oor through which fuel
had been fed. Unfortunately, however, the lad lost his footing and, as
he fell, thrust a hand against the hot iron.

"Ow, wow!" yelled Jimmie, as he rolled over the ground, dragging with
him the already burning Cossack uniform.

"Here, here!" shouted Otto, rousing from his phlegmatic attitude and
springing forward in Jimmie's direction. "Leave dot alone!"

Jimmie rose to his feet nursing his burned hand and casting a glance of
extreme disgust toward his new-found friend.

"What business have you got burning up my clothes, I'd like to know!"
he indignantly began. "You big sauer kraut eater. You don't seem to
know that clothes cost money and that these clothes were presented to
me by the Imperial Czar of Russia!"

"Dot makes no difference about dot Russian bizness," answered Otto
doggedly; "my orders iss to burn dot uniform, und dot's chust vot I'm
going to do. Maybe you would like to watch me."

"Yes, I'll watch you," Jimmie stated aggressively, his face flushing
until the freckles were scarcely distinguishable. "You can burn the
old uniform as fast as you like, but there is something in it that I
want before you start the conflagration."

Otto stretched forth a hand in an effort to wrest the already charred
and smoldering garments from The Wolf. He evidently intended to take
matters strictly into his own hands and obey orders to the letter,
regardless of Jimmie's wishes in the matter.

Jimmie just as resolutely intended to have his own way about the
matter, although he had no objection to the ultimate burning of the
discarded insignia of the gallant troop he had at one time joined.

Although suffering keenly from the hand that had come in contact with
the iron and that would be giving him pain for some time, Jimmie
directed his attention to a search of the garments. He thrust his
uninjured hand into one pocket after another, frantically groping for
some object. Directly he gave a glad shout and withdrew his hand,
clutching a small packet from which a loop of heavy cord hung.

Otto had lost some of the zest with which he had been imbued when he
first raised an objection to Jimmie's action. His sluggish nature had
dominated his movements, and now he moved forward with the ponderous
motions of the average German agriculturist, although it was plain to
the observers standing about that nothing short of a superior force
could deter his progress or swerve him from his course.

"I'