rush, his old
clothes had some fresh tears, and his hands were cut and bleeding.

For three solid hours he had worked his way up through the tangled
forest, and now, as he reached the little trail which was not without
its own obstacles, it seemed almost like a paved thoroughfare by
contrast.

"Thank goodness!" he breathed. "It's good _he_ didn't have to go that
way--I--could see _his_ finish!"

He was the scout now, the typical scout--determined, resourceful; and
his tattered khaki jacket, his slouched hat, his rolled-up sleeves, and
the belt axe which he carried in his hand, bespoke the rugged power and
strong will of this young fellow who had trembled when Miss Margaret
Ellison spoke pleasantly to him.

He sat down on a rock and poured some antiseptic over the scratches on
his hands and arms.

"I can fight the woods, all right," he muttered, "even if they won't let
me go off and fight the Germans."

After a few minutes' rest he hurried along the trail, pausing here and
there and searching for any trifling sign which might indicate that the
path had been recently traveled. Once his hopes of finding Roscoe were
dashed by the discovery of a cobweb across the trail, but when he felt
of it and found it sticky to the touch he knew that it had just been
made.

At last, hard though the ground was, he discovered a new footprint, and
presently its meaning was confirmed when he caught a glint of light far
ahead of him among the trees.

At the sight of it his heart gave a great bound. He knew now for a
certainty that he was right. He had known it all along, but he was
doubly assured of it now.

On the impulse he started to run, but his foot slipped upon an exposed
root, and as he fell sprawling on the ground his head struck with a
violent impact on a big stone.

After a few stunned seconds he dragged himself to a sitting posture; his
head throbbed cruelly, and when he put his hand to his forehead he found
that it was bleeding. He tried to stand, but when he placed his weight
upon his left foot it gave him excruciating pain.

He sat down on the rock, dizzy and faint, holding his throbbing head and
lifting his foot to ease, if possible, the agonizing pain.

"I'm all right," he muttered impatiently. "I was a fool to start
running; I might have known I was too tired."

That was indeed the plain truth of the matter; he was so weary and spent
that when, in the new assurance of success, he had begun to run, his
tired