e eat up all our
Secretary of the Interior has," remarked Bob, as they trudged along a
deserted road. They had, some time since, left behind them the burning
mill. It was out of sight, though they could catch occasional glimpses
of the smoke from it.

"What do you mean!" asked Jimmy.

"Well, there may be a lot of good things to eat in some of these
farmhouses," suggested the young corporal. "I vote we take a look."

"It can't do any harm," decided Jimmy. "But I doubt if we find
anything worth taking."

And he was right--at least in the first few houses the boys entered.
The cupboards had been cleaned out, if not by the unfortunate owners,
then by the Germans who had devastated the region.

"We'll have to live on what we have," said Jimmy. "And we may not be
so badly off for all that Lots of the boys have been without food
for three days. If they stood it we can. And we may get to our lines
sooner than we expect."

"I don't see why we shouldn't get there by night," observed Roger. "We
didn't hike very far when we were fighting, and our boys can't have
retreated far enough in the time that has elapsed since the fighting
changed, to get entirely beyond our reach. I believe we'll be with our
own division by night."

"Well, it doesn't do any harm to hope," said Jimmy. "But we've got to
be cautious just the same."

They kept on, ever on the alert for a sight of the Germans, ever
hoping for a sight of their own khaki-clad comrades. They appeared to
be marching away from the scene of the battle, or battles. The firing
became fainter. The country was now quite open, consisting of little
hills and valleys. Each time they came to a height which afforded
a place for observation, they looked all around. But all they saw,
besides an occasional deserted farmhouse, or patch of woods, were
rolling clouds of mist or smoke.

There had been considerable rain, and the ground was damp. The sun,
shining on this, caused the moisture to condense into fog that swirled
about here and there. The day had begun wonderfully clear, but now it
looked like rain again.

They halted in a little grove of trees and ate some of their
none-too-plentiful rations. Then, after a rest, they started on again.
It was late afternoon when, as they were hiking down a lonely road,
the rain suddenly began to fall.

"Whew! Now we're in for it!" exclaimed Roger, as he did his best to
protect the bag of food. "We might better have stayed back in the
woods."