d the object up frequently and viewed
it, with the calculating eye of a "dead shot," until at last he was
satisfied with the length and "grip" of the handle and the symmetry and
trim of the prongs of a fork.

Bud was always very methodical in his youthful mechanics. Everything he
made must be "just so," hence the results were usually effective, as well
as artistic to a degree. In this instance, even the notches that he cut
around the extreme ends of the prongs were neatly grooved, in spite of
the limitation of the light in which he worked. The only regret he had
was the fact that he possessed no good strong cord, about the size of
fishline, with which to attach two separate sections of the rubber band
to the prongs at the grooves. As substitute for such cord he had provided
himself with some strands of the rope with which the hands of their
prisoner, "Captain" Howard, had been tied. After all the other details of
his mechanical labor had been completed, he took from one of his pockets
an old and inexpensive pouch-like pocketbook, emptied the contents into a
trouser pocket and proceeded to cut out a section of the pouch to a size
and shape suited to his needs. The rubber band he had cut into two equal
lengths and in the leather section from his pocketbook he cut two small
holes near opposite edges.

The assembling of the parts of his contrivance was now speedily
accomplished, resulting in a very neat hand-catapult of a kind with
which every boy is familiar. After testing the strength of the
connections by stretching the rubbers several times to thrice their
ordinary length, Bud looked about him and soon gathered a supply of
small stones suitable for missiles.

He was thus engaged when he first observed a movement in the shadow of
the thicket to the south of his position. Then, indeed, he congratulated
himself on the preparation he had just made to defend himself and his
companions against stealthy and hostile movements on the part of the
enemy about the camp under cover of the darkness.

Bud was not, by nature, a blood-thirsty boy. All of these preparations
for battle were made without the slightest thought of the actual effect
of one of his missiles should it hit his mark. His industry was inspired
more by the mechanical act than by any picture of human pain that might
result. Hence, when the time came for him to make use of his weapon "with
deadly intent," he found himself in a hesitant frame of mind. He knew
that