gone!




CHAPTER VIII


A FRIEND IN NEED


"As long as I can't be at home, I'd rather be here than anywhere
in the world I can think of!"

Was it little more than a week, thought Harry Fleming, since he
had uttered those words so lightly? Was it just a week since
Grenfel, his English scoutmaster, had bidden the boys of his troop
goodbye? Was it just two days since father and mother had been so
suddenly recalled to the States? Was it just that very morning
that he and his good chum Dick Mercer had been detailed on this
mission which had led to the discovery of the secret heliographs
so busily sending messages to the enemy across the North Sea? Was
it just a few hours since the two Scouts, hot on the trail, had
cached papers and motorcycles and started the closer exploration
of that mysterious estate outside the sleepy English village,
leased, so the village gossip had it, by a rich American who
eccentrically denied himself to all comers and zealously guarded
the privacy of his grounds?

Was it just a few moments since he had urged, even commanded, Dick