"Oh, I guess they were a couple of lumbermen," remarked the corporal, in an offhand way. "They occasionally come here, I suppose, to get a stick of timber." And not thinking it of any importance, he dismissed the matter from his mind.
It was not until after the morning drill that Randy got a chance to speak to his brother and his cousins, telling them of the encounter with Werner.
"I supposed he would try to get square!" cried Jack. "I"m mighty glad he didn"t get away with it."
Then Randy told of hearing the strange clanking noises and also the sounds of chains rattling and of some big blower in motion.
"That"s certainly curious," remarked Jack. "From what Captain Dale said, I thought these woods had no one in them. In fact, I supposed they belonged to the government and were a part of the Camp Huxwell reservation, and that all outsiders were to be kept out."
"I thought the blowing sound might be an aeroplane"s propellers," went on Randy. "I was thinking a machine might have been disabled and come down, and the fellows on board might be trying to make repairs."
"They couldn"t come down safely between those trees and on those rocks," cried Andy. "They"d break their necks!"
"Well, I certainly heard something, and I saw two men."
"Say, did those two fellows look anything like the two Germans Jed Kessler spoke about?" queried Randy"s twin quickly.
"I don"t know about that. I only got a glance at "em, and they were a long way off. All I know is that they were dressed in very dark clothing and wore dark slouch hats."
"I think it might be a good thing to mention this to Captain Dale,"
said Jack thoughtfully. "The authorities are very anxious to get on the track of those two men who were seen around the ammunition plant.
It won"t do any harm to have this matter investigated." And then he and his cousin sought out the old West Pointer for that purpose.
Captain Dale listened attentively, and nodded his head several times while Randy was speaking.
"You are right, Captain Rover," he said to Jack. "And I"m glad that you brought your cousin here to tell me this. I"ll go over to town this morning and report to the authorities. Of course there may be nothing in it, but as you remarked, it is a clue that should not be overlooked. Those two men with the wagon load of stuff certainly disappeared somewhere in this vicinity, and I know the forest is supposed to be a part of the government reservation, and no strangers would be permitted to go into it and cut down any trees. More than that, the strange sounds heard by your cousin Randy make it look as if something unusual was being done there."
"Would there be any objection to our going into the woods and taking a look around?" questioned Randy.
"Not the least, Rover. But I think you had better go slow, because if those men we are looking for are really there, and they know the authorities are after them--well, that may make them very desperate, and you may get into serious trouble."
"Oh, I guess we could take care of ourselves," answered Randy quickly.
"Of course, Jack and I wouldn"t go alone. We would take quite a bunch with us. There is generally safety in numbers, you know," and he grinned.
"All right, you may go if you want to. Only take good care of yourselves."
So the matter was arranged, and in less than half an hour later the four Rovers, accompanied by Spouter, Gif, and Walt Baxter, set off into the forest.
CHAPTER XXII
AT THE RIFLE RANGES
It did not take the cadets long to reach the place where Randy said he had noticed the two strangers. Here, to the surprise of the Rovers and their chums, they discovered a faint trail leading north and south through the forest.
"The men must have been following this footpath," remarked Fred. "Now then, Randy, which way were they headed?"
"They were headed north," was the reply.
They found that following the footpath was by no means easy. It led in and out among big trees and around various clumps of bushes, and more than once they found themselves in a hollow where going was exceedingly treacherous. Then in spots they had to climb over the rough rocks.
"h.e.l.lo, here is something!" cried Jack presently. "Now, what in the world is it?" he went on, as he held up an object he had picked from between two of the rocks.
It was a curiously-shaped bar of steel, about a foot and a half long, round at one end and flattened at the other, with several square holes punched through the latter end.
"Looks like a piece of machinery of some kind," said Spouter, after the thing had been pa.s.sed around for examination. "You know, Randy, you may be right, after all, and that may be a piece from an aeroplane," he added, looking the bar over critically.
Carrying the bar of steel, Jack continued along the footpath, followed by the others, and a few minutes later emerged on a much larger trail.
Here were the marks of wagon tracks, and also horses" hoofs.
"h.e.l.lo, this proves that a wagon came this way!" cried Fred.
"Maybe it was the one those Germans were riding in," added Andy.
"Oh, I wouldn"t want to say that," returned Jack. "This may be a regular thoroughfare through this corner of the forest."
They followed the wagon tracks, and soon found that the road, came to an end among some rocks overlooking Barlight Bay. Then they came back and walked in the other direction, and presently emerged on the highway along which they had marched on their way to the camp.
"That ends it, as far as following this trail is concerned," said Jack. "Those men could go to almost anywhere from here."
The cadets looked around for a while, and then went back to the spot where Randy had seen the men early in the morning. They looked for footprints, but were not successful in finding any they could follow for a distance.
"Gee, I"m getting tired!" said Randy, with a yawn. "Please remember I did not get much sleep last night."
"Yes, and I"m getting hungry," added his twin. "I think we"d better go back to camp."
The others thought so, too, and a few minutes later all set off. As before, the young captain took the lead, and he and Randy lost no time in visiting the tent occupied by Captain Dale.
"Well, this certainly is a find," declared the old West Pointer, looking the steel bar over critically. "I agree that it belongs to some sort of machine, although what, I haven"t the least idea. If any of the authorities come here I"ll let them look it over."
Several days, including Sunday, pa.s.sed without anything new developing. Several of the local authorities had appeared, and also a Secret Service man from Camp Huxwell. All listened closely to what Captain Dale and the Rovers had to tell, and examined the steel bar critically. Then they went off, and that, for the time being, was all those at Camp Barlight heard of them.
"Hurrah! the girls are coming soon, and then maybe we"ll get a chance to run over to Camp Huxwell," cried Fred, one day after the mail had been brought in.
"They say they will be over late in the week," said Jack. He looked at his cousins. "We"ll have to lay plans to treat them royally."
The young cadets had continued their drills and also their bayonet and other exercises. Now it was announced that target practice would start the following morning and continue until all of the cadets had proved what they could do in hitting the mark.
"Well, Fred, here is your chance to show what you can do!" cried Andy, after this announcement had been made. "You were the high man in our family last term." He remembered that out of a possible score of 25 Fred had netted 19, while Jack had received 18, Randy 12, and himself but 10.
"Please don"t forget that I"ve got Lewis Barrow to shoot against,"
answered Fred. Lewis Barrow had been the high man on the previous occasion, with a score of 20.
There were three targets to be shot at--one at short range, one at medium, and one at long range. It would be possible to score 20 points at each target, making a total of 60 points for each cadet.