lain our position. He should know that we
have no relation with the army, and that in fact the mission of a Boy
Scout is peace, not war."

"Second the motion, boys!" exclaimed Bumpus; "and I hope our scoutmaster
will appoint a committee of three, Bob White, Allan, and, well, Smithy
here, to hunt up the said gent, and show him--hey, jump out of the way
there, Step Hen; the whole side of the mountain's coming down on top of
you! Hurry! hurry!"

But as the startled Step Hen hastened to obey, with considerable
alacrity, Thad Brewster, looking up, saw a head withdrawn from the point
whence the round stone that was rolling down the side of the steep
incline must have had its start.

Jumping in zigzag curves from one side to another, the rock finally
landed with a great crash in the mountain road not ten feet from where
the scouts were huddled in a group, watching its coming with staring
eyes.

CHAPTER III.

IN THE DESERTED LOG CABIN.

"KEEP your eyes about you!" shouted Davy Jones; "mebbe there's more
where that stone came from!"

But after the rock had settled quietly in the road, silence again fell
upon the scene; a little trickle of dirt glided down the face of the
descent, in the track the round rock had made; but that was all.

"Whew! that's a pretty hefty stone, believe me, fellers!" cried Step
Hen.

"Whatever loosened it, d'ye s'pose?" asked Giraffe, who had jumped
several feet when he heard the alarm given; for his recent adventure in
the bed of the treacherous stream seemed to have unnerved the tall boy,
usually as brave as the next scout.

Thad stepped forward. The others saw him bend over the big rock that had
just played such a queer trick, narrowly missing falling among the
gathered scouts.

"Look at Thad, would you?" exclaimed Step Hen.

"What's he taking out of that crack in the rock?" Giraffe added. "Say,
looks like a dirty piece of paper; and that's what it is, sure as
shootin', fellers!"

"A message from the enemy; p'raps he's goin' to Surrender
unconditionally--ain't that the way they always put it?" Bumpus called
out, in high glee.

Thad, however, after glancing down at the paper he had extracted from
the crack in the rock, looked serious. Evidently to him at least it was
no laughing matter.

"What does she say, Thad?" demanded Giraffe, always curious.

"Sure, if we've got any right to know, read it out, Mr. Scout Master,"
Bumpus echoed, in his merry way, his eyes shining wit