that was where they felt
the enemy was most likely to appear.

"Sleepy, Pete?" asked Jack, when they had been at it nearly an hour.

"I would be, I think, if I wasn't walking around, Jack. That's fine,
though. It helps to keep me awake."

"Same here! I've heard of being so tired that you can go to sleep
standing up, or even when you're walking about, but it doesn't seem
possible to me."

For a long time they kept up the patrol. All sorts of strange noises
startled them, but, with their training as Boy Scouts, which had
accustomed them to the night noises of the woods, and to keeping their
heads, they did not give the alarm. At last, however, after Jack had
met Pete and passed on, he heard the sound of a crow's call.

Gently and silently he slipped back. As he came near the spur he saw
two dark figures climbing over the wall. And a moment later Pete,
moving with the stealth of an Indian, touched his hand.

"I guess they're here, Jack," he whispered, tense with excitement and
delighted that the long vigil was over at last.

Big Ed Willis was easy to recognize. The other man was a stranger to
them, and, since both wore handkerchiefs over the upper part of their
faces, it was impossible to tell what he looked like.

The strikers, full of their murderous intention, moved quietly and
cautiously along toward the car, which stood by itself. It was on a
sharp grade, but a billet of wood held it in place. The two Scouts,
hardly daring to breathe, lest they be heard, followed the men not more
than twenty paces behind them. They wore moccasins instead of their
stout Scout shoes, so that their movements were without noise, and they
could see and hear everything the two men did.

"We'll both have to get in the car," they heard Big Ed whisper. "The
stuff's heavy, and we want to fix the fuses in there, so that we'll
have less time to spend out in the open, where someone might see us."

"Right!" said the other man. "Come on, then!"

"As soon as they get inside, Pete," whispered Jack, now, with a little
thrill of exultation at the way the strikers were walking into the trap
set for them, "kick that bit of wood that holds the car out of the way.
I don't believe it will start moving right away. Then rush around and
help me with the door, if I need you."

"All right, Jack! Be ready to slam it shut as soon as you hear me
coming, will you?"

In a moment, as Jack crouched outside the door, with the heavy hasp in