THE HOUSE OF THE HELIOGRAPH
"You know your way about London?" he asked.
"Yes, sir," said Harry.
"I shall have messages for you to carry," said the colonel, then. "Now I want to explain, so that you will understand the importance of this, why you are going to be allowed to do this work. This war has come suddenly—but we are sure that the enemy has expected it for a long time, and has made plans accordingly.
"There are certain matters so important, so secret, that we are afraid to trust them to the telephone, the telegraph—even the post, if that were quick enough! In a short time we shall have weeded out all the spies. Until then we have to exercise the greatest care. And it has been decided to accept the offer of Boy Scouts because the spies we feel we must guard against are less likely to suspect boys than men. I am going to give you some dispatches now—what they are is a secret. You take them to Major French, at Waterloo station."
He stopped, apparently expecting them to speak. But neither said anything.
"No questions?" he asked, sternly.
"No—no, sir," said Dick. "We're to take the dispatches to Major French, at Waterloo? That's all, is it, sir? And then to come back here?"
The colonel nodded approvingly.
"Yes, that's all," he said. "Except for this, Waterloo station is closed to all civilians. You will require a word to pass the sentries. No matter what you see, once you are inside, you are not to describe it. You are to tell no one, not even your parents, what you do or what you see. That is all," and he nodded in dismissal.