it, and that they think it is to their advantage to
+keep Jack from learning the truth and also to keep those who may be
+looking for him from finding him."
+
+"How about these Burtons, Dick? Do you really think that Jack is the boy
+they're looking for, or is that just one of Pete's wild guesses?"
+
+"Miss Burton and I have talked that over two or three times, and while
+we're not sure, owing to Mr. Burton's illness, which made it impossible
+for us to discover certain things which would probably have made matters
+clear, we both agree that it looks very much as if Jack were the one.
+She thinks so, anyway, and she's quite prepared to acknowledge him as
+her cousin."
+
+"Is she pretty, Dick, you sly old fox?"
+
+"She certainly is, Jim! You can't tease me about her. I'm crazy about
+her, and I don't care who knows it. But she'd never look at me, I know
+that!"
+
+"You can't tell, Dick. They're funny that way. You'd never think that
+Bess Benton would have any use for me, but we're engaged, and we're
+going to be married in a few months. Never give up hope, old chap!
+You've got as good a chance as anyone else. What more do you want?"
+
+"Well, I'm not going to worry about that now, anyhow, Jim. She'll be
+away for some time yet, I'm afraid. And I've got to wait until I'm doing
+better than I am now before I can even think about getting engaged, much
+less married."
+
+"You can think about it as much as you like, Dick, and it will do you
+good. The more you think about it, the harder you'll work and the better
+you'll get on. I've found that out, and I guess it's true with most of
+us."
+
+"I guess the council's over, Jim. Here comes Captain Durland, and the
+other officers seem to be leaving, too. I wonder what's doing."
+
+"Nothing much, probably. But I'll leave you to find out and get back to
+my regiment."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+AN INTENTIONAL BLUNDER
+
+
+"You're wanted for duty again, Jack," said Captain Durland, when he
+returned from the council of war in General Harkness's tent.
+
+"I'm all ready, sir," said Jack. "Gee, I think I've had it easy, riding
+around in an automobile, when all the rest of the fellows were scouting
+on foot."
+
+"You'll make up for it, if you have been having it any easier," said the
+Scout-Master, with a smile. "This job that you've got on your hands now
+means a whole lot of work. You're to go to Fessenden Junction first, and
+make a detail map of the tracks about the depot there. I don't know just
+why it's wanted, or why it wasn't done before, but that's none of our
+business. Then when that's done, you're to bring it back here. After
+that I guess you'll have plenty more to do. But I won't tell you about
+the rest of it until you've finished that."
+
+"Am I to go alone?" asked Jack.
+
+"No. I want it done as quickly as possible, so you'd better take Peter
+Stubbs and Tom Binns along with you. Divide the work up and it won't
+take you very long. That's the easy part of it."
+
+The Boy Scouts had studied map-making from a practical, working point of
+view, and it was no sort of a job for the three of them to make the
+required map.
+
+"I see why they need this map, all right," said Jack. "There are a whole
+lot of new tracks in here, and the whole yard has been changed around
+within the last few weeks. That explains it. The old maps wouldn't be of
+much use for anyone who was depending on them for quick understanding of
+the railroad situation here."
+
+"Now," said Durland, when they returned, "I've got the most difficult
+task that's been assigned to you yet, Jack. You've got only about one
+chance in a thousand of succeeding in it, but it's my own plan, and I'll
+be very pleased and proud if you do accomplish it. I want two of you to
+take the car, get inside the enemy's lines, with or without the car, as
+far as you can, and then get yourselves taken prisoners. What we want is
+for you to be near enough to General Bliss's headquarters to get some
+sort of an inkling of the nature of the attack that will be made.
+
+"There is a dangerous weakness of the position here, which could hardly
+have been foreseen when the campaign was laid out in advance. That is,
+anyone getting control of Tryon Creek, which is practically dry in the
+summer, is in a position to dominate one side of the prospective
+battlefield. There are two lines of attack open to General Bliss. If he
+chooses Tryon Creek we must keep him from occupying it at all costs. To
+do that we would have to uncover the other side--the road from Mardean."
+
+"I'm to try to find out which line of attack they will follow, then,
+sir? Is that it?" asked Jack.
+
+"Yes. We must know before the actual attack begins, or it will be too
+late. Now I want you to understand my plan. I haven't thought of the
+details, because they will depend absolutely on conditions as you may
+find them to be. But here is the outline. Three of you will take the
+car. You, Jack, and one other Scout will leave that, when there is no
+longer a chance of continuing to use it, and proceed on foot until you
+are well within the enemy's lines. Then you will manage to get captured,
+while seeming to make an effort to escape."
+
+"Are we to give our parole then, sir?"
+
+"On no account! But pretend to be frightened and discouraged. That is
+legitimate. You mustn't give your word not to attempt to escape, because
+that is an essential part of the plan. I have an idea that they will not
+keep a very close watch on you, and that you will find it quite possible
+to make a dash for liberty after dark. But before you do that you must
+try to discover where the attack is to be made, by keeping your ears
+open and your eyes as well, for possible movements of guns. Then you can
+try to get away, rejoin the automobile, and get back to our lines. Do
+you understand?"
+
+"Yes, sir, I do! I think Pete Stubbs would be a good one to go with me,
+with Tom Binns to look after the car, because he knows how to drive it.
+Then if Pete and I couldn't both get away, one of us ought to be able to
+manage it, I should think, anyhow."
+
+"That's the reason for sending two of you, of course," said Durland.
+"It's an outside chance, but you've done things almost as difficult.
+Remember that you must exercise the utmost caution. In time of real
+warfare no enterprise could be more dangerous, and the mere fact that
+there is no actual danger involved now is no reason for you to grow
+careless, though I need hardly give you such a warning."
+
+"I'll do my best, sir," said Jack, enthusiastically. "It would certainly
+be a great joke on them if we could work it."
+
+"Well, do the best you can. I don't want you to think that I really
+expect you to succeed. I think the chances are desperate. But, even if
+you cannot escape, there will be no difficulty about exchanging you, for
+we have a great many of their prisoners, including a number of officers,
+and they will be very glad to get them back. Otherwise I am sure General
+Harkness would never have consented to let you make the effort."
+
+"If this were real war, and they saw us trying to escape, they would
+fire at us, wouldn't they?" asked Jack. "What I want to know is whether
+we're assumed to be shot, and have to stop if they see us and get a
+shot?"
+
+"Yes, at any range less than a hundred yards. Above that range a
+prisoner escaping is supposed to have a good chance to get away. He has
+to stop, but need not show himself, and unless he is found he can resume
+his attempts to escape."
+
+Then Durland explained briefly to Pete Stubbs and Tom Binns the parts
+they were assigned to play in this newest development of the war game,
+and, thrilling with excitement, they took their seats with Jack in the
+grey scout car.
+
+"It won't be dark for a couple of hours yet," said Jack. "I think that's
+a good thing because we couldn't get very far in the enemy's lines with
+this car in daylight. So I'm going to take a long circle again and come
+down on them from behind. I'm not sure of where General Bliss's quarters
+are, but I should think they were probably pretty near Newville. If we
+come down the Newville pike from the direction of Smithville, it will be
+safe enough. Their watch will be closer in this direction, and by going
+around for about fifty miles we can manage that easily enough."
+
+"Gee, you talk about driving a car fifty miles the way I would about
+getting on the trolley car at home," said Pete, admiringly.
+
+"If you can drive at all, it isn't much harder, if you've got the time,
+to drive fifty miles than it is to drive five," said Jack. "And this
+time it's a lot safer. It's certainly one time when the longest way
+around is the shortest cut. We don't want to be caught until about ten
+o'clock, Pete. You understand that."
+
+They roared through Smithville as it began to get dark, and then down
+the Newville pike. Jack slowed down when he was sure that he had plenty
+of margin in time, and through the growing dusk they saw the campfires
+of the Blue army springing up in all directions before them.
+
+"Gee, there must be an awful lot of them," said Pete. "This is the
+closest I've been to them since we got started. You know, it makes me
+feel kind of shivery, even though I know that they won't do anything to
+us when they do catch us, Jack."
+
+"That just shows that you really get into the spirit of it," said Jack,
+laughing happily. "If we remembered all the time that this was only a
+game, we wouldn't be doing things the right way at all. If you feel a
+little scary, and something like the way you'd feel if it was a real
+enemy in front of us, it'll only make you a bit more careful, and that's
+just what we want. We want them to think, when they catch us, that we're
+surprised and scared, and if we can make ourselves feel that way, so
+much the better. It's much easier to make other people believe a thing
+if you half believe it yourself, even if you know down at the bottom of
+your heart it isn't so at all."
+
+A few rods farther on Jack swerved the car into a field.
+
+"Here's a good place to stop, I guess," said Jack. "It's pretty quiet
+here, and we'll get along, Pete, and find out as much as we can before
+we let them catch us. You'll be all right here, Tom. Turn the car around
+and keep it right here, no matter what happens. If there seems to be a
+chance of your being caught, leave the car, but keep the spark plug in
+your pocket. Then they'll find it impossible to do much with it. It's
+too heavy to do much pushing, and I don't believe you're likely to be
+seen, anyhow, under the hedge here. We may have to make a mighty quick
+run for it if we get back here at all."
+
+"Suppose you don't get away, Jack? Shall I wait here?"
+
+"Wait until daylight, no longer. Not quite daylight, either. Let's
+see--figure to the sunrise, and wait till half an hour before that. And
+if you do have to go back alone, don't take any chances at all on being
+caught. Make even a wider circle than we did coming here, and don't go
+near Mardean. The car is a good deal more important than any of us. And
+don't forget, if you do have to leave the car and take to the woods, to
+take the spark plug with you. Do that, even if you just get out to get a
+drink at a well, or anything like that. Remember that we're right in the
+heart of the enemy's country, and you can't tell what minute you're
+likely to be attacked."
+
+"All right, Jack. I don't believe they'll see me here, either. But I'll
+do the best I can if they do, and I'll be here, unless they pick me up
+and carry me away."
+
+"That's the right spirit, Tom! I think you've got the hardest part of
+all. Pete and I've got something to do, and something pretty exciting,
+too. But you've just got to wait here in the dark for something to
+happen."
+
+"Don't let it get on your nerves, Tom," said Pete. "It's hard work, but
+keep your nerve, and you'll be all right. Coming, Jack? So long, Tom!"
+
+"So long, Pete and Jack! Good luck! I hope you'll get away from them all
+right--and get what you're after, too."
+
+It was almost pitch dark by this time. The moon would not rise until
+very late, and the night had the peculiar blackness that sometimes comes
+before the moon appears. The country was thickly wooded here, which
+worked to the advantage of Jack and his companion. Most of the country
+in which Jack had been operating so far had been fairly open, which
+would have increased the difficulty of their task very much if the scene
+of operations had not been shifted eastward by the action near Newville
+that morning.
+
+"How far are we from their headquarters now, Jack?" asked Pete.
+
+"About a mile and a half, I think, Pete. I can't be sure, of course, but
+I think that's a pretty good guess. I could have run the car a little
+nearer and probably still been safe, but I didn't want to take chances.
+If we lose the car we can't get it back. If we're captured, why, they
+can get someone else to run the car, but we wouldn't be any good if we
+lost the machine."
+
+"We'll want to be pretty careful, though, as we go along, Jack."
+
+"Sure we will! But it won't be any harder than scouting the way we've
+learned to do, Pete. These people aren't looking for us, and we've done
+a lot of scouting when other fellows who were on the lookout for us knew
+just about where we were."
+
+The lay of the land favored the two Scouts decidedly as they made their
+way onward. They were able to progress through the woods, but they did
+not have to go so deep into them that they could not observe, as they
+moved along, the situation in the open country that marched with the
+woods. In these fields they saw the twinkling of numerous fires, and
+they judged that the enemy was thick alongside, so to speak.
+
+"They ought to watch these woods better than they do," whispered Jack.
+"Gee, I can see how their whole camp is laid out! That's one thing
+they're weak in--and it shows how important it is. They have fine
+strategy, but they're weak on details, like guarding their camp. If they
+don't watch these woods better when we start to make our get-away, we'll
+have it pretty easy."
+
+"That looks like headquarters, Jack. See, over there?"
+
+"You're right, Pete. And I'll bet they're planning to move before
+daylight, too. That's why 'Lights out!' was sounded so early. That was
+the call we heard about three quarters of an hour ago."
+
+A light still showed in one of two big, adjoining tents, however, and
+the sound of voices came distinctly from it.
+
+Jack waited until they were abreast of the tent.
+
+"This will be a good place, Pete," he said. "There'll be a guard there.
+We want to pretend to make a run for it. Come on, now--make a little
+noise!"
+
+Pete obeyed. The next moment the sharp challenge of a sentry rang out,
+and a shot followed. Jack and Pete ran, as if frightened and confused,
+right out into the midst of the sleeping men, and a moment later they
+were the prisoners of a group of laughing militiamen.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+A RACE FOR FREEDOM
+
+
+"They've got us, Pete," said Jack, dejectedly.
+
+"Here, who are you, and where did you come from?" said a sleepy officer,
+running up.
+
+"We've caught a couple of spies, sir," said one of their captors.
+
+"We are not spies!" cried Pete, indignantly. "Can't you see that we're
+in uniform?"
+
+"Hello, that's an aggressive young fighter, all right!" said the
+officer, smiling at Pete's red-headed wrath. "No wonder--look at his
+hair! Boy Scouts, eh? Do you belong to Durland's Troop?"
+
+"Yes, sir," said Jack.
+
+"How did you get here?"
+
+"I d--don't know, sir. We hadn't any idea we were right among you till
+we heard the sentry challenge us."
+
+"Well, we won't eat you, my boy. No need to be frightened. Here,
+Corporal, put them in the guard tent. We haven't many prisoners--I guess
+we can take them along in the morning and let them see us lick the Reds
+at Tryon Creek."
+
+Jack almost betrayed himself by the involuntary gasp he gave as the
+lieutenant revealed the secret he had taken so much trouble to surprise.
+Here was luck with a vengeance! The very information they wanted was
+being handed to them on a silver platter. But he managed to restrain his
+emotions, so that no one should suspect the elation he felt at the
+discovery.
+
+Tryon Creek! That meant it was doubly important for the news to be
+carried back to General Harkness, for it showed that General Bliss had
+seized upon the weak spot in the Red line of defense, the necessity for
+weakening one spot to strengthen another, and, moreover, that the Blue
+army was far from being out of it as a result of the success of General
+Bean in the minor engagement of Tuesday morning.
+
+Jack nudged Pete as they were being led away to the guard tent. And Pete
+nudged back, to show that he understood. That pleased Jack, for he knew
+now that the all-important information had a double chance of being
+carried to General Harkness. If he were baffled in his attempt to escape
+and Pete did manage to get away, the news would go with him.
+
+"You two boys can give your parole in the morning," said the young
+officer. "The guard tent's the only place where there's room for you
+to-night, and anyhow you'll be just as comfortable there as if you'd
+given your parole."
+
+Then he went off, leaving them to the care of the corporal of the guard,
+who seemed immensely amused. That relieved Jack, too. He had feared that
+they would be offered their parole, and that to refuse to give it would
+mean an added watchfulness on the part of their captors and jailers, as
+the Blue soldiers had become. Now he was relieved from that danger. It
+was lucky, he thought, that the officer was loose and careless in his
+methods.
+
+In the guard tent they found themselves alone.
+
+"Guess you can sleep all right in here," said the corporal. "It's a
+pretty comfortable prison, and there's lots of room. If you get lonely,
+call the sentry. He'll talk to you."
+
+"Thanks," said Jack. "I'm sure you're very kind."
+
+But he was really angry at the condescending way in which the Blue
+corporal spoke. As soon as he was alone with Pete he expressed his
+disgust, too.
+
+"Gee, Pete," said he, "I thought this was going to be hard. It's like
+taking candy from a kid. They'll catch us if we go up to them and ask
+them please to do it, just the way we did before. And that corporal was
+acting as if we were little boys! I hope he finds out some time that
+we're the ones that spoiled their Tryon Creek plan for them."
+
+"Hold on," said Pete, laughing. "We haven't done it yet, Jack. Gee,
+usually you're the one that keeps me from going off at halfcock. We're
+not out of the woods yet, old boy."
+
+"That's right, too, Pete, but he did get my goat. He's so cocky! Some of
+our fellows are a little like that, too, I guess, but I haven't happened
+to run into any of them yet."
+
+"I was just as mad as you were, Jack, but we have got a lot to do yet
+before we get back to Tom. How are we going to get out of here?"
+
+"Cut our way out," he said, shortly. He looked back toward the flap of
+the tent in disgust. "They didn't even take our knives away from us. I
+wonder if they thought we were going to stay here like little lambs. And
+they didn't even ask us for our parole! I'll bet someone will get
+court-martialed for this--and they ought to, too."
+
+Still looking his disgust, he began to cut through the stout canvas of
+the tent. As he had suspected, there was no sentry at all in the rear of
+the tent, and it was a matter of five minutes to cut a hole big enough
+to let them get out.
+
+"Here we go, Pete!" he whispered. "We can get away now any time we want
+to. Might as well do it now, too. No use waiting any longer than we have
+to."
+
+They slipped out quietly, within ten minutes of the time when they were
+put in the guard tent. Quietly still, and using every bit of Scout craft
+that they knew, they made their way to the shelter of the woods,
+wondering every minute why some alarm was not raised. But a dead silence
+still prevailed behind them when they crept into the sheltering shadow
+of the trees, and, once there, they straightened up and began to more
+fast.
+
+First they went some distance into the woods, so as to lessen the danger
+of discovery should their absence from the tent be discovered, and then
+they struck out boldly in the direction which they had traveled only a
+short time before, making their way back toward the place where they had
+left Tom and the grey scout car.
+
+"Gee," said Pete, drawing a long breath, "that certainly was easy! You
+were right, Jack. I thought they must be setting some sort of a trap for
+us. It didn't really seem as if they could be going to leave things
+fixed so nicely for us. Why, they might better have turned us loose at
+once! Then someone with more sense might have picked us up and really
+held on to us before we could get out."
+
+"They ought to be licked for being so careless," said Jack. "I'll put
+everything that happened in the camp into my report. I'll bet the next
+time they get prisoners, they'll look after them all right! It makes me
+sore, because they're supposed to be learning how to act in case of a
+real war just as much as we are, and it shows that there's an awful lot
+of things they don't know at all."
+
+In the east now the first faint stirrings of the light of the coming
+moon that would soon make the country light began to show.
+
+"I'm glad we got through so soon, anyhow," said Jack, then. "For Tom
+Binns' sake, mostly. It must have been scary work for him, just sitting
+there in the dark, waiting for us."
+
+"He won't have to wait much longer, Jack. He's certainly a plucky one! I
+know that waiting that way scares him half to death, but you never hear
+a peep out of him. He just does as he's told, and never whimpers at
+all."
+
+"He's got what's really the highest courage of all, though he doesn't
+know it himself, Pete. He's got the pluck to do things when he's deadly
+afraid of doing them. There are a lot of people like that who are
+accused of being cowards, when they're really heroes for trying to do
+things they're afraid of. I've got much more respect for them than I
+have for people who aren't afraid of things. There's nothing brave about
+doing a thing you're not afraid of."
+
+"There's the car now, Jack! We haven't wasted much time coming back,
+anyhow."
+
+Jack put his hand to his lips and imitated the cry of a crow. That was
+the sign of the Crow Patrol, to which all three of the Scouts belonged.
+
+"There comes his answer! That means the coast is clear. I was half
+afraid they might have caught him and the car. It wouldn't have done at
+all for us to escape as we have and then walk into a trap here--that
+would make us look pretty foolish, it seems to me."
+
+"You're right it would, Jack. Hello, Tom! Anything doing here while we
+were gone?"
+
+"Not a thing! How on earth did you get back so soon? Did you get what
+you were looking for?"
+
+"I guess we did! Get the spark plug in, Tom, and we'll be off."
+
+A few moments saw them on the road again, and moving fast. In the
+distance now, as they sped along, Jack's practiced ear caught a strange
+sound, and he slowed down so that he might listen the better.
+
+"Say," he cried, in sudden excitement, "that's another car! And what's
+an automobile doing here at this time of night?"
+
+The same thought came to the three of them at once.
+
+"I wonder if it's one of their scout cars," cried Tom Binns, voicing the
+thought. "I've been thinking it was funny we hadn't run into them at
+all, Jack."
+
+"Well, we'll have to look out if it is," said Jack.
+
+The sound grew louder, and it was soon apparent that the other car was
+coming toward them. Jack slowed down, and kept to a slow pace, keeping
+his car as much as possible in the shadow of the trees that hung over
+one side of the road. The other car came on fast, and, as it swept
+around a bend of the road that had hidden it from them, they were almost
+blinded by the great ray from the searchlight it carried. Jack himself
+had been running without lights of any sort, for greater safety from
+detection.
+
+As soon as the driver of the other car saw the machine in which the
+three Scouts were riding, he slowed down. It came alongside in a few
+moments and a man leaned out and hailed Jack.
+
+"What are you doing here?" he cried, and then, before Jack could answer
+the question: "Come on, men, it's one of their cars! We've got to
+capture them!"
+
+As he spoke he slewed his car around, so that it half filled the road,
+and two men leaped to the ground and made for Jack's car.
+
+But Jack had a different plan. He had no mind to surrender tamely now
+when victory was within his grasp. In a moment the big grey car shot
+down the road, and the next moment it was roaring at full speed ahead.
+Behind it, after a stunned moment of surprise and silent inaction,
+thundered the other car, a scout car of the Blue army.
+
+"Gee, this is going to be a real road race!" yelled Jack. "That car is
+this one's twin. They can go just as fast as we can. And they're
+stronger than we are, if they ever catch us--three men to three boys.
+But they'll have to go some to catch us!"
+
+For the first time since his dash across the State line when the war
+began, Jack let the grey car do its best for him now. It leaped forward
+along the road as if it were alive. But behind, going just as fast,
+keeping the gap between the cars the same, pounded the hostile machine.
+
+Over roads as empty as if they had been cleared by the police for a race
+for the Vanderbilt cup, the two cars sped, kicking up a tremendous dust,
+their exhausts roaring and spitting blue flame, and the noise of their
+passage making a din that Jack thought could be heard for miles. Only
+the big metal hood saved them from being cut to ribbons by the wind and
+the flying dirt and stones that their mad rush threw back from the road
+before them. But Jack had one big advantage, as he guessed. He knew the
+country better, and he was making baffling turns every few minutes. One
+thing he dared not do. He stuck to the road, afraid, at the frightful
+speed, to risk a side trip into the fields, and equally afraid to slow
+down, since that would mean that the other car, never very far behind,
+would be able to catch up to them.
+
+So fast they went that, by making many corner turns, Jack was able to
+turn completely around without attracting the attention of the pursuing
+car. He was heading straight for Bremerton, finally, and his heart
+leaped at the thought that this new and unforeseen danger was going to
+be thrown off. Just to lose the car behind would not be enough, he knew.
+He was playing for high stakes now, and at last he slowed down--not
+much, but enough to let the other car make a perceptible gain. He felt
+safe now. He knew that the other car was no faster than his own, though
+it was just as fast, and if he had even a hundred yards of lead, he was
+sure he could hold it.
+
+Other campfires were twinkling near by now. The sentries that guarded
+them, he knew, would not fail to hear and guess at the reason for the
+roaring race of the war automobiles.
+
+And at last, making the sharpest sort of a turn, he baffled the
+pursuers. Before they realized what they were doing, they were in the
+midst of Colonel Abbey's regiment, and a minute later they were forced
+to stop by a volley of shots, and instead of capturing the Red scout
+car, as they had hoped, were themselves prisoners.
+
+"I guess that's going some!" cried Pete, as they turned back toward the
+captured car. "We got the news we were after, and we led one of their
+scout cars into a trap, too. That's what I call a pretty good night's
+work. Fine business, Jack! And that was certainly some ride, too! If you
+hadn't been able to drive as well as you do, we'd never have got away
+from them."
+
+"We had a lot of luck," said Jack. "But it certainly was a great race!
+I'll be glad to get some sleep, now. That was pretty tiring work."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+A REAL ENEMY
+
+
+Jack had led the hostile scout car into the most hopeless sort of a
+trap. He had twisted and turned and doubled on his course so cleverly
+that his pursuers had completely lost their sense of direction. In a
+chase of that sort, with his quarry in front of him, the driver of a
+racing automobile, making from sixty to seventy miles an hour, has no
+chance to watch objects about him.
+
+There Jack's almost uncanny sense of direction and locality had helped
+him mightily. The speed at which he had driven his car had not at all
+confused him. He had known exactly what he was doing, and just where he
+was going, at all times. A few miles had taken him into country over
+which he had already driven, and his memory for any place he had once
+seen was phenomenal. So he had been able, by constant turning and
+doubling, to fool the driver of the enemy's car completely, and lead
+him, all unknowing the fate in store for him, into the very midst of the
+Red troops.
+
+Jack had taken his final turn from the road so sharply that it had been
+impossible for his pursuer to turn quickly enough to follow him. Any
+attempt to do so would have resulted in disaster, and, since this was
+only a mock war, the driver of the other scout car was not justified in
+taking the chance of killing himself and his companions in the effort to
+make the turn. He had gone straight on, therefore, and a few rods had
+carried him into the midst of Abbey's cavalry regiment. A minute was
+enough to surround his car, and a line of troops in front of him made
+him see the hopelessness of escape. Therefore he stopped and
+surrendered.
+
+Jack and his two companions sprang at once from their own car and ran
+quickly, glad of the chance to loosen their tired and aching muscles,
+stiff, sore and cramped from the confinement in one position that the
+wild race had forced, toward the group that was gathered around the
+captured car. Colonel Abbey, himself, the type of a true cavalry leader,
+was questioning the prisoners.
+
+"I'm Captain Beavers, of the regular army," said the man who had driven
+the car, "detached from my regiment to serve on the staff of General
+Bliss. We were returning from a scouting trip in our car when we ran
+into this machine, and we chased it. The driver certainly knew his roads
+better than I did. I haven't had any idea for the last forty minutes of
+where we were going--I could only see the car ahead, and do all I could
+to catch it."
+
+"How are you, Danby?" said Colonel Abbey, trying to hide a smile.
+"You'll excuse me, Captain, but you remind me a little of the dog that
+chased the railroad train. You know the old story about the farmer who
+watched him do it, and, when he got tired, turned around and said: 'What
+in tarnation do you reckon he'd do with that engine if he caught it?'"
+
+Beavers laughed a bit ruefully.
+
+"Something in that, Colonel!" he admitted. "I suppose it was a good deal
+like chasing a bird to put salt on its tail. But it was sheer instinct
+with us--nothing more. We saw that car start up, and we chased it. A
+fine lot of trouble it's got us into, too! But I guess we'd do the same
+thing again, probably."
+
+"Any of us would, Captain," said Abbey. "Don't feel bad about it. We'll
+have to impound your car, but if you'll give me your parole, I'll be
+glad to give you the run of the camp."
+
+"Thank you," said Captain Beavers. "I say, I'd like to see the man who
+led me that chase. I had an idea that I knew something about driving a
+fast car, but he can show me lots of things I never knew at all."
+
+Suddenly his eye fell upon Jack Danby, whose hands gave abundant
+evidence that he was the chauffeur. The captain's jaw dropped and he
+stared at the Scout in amazement.
+
+"You don't mean to tell me that it was you who was driving that car?" he
+gasped, finally.
+
+"Permit me," said Colonel Abbey, smiling. "Scout Jack Danby, of
+Durland's Troop, Captain, and the operator of our first scout automobile
+ever since these maneuvers began."
+
+"Well, I'll be jiggered!" said Beavers, speaking slowly. "You're all
+right, my boy! You drove that car like a Lancia. If you entered one of
+the big road races I believe you'd win it--upon my word I do!"
+
+"We had a big lead at the start," said Jack; then, flushing a little at
+this public praise, "You see, the two cars are supposed to be exactly
+alike, and if one is just as fast as the other, and two of them get into
+a race, it's only natural for the one that has the start to keep its
+lead. I don't think I deserve any special credit for that. All I had to
+do was to keep her at full speed and steer."
+
+"Yes, but it took more than that to lead us into this little man trap
+you had ready for us. Don't forget that!"
+
+"Danby," said Colonel Abbey then, significantly, "you'd better get over
+to your headquarters and report to Captain Durland, if you have any
+information as a result of your trip. He is probably anxious to learn
+what you have accomplished."
+
+Jack saluted at once, and turned on his heel. The headquarters of the
+Scouts was a mile or so distant from Abbey's camp, so the three Scouts
+got in the car again.
+
+"Gee," said Jack, as he tested his gasoline tank, "we couldn't have gone
+much farther, that's sure! The juice is pretty low here, and if we had
+had to go a mile or so farther I don't know what might have happened. I
+guess he could have put the salt he was talking about on our tails
+easily enough."
+
+"Well, he didn't, anyhow," said Tom Binns. "It isn't what they might
+have done, but what they did, that counts, Jack. I think we came out of
+it jolly well. Gee, but I was scared when that headlight hit us first!"
+
+Durland was up and waiting for them when they arrived.
+
+"Tryon Creek, eh?" said he, when Jack had made his report. "I thought as
+much. They may have weaknesses of their own in the matter of keeping a
+close guard, but General Bliss doesn't overlook anything in the way of
+strategy. He is mighty wide-awake on any point of that sort. I think
+I'll let you drive me over to General Harkness's headquarters and go in
+with you while you make your report in person, Jack."
+
+General Harkness had to be awakened, but he had left orders that he was
+to be called at once should the Boy Scouts bring any news, and they had
+no difficulty in reaching him.
+
+"You don't think there can be any mistake about their intention to march
+by way of Tryon Creek, do you?" he asked, with a grave face, when Jack
+had finished making his report.
+
+"No, general, I do not," said Jack, and he explained the manner in which
+he had obtained his information.
+
+"That lieutenant, you see, thought we were pretty well scared, and it
+never entered his head that we might try to escape," he said. "I've got
+an idea myself that they haven't found out yet that we've gone, really.
+There was no hue and cry raised while we were slipping out of their
+lines and back to the automobile, and I'm sure that we would have heard
+if there had been any pursuit. It's my idea that they won't discover
+that we're missing until breakfast. Even then, they're not likely to
+suspect that we know as much as we do, and I don't believe it will occur
+to that lieutenant to tell anyone that we learned from him where their
+attack was to be made. He'll probably forget that he said what he did."
+
+"I hope so," said General Harkness. "In any case we will act on the
+information. If they knew that you had escaped with that news, I think
+General Bliss would be quite likely to change his plan. But I imagine
+that you are right about the officer who put you in the guard tent. His
+every action shows that he is careless and unlikely to think of the
+really important nature of the disclosure he made so lightly. I think we
+may assume with a fair amount of safety that they will attack by way of
+Tryon Creek, and I shall lay my plans accordingly and mass my troops at
+that point."
+
+Jack had referred only incidentally to the race with the other car, but
+now the bell of the field telephone in the General's tent rang sharply,
+and an orderly answered it.
+
+"Colonel Abbey, General," he said. "He wishes to know if he may talk to
+you."
+
+Jack and Durland waited during the conversation that followed. General
+Harkness began laughing in a moment, and, after a conversation of five
+or six minutes, he hung up the receiver, his eyes wet with the tears his
+laughter had produced and his sides shaking.
+
+"You leave out the most interesting part of your adventures when you
+think you can, don't you?" said he. "Do you know that Captain Beavers is
+regarded as the most expert driver of automobiles in the regular army?
+He invented the type of scout car that is being tried out, and you have
+beaten him squarely at a game that he should be the absolute master of."
+
+"I hadn't heard a word about this," said Durland, showing a good deal of
+interest.
+
+"I suppose we never would have from Danby," said the general. "That's
+what Abbey said--that was why he called me up."
+
+And he proceeded to recount, while Jack, embarrassed, stood first on one
+foot and then on the other, the events that led up to the capture of the
+enemy's car, as Abbey had learned them from Captain Beavers. Far from
+being sore at his capture, Beavers regarded the whole affair as a fine
+joke on himself, and was only eager to find listeners who would give him
+a chance to repeat the story.
+
+"That was fine work, Jack," said the Scout-Master, his eyes showing how
+proud he was of the Scout who had done his duty so well. "You
+accomplished something to-night that General Harkness and I were agreed
+was next door to impossible."
+
+"It certainly seemed so to me," said the general, nodding his head. "But
+we needed that information badly, and I was ready to consent to any
+plan, however desperate the chances of success seemed to be, if it gave
+us even an outside chance to learn what it was that the enemy intended
+to do. We couldn't defend Tryon Creek and the Mardean road together,
+though we could block either one or the other, if we only knew where to
+look for the attack. As it is, thanks to what you have brought back, I
+think that we need have no fear of the outcome of the battle."
+
+General Harkness, once aroused, and understanding what he had to do,
+stayed up. It was no time for him to sleep, and, as was presently
+proved, the army had had all the rest that was its due that night. For
+even as Jack and Durland made their way back to their own headquarters,
+the bugles began to blow, and the sleeping ranks began to stir all over
+the great encampment.
+
+The transition from sleep to wakefulness and activity was brief enough.
+The bugles, blowing in all directions, aroused the sleepers, and soon
+all was bustle and apparent confusion all over the camp. But it was only
+apparent. Soon ordered ranks appeared, and all around the odor of frying
+bacon, and the aroma of coffee told of breakfast being cooked under the
+stars and the late moon, for it was recognized that there might be hard
+marching and plenty of it before there would be a chance for another
+meal. Two brigades were to start at once on the march to Tryon Creek,
+and General Harkness had ordered that the men eat their breakfast and
+receive a field ration before the march began.
+
+"I guess we can turn in," said Jack to Pete and Tom, with a sigh of
+utter weariness. "Seems funny to be going to bed when everyone else is
+getting up--but they got in ahead of us on their sleep, so I guess it's
+our turn all right."
+
+"Me for the hay, too!" said Pete Stubbs, without much thought for
+elegance of expression, but in such a tone as to convince anyone who
+heard him that he really needed sleep. As for Tom Binns, he hadn't been
+more than half awake since he had tumbled out of the car after the race,
+and he was leaning against a post, nodding, when the others aroused him
+to go upstairs.
+
+The bustle and din of the army getting underway didn't keep Jack and his
+companions from sleeping. They cared little for all the noise, and even
+the rumbling of the gun caissons as the artillery went by was not enough
+to disturb them at all.
+
+When Jack awoke it was broad daylight. He sprang to the window and
+looked out, to see that the sun was high, and that it must be after
+noon. In the distance the sound of firing told him that the troops were
+finding plenty of action. But the village street of Bremerton was
+deserted. There was no sign, except a litter of papers and scraps, that
+an army had ever disturbed the peace of the little border line village.
+
+"Here, Pete, wake up!" he cried. "The whole army's gone--and we're left
+behind! Let's get dressed and see if there are any orders down below for
+us."
+
+Pete got up, shaking his tousled red head disgustedly. He struggled over
+to the window, and a moment later a sharp cry from him brought Jack to
+his side.
+
+"Jack! Look! Over there--looking up this way, now. See, it's Broom!"
+
+Jack looked. There could be no doubt about it. The man who was lounging
+across the street was Broom, the villain who had escaped after Jack had
+caused his arrest at Wellbourne, and who had more than once tried to
+harm Jack and his friends.
+
+"You're right, Pete," said Jack, quietly. "It's Broom!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+A PARLEY WITH THE ENEMY
+
+
+Even Tom Binns, sleepy as he was, and hard as it usually was to arouse
+him, was wide awake as soon as he heard what his companions had seen.
+
+"Broom!" he cried. "What's he doing here?"
+
+"I don't know," said Jack, as he dressed hurriedly. "But I guess we'll
+soon find out, unless he's changed his ways. Whenever he appears it's a
+first-rate sign that there's trouble in the air. He's as good as a storm
+warning. Whenever you see him, look out for squalls, and you're not
+likely to be disappointed."
+
+"He won't try to make any mischief here, with a whole army ready to drop
+on him if he starts anything," said Pete. "I believe he's all sorts of a
+scoundrel, and he's got plenty of nerve--but not enough for that."
+
+"That's what we thought at the seashore, too, Pete, didn't we?" said
+Jack. "But he made trouble, all right, and it was only by good luck,
+really, that we got on to what he had in his dirty mind and stopped
+him."
+
+"Yes, that's so, too, Jack. Gee, I wish I was a little bigger--I'd jump
+him myself and do all I could to lick him within an inch of his life!"
+
+"What do you think we'd better do, Jack?" asked Tom.
+
+"We've got to find out first what orders there are from Captain Durland.
+Then we can tell better. If Broom leaves me alone, I won't do anything
+about him. We're on active duty now, and we're not supposed to let any
+of our private affairs interfere with our duty. We're just as much bound
+to obey orders as if the country were really at war."
+
+"I'm not worrying about interfering with him, Jack," said Pete, with a
+grin. "I'm perfectly willing to let him alone--in this State. His pull
+is in good working order here, you know. It wouldn't do any good, even
+if we did have him arrested. I don't believe he'd ever be taken back to
+Wellbourne for trial, because he and his gang know that there's a good
+chance that he might be sent to prison if he were ever taken there. But
+suppose he interferes with us? That's just what he's here to do, I
+think, if the way he always has acted is any guide to what he's likely
+to do now."
+
+"Well," said Jack, "all we can do is to mind our own business and pay no
+attention to him at all, Pete, unless he bothers us. If he lets us
+alone, why, we'll do the same by him."
+
+Then they went downstairs, and Jack found a note left for him by
+Durland.
+
+"I have left orders that you are not to be awakened, unless you wake up
+yourselves, before three o'clock," the Scout-Master had written; "you
+three have had plenty of work, and you are entitled to a good rest. The
+Troop will be on scout duty near Tryon Creek, but your orders are to use
+the car, and reconnoiter in the direction of Mardean. The fighting will
+swing the Blue center over in that direction, unless we are badly
+beaten, and your orders are to keep a close watch on the roads leading
+to Fessenden Junction. It is possible that General Bliss may make a raid
+in that direction, probably with his cavalry brigade. Timely warning of
+any such plan is important, as it is not desirable to detach any
+considerable number of troops to guard the Junction."
+
+"What would they want to make a raid toward the Junction for?" asked
+Pete, after Jack had shown him the note.
+
+"Why not, Pete?"
+
+"A cavalry brigade couldn't hold it a day, Jack. We would drive them out
+in no time at all. Don't you think so?"
+
+"Well, even so, a day would be enough to do an awful lot of damage. They
+could destroy the station,--theoretically, of course,--tear up miles of
+track, burn all the cars there, and destroy or capture and carry off
+with them a great many of our reserve stores. That was why our capture
+of Hardport was such a blow to them. We didn't hold it very long, of
+course, but it wasn't much use to them when they got it back."
+
+"I see, Jack. Yes, they could do a lot of mischief."
+
+"You see, Pete, as it is now, even if we're beaten, we can fall back on
+the Junction, hold it with a relatively small force, and retreat on the
+capital and the inner line of defenses. But if our supplies and the
+railroad cars, and everything of that sort that are massed there were
+rendered useless by being marked destroyed, we couldn't do anything but
+make our way back toward the capital as best we could, with a victorious
+enemy harrying us all the way, which is a bad situation in warfare."
+
+"Shall we cook breakfast for ourselves, Jack?"
+
+"No! On account of Broom. Captain Durland will understand. We'll get our
+breakfast here. I think that's better. If he's waiting for us, we'll
+give him a good long wait, anyhow."
+
+"Fine, Jack! I think that's a good idea, too. Gee, but I hate that man!"
+
+"I can't say I exactly love him, myself, Pete. I wish I was big enough
+to have it out with him with my fists. That's certainly one fight that I
+wouldn't have any regrets for after it was over."
+
+They had an excellent breakfast, and then they went out in the street
+together. Broom was still waiting, and save for one or two of the idlers
+commonly to be seen in a little country town, he was about the only
+person in sight. He came over toward them at once.
+
+"Don't shoot, Colonel," he said to Jack, smiling amiably. "I ain't
+looking for no more trouble. I've been up against you and your pals
+often enough now to know that it don't pay to tackle you. You're too
+much class for me, and I'll give you best."
+
+"We don't want to have anything to do with you," said Jack. "We know the
+sort of a man you are, and you'll get your deserts some time. But right
+now, if you'll let us alone, we'll do the same for you. We've got other
+things to do beside talk to you. Good-day!"
+
+Jack really was rather relieved at Broom's pacific advances. He had not
+known what to expect from his enemy's appearance, and he knew that if
+Broom had any considerable number of his allies on hand, he and his
+companions would not be able to make a very effective resistance, try as
+they would. After all, they were only boys, though in some respects they
+had proved that they could do as well as men, and Broom and his fellows
+were grown men, without scruples, who had no idea, apparently, of what
+fair fighting meant. But though he was secretly pleased, he did not
+intend to let Broom see it, and moreover he felt that he must be
+constantly on the lookout for treachery.
+
+"No use bearing malice and hard feelings," said Broom. "We never meant
+to hurt you, my boy. You'd have been safe enough with us, and, as you
+wouldn't come willing, we tried to get you to come the other way. We
+didn't do it, so you've got no call to be sore."
+
+"I've had plenty of samples of your good intentions," said Jack, his lip
+curling in a sneer. "I'm not afraid of you, but you can't fool me with
+your soft, friendly talk, either. I know you, and all about you, and
+I'll thank you to keep away from us. We aren't going to stay here,
+anyhow, and we haven't got time to talk to you, even if we wanted to."
+
+"Yes, you have!" said Broom, suddenly, coming close to Jack and dropping
+his voice. "Suppose I told you that I knew all about you, and could tell
+you who you were and everything else you want to know? You'd have had a
+better time at Woodleigh if you'd had a name of your own, like all the
+other fellows, wouldn't you? You know you would! Well, that's what I can
+do for you, if I want to. Now will you talk to me?"
+
+"If you know all that about me, why don't you tell me?" asked Jack.
+
+Despite himself, he was curious, and he was forced to admit that Broom
+interested him. The secret of his birth, which seemed resolved to elude
+him, was one that he would never tire of pursuing, and he was ready to
+make use of Broom, villain though he knew him to be, or anyone else who
+could shed some light on the mysterious beginnings of his life.
+
+"I can't tell you now and here," said Broom. "But I tell you what I'll
+do. Meet me here to-night at eleven o'clock, if you're off duty, and
+I'll tell you the whole story. It's worth your while to hear it, too,
+I'll promise you."
+
+"I'm likely to do that," said Jack, with a laugh. "Do you know that
+sounds like 'Will you walk into my parlor? said the spider to the fly.'
+You must certainly think I'm an easy mark if you think I'll go into a
+trap you set as openly as that! Not if I know myself!"
+
+"You think you're mighty smart, don't you?" asked Broom, his face
+working with disappointment and anger. "I'm not setting any trap for
+you. If I'd wanted to do that, I couldn't have had a better chance than
+there was here this morning, when your Scouts and all the rest of your
+people went off and left you behind. If you're scared to come alone,
+bring anyone you like--Durland, Crawford, or anyone. Bring them all--the
+whole Troop! I don't care! But come yourself, or you'll always be
+sorry!"
+
+Jack was impressed, despite himself, by the man's earnestness. He knew
+that Broom had been crooked in many ways, and he knew, also, that
+Captain Haskin, the railroad detective, had given him the reputation of
+being a clever criminal, whose scruples were as rare as his mistakes.
+But there was some truth in what the fellow said. Had he meant to make
+any attempt on Jack's liberty, he had already let the best chance he was
+likely to have for a long time, slip by.
+
+"I'll think it over, and talk to Captain Durland about it," he said. "I
+won't promise to be here, but I may decide to come, after all."
+
+"That's better," said Broom. "You think it over, and you'll see I'm
+right. If I wanted to hurt you, I'd have done it before this."
+
+"One thing more, Broom. If I do come, I shall certainly not be alone.
+And if you try any tricks, it won't be healthy for you. I know you're
+not afraid of the law in this State, but I've got friends that won't be
+as easy on you as the police. And I'll have them along with me, too, if
+I come, to see that you don't forget yourself, and go back to some of
+your old tricks. If you're ready to take the chance, knowing that, I may
+come."
+
+"You surely won't think of meeting him, will you, Jack?" asked Pete, in
+deep anxiety, after this conversation was ended and Broom had taken
+himself off. "I didn't offer to butt in, because I thought you could
+handle him better by yourself. But you won't let him take you in by just
+pretending that he's got something to tell you?"
+
+"I shan't meet him alone, anyhow, Pete. But I don't know whether he's
+just pretending or not, you see. The trouble is this mystery about me is
+so hard to untangle that I hate to let even the slightest chance of
+doing so pass."
+
+"I know, Jack, but please don't take any chances. You know what he's
+tried to do to you before, and I'm certain this is only some new trick.
+He's probably tickled to death to think that you didn't turn him down
+absolutely."
+
+"I'll promise you one thing, anyhow, Pete. I won't make a move toward
+meeting him, nor have anything to do with him, without telling Dick
+Crawford and Mr. Durland about it first. And I won't do anything that
+they don't thoroughly approve of. Will that satisfy you?"
+
+"Sure it will, Jack! Thanks! I hate to seem like a coward, but I'm a lot
+more afraid for you when you're in some danger than I would be if it
+were myself. That's why I'm so leery of this fellow Broom. I'm sure he
+means some sort of mischief, and I surely do hope that Mr. Durland and
+Dick Crawford will make you feel the same way about it that Tom Binns
+and I do."
+
+"What, are you in on this, too?" asked Jack, with a smile, turning to
+little Tom Binns.
+
+"I certainly am, Jack!" answered Tom. "I think Pete's quite right."
+
+Then they got the car, and took the road for Mardean, prepared to turn
+back when they reached the right cross roads, and scout along toward
+Fessenden Junction.
+
+Before them, on the other branch of the Mardean road, toward Tryon
+Creek, there had been heavy firing. That had gradually died away,
+however, and presently, as they sped on, they met a single soldier on
+horseback. It proved to be their friend, Jim Burroughs.
+
+"Hello, Lieutenant!" called Jack, cheerily, as he stopped his car and
+saluted. "How is the battle going?"
+
+"Fine and dandy," returned Jim Burroughs, reigning up his horse. "We got
+to Tryon Creek, and we licked them there. They didn't come along for
+more than two hours after we were in position. The umpires stopped the
+fighting after a while, and gave us the decision. I don't see how
+they're going to get through to Fessenden Junction, and, if we hold them
+on this line, they'll never get near enough to the capital even to
+threaten it, that's one sure thing!"
+
+"I'm certainly glad we got the true news," said Jack, after Jim
+Burroughs had ridden on. "It would have been fierce if that fresh
+lieutenant had been wrong himself, and we had given our own army false
+information that would have enabled them to beat us. But it's all right,
+as it turns out, and I guess that they haven't got any chance at all of
+beating us now."
+
+"I'm glad of that, too," said Pete. "We certainly took enough trouble to
+get the right dope, didn't we?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+A DECISIVE MOVEMENT
+
+
+Pete Stubbs was secretly glad that the scouting trip toward Fessenden
+Junction had been ordered. He was terribly afraid of the consequences to
+Jack should he accept Broom's defiance and meet him that night, and he
+did not know whether Durland and Dick Crawford would share his views. So
+he hoped that the work in the scout car would distract Jack's mind and
+lead him to forget his promise to Broom to see what the Scout-Master and
+his assistant thought of the plan.
+
+As the car made its swift way along the roads towards Fessenden
+Junction, the sound of firing constantly came to them.
+
+"I thought Jim Burroughs said the fighting had been stopped," said Tom
+Binns.
+
+"The main bodies were stopped, but that doesn't mean the whole fight is
+over," explained Jack. "Bean's brigade, you see, probably hasn't been in
+action at all yet. His troops were not among those sent to Tryon Creek,
+and he has to cover the roads leading in this direction. It's just
+because General Harkness is afraid that some of the Blue troops may have
+been detached to make a raid by a roundabout route that we are coming
+over here."
+
+"Suppose we ran into them, Jack? Would we be able to get word back in
+time to be of any use?"
+
+"Why not? This is our own country. We have the telegraph and the
+telephone wires, and the railroad is within a mile of General Harkness's
+quarters at Tryon Creek. All he needs to do is to pack troops aboard the
+trains he undoubtedly has waiting there and send them on to Fessenden
+Junction. We have the same advantage here that the enemy had when they
+held Hardport. Then we had to move our troops entirely on foot while
+they could use the railroad, and move ten miles to our one. Now that
+position is reversed--as long as we hold the key of the railroad
+situation, Fessenden Junction."
+
+The road to Fessenden Junction was perfectly clear. They rolled into the
+busy railroad centre without having seen a sign of troops of either
+army. A single company was stationed at the depot in Fessenden Junction,
+impatient at the duty that held it there while the other companies of
+the same regiment were at the front, getting a chance to take part in
+all the thrilling moves of the war game.
+
+Jack told the officers all he knew as they crowded around his car while
+he stopped to replenish his stock of gasoline. There was little in his
+narrative that had not come to them already over the wires, but they
+were interested in him and in the scouting car.
+
+"We've heard all about you," said a lieutenant. "You've certainly done
+yourself proud in this war! They tell me that the car will surely be
+adopted as a result of your success with it. Do you know if that's so?"
+
+"I hadn't heard, Lieutenant," said Jack, his face lighting up. "But I
+certainly hope it's true. It's a dandy car!"
+
+"You didn't expect to see anything of the enemy the way we came, did
+you, Jack?" asked Pete Stubbs, when they were in motion once more.
+
+"No, I didn't, Pete. But it was a good chance to study a road we didn't
+know. We may have considerable work in this section before we get
+through, and I want to know the roads. That road, of course, is guarded
+this morning by General Bean's brigade. It would take more than a
+raiding cavalry brigade to break through his line and make for the
+Junction this way, and if General Bliss sent troops to Fessenden, they
+wouldn't stop to fight on the way. They would choose a road that was
+open, if they could, or very weakly defended, at least. Otherwise they'd
+be beaten before they got here. Even a couple of regiments would be able
+to hold up a brigade, no matter how well it was led, long enough for
+General Harkness to find out what was going on and occupy Fessenden
+Junction in force."
+
+"Where are you going now, then?"
+
+"East of Bremerton, on the way back. I know that isn't exactly orders,
+but it seems to me it's common sense. General Bliss had a long line this
+morning, and Mardean was practically its centre. Hardport had become his
+base again. He's held Hardport now for two days, practically, and he's
+had time to repair all the damage we did. Why shouldn't he have thrown
+his brigade, if he planned a raid on the Junction at all, thirty miles
+east from Hardport, to swing across the State line at about Freeport,
+cut the railroad east of Fessenden Junction, and so approach it from the
+east, when everyone expects an attack to be made from the west?"
+
+"That would be pretty risky, wouldn't it, Jack?"
+
+"Certainly it would--and yet, if he could fool everyone into thinking he
+was going to do just the opposite, it would be the safest thing he could
+do. You see, all the fighting to-day has been well west of Bremerton and
+Fessenden Junction. Our orders were to do our scouting on the western
+side of the Junction. I've obeyed those orders, and I haven't found out
+a thing. Now I think I've a right to use my own discretion, and see if
+there are signs of danger on this side."
+
+"Gee, that certainly sounds reasonable, Jack! They've been doing the
+thing that wasn't expected ever since the business started. I guess
+they're just as likely as not to keep on doing it, too."
+
+"We ought to know in a little while, anyhow, Pete. I'm going to circle
+around here, strike a road that runs parallel to the railroad as it runs
+east of the Junction, and see what's doing."
+
+Jack hurried along then for a time, and none of those in the car had
+anything to say, since, when Jack was pushing her, the noise was too
+great to make conversation pleasant or easy in any sense of the words.
+
+They were in the road now that ran along parallel with the railroad
+that, running east from Fessenden Junction and away from the State
+capital, which lay southwest of that important point, approached
+gradually a junction with the main line of the railroad from Hardport at
+Freeport.
+
+Jack was keeping his eyes open. He hardly knew what he expected to see,
+but he had an idea that there would be something to repay their trip.
+
+And, about fifteen miles from Fessenden Junction, the soundness of his
+judgment was proved once more.
+
+"Look up there!" cried Pete, suddenly. The eyes of three Scouts were
+turned upward in a moment, and there, perhaps two miles away, and three
+hundred feet above them, they saw a biplane hovering.
+
+"Gee!" cried Jack. "That's the first we've seen in the air--a Blue
+biplane! None of our machines would be in this direction."
+
+Swiftly he looked along the fence until he saw an opening.
+
+"Here, jump out and let those bars down!" he cried, stopping the car.
+
+The others obeyed at once, and in a moment he ran the car gently into
+the field and stopped beside a hayrick.
+
+"Sorry to disturb the farmer's hayrick," said he, then, jumping out in
+his turn, "but this is important!"
+
+And a moment later the three Scouts, following his example, were as busy
+as bees, covering the grey automobile with new hay, that hid it
+effectually from any spying eyes that might be looking down on them from
+above.
+
+"Now we'll make ourselves look small," said Jack.
+
+He looked around the field.
+
+"I shouldn't wonder if they picked this out for a landing spot, if they
+decide to land at all," said he. "We want to see them if they do
+anything like that, and hear them, too, if we can. We may want to find
+out something from them."
+
+Swiftly, then, they burrowed into the hay. They could look out and see
+anything that went on about them, but unless an enemy came very close,
+they themselves were entirely safe from detection.
+
+"Now we'll know what they're up to, I guess," said Jack, with a good
+deal of satisfaction. "It's a good thing I sort of half disobeyed orders
+and came this way, isn't it?"
+
+"You didn't really disobey orders, did you, Jack?" asked Tom.
+
+"No, I didn't, really, Tom. I did what I was ordered to do, but I did
+something more, too, as there was no special time limit set for the job
+they gave us. But a scout is supposed to use his own judgment a good
+deal, anyhow. Otherwise he wouldn't be any use as a scout, so far as I
+can see."
+
+It was very quiet in the hay. But above them, and sounding all the more
+clearly and distinctly for the silence that was everywhere else, they
+could hear the great hum of the motor of the aeroplane. With no muffler,
+the engine of the flying-machine kicked up a lot of noise, and, as it
+gradually grew louder, Jack was able to tell, even without looking up,
+that it was coming down.
+
+"By George," said he, "I think they are going to land! They're getting
+more cautious, you see. They scout ahead now, and they're using their
+war aeroplane the way we have been using this car of ours."
+
+"What are our flying-machines doing, Jack? I haven't seen them on the
+job at all."
+
+"General Harkness is using them in the actual battles. They go up to
+spot concealed bodies of the enemy, so that our gunners can get the
+range and drive the enemy, theoretically, out of any cover they have
+found. That's one of the ways in which flying machines are expected to
+be most useful in the next war. You see, as it is now, with smokeless
+powder and practically invisible uniforms, ten thousand men can do a lot
+of damage before anyone on the other side can locate them at all. But
+with a flying-machine, they won't be able to hide themselves. A man a
+thousand feet above them can see them, and direct the fire of artillery
+by signals so that the troops that were in entire security until he
+discovered them can be cut to pieces by heavy shell fire."
+
+"That's what our men have been doing, eh?"
+
+"Yes--and theirs, too, mostly. This is the first time I've seen one of
+their machines scouting. Look out now--keep quiet! They're landing, and
+they're not more than a hundred feet away!"
+
+The scraping of the flying-machine, as it came to rest in the field, was
+plainly audible as the Scouts stopped talking and devoted themselves to
+listening intently. Also, by craning their necks a little, though they
+were in no danger of being seen themselves, they could make out what the
+two men in the aeroplane were doing.
+
+"Pretty lucky, Bill!" said one of them. "This is a good landing-place,
+and we can get an idea of the situation and cut the telegraph wire to
+send back word."
+
+"Right, Harry!" said the other. "I guess the coast is clear. The brigade
+isn't more than five miles back, and with three train loads, they'll be
+able to make that Fessenden Junction look like a desert before
+night--theoretically."
+
+"It's all theory, Bill, but it's pretty good fun, at that. I tell you,
+we would be in a tight place if they'd guarded this approach at all.
+That brigade of ours would be cut off in a minute. But if we can mess up
+Fessenden Junction for them, they'll be so busy trying to cover their
+line of retreat that they won't have any time to bother about our
+fellows."
+
+"What's the matter with that engine, anyhow?"
+
+"Nothing much, I guess. But sometimes, if she starts missing, the way
+she did when we were up there, you can fix things and avoid a lot of
+trouble by a little timely tinkering. I was up once when my engine began
+missing that way, and I didn't pay any attention to it. Then, about
+twenty minutes later, she went dead on me while I was over the water,
+and I had to drop, whether I wanted to or not. The water was cold, too,
+I don't mind saying."
+
+"You hear that?" said Jack, in a tense whisper. "Now, as soon as they
+go, we've got to destroy that railroad track, right across the road. We
+may have half an hour; we may have only a few minutes. And while two of
+us do that--you and Tom, Pete--the other will have to cut the telegraph
+wire and send word to Fessenden Junction. General Bean is in the best
+position to get over there. I don't think we can hold them up more than
+an hour or so, but that ought to be enough. At least, if there's nothing
+else to be done, the fellows at Fessenden Junction can tear up a lot of
+track."
+
+For five breathless minutes they watched the two aviators tinkering with
+their engine. Then the big bird rose in the air again, and winged its
+way eastward. In a moment Jack was out of the hay and calling to his
+companions to follow him.
+
+"Get your tools from the car, now," he said. "Mark a rail torn up for
+every ten minutes you spend there. I'll get busy with the telegraph
+wire."
+
+It took Jack twenty minutes to finish his task, which was exceedingly
+quick work. But he had had practice in it, and he worked feverishly,
+since he did not know at what minute they would be surprised and forced
+to abandon the task by the on-coming enemy.
+
+Ten minutes after he had completed his part of the task, when,
+theoretically, the others had been able to destroy three lengths of
+rail, and had left a pile of smouldering brushwood as proof that they
+had had time to build a fire of the ties, they heard the hum of
+approaching trains along the rails.
+
+"All right!" cried Jack. "This is as far as they can go now until they
+make repairs. It's time for us to be off!"
+
+And he led the way swiftly toward the car, still hidden in the field.
+
+Swiftly he adjusted the spark plug, which he had carried with him, and,
+just as the first of the trains from the east appeared in sight, the car
+was ready to move. But Jack, instead of returning to the road, and
+retracing his course toward Fessenden Junction, headed north across the
+field, toward the State line.
+
+"I'm going to take a short cut to General Bean's brigade and get him
+word of the chance he has to end things right now," he cried. "If he can
+capture this brigade of the enemy, the war will be as good as over. It's
+the best chance we've had yet."
+
+Jack knew the country perfectly, and soon he was on a country road,
+which, while it would have been hard on the tires of an ordinary car,
+was easy for the big scouting machine. They made splendid time, and in
+an hour they were in touch with the outposts of General Bean's troops,
+waiting, since the attack of the enemy in front had ceased, for any news
+that might come.
+
+"I've just heard that the enemy is threatening Fessenden Junction from
+the east," the general told Jack, when the Boy Scout made his report.
+
+"Yes, General," said Jack, eagerly. "And the roads are open in this
+direction. They will not be able to get very far along the railroad. The
+troops in Fessenden Junction will undoubtedly cut the tracks, just as we
+did, somewhere near the village of Bridgeton, and that will be a
+splendid place to make a flank attack. They won't be expecting that at
+all, and I think you can finish them up."
+
+General Bean reached at once for a field map.
+
+"You've got it!" he cried. "That's just what I'll do!"
+
+And in a moment he had given his orders accordingly. Ten minutes later
+the troops were on the march, and Jack was scouting ahead, to make sure
+that no shift of the enemy's plan had made it impossible for his idea to
+be carried out successfully.
+
+Bean's troops marched quickly and well, and within two hours they were
+in touch with the enemy, near Bridgeton. Jack and his companions, in the
+rear, heard the sound of firing, which soon became general. And then,
+unhampered, Jack sped for the place where he had already cut the
+railroad, and, in two hours theoretically destroyed nearly half a mile
+of track.
+
+"They're in a trap, now," he cried. "They'll never get by here!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+THE PERIL IN THE WOODS
+
+
+It was nearly seven o'clock that evening, and quite dark, when Jack and
+the others rejoined the main body of the Troop of Scouts at Bremerton.
+
+Durland was full of enthusiasm.
+
+"The war is as good as over," he said, happily. "We've licked them
+utterly! It's just a question now of what they'll be able to save from
+the wreck. The brigade that made the raid toward Fessenden Junction was
+annihilated by Bean, cut off, and forced to surrender. General Bliss is
+in full retreat upon Hardport from Mardean, and the invasion has been
+repelled. Our cavalry is pursuing him, and I think we will be in
+Hardport again to-morrow. Whatever fighting remains to be done will be
+on their side of the line, and the capital is safe."
+
+"Will there be any more fighting to-night, Captain?" asked Jack.
+
+"Only by the cavalry. They are worrying Bliss as much as possible in his
+retreat, and we'll probably pick up a few guns. We outnumber them
+decidedly now, as we have taken nearly eleven thousand prisoners in the
+last two days, and there is no chance at all for them to take the
+offensive again. General Bliss will be lucky to escape the capture of
+his whole army. One of the umpires told me to-day that our success was
+due entirely to the speed and accuracy with which we got information of
+the movements of the enemy, which seemed to him to be remarkably well
+covered."
+
+"That's what Jack Danby's done for us," said Dick Crawford. "He's
+certainly proved that the scout car has come to stay. And it was more or
+less by accident that he got the chance to handle it, too."
+
+"That's true," said Durland, "but a great many men have opportunities
+just as good, and can't make use of them. It's not how a man gets a
+chance to do things that counts, it's the way he uses the chance when he
+gets it. And that's where Jack's skill and courage have helped him.
+You've covered the Troop with glory, Jack, and we're all proud of you."
+
+"Is there anything more for us to do to-night, sir?"
+
+"No, indeed! I think everyone feels that the Boy Scouts have done rather
+more than their share already in the fighting we've had, and have been
+very largely responsible for our victory. There may be more work to do
+to-morrow, but I doubt it. I think myself that the umpires will call the
+invasion off to-morrow, and devote the rest of the time to field
+training for both armies, working together.
+
+"About all the lessons that the war can teach have been learned by both
+sides already, and the training is useful, even when the war game itself
+is over. That's only a guess, of course, but if we are in a position
+to-morrow that leaves General Bliss as small a chance for getting away
+as seems likely now, I think the umpires will feel that there is no use
+in going through the form of further fighting. We are masters of the
+situation now, and our superiority in numbers is so great that there
+will be very little that is instructive about a further campaign."
+
+Then Jack asked Captain Durland and Dick Crawford if he could speak to
+them apart, and when the Scout-Master consented, he told them of his
+interview with Broom.
+
+"That's a queer shift for him to make," said Durland, thoughtfully.
+"It's true, of course, that he was in a good position to make an attack
+on you this morning. But it's also possible that he was alone, and
+didn't have any help handy. I don't think he'd ever try any of his dirty
+work single-handed. He's a good deal of a coward, and he likes to have a
+lot of help when he tries anything, so that there is practically no
+chance for his opponent. His idea is to fight when he is in overwhelming
+force, and only then. What do you think of it, Dick?"
+
+"I don't trust him, sir, and yet, if it is at all possible that he has
+given up his designs against Jack and is willing to tell him what we are
+so anxious to find out, it would be a great pity to let the chance
+slip."
+
+"That's what I think, sir," said Jack. "Pete Stubbs and Tom Binns heard
+him, and they think I ought not to meet him. But I'm afraid he's right,
+and that if I didn't do it, I'd always regret it."
+
+"It seems safe enough," said Durland. "He didn't insist on your meeting
+him alone. He probably knew that you wouldn't do that, anyhow, and took
+the only chance he had of persuading you, but I don't see what harm
+could come to you if you went to meet him with Dick Crawford and myself,
+and perhaps two or three others, to see that there was no foul play."
+
+"It's risky to have any dealings with him at all, I think," said Dick
+Crawford, "but if it was ever safe, I should say that this was the time.
+He's an awfully smooth scoundrel, or he wouldn't have been able to fool
+the Burtons the way he did. Still, it's hard, as you say, sir, to see
+what harm could come to Jack to-night."
+
+"I think it's worth risking, anyhow," said Durland. "You and I will go
+along, Dick. And I think I'll have a talk with Jim Burroughs, too. It
+might be that he would feel like coming along with us."
+
+"Can I bring Pete Stubbs and Tom Binns with us, sir?" asked Jack. "I
+think they'd like to be along."
+
+"By all means," said Durland.
+
+Jack went off then to look for his two chums. But they were nowhere to
+be seen. He was surprised, for, since they were on active duty, they
+were supposed to be always in readiness at the headquarters of the Troop
+unless detached with special orders. Finally, after hunting for them for
+half an hour, he asked Bob Hart about them.
+
+Bob, who, as Patrol Leader of the Crow Patrol, ranked during the
+maneuvers as a sergeant, seemed surprised.
+
+"I gave them permission to be absent from headquarters until eleven
+o'clock," he said. "Didn't you know they were going to ask for it?"
+
+"I did not," said Jack, decidedly surprised.
+
+Pete and Tom had known of the chance that he might meet Broom, and he
+wondered how it was that they were willing to be absent at a time when
+he might need them. It was the first time either of them had ever failed
+him, and he was puzzled and bothered by their absence.
+
+"That's certainly mighty queer!" he said to himself. "I wonder if they
+forgot about Broom, or if they thought I would?"
+
+But there was no sense in trying to puzzle out the reason for their
+having gone. They were off--that was plain, and he would have to go
+without them.
+
+While he waited for Durland and Dick Crawford to return, he began to
+speculate a good deal as to what the reason for Broom's new shift might
+be. He was sure, from the way Broom had acted, that the man was as much
+his enemy as ever. And yet he had seemed to feel that he and Jack
+together might be able to accomplish something that was beyond the power
+of either of them, alone, to get done.
+
+"Perhaps he's had trouble of some sort with the people who want to keep
+me from finding out about myself," thought Jack. "In that case, he's
+simply turned traitor to them, and is trying to use me to get even with
+them. Well, I don't care! They must be a pretty bad lot, and if I can
+find out about myself I don't see why I should mind helping him to that
+extent. But I'd certainly like to know the answer!"
+
+He waited some time longer before the Scout-Master and Dick Crawford
+returned.
+
+"Jim Burroughs isn't there," said Dick, with a puzzled expression on his
+face. "His captain says that he and several of the men got leave before
+dinner, because they wanted to see if they couldn't pick up some birds a
+little way off, in a preserve that belongs to a man who is a friend of
+Jim's. But we went over in that direction, and there wasn't any sign of
+them."
+
+"Well, it's no great matter, anyhow," said Durland, with a smile. "There
+are enough of us left to attend to the matter. We'd better be getting
+along, Jack. Where are Stubbs and Binns?"
+
+"They got leave for a little while from Sergeant Hart, sir," said Jack.
+"That seems mighty funny to me, because they knew about Broom, and that
+I might want them along with me to-night."
+
+"They've probably forgotten it, Jack," said Dick. "You've all had a
+pretty full day and things slip the mind sometimes in such
+circumstances. No use worrying about them. We'll go ahead, anyhow."
+
+At the place where Broom had made his appointment a man was waiting for
+them.
+
+"Mr. Broom said this place was too public," the man whispered. "If
+you'll come along with me, I'll show you where he is waiting for you
+now."
+
+"We'll come," said Durland. "But look here, my man, no tricks!"
+
+He drew his hand from his holster, and showed the guide, a sullen,
+scowling fellow, the big pistol that reposed there.
+
+"If I see any sign of treachery, I'm going to use this and see who's to
+blame afterward," Durland went on, grimly. "You'd better play level with
+us, or you'll have a mighty good reason to regret it. That's a fair
+warning, now. See that you profit by it. The next will be from my
+pistol!"
+
+"Aw, g'wan, what's eatin' youse?" asked the man. But, despite his
+bluster, he was obviously frightened.
+
+"I ain't here to hoit youse," he said, sullenly, after a minute's
+silence. "Just youse come along wid me, and I'll take youse to Broom.
+That's all the job I got, see?"
+
+He led them some distance into the woods. Once or twice they thought
+they heard sounds as if others were near them, but they made up their
+minds that this idea was due to their imaginations. And finally, when
+they were nearly two miles from the nearest troops, as far as they could
+tell, their guide stopped in a little clearing in the woods.
+
+"Wait here," he said. "I'll go tell Broom you're ready."
+
+He crashed off through the undergrowth, and, with what patience they
+could, they waited in the darkness.
+
+They realized afterward that the waiting was a blind. No one had crept
+up on them, but they were suddenly seized, each one from behind, so that
+there was no chance at all for Durland and Crawford to use the pistols
+that they held in their hands. Their assailants, as they guessed later,
+had been waiting all the time for them, ready to spring, upon them as
+soon as they were thoroughly off their guard. And in a moment they saw
+Broom, an electric torch in his hand, which he directed at the faces of
+the three prisoners in turn.
+
+"You walked into the trap all right, didn't you?" he said to Jack, with
+an ugly sneer on his face. "You was mighty smart this morning! Glad you
+brought your friends along. They've bothered us, too. And now we've
+caught you all together. That's much better, you see! You won't get in
+my way again, any one of you!"
+
+Suddenly he gave a curse.
+
+"Where's the others?" he snarled. "The red-headed one and the little
+shaver? I want them, too!"
+
+"There weren't but the three of them," said the man who had served as
+their guide. "I don't know where the others are."
+
+"Well, it can't be helped," said Broom, with an oath. "I'll get rid of
+these, anyhow."
+
+"You'll spoil no more games of mine!" he told them. "Get the ropes,
+there, men!"
+
+"What are you goin' to do?" asked one of Broom's men.
+
+"String them up," replied Broom, with a brutal laugh. "Hanging leaves no
+evidence behind. No weapons--no wounds to show the sort of a blow that
+killed. There's good advice for you, my friend. If you want to get rid
+of an enemy, hang him!"
+
+All three of the prisoners had been gagged. They had to stand silent,
+now, while the rope was placed about their necks. They were all forced
+to stand under the spreading branch of a big tree, and the ropes were
+thrown over it.
+
+"We'll let them swing all together, now," said Broom. "When I give the
+word! Plenty of time, though! We'll let them have a minute or two to
+think it over."
+
+"NOW!" cried a voice in the woods beyond the small circle of light from
+Broom's electric torch.
+
+A second later the click of falling hammers fell on the air. And, even
+as Broom turned, a dozen men stepped into the light, with leveled
+rifles, covering every one of the gang that Broom had gathered to make
+his trap.
+
+"Fire if they make a single movement!" ordered Jim Burroughs. "Good
+work, Pete! Release them now! You brought us here--it's only fair to let
+you turn them loose, you and Tom Binns."
+
+"Go ahead and shoot!" yelled Broom, suddenly, and made a dash for the
+woods. A dozen rifles spoke out, but he crashed away in the darkness,
+and one or two of the others ran also.
+
+"He got away!" said Durland. "Pretty bad shooting, Jim!"
+
+"Well, you can't expect much from blank cartridges," said Jim Burroughs,
+with a grin. "We didn't have any loaded with ball, you know. It was just
+a bluff, but it worked pretty well!"
+
+"But how did you get here at all?"
+
+"Pete Stubbs and Tom Binns are responsible for that. They didn't like
+the idea of this expedition at all, and neither did I, when they told me
+about it. We stuck pretty close to you. But I wanted to make sure of
+Broom, or I'd have butted in before."
+
+
+
+
+THE BRADEN BOOKS
+
+
+FAR PAST THE FRONTIER
+
+_By_ JAMES A. BRADEN
+
+The sub-title "Two Boy Pioneers" indicates the nature of this
+story--that it has to do with the days when the Ohio Valley and the
+Northwest country were sparsely settled. Such a topic is an unfailing
+fund of interest to boys, especially when involving a couple of stalwart
+young men who leave the East to make their fortunes and to incur untold
+dangers.
+
+"Strong, vigorous, healthy, manly."--_Seattle Times._
+
+
+CONNECTICUT BOYS IN THE WESTERN RESERVE
+
+_By_ JAMES A. BRADEN
+
+The author once more sends his heroes toward the setting sun. "In all
+the glowing enthusiasm of youth, the youngsters seek their fortunes in
+the great, fertile wilderness of northern Ohio, and eventually achieve
+fair success, though their progress is hindered and sometimes halted by
+adventures innumerable. It is a lively, wholesome tale, never dull, and
+absorbing in interest for boys who love the fabled life of the
+frontier."--_Chicago Tribune._
+
+
+THE TRAIL of THE SENECA
+
+_By_ JAMES A. BRADEN
+
+In which we follow the romantic careers of John Jerome and Return
+Kingdom a little farther.
+
+These two self-reliant boys are living peaceably in their cabin on the
+Cuyahoga when an Indian warrior is found dead in the woods nearby. The
+Seneca accuses John of witchcraft. This means death at the stake if he
+is captured. They decide that the Seneca's charge is made to shield
+himself, and set out to prove it. Mad Anthony, then on the Ohio, comes
+to their aid, but all their efforts prove futile and the lone cabin is
+found in ashes on their return.
+
+
+CAPTIVES THREE
+
+_By_ JAMES A. BRADEN
+
+A tale of frontier life, and how three children--two boys and a
+girl--attempt to reach the settlements in a canoe, but are captured by
+the Indians. A common enough occurrence in the days of our
+great-grandfathers has been woven into a thrilling story.
+
+
+BOUND IN CLOTH, each handsomely $1.00 illustrated, cloth, postpaid
+
+
+_The Saalfield Publishing Co._
+
+AKRON, OHIO
+
+
+
+
+FICTION FOR BOYS
+
+
+LITTLE RHODY
+
+_By_ JEAN K. BAIRD
+
+_Illustrated by_ R. G. Vosburgh
+
+At The Hall, a boys' school, there is a set of boys known as the "Union
+of States," to which admittance is gained by excelling in some
+particular the boys deem worthy of their mettle.
+
+Rush Petriken, a hunchback boy, comes to The Hall, and rooms with
+Barnes, the despair of the entire school because of his prowess in
+athletics. Petriken idolizes him, and when trouble comes to him, the
+poor crippled lad gladly shoulders the blame, and is expelled. But
+shortly before the end of the term he returns and is hailed as "little
+Rhody," the "capitalest State of all."
+
+CLOTH, 12 mo, illustrated,--$1.50
+
+
+BIGELOW BOYS
+
+_By_ Mrs. A. F. RANSOM
+
+_Illustrated by_ Henry Miller
+
+Four boys, all bubbling over with energy and love of good times, and
+their mother, an authoress, make this story of a street-car strike in
+one of our large cities move with leaps and bounds. For it is due to the
+four boys that a crowded theatre car is saved from being wrecked, and
+the instigators of the plot captured.
+
+Mrs. Ransom is widely known by her patriotic work among the boys in the
+navy, and she now proves herself a friend of the lads on land by writing
+more especially for them.
+
+CLOTH, 12 mo, illustrated,--$1.50
+
+Books sent postpaid on receipt of price.
+
+
+_The Saalfield Publishing Co._
+
+AKRON, OHIO
+
+
+
+_THE BOY SCOUT SERIES_
+
+    1 THE BOY SCOUTS IN CAMP
+
+    2 THE BOY SCOUTS TO THE RESCUE
+
+    3 THE BOY SCOUTS ON THE TRAIL
+
+    4 THE BOY SCOUT FIRE-FIGHTERS
+
+    5 THE BOY SCOUTS AFLOAT
+
+    6 THE BOY SCOUT PATHFINDERS
+
+    7 THE BOY SCOUT AUTOMOBILISTS
+
+    8 THE BOY SCOUT AVIATORS
+
+    9 THE BOY SCOUTS' CHAMPION RECRUIT
+
+    10 THE BOY SCOUTS' DEFIANCE
+
+    11 THE BOY SCOUTS' CHALLENGE
+
+    12 THE BOY SCOUTS' VICTORY
+
+    13 THE BOY SCOUTS UNDER KING GEORGE
+
+    14 THE BOY SCOUTS WITH THE ALLIES
+
+    15 THE BOY SCOUTS UNDER THE KAISER
+
+    16 THE BOY SCOUTS AT LIEGE
+
+    17 THE BOY SCOUTS WITH THE COSSACKS
+
+    18 THE BOY SCOUTS BEFORE BELGRADE
+
+    19 THE BOY SCOUTS' TEST
+
+    20 THE BOY SCOUTS IN FRONT OF WARSAW
+
+    21 THE BOY SCOUTS UNDER THE RED CROSS
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Boy Scout Automobilists, by Robert Maitland
+
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