L HOOPER LEARNS 167

XVI. THE MYSTERY OF POST THREE 178

XVII. HAL UNDER A FIRE OF QUESTIONS 190

XVIII. THE ANONYMOUS LETTER 198

XIX. A SECRET COWARD 206

XX. THE LUCK OF THE YOUNG RECRUIT 212

XXI. THE DUEL IN THE DARK 221

XXII. CAPTAIN CORTLAND HEADS THE PURSUIT 229

XXIII. THE STIRRING GAME AT DAWN 238

XXIV. CONCLUSION 250

Uncle Sam's Boys in the Ranks

CHAPTER I

A LESSON IN RESPECT FOR THE UNIFORM

"AW, what's the difference between a soldier and a loafer?" demanded
"Bunny" Hepburn.

"A soldier ain't a loafer, and it takes nerve to be a soldier. It's a
job for the bravest kind of a man," retorted Jud Jeffers indignantly.

"Answer my c'nundrum," insisted Bunny.

"It ain't a decent conundrum," retorted Jud, with dignity, for his
father had served as a volunteer soldier in the war with Spain.

"Go on, Bunny," broke in another boy in the group, laughing. "I'll be
the goat. What is the difference between a soldier and a loafer?"

"A soldier gets paid and fed, and the other loafer doesn't," retorted
Bunny, with a broadening grin. A moment later, when he realized that his
"joke" had failed to raise a laugh, Bunny looked disappointed.

"Aw, go on," flared up Jud Jeffers. "You don't know anything about a
soldier."

"But my dad does," retorted Bunny positively. "Dad says soldiers don't
produce anything for a living; that they take their pay out of the
pockets of the public, and then laugh at the public for fools."

"And what does your father do for a living?" demanded Jud hotly.

"He's a man who knows a lot, and he lectures," declared Bunny, swelling
with importance. "When my dad talks a whole lot of men get excited and
cheer him."

"Yes, and they buy him beer, too," jeered Jud, hot with derision for the
fellow who was running down the soldiers of the United States. "Your
father does his lecturing in small, dirty halls, where there's always a
beer saloon underneath. You talk about men being producers--and your
father goes around making anarchistic speeches to a lot of workingmen
who are down on everything because they aren't clever enough to earn as
good wages as sober, industrious and capable workmen earn."

"Speech, Jud!" laughingly roared another boy in the crowd