t what
we are about."

They centred their gaze on the near-by house. Forgotten was the
glorious picture spread before them, forgotten everything but the
glass-fronted dwelling and the invisible man with the field-glasses.
But look as they would, they could see nothing further of a suspicious
nature. Another hour passed. Dinner time had long gone by. The one
o'clock whistle had blown. And their own stomachs told them accurately
what time it was; but they would not leave their post. Now that they
had once scented their quarry, as it were, or believed that they had,
they were like hounds on the trail. Their training at Camp Brady now
showed its effect.

But the hours passed, the afternoon waned, and nothing further occurred
to draw their attention to the little house. Gradually their vigilance
relaxed. Their eyes wandered again to that fascinating harbor scene,
to the never-ending moving picture spread before them. Again they saw
tugs and ferry-boats plying busily back and forth, and the flashing
sails of great schooners. But presently they saw something like
nothing they had ever beheld. Far in the distance was a line of moving
objects, gliding through the waves in stately fashion, approaching one
behind the other at equal distances. Just what was approaching the two
scouts could not at first determine, so indistinct in outline were the
moving bulks. But presently, as the oncoming objects drew nearer, the
watchers saw that they were great ships. But they looked unlike any
ships they had ever seen or heard of. They seemed to be of no color
and of every color. They were streaked and splotched in the most
curious way. They looked as though some giant hand had flung eggs of
different colors against their sides.

The boys looked at one another in astonishment. "Well, what in the
mischief ails those boats?" demanded Roy.

They were silent a moment, becoming more amazed than ever.

"I know," cried Willie suddenly. "They're camouflaged. They must be
transports." He turned his head for a glance at the house. "Quick!"
he said. "There's the man at the window again."

For some minutes the figure before them stood motionless except for the
movement of his field-glasses, with which he swept the oncoming fleet
of transports. Then he drew back from the window again. The boys kept
their eyes fastened on the little house. For a long time nothing
occurred. Then a grocer's boy came in sight, struggling up t