my repeated with a glad yell of triumph; and he was over
the wall and after Jim like a flash.

But that his hands were full, the boy would have shaken his fist at his
escaping prisoner. As it was, he was obliged to content himself with
the thought that his new prisoner was more worth having than his old
one.

But even as that thought passed through his mind Hal whipped out a
knife, and, opening the biggest blade, began to hack away at the rope.

The rope was thick and the knife was blunt, and though Hal sawed away
with desperate haste the strands parted with tantalizing slowness;
thus, being less able to offer resistance than before, he was hauled
rapidly towards the fort. He was barely five yards away from it when
the last strand parted, and, with the noose still round his waist, Hal
scrambled to his feet. Ducking to avoid a second lasso, which his
disappointed foe hurled after him, he set out at full speed for the
camp, and then flung himself exhausted upon the ground.

"That was hottish work," he said, glancing round at his little army to
see that none were missing, "and we had some tremendously narrow
escapes. But the rescue was carried out splendidly. You all did just
what you were told, and no more."

Praise from Hal was rare, and the three recipients of it looked
exceedingly gratified. And they felt that they deserved the
commendation, for Drusie and Helen were perfectly hoarse with shouting,
and Jim's face and hands and clothes were torn and scratched by thorns.
And Tommy, to his secret delight, got off with a very slight reprimand,
for they were all so proud of the clever way in which they had rescued
him that they forgave him for having allowed himself to be taken
prisoner.

The news that it was their friend, and not Dodds, who was defending the
fort was received with satisfaction by Drusie and Jim, but with
incredulity by Hal.

"Why, I know it is Dodds," he said. "Though his face is hidden by his
helmet, I recognized the suit of clothes that he had on."

"Then, I tell you what it is," Drusie cried. "Our friend and Dodds are
the same."

"Well, we will find out all about that presently," said Hal, who was so
eager to take the stubborn fort that he did not care very much who held
it. "Carried the fort must be, and within the next half-hour."

"Listen," he said, sitting bolt upright; "I have got a rattling good
plan in my head, but," throwing a severe glance in Tommy's direction,
"there must