"I cannot understand the meaning of the circles, and of the numbers which appear attached to them, namely, 300, 60 and 200. It is possible they may be there as a mere blind," he said.
"Captain, isn't it possible that it may be a bench erected by the French surveyors previous to the war?" asked an officer.
"It is not at all likely," replied the captain. "In the first place, the marking is not such as the French surveyors use; and, in the second place, the arrows are meant to show a point which would be of no value to a topographical survey except for finding certain distant objects."
"Then what do the figures attached to the arrows mean?" asked an officer.
"The apex figures are kilometers, and those on the bodies of the arrows represent meters," answered the captain.
"Well, the one with the 5 at the end does seem to point to the hill we have been shelling for the past week," said an officer.
"Put up the instrument and get the exact angle," said the captain.
This was done. The boys' experiments were confirmed.
"It is just two and a half degrees north of the peak of the hill," said the officer, looking through the instrument.
"And it is 5 kilometers, 52 centimeters distant, and a little over, as the plus mark indicates," said the captain.