THE SCOUTS MEET AN OLD FRIEND
Jack Danby's clever scouting had changed the entire situation. The
capture of his two regiments made General Bliss's situation decidedly
precarious. His case was not hopeless yet, by any means, since, as the
attacking force, the Blue army had been the stronger to begin with,
because the War Department had so arranged matters that the advantage of
position favored the Red forces sufficiently to make up for the superior
force of General Bliss. General Bean's quick following up of the
information Jack had given, however, had enabled the Red army to
equalize the forces of the contending armies, and General Harkness, who
threw a cavalry brigade into Bremerton within three hours of the timely
warning Jack sent him, was now in no danger of being forced to fight on
ground where his original advantage of position would be transferred to
the enemy.
Now the position was one of open tactics. The lines were drawn, and some
sort of a battle would have to be fought, theoretically, before further
movements were in order. With Bremerton as his centre, General Harkness
and his army lay directly across the line of the Blue advance, already
across the border at Mardean, and seeking, or intending, rather, to seek
the control of the railroad at Fessenden Junction, a dozen miles back of
Bremerton.
The Junction was the key to the situation now, so far as the hopes of
the invading forces were concerned. Its possession would, theoretically,
cut the defenders off from their base of supplies, and, once it was
captured, General Bliss would force the Red army immediately to fall
back and occupy the defenses of the capital city itself, since the
railroad would enable him to cut off its supplies and advance his troops
against it with great speed. That would mean the immediate abandonment
of any offensive tactics on the part of General Harkness, and would make
up for the capture of the two regiments that General Bean had sent into
Bremerton as prisoners of war.
But there seemed little chance of an engagement on Tuesday. Ever since
noon the day before, when hostilities had begun, both armies had been
constantly on the march. There had been severe fighting, and the plans
of the commanders had involved the rapid movement of considerable bodies
of troops. As a result, the troops on both sides were nearly exhausted.
In the first place, they did not have the stamina that is the portion of
regular troops. They were, in the main, militiamen, clerks, lawyers,
brokers, and men of that sort, who do not have the chance of regular
exercise, and who do not keep such strict hours as do trained soldiers.
"There'll be no fighting until to-morrow, in my opinion," said Durland,
when Jack and Tom reported to him; "it's a pretty situation as it stands
now, but these fellows can't do any more. Bean's brigade in particular
must be about ready to drop. I never saw troops worked harder. They've
done mighty well, and, while there won't be any formal arrangement to
that effect, I suppose, I guess that both generals will understand that
they can't accomplish any more without some rest. They'd have to
recognize that in a war, for the wise general never requires his men to
fight when exhausted, except in the case of attack."
The Scouts retained their headquarters in Bremerton, which was now,
after the abandonment of Hardport, headquarters for the Red army, also.
But General Harkness had his headquarters in tents, despising the chance
to use the small hotel of the town. He was exceedingly busy with his
plans. General Bean had come in from the lines facing the enemy, who had
been forced, reluctantly enough, to shift their base of attack, so that
Newville was the focus of their semi-circular advance. Other brigade
commanders and other high officers with them had also come in, and for
the first time since hostilities had begun, General Harkness was able to
consult with his subordinate officers.
"I guess the strategy of the campaign for the next two days will be
pretty well worked out about now," said Durland, glancing over toward
the tent of General Harkness, from which the smoke of the cigars and
pipes of the officers was curling.
Before General Harkness's tent two orderlies were waiting. Now,
suddenly, one of them, evidently hearing a call inside, answered it, and
a few seconds later went off. He returned presently with a young officer
of militia, and a few minutes later that officer came over to the Scout
headquarters.
"Captain Durland?" he began, then broke off. "Great Scott!" he cried,
"it's my old friend the Scout-Master, isn't it? I had no idea it was
your Troop that was doing so well here."
"Jim Burroughs! Is that really you? I'm glad to see you!" exclaimed
Durland.
Jack Danby, Tom Binns, Pete Stubbs and the rest of the Scouts, with
happy memories of their days at Eagle Lake, and of the time when they
had turned out in the woods at night to search for Burroughs and Bess
Benton, crowded around to greet the young militia officer.
"I'm a lieutenant in the Sixteenth Regiment," said Burroughs. "Captain
Durland, you're wanted in the General's tent. I went there to make a
report, and he asked me to tell you to come to him at once."
Then the Scouts and Burroughs, who had nothing else to do for the time,
began to exchange reminiscences and talk over old times.
"I've been hearing a lot about the good work a Scout called Danby was
doing in one of the new scouting autos," said Jim Burroughs, "but
somehow I didn't have any idea that it was a Boy Scout they were talking
of. But I might have guessed it! If it hadn't been for you when we had
the forest fires up at the lake, Camp Benton would have been wiped out."
"Oh, I guess you'd have managed all right with the guides," said Jack.
"You always try to make out that I do more than I do, Jim. You must be
trying to give me a swelled head."
"No danger of that, I guess," said Burroughs, laughing. "You're pretty
level-headed, young man. By the way, I heard you had some trouble lately
with a man called Broom. Anything in that?"
Jack's face darkened. Jim was bringing up a painful subject. But Pete
Stubbs spoke up for him.
"Trouble?" he said. "Well, I guess yes, Mr. Burroughs! You heard about
how Jack broke up the plot to wreck the train and rob it when he and Tom
Binns were on a hike together?"
Jim nodded.
"Well, Broom was mixed up with that gang in some fashion. Then,
afterward, we found that he was really after Jack. You know all about
Jack's queer life up at Woodleigh--about Old Dan and all that?"
"I know that Jack never knew much about himself--his real name and who
his mother and father were. You're still trying to find out about all
that, aren't you, Jack?"
"You bet I am!" said Jack, his face lighting up at the thought. "And I'm
going to do it, too!"
"Well, this Broom," Pete Stubbs went on, "was trying to find out where
Jack had gone from Woodleigh. He didn't know that our Jack was the one
he was looking for, or we don't know what he'd have done. So he had a
double reason to be after him, though all he knew was that Jack might
give dangerous evidence against those pals of his who were mixed up with
the train business."
"I see! He was really playing against himself, without knowing it,
wasn't he?"
"Yes. That was the funny part of it. Well, Broom and some other crooked
people got an old gentleman and his daughter to trust them. The old
gentleman, whose name was Burton, was looking for a boy, his brother's
son, who was kidnaped when he was a baby. We think it may be Jack, and
we're going to try to find out. Broom made the Burtons think that he
could find the boy they were looking for, and he got a lot of money out
of them."
"Gee, Pete, that sounds pretty interesting! Was that how the trouble
came with Broom?"
"One of the ways, yes. When we were down at the shore a little while ago
they tried to get hold of Jack. One night there was a pretty bad storm,
and that was the night they picked out. Jack and I, with Mr. Durland and
Dick Crawford, went out to rescue the Burtons, who had been left on
their yacht, and when we got back some of us caught Broom and a friend
of his. But they were rescued afterward by the sailors who had quit the
yacht, and Jack raced into Wellbourne, and got most of them arrested.
But Broom got away, in some fashion, after they had taken him to jail.
So we don't know what's become of him."
"How about the Burtons, Pete? Have you found out yet whether they're
really Jack's long-lost relatives or not?"
"No, not yet. Mr. Burton was terribly ill after the wreck of his yacht.
He was exposed to the sea and the wind for a long time that night, you
see, and as soon as he could be moved, he was sent to Europe by his
doctor. Until they get back we sha'n't be able to tell for certain."
"I'm glad they're over there, anyhow," said Jack, breaking in. "I think
they're safe from Broom over there."
"I'll tell you someone that isn't glad, though," said red-headed Pete
Stubbs, mischievously. "That's Dick Crawford!"
The Assistant Scout-Master, who hadn't heard the conversation that had
preceded Pete's mischievous remark, came up just then.
"What is it that doesn't make me glad like everyone else?" asked Dick,
unsuspiciously, and everyone laughed.
"Discovered, Dick!" cried Jim Burroughs, laughing. "I hear that a
certain beautiful young lady has charmed you--the one man I knew that I
thought was proof against the ladies!"
Dick flushed furiously, but he saw that there was no use in attempting
to deny the charge. He seized Pete Stubbs, jestingly, by the neck,
however, and shook him hard.
"I've a good mind to give you the licking of your young life, you
red-headed rascal!" he cried, but there was no malice in his tone, and
Pete knew that the threat would never be carried out.
"I didn't do anything but tell the truth," protested Pete. "Let go of
me, Dick! If it wasn't true, you wouldn't be so mad!"
"He's right, Dick, my boy," said Burroughs, much amused. "We've caught
you with the goods. It's nothing to be ashamed of--we all do it, sooner
or later, you know. You've done well to escape the charms of the other
sex so long, it seems to me."
Then the Scouts began to drift away, and Dick and Jim Burroughs were
left alone.
"Did they tell you of the way Jack's been pursued by this fellow Broom?"
asked Dick.
"They told me enough to worry me, Dick. We mustn't let anything happen
to that boy."
"I'd a good deal rather have something happen to me, Jim. But he's shown
that he's pretty well able to take care of himself. Down at the beach
there we all helped, but he was the one who really beat them, after all,
when it came to the point. They were mighty determined. I think myself
that they know who he is, although Jack himself and some of the others
don't. But my idea is that there is a very queer secret about him, that
they know all about it, and that they think it is to their advantage to
keep Jack from learning the truth and also to keep those who may be
looking for him from finding him."
"How about these Burtons, Dick? Do you really think that Jack is the boy
they're looking for, or is that just one of Pete's wild guesses?"
"Miss Burton and I have talked that over two or three times, and while
we're not sure, owing to Mr. Burton's illness, which made it impossible
for us to discover certain things which would probably have made matters
clear, we both agree that it looks very much as if Jack were the one.
She thinks so, anyway, and she's quite prepared to acknowledge him as
her cousin."
"Is she pretty, Dick, you sly old fox?"
"She certainly is, Jim! You can't tease me about her. I'm crazy about
her, and I don't care who knows it. But she'd never look at me, I know
that!"
"You can't tell, Dick. They're funny that way. You'd never think that
Bess Benton would have any use for me, but we're engaged, and we're
going to be married in a few months. Never give up hope, old chap!
You've got as good a chance as anyone else. What more do you want?"
"Well, I'm not going to worry about that now, anyhow, Jim. She'll be
away for some time yet, I'm afraid. And I've got to wait until I'm doing
better than I am now before I can even think about getting engaged, much
less married."
"You can think about it as much as you like, Dick, and it will do you
good. The more you think about it, the harder you'll work and the better
you'll get on. I've found that out, and I guess it's true with most of
us."
"I guess the council's over, Jim. Here comes Captain Durland, and the
other officers seem to be leaving, too. I wonder what's doing."
"Nothing much, probably. But I'll leave you to find out and get back to
my regiment."