CHAPTER XI
AN INTENTIONAL BLUNDER
"You're wanted for duty again, Jack," said Captain Durland, when hereturned from the council of war in General Harkness's tent.
"I'm all ready, sir," said Jack. "Gee, I think I've had it easy, ridingaround in an automobile, when all the rest of the fellows were scoutingon foot."
"You'll make up for it, if you have been having it any easier," said theScout-Master, with a smile. "This job that you've got on your hands nowmeans a whole lot of work. You're to go to Fessenden Junction first, andmake a detail map of the tracks about the depot there. I don't know justwhy it's wanted, or why it wasn't done before, but that's none of ourbusiness. Then when that's done, you're to bring it back here. Afterthat I guess you'll have plenty more to do. But I won't tell you aboutthe rest of it until you've finished that."
"Am I to go alone?" asked Jack.
"No. I want it done as quickly as possible, so you'd better take PeterStubbs and Tom Binns along with you. Divide the work up and it won'ttake you very long. That's the easy part of it."
The Boy Scouts had studied map-making from a practical, working point ofview, and it was no sort of a job for the three of them to make therequired map.
"I see why they need this map, all right," said Jack. "There are a wholelot of new tracks in here, and the whole yard has been changed aroundwithin the last few weeks. That explains it. The old maps wouldn't be ofmuch use for anyone who was depending on them for quick understanding ofthe railroad situation here."
"Now," said Durland, when they returned, "I've got the most difficulttask that's been assigned to you yet, Jack. You've got only about onechance in a thousand of succeeding in it, but it's my own plan, and I'llbe very pleased and proud if you do accomplish it. I want two of you totake the car, get inside the enemy's lines, with or without the car, asfar as you can, and then get yourselves taken prisoners. What we want isfor you to be near enough to General Bliss's headquarters to get somesort of an inkling of the nature of the attack that will be made.
"There is a dangerous weakness of the position here, which could hardlyhave been foreseen when the campaign was laid out in advance. That is,anyone getting control of Tryon Creek, which is practically dry in thesummer, is in a position to dominate one side of the prospectivebattlefield. There are two lines of attack open to General Bliss. If hechooses Tryon Creek we must keep him from occupying it at all costs. Todo that we would have to uncover the other side--the road from Mardean."
"I'm to try to find out which line of attack they will follow, then,sir? Is that it?" asked Jack.
"Yes. We must know before the actual attack begins, or it will be toolate. Now I want you to understand my plan. I haven't thought of thedetails, because they will depend absolutely on conditions as you mayfind them to be. But here is the outline. Three of you will take thecar. You, Jack, and one other Scout will leave that, when there is nolonger a chance of continuing to use it, and proceed on foot until youare well within the enemy's lines. Then you will manage to get captured,while seeming to make an effort to escape."
"Are we to give our parole then, sir?"
"On no account! But pretend to be frightened and discouraged. That islegitimate. You mustn't give your word not to attempt to escape, becausethat is an essential part of the plan. I have an idea that they will notkeep a very close watch on you, and that you will find it quite possibleto make a dash for liberty after dark. But before you do that you musttry to discover where the attack is to be made, by keeping your earsopen and your eyes as well, for possible movements of guns. Then you cantry to get away, rejoin the automobile, and get back to our lines. Doyou understand?"
"Yes, sir, I do! I think Pete Stubbs would be a good one to go with me,with Tom Binns to look after the car, because he knows how to drive it.Then if Pete and I couldn't both get away, one of us ought to be able tomanage it, I should think, anyhow."
"That's the reason for sending two of you, of course," said Durland."It's an outside chance, but you've done things almost as difficult.Remember that you must exercise the utmost caution. In time of realwarfare no enterprise could be more dangerous, and the mere fact thatthere is no actual danger involved now is no reason for you to growcareless, though I need hardly give you such a warning."
"I'll do my best, sir," said Jack, enthusiastically. "It would certainlybe a great joke on them if we could work it."
"Well, do the best you can. I don't want you to think that I reallyexpect you to succeed. I think the chances are desperate. But, even ifyou cannot escape, there will be no difficulty about exchanging you, forwe have a great many of their prisoners, including a number of officers,and they will be very glad to get them back. Otherwise I am sure GeneralHarkness would never have consented to let you make the effort."
"If this were real war, and they saw us trying to escape, they wouldfire at us, wouldn't they?" asked Jack. "What I want to know is whetherwe're assumed to be shot, and have to stop if they see us and get ashot?"
"Yes, at any range less than a hundred yards. Above that range aprisoner escaping is supposed to have a good chance to get away. He hasto stop, but need not show himself, and unless he is found he can resumehis attempts to escape."
Then Durland explained briefly to Pete Stubbs and Tom Binns the partsthey were assigned to play in this newest development of the war game,and, thrilling with excitement, they took their seats with Jack in thegrey scout car.
"It won't be dark for a couple of hours yet," said Jack. "I think that'sa good thing because we couldn't get very far in the enemy's lines withthis car in daylight. So I'm going to take a long circle again and comedown on them from behind. I'm not sure of where General Bliss's quartersare, but I should think they were probably pretty near Newville. If wecome down the Newville pike from the direction of Smithville, it will besafe enough. Their watch will be closer in this direction, and by goingaround for about fifty miles we can manage that easily enough."
"Gee, you talk about driving a car fifty miles the way I would aboutgetting on the trolley car at home," said Pete, admiringly.
"If you can drive at all, it isn't much harder, if you've got the time,to drive fifty miles than it is to drive five," said Jack. "And thistime it's a lot safer. It's certainly one time when the longest wayaround is the shortest cut. We don't want to be caught until about teno'clock, Pete. You understand that."
They roared through Smithville as it began to get dark, and then downthe Newville pike. Jack slowed down when he was sure that he had plentyof margin in time, and through the growing dusk they saw the campfiresof the Blue army springing up in all directions before them.
"Gee, there must be an awful lot of them," said Pete. "This is theclosest I've been to them since we got started. You know, it makes mefeel kind of shivery, even though I know that they won't do anything tous when they do catch us, Jack."
"That just shows that you really get into the spirit of it," said Jack,laughing happily. "If we remembered all the time that this was only agame, we wouldn't be doing things the right way at all. If you feel alittle scary, and something like the way you'd feel if it was a realenemy in front of us, it'll only make you a bit more careful, and that'sjust what we want. We want them to think, when they catch us, that we'resurprised and scared, and if we can make ourselves feel that way, somuch the better. It's much easier to make other people believe a thingif you half believe it yourself, even if you know down at the bottom ofyour heart it isn't so at all."
A few rods farther on Jack swerved the car into a field.
"Here's a good place to stop, I guess," said Jack. "It's pretty quiethere, and we'll get along, Pete, and find out as much as we can beforewe let them catch us. You'll be all right here, Tom. Turn the car aroundand keep it right here, no matter what happens. If there seems to be achance of your being caught, leave the car, but keep the spark plug inyour pocket. Then they'll find it impossible to do much with it. It'stoo heavy to do much pushing, and I don't believe you're likely to beseen, anyhow, under
the hedge here. We may have to make a mighty quickrun for it if we get back here at all."
"Suppose you don't get away, Jack? Shall I wait here?"
"Wait until daylight, no longer. Not quite daylight, either. Let'ssee--figure to the sunrise, and wait till half an hour before that. Andif you do have to go back alone, don't take any chances at all on beingcaught. Make even a wider circle than we did coming here, and don't gonear Mardean. The car is a good deal more important than any of us. Anddon't forget, if you do have to leave the car and take to the woods, totake the spark plug with you. Do that, even if you just get out to get adrink at a well, or anything like that. Remember that we're right in theheart of the enemy's country, and you can't tell what minute you'relikely to be attacked."
"All right, Jack. I don't believe they'll see me here, either. But I'lldo the best I can if they do, and I'll be here, unless they pick me upand carry me away."
"That's the right spirit, Tom! I think you've got the hardest part ofall. Pete and I've got something to do, and something pretty exciting,too. But you've just got to wait here in the dark for something tohappen."
"Don't let it get on your nerves, Tom," said Pete. "It's hard work, butkeep your nerve, and you'll be all right. Coming, Jack? So long, Tom!"
"So long, Pete and Jack! Good luck! I hope you'll get away from them allright--and get what you're after, too."
It was almost pitch dark by this time. The moon would not rise untilvery late, and the night had the peculiar blackness that sometimes comesbefore the moon appears. The country was thickly wooded here, whichworked to the advantage of Jack and his companion. Most of the countryin which Jack had been operating so far had been fairly open, whichwould have increased the difficulty of their task very much if the sceneof operations had not been shifted eastward by the action near Newvillethat morning.
"How far are we from their headquarters now, Jack?" asked Pete.
"About a mile and a half, I think, Pete. I can't be sure, of course, butI think that's a pretty good guess. I could have run the car a littlenearer and probably still been safe, but I didn't want to take chances.If we lose the car we can't get it back. If we're captured, why, theycan get someone else to run the car, but we wouldn't be any good if welost the machine."
"We'll want to be pretty careful, though, as we go along, Jack."
"Sure we will! But it won't be any harder than scouting the way we'velearned to do, Pete. These people aren't looking for us, and we've donea lot of scouting when other fellows who were on the lookout for us knewjust about where we were."
The lay of the land favored the two Scouts decidedly as they made theirway onward. They were able to progress through the woods, but they didnot have to go so deep into them that they could not observe, as theymoved along, the situation in the open country that marched with thewoods. In these fields they saw the twinkling of numerous fires, andthey judged that the enemy was thick alongside, so to speak.
"They ought to watch these woods better than they do," whispered Jack."Gee, I can see how their whole camp is laid out! That's one thingthey're weak in--and it shows how important it is. They have finestrategy, but they're weak on details, like guarding their camp. If theydon't watch these woods better when we start to make our get-away, we'llhave it pretty easy."
"That looks like headquarters, Jack. See, over there?"
"You're right, Pete. And I'll bet they're planning to move beforedaylight, too. That's why 'Lights out!' was sounded so early. That wasthe call we heard about three quarters of an hour ago."
A light still showed in one of two big, adjoining tents, however, andthe sound of voices came distinctly from it.
Jack waited until they were abreast of the tent.
"This will be a good place, Pete," he said. "There'll be a guard there.We want to pretend to make a run for it. Come on, now--make a littlenoise!"
Pete obeyed. The next moment the sharp challenge of a sentry rang out,and a shot followed. Jack and Pete ran, as if frightened and confused,right out into the midst of the sleeping men, and a moment later theywere the prisoners of a group of laughing militiamen.