t'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