ions of the compass.

"I'll bet we'll get some of those over here!" exclaimed Gif Garrison,
who was clinging to the running board of the machine.

And he was right. Only a few seconds later several small bits of metal
came down around them, two striking the hood of the automobile and one
falling into the tonneau on Ruth's lap.

It did not take those in the automobile long to cover the half mile
which lay between them and Haven Point, where the railroad station was
located. Here they found the town people in great excitement, and
learned that steps were already being taken to care for any of the
workmen who might be injured by the explosions.

"Of course we have no idea yet how many people have been killed or
wounded," declared a policeman who gave the cadets this information.
"We are all upset because we don't know how bad the explosions may
get. If they don't get any worse than they have been, we'll be
thankful."

The cadets and their girl friends did not remain long in Haven Point.
All were anxious to get to Clearwater Hall, to learn if that place was
much damaged. The girls' school was directly opposite the
shell-loading plant, and consequently more liable to suffer than the
town or Colby Hall.

"Look at them getting away from that place, will you?" cried Fred, who
had come as far as Haven Point on another automobile and then had
rejoined his cousins. He pointed to the lake, where a number of
rowboats and other craft were leaving the vicinity of the explosions.

"You can't blame them for wanting to get away," returned Jack. "It may
mean life or death to them."

"Oh, I hope nobody has been killed!" murmured Ruth.

"I'm afraid, Ruth, that's too much to expect," answered Jack soberly.

"Oh, I just think war is too horrible for anything!" cried out Alice
Strobell, who was along.

"I just wish they could sink all those Germans in their old
submarines!" declared Annie Larkins who was also in the crowd.

"I guess we'd all be willing to subscribe to that!" cried Randy.

"You just wait until Uncle Sam gets into this scrap," declared Jack.
"We'll show 'em what's what!"

"How I wish I could go to the front," said Andy wistfully. "It would
beat going to school all hollow."

"Now that we've gone into the war, we'll have an army over there
before long," said Spouter. "I suppose they'll send some of the
regulars over first, and then some of the national guard--of course
taken into the regular army--and after that