"You forget, Jimmie, they shoot the bullets with the cotton!"
"Go on, now, you're trying to complete my education!"
"Fact," asserted Ned. "You see, cotton is used largely in manufacturing high explosives. If all the cotton supply were exhausted there could be no powder or other such explosive made, I understand!"
"What else do they use for making powder?"
"Well, they use a lot of nitrogen and so on. I don't know all the ingredients. Each country has a formula of its own."
"Believe me," announced Jimmie forcefully, "when I get back I'm going to read up on that subject in the encyclopedia!"
"When we get back with this traitor," announced Harry, "we'll all have money enough from the reward so we can go through college!"
"Hurray! When we get back! Shall we decide which college we'll honor, or shall we leave that for later consideration?"
"Better wait," advised Ned. "No knowing what might happen!"
How true his words were to prove! Could the boys have anticipated the many incidents that were to occur and the dangers which confronted them, perhaps their hearts would not have been so light. However, care and gloomy forebodings had no place in their healthy young minds and they discussed the future only with thoughts of success.