CHAPTER X
THE SCOUTS MEET AN OLD FRIEND
Jack Danby's clever scouting had changed the entire situation. Thecapture of his two regiments made General Bliss's situation decidedlyprecarious. His case was not hopeless yet, by any means, since, as theattacking force, the Blue army had been the stronger to begin with,because the War Department had so arranged matters that the advantage ofposition favored the Red forces sufficiently to make up for the superiorforce of General Bliss. General Bean's quick following up of theinformation Jack had given, however, had enabled the Red army toequalize the forces of the contending armies, and General Harkness, whothrew a cavalry brigade into Bremerton within three hours of the timelywarning Jack sent him, was now in no danger of being forced to fight onground where his original advantage of position would be transferred tothe enemy.
Now the position was one of open tactics. The lines were drawn, and somesort of a battle would have to be fought, theoretically, before furthermovements were in order. With Bremerton as his centre, General Harknessand his army lay directly across the line of the Blue advance, alreadyacross the border at Mardean, and seeking, or intending, rather, to seekthe control of the railroad at Fessenden Junction, a dozen miles back ofBremerton.
The Junction was the key to the situation now, so far as the hopes ofthe invading forces were concerned. Its possession would, theoretically,cut the defenders off from their base of supplies, and, once it wascaptured, General Bliss would force the Red army immediately to fallback and occupy the defenses of the capital city itself, since therailroad would enable him to cut off its supplies and advance his troopsagainst it with great speed. That would mean the immediate abandonmentof any offensive tactics on the part of General Harkness, and would makeup for the capture of the two regiments that General Bean had sent intoBremerton as prisoners of war.
But there seemed little chance of an engagement on Tuesday. Ever sincenoon the day before, when hostilities had begun, both armies had beenconstantly on the march. There had been severe fighting, and the plansof the commanders had involved the rapid movement of considerable bodiesof 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 ofregular troops. They were, in the main, militiamen, clerks, lawyers,brokers, and men of that sort, who do not have the chance of regularexercise, 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 standsnow, but these fellows can't do any more. Bean's brigade in particularmust be about ready to drop. I never saw troops worked harder. They'vedone mighty well, and, while there won't be any formal arrangement tothat effect, I suppose, I guess that both generals will understand thatthey can't accomplish any more without some rest. They'd have torecognize that in a war, for the wise general never requires his men tofight 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 chanceto use the small hotel of the town. He was exceedingly busy with hisplans. General Bean had come in from the lines facing the enemy, who hadbeen forced, reluctantly enough, to shift their base of attack, so thatNewville was the focus of their semi-circular advance. Other brigadecommanders and other high officers with them had also come in, and forthe first time since hostilities had begun, General Harkness was able toconsult with his subordinate officers.
"I guess the strategy of the campaign for the next two days will bepretty well worked out about now," said Durland, glancing over towardthe tent of General Harkness, from which the smoke of the cigars andpipes 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, anda few seconds later went off. He returned presently with a young officerof militia, and a few minutes later that officer came over to the Scoutheadquarters.
"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 wasyour Troop that was doing so well here."
"Jim Burroughs! Is that really you? I'm glad to see you!" exclaimedDurland.
Jack Danby, Tom Binns, Pete Stubbs and the rest of the Scouts, withhappy memories of their days at Eagle Lake, and of the time when theyhad turned out in the woods at night to search for Burroughs and BessBenton, crowded around to greet the young militia officer.
"I'm a lieutenant in the Sixteenth Regiment," said Burroughs. "CaptainDurland, you're wanted in the General's tent. I went there to make areport, 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 wasdoing in one of the new scouting autos," said Jim Burroughs, "butsomehow I didn't have any idea that it was a Boy Scout they were talkingof. But I might have guessed it! If it hadn't been for you when we hadthe 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 betrying to give me a swelled head."
"No danger of that, I guess," said Burroughs, laughing. "You're prettylevel-headed, young man. By the way, I heard you had some trouble latelywith a man called Broom. Anything in that?"
Jack's face darkened. Jim was bringing up a painful subject. But PeteStubbs spoke up for him.
"Trouble?" he said. "Well, I guess yes, Mr. Burroughs! You heard abouthow Jack broke up the plot to wreck the train and rob it when he and TomBinns 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 aboutJack'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 whohis mother and father were. You're still trying to find out about allthat, aren't you, Jack?"
"You bet I am!" said Jack, his face lighting up at the thought. "And I'mgoing to do it, too!"
"Well, this Broom," Pete Stubbs went on, "was trying to find out whereJack had gone from Woodleigh. He didn't know that our Jack was the onehe was looking for, or we don't know what he'd have done. So he had adouble reason to be after him, though all he knew was that Jack mightgive dangerous evidence against those pals of his who were mixed up withthe 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 crookedpeople got an old gentleman and his daughter to trust them. The oldgentleman, whose name was Burton, was looking for a boy, his brother'sson, who was kidnaped when he was a baby. We think it may be Jack, andwe're going to try to find out. Broom made the Burtons think that hecould find the boy they were looking for, and he got a lot of money outof them."
"Gee, Pete, that sounds pretty interesting! Was that how the troublecame with Broom?"
"One of the ways, yes. When we were down at the shore a little while agothey 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 andDick Crawford, went out to rescue the Burtons, who had been left ontheir yacht, and when we got back some of us caught Broom and a friendof his. But they were rescued afterward by the sailors who had quit theyacht, 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'rereally Jack's long-lost relatives or not?"
"No, not yet. Mr. Burton w
as terribly ill after the wreck of his yacht.He was exposed to the sea and the wind for a long time that night, yousee, and as soon as he could be moved, he was sent to Europe by hisdoctor. 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 thinkthey're safe from Broom over there."
"I'll tell you someone that isn't glad, though," said red-headed PeteStubbs, mischievously. "That's Dick Crawford!"
The Assistant Scout-Master, who hadn't heard the conversation that hadpreceded 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 acertain beautiful young lady has charmed you--the one man I knew that Ithought was proof against the ladies!"
Dick flushed furiously, but he saw that there was no use in attemptingto 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, youred-headed rascal!" he cried, but there was no malice in his tone, andPete knew that the threat would never be carried out.
"I didn't do anything but tell the truth," protested Pete. "Let go ofme, Dick! If it wasn't true, you wouldn't be so mad!"
"He's right, Dick, my boy," said Burroughs, much amused. "We've caughtyou with the goods. It's nothing to be ashamed of--we all do it, sooneror later, you know. You've done well to escape the charms of the othersex so long, it seems to me."
Then the Scouts began to drift away, and Dick and Jim Burroughs wereleft 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 happento that boy."
"I'd a good deal rather have something happen to me, Jim. But he's shownthat he's pretty well able to take care of himself. Down at the beachthere 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 myselfthat they know who he is, although Jack himself and some of the othersdon't. But my idea is that there is a very queer secret about him, thatthey know all about it, and that they think it is to their advantage tokeep Jack from learning the truth and also to keep those who may belooking for him from finding him."
"How about these Burtons, Dick? Do you really think that Jack is the boythey'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 whilewe're not sure, owing to Mr. Burton's illness, which made it impossiblefor us to discover certain things which would probably have made mattersclear, 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 asher cousin."
"Is she pretty, Dick, you sly old fox?"
"She certainly is, Jim! You can't tease me about her. I'm crazy abouther, and I don't care who knows it. But she'd never look at me, I knowthat!"
"You can't tell, Dick. They're funny that way. You'd never think thatBess Benton would have any use for me, but we're engaged, and we'regoing 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 beaway for some time yet, I'm afraid. And I've got to wait until I'm doingbetter than I am now before I can even think about getting engaged, muchless married."
"You can think about it as much as you like, Dick, and it will do yougood. The more you think about it, the harder you'll work and the betteryou'll get on. I've found that out, and I guess it's true with most ofus."
"I guess the council's over, Jim. Here comes Captain Durland, and theother 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 tomy regiment."