[CHAPTER XIII]
A FORWARD RUSH
"There's a lot more to this than any of us suspect, I guess," said Gerald Twinkleton, with a grave shake of his head. "Of course when Jack and I saw those men sending up smoke signals we didn't dream, at first, that anything was wrong. But when we noticed the two civilians with them we guessed there must be some queer deal on, and we decided to report matters. Then we learned that this wasn't the first time those signals had gone up, and each time, after they had shot up into the air, there was an enemy attack."
"Bad business," commented Jimmy.
"But if those fellows are spies, including the two in uniform, where would they get one of our smoke-making machines?" asked Bob.
"The signal corps has a number of them," explained Jimmy. "One might easily be stolen, together with the chemicals needed."
"The signal corps!" cried Roger. "And those Bixtons—who are off the same piece of goods as Mike, back at Camp Sterling—those Bixtons are in the signal corps!"
"That's what makes me say there's more to this than appears on the surface," commented Gerald. "Now let's hear again what it was you saw in the dugout, Jimmy boy."
Thereupon Jimmy related what they had seen as they were making their escape after the collapse of the shelter where they had been resting.
"Would you say for sure that the two you saw in uniform in the dugout were the two Bixtons you afterward noticed in the signal corps?" asked Jack of Jimmy.