they had walked off.

For another hour the three American scouts tramped back and forth,
seeing all they possibly could in so short a time. The quaint Flemish
houses, with their many gables, and their red-tiled roofs, interested
them greatly. In some of the streets the buildings even seemed to lean
toward one another, and Tubby declared two men could almost shake hands
by stretching from the upper windows.

"Now we ought to see the burgomaster," said Rob, as the afternoon waned.
"You know you are carrying a letter to him, Merritt, from your
grandfather, who happens to be acquainted with him. And we count on
getting a guide through his influence who will take us along the roads
between here and Brussels."

"Even if a guide is not to be found, because nearly all the men are
enlisted in the army," Merritt replied, "we've made up our minds not to
hold back. Fellows who have had as much experience in running the
gauntlet as the scouts of the Eagle Patrol can point to, needn't worry
about how they're going to get along."

"Leave that to us," said Tubby, rather pompously; "and we'll land on our
feet all right, just as a cat does if you drop it out of the
second-story window."

After considerable difficulty, the boys were admitted to an audience
with the mayor or burgomaster of Antwerp in his official chambers.
Fortunately, he spoke English, so they expected to meet with little
difficulty in acquainting him with the nature of their mission to
Belgium at a time when nearly all other Americans were only too well
pleased to get away from the land of strife and warfare.

The burgomaster looked surprised and even anxious when he heard that
they desired an official paper from him, requesting all Belgians to
assist them in their search for one Steven Meredith, who was believed to
be located in a town not many miles to the west of the capital.

"I would do much for my old friend, Monsieur Charles Crawford, for whom
I have long entertained a sincere affection," he told Merritt, after he
had read the letter presented to him, and questioned the boys at length,
"but it is a most serious undertaking you have in view. I question the
wisdom of my encouraging such a dangerous trip."

Rob, seeing that the good burgomaster appeared to be hesitating, and as
Tubby expressed it, "on the fence," started in to talk. Rob had a very
persuasive way about him, as his chums knew from past experiences. They
guessed how it would all turn out as s