"Wait until papa comes back."
Mr. Bobbsey, with his brother and the two boys, soon reached the top
of the hill. All the while the sound like thunder was growing louder.
Then puffs of smoke could be seen rising in the air.
"What can it be?" asked Bert.
"I can't imagine," answered Harry.
They saw, in another minute, what it was.
Down in a valley below them was a crowd of soldiers, with cannon and
guns, firing at one another. The soldiers were divided into two
parties. First one party would run forward, and then the other, both
sides firing as fast as they could.
"It's a war!" cried Bert. "It's a battle!"
"It's only a sham battle!" said Mr. Bobbsey. "No one is being hurt,
for they are using blank cartridges. It must be that the soldiers are
practicing so as to know how to fight if a real war comes. It is only
a sham battle."
The cannons roared, the rifles rattled and flashes of fire and puffs
of smoke were on all sides.
"Oh, look at the horses--the cavalry!" cried Harry, as a company of
men, mounted on horses, galloped toward some of the soldiers, who
turned their rifles on them.
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