ervice man. "We'll
have luncheon at the roadhouse and in the meantime we can stroll around
and hunt up this wireless plant. We'd attract too much attention if we
drove directly into the field."

They stopped at the road-house, ordered luncheon, and said they would
stroll about until noon. Then they wandered, apparently aimlessly,
about the place and into the fields. The country was nearly level,
with slight depressions here and little hillocks there, and bits of
woodland all about. The road-house was the only structure in sight,
and when they had passed beyond a slight elevation, even this was
hidden. Apparently there was not a soul in the neighborhood. They
paused just inside a little grove and made sure that no one was
following them from the road-house. Then they pushed rapidly on into
the little thicket which Henry recognized as his hiding-place of the
previous night.

After a moment's search, Henry found the mark he had made in the turf.
"The motor-car was in that direction," he explained, pointing along his
turf mark.

His fellows looked in the direction of his outstretched arm. At a
distance of a quarter of a mile was a thick little grove. Henry was
pointing straight at the heart of it.

The scouts had kept themselves well hidden in the thicket as Henry was
finding his mark. If any one was in the wood, that person could not as
yet see them.

"I have no doubt we shall find the secret station in that grove," said
Captain Hardy. "I see several tall trees sticking up above the others
that might conceal aerials. I doubt if any one is there now, but some
one might be. So we shall have to approach carefully and in such a way
that we can capture any one who might be within the grove. Suppose we
advance on it from all four sides, as we did on the willow copse at the
Elk City reservoir. Then if any one is within the grove we shall see
him."

The leader gave each boy his orders and the advance began. Henry was
to circle and enter the woods from the rear. Roy was to approach from
one side and Willie from the other. Lew was to go in at the front.
Captain Hardy and the secret service man were to station themselves
outside the wood so that they could see every point of its exterior and
detect any one leaving it. Each glided away toward his post.

At a given signal from Captain Hardy, the boys began to work their way
silently from their posts into the grove. This was small in extent and
such precau