t bore Frank back in triumph to his old
quarters. There the rest of the boys flocked about him in welcome and
jubilee.

"Not a word, fellows," protested Frank laughingly, "until I get these
rags off of me. It's the first time I ever wore a German uniform and I
hope it will be the last. I feel as if I needed to be fumigated before
I'm fit to talk to decent fellows again."

It was a long time before the hubbub quieted down, and he had to tell
his story again and again before the other soldiers left him alone with
his own particular chums.

"Where's Tom?" asked Frank. "Our bunch doesn't seem complete without
him. On special duty somewhere, I suppose?"

Bart and Billy looked at each other with misery in their eyes.

"What's the matter?" asked Frank in quick alarm, as he intercepted the
glance. "Great Scott!" he added, springing to his feet. "You don't
mean to say that anything's happened to him?"

Bart shook his head soberly.

"We don't know," he answered. "The last any of the boys saw of him he
was hacking right and left in a crowd of the boches. But he didn't
come back with the rest of us."

"You don't mean to say he's dead?" cried Frank. "You're not stalling
to let me down easy?"

"Not that," protested Billy quickly. "Honor bright, Frank. The burial
parties haven't come across him at last reports, and he hasn't been
picked up as wounded. That's all we know. The chances are that he's
been taken prisoner."

"Prisoner!" repeated Frank in blank despair. "Tom a prisoner of the
Huns! Heaven help him!"

CHAPTER IV

CAPTURED OR DEAD?

There was very little sleep for the three Army Boys that night, in
spite of the exhausting labors of the day. They rolled and tossed
restlessly in their bunks, tortured by conjectures as to the fate of
their missing comrade.

Good old Tom! He had been so close to all of them, loyal to his
heart's core, brave as a lion, ready to stand by them to his last
breath. He had been beside them in many a tight scrape and had always
held up his end. It seemed as though part of themselves had been torn
from them.

Still, while there was life there was hope, and they drew some comfort
from the fact that he had not yet been found among the dead. If he
were a prisoner he might escape. They had all been in a German prison
camp before and had gotten away. Perhaps Tom might have the same luck
again.

They fell asleep at last, but the thought clung to them and assum