me in the general's eyes.

"Very well," he said. "I'm proud to be your commander."

Orders were hurriedly given, explosive bullets were furnished; and a
few minutes later a small boat carrying the three Army Boys shot out
from the shore.

The dusk had thickened now, and Bart and Billy, who were rowing, hugged
the bridge as closely as they could, so as to profit by its shadow.

None of this bombardment had been directed at them as yet, because
their little boat had not been seen. But when they were forced to move
a little way from the shadow of the bridge, so that Frank could get the
proper angle from which to fire, they were detected, and a perfect
tempest of fire opened up not only from the batteries on the further
shore, but from the soldiers who were on the bridge.

Frank knew exactly where the powder charges had been located. His
rifle was loaded and he had sufficient confidence in his marksmanship
to believe that only one shot would be needed.

All he dreaded was that a bullet might strike him before he had done
his work. After that it did not so much matter. He knew that he had
taken his life in his hand and he had already counted it as lost.

Bart and Billy were rowing like fiends. At last they reached the point
that Frank had indicated. He peered through the dusk and could see the
outlines of the mine.

The bridge now was black with Germans. They had covered two-thirds of
the distance over it, and they were packed so closely, crowding on each
other's heels, that the rails of the bridge bulged outward with the
pressure.

Frank raised his rifle to his shoulder, took steady aim and fired.

There was a hideous roar, and then the shattered timbers of the bridge
went hurtling toward the sky. Hundreds of bodies were mingled with the
debris, and the water surged up in great waves as the mass fell back
into the river.

Where the bridge had been there was a yawning gap of two hundred feet.
At either end there was a remnant of the bridge still standing, and on
these the survivors were rushing frenziedly toward the land before the
remaining timbers should give way.

Those Germans who were left on the American side, severed from the help
of their comrades, were surrounded and disarmed as soon as they reached
the shore. The attempt at capture had ended in a terrible disaster to
the German forces.

The instant Frank fired. Billy and Bart plunged their oars in the
water and started rowing with all the