ting hot here!"

It certainly was! The fire was gaining rapidly, and, every now and
then, with a shift in the wind, the hot, choking gases from the
flames, together with rolling clouds of smoke, would be blown into the
rude chamber where the boys were imprisoned.

When the smoke-clouds blew away the Khaki Boys could look out and see
their rescuer, still hunting frantically about for some object to use
as a lever. In spite of the danger of their situation they could not
help observing the man. He was tall, and well formed, and unmistakably
a military character. He appeared to be above the general type of
captain or lieutenant.

"If he's any less than a general I'll eat my gas mask!" Roger declared
afterward.

Clearly the man was born to command, or he had acquired that right in
some manner. There was an indefinable air of authority about him, even
though now he was hurrying about almost frantically, looking for some
weapon with which to attack the barrier that held the boys prisoners.

"That sure is a queer uniform he has on," remarked Jimmy, as he tried
in vain to move some of the beams from his side of the mass of timber
that had fallen when the mill was blown up. "It's mostly American, but
it has a British air about it."

"And his leather puttees look like some the Germans wear," added Bob.
"Maybe he's a war correspondent, and had to pick up bits of uniform
from all over."

"He isn't a war correspondent," declared Jimmy.

"What makes you so sure?" Roger wanted to know.

"Because, if he was, he'd have a brassard with a large letter 'C'
on it, around his arm," went on Jimmy. "And he wouldn't have a big
automatic revolver strapped to his hip, either. The correspondents
are classed as non-combatants, and aren't allowed to go armed."

"That's right," chimed in Franz. "But who is he!"

It seemed useless to speculate then, and, indeed, the boys were in
little mood for it. The precariousness of their position was alarming.
And while I have detailed the conversation among them, you are to
understand that it all took place very quickly. In fact from the time
they first observed the strange rescuer, until they had talked about
his odd uniform, was only about half a minute.

Suddenly the man--officer let us call him--who was scurrying about
just beyond the jagged barrier, uttered a cry of satisfaction. He
hurried out of the boys' vision for a moment, but lest they have
any fear that he had deserted them and left th