ll, to get the Servian officer into a doctor's hands
as soon as possible. His improvised bandage and tourniquet would do very
well for an hour or so, but better treatment was necessary, since it was
dangerous to arrest the circulation of the blood, what there was left of
it, too long. And then Dick heard footsteps, the most welcome sound he
had ever heard, he thought--except for the hail that followed a moment
later.

"Dick! Where are you?"

It was Stepan Dushan. He had come after Dick, determined not to let a
stranger outdo him in courage!

"Here!" cried Dick. "I found him! I believe he'll pull through, if we
can get him away. I've been puzzling my brains trying to think how to do
it. But now we can make a stretcher."

"How? We haven't any material, Dick!"

"Haven't they taught you that?" said Dick. "All our scouts know how to
turn that trick! Stay here! I'll be back in a minute."

Dick always carried his big knife, which had been a present from his
scoutmaster as a reward for a particularly good piece of work that Dick
had once done at home. Now, with its biggest blade, he managed to cut
away two stout branches of a tree, and to strip them of leaves and
twigs. Though they were thin, he knew that the live, green wood was
stout, and that while it might bend and give, it would not readily
break. He returned with the two poles, and called to Steve.

"Take off your coat and give it to me, Steve," he directed.

Steve obeyed, and Dick laid the coat, and his own, which he now took
off, on the ground. Then he passed the poles through the sleeves of the
two coats, having laid them end to end, and then he proceeded to button
both coats.

"Now do you see?" he said. "Isn't that a fine stretcher for a home-made
one? Take his feet now, and lift him very carefully. He's too tall, but
if we pass our hands and arms under him, we can support his head and his
feet when we start to carry him. It'll be a hard job, but it's the only
chance. It's better to let him take the risk of being carried that way
than to leave him here. He hasn't any chance at all here, and he will
have some this way. How soon can we get him to a doctor?"

"Very soon, once we're up the hill," said Steve. "The men can help
there. They didn't know I had come back, but they will soon miss us and
come back to see what has happened. Mischa has been my father's servant
for years, and he would go through fire and water for me, I know."

"Good! Steve, have you no