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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/15760-8.txt b/15760-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..73d8807 --- /dev/null +++ b/15760-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9950 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Forest of Swords, by Joseph A. Altsheler + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Forest of Swords + A Story of Paris and the Marne + +Author: Joseph A. Altsheler + +Release Date: May 3, 2005 [EBook #15760] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FOREST OF SWORDS *** + + + + +Produced by Kentuckiana Digital Library, David Garcia, Jon King and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net. + + + + + + + + + +THE FOREST OF SWORDS + + + + +BOOKS BY JOSEPH A. ALTSHELER + + +THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR SERIES + +The Hunters of the Hills The Shadow of the North +The Rulers of the Lakes The Masters of the Peaks +The Lords of the Wild The Sun of Quebec + + +THE YOUNG TRAILERS SERIES + +The Young Trailers The Free Rangers +The Forest Runners The Riflemen of the Ohio +The Keepers of the Trail The Scouts of the Valley +The Eyes of the Woods The Border Watch + + +THE TEXAN SERIES + +The Texan Star The Texan Triumph +The Texan Scouts + + +THE CIVIL WAR SERIES + +The Guns of Bull Run The Star of Gettysburg +The Guns of Shiloh The Rock of Chickamauga +The Scouts of Stonewall The Shades of the Wilderness +The Sword of Antietam The Tree of Appomattox + + +THE GREAT WEST SERIES + +The Lost Hunters The Great Sioux Trail + + +THE WORLD WAR SERIES + +The Guns of Europe The Hosts of the Air +The Forest of Swords + + +BOOKS NOT IN SERIES + +Apache Gold A Soldier of Manhattan +The Quest of the Four The Sun of Saratoga +The Last of the Chiefs A Herald of the West +In Circling Camps The Wilderness Road +The Last Rebel My Captive +The Candidate + + +D. APPLETON AND COMPANY + +New York London + + + + +[Illustration: "He heard a shock near him and, ... saw a huddled mass +of wreckage."] + + + + +WORLD WAR SERIES + + +THE FOREST +OF SWORDS + +A STORY OF PARIS +AND THE MARNE + + +BY + + +JOSEPH A. ALTSHELER + +AUTHOR OF "THE GUNS OF EUROPE," +"THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG," ETC. + + +D. APPLETON AND COMPANY +NEW YORK AND LONDON +1928 + +COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY +D. APPLETON AND COMPANY + +Printed in the United States of America + + + + +FOREWORD + +"The Forest of Swords," while an independent story, based upon the World +War, continues the fortunes of John Scott, Philip Lannes, and their +friends who have appeared already in "The Guns of Europe." As was stated +in the first volume, the author was in Austria and Germany for a month +after the war began, and then went to England. He saw the arrival of the +Emperor, Francis Joseph, in Vienna, the first striking event in the +gigantic struggle, and witnessed the mobilization of their armies by +three great nations. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER PAGE + + I. IN PARIS 1 + II. THE MESSAGE 30 + III. IN THE FRENCH CAMP 53 + IV. THE INVISIBLE HAND 76 + V. SEEN FROM ABOVE 99 + VI. IN HOSTILE HANDS 121 + VII. THE TWO PRINCES 146 +VIII. THE SPORT OF KINGS 167 + IX. THE PUZZLING SIGNAL 186 + X. OLD FRIENDS 209 + XI. THE CONTINUING BATTLE 231 + XII. JULIE LANNES 247 +XIII. THE MIDDLE AGES 268 + XIV. A PROMISE KEPT 291 + XV. THE RESCUE 311 + + + + +THE FOREST OF SWORDS + + + + +CHAPTER I + +IN PARIS + + +John Scott and Philip Lannes walked together down a great boulevard of +Paris. The young American's heart was filled with grief and anger. The +Frenchman felt the same grief, but mingled with it was a fierce, burning +passion, so deep and bitter that it took a much stronger word than anger +to describe it. + +Both had heard that morning the mutter of cannon on the horizon, and +they knew the German conquerors were advancing. They were always +advancing. Nothing had stopped them. The metal and masonry of the +defenses at Liège had crumbled before their huge guns like china +breaking under stone. The giant shells had scooped out the forts at +Maubeuge, Maubeuge the untakable, as if they had been mere eggshells, +and the mighty Teutonic host came on, almost without a check. + +John had read of the German march on Paris, nearly a half-century +before, how everything had been made complete by the genius of Bismarck +and von Moltke, how the ready had sprung upon and crushed the unready, +but the present swoop of the imperial eagle seemed far more vast and +terrible than the earlier rush could have been. + +A month and the legions were already before the City of Light. Men with +glasses could see from the top of the Eiffel Tower the gray ranks that +were to hem in devoted Paris once more, and the government had fled +already to Bordeaux. It seemed that everything was lost before the war +was fairly begun. The coming of the English army, far too small in +numbers, had availed nothing. It had been swept up with the others, +escaping from capture or destruction only by a hair, and was now driven +back with the French on the capital. + +John had witnessed two battles, and in neither had the Germans stopped +long. Disregarding their own losses they drove forward, immense, +overwhelming, triumphant. He felt yet their very physical weight, +pressing upon him, crushing him, giving him no time to breathe. The +German war machine was magnificent, invincible, and for the fourth time +in a century the Germans, the exulting Kaiser at their head, might enter +Paris. + +The Emperor himself might be nothing, mere sound and glitter, but back +of him was the greatest army that ever trod the planet, taught for half +a century to believe in the divine right of kings, and assured now that +might and right were the same. + +Every instinct in him revolted at the thought that Paris should be +trodden under foot once more by the conqueror. The great capital had +truly deserved its claim to be the city of light and leading, and if +Paris and France were lost the whole world would lose. He could never +forget the unpaid debt that his own America owed to France, and he felt +how closely interwoven the two republics were in their beliefs and +aspirations. + +"Why are you so silent?" asked Lannes, half angrily, although John knew +that the anger was not for him. + +"I've said as much as you have," he replied with an attempt at humor. + +"You notice the sunlight falling on it?" said Lannes, pointing to the +Arc de Triomphe, rising before them. + +"Yes, and I believe I know what you are thinking." + +"You are right. I wish he was here now." + +John gazed at the great arch which the sun was gilding with glory and he +shared with Lannes his wish that the mighty man who had built it to +commemorate his triumphs was back with France--for a while at least. He +was never able to make up his mind whether Napoleon was good or evil. +Perhaps he was a mixture of both, highly magnified, but now of all +times, with the German millions at the gates, he was needed most. + +"I think France could afford to take him back," he said, "and risk any +demands he might make or enforce." + +"John," said Lannes, "you've fought with us and suffered with us, and so +you're one of us. You understand what I felt this morning when on the +edge of Paris I heard the German guns. They say that we can fight on, +after our foes have taken the capital, and that the English will come in +greater force to help us. But if victorious Germans march once through +the Arc de Triomphe I shall feel that we can never again win back all +that we have lost." + +A note, low but deep and menacing, came from the far horizon. It might +be a German gun or it might be a French gun, but the effect was the +same. The threat was there. A shudder shook the frame of Lannes, but +John saw a sudden flame of sunlight shoot like a glittering lance from +the Arc de Triomphe. + +"A sign! a sign!" he exclaimed, his imaginative mind on fire in an +instant. "I saw a flash from the arch! It was the soul of the Great +Captain speaking! I tell you, Philip, the Republic is not yet lost! I've +read somewhere, and so have you, that the Romans sold at auction at a +high price the land on which Hannibal's victorious army was camped, when +it lay before Rome!" + +"It's so! And France has her glorious traditions, too! We won't give up +until we're beaten--and not then!" + +The gray eyes of Lannes flamed, and his figure seemed to swell. All the +wonderful French vitality was personified in him. He put his hand +affectionately upon the shoulder of his comrade. + +"It's odd, John," he said, "but you, a foreigner, have lighted the spark +anew in me." + +"Maybe it's because I _am_ a foreigner, though, in reality, I'm now no +foreigner at all, as you've just said. I've become one of you." + +"It's true, John, and I won't forget it. I'm never going to give up hope +again. Maybe somebody will arrive to save us at the last. Whatever the +great one, whose greatest monument stands there, may have been, he loved +France, and his spirit may descend upon Frenchmen." + +"I believe it. He had the strength and courage created by a republic, +and you have them again, the product of another republic. Look at the +flying men, Lannes!" + +Lannes glanced up where the aeroplanes hovered thick over Paris, and +toward the horizon where the invisible German host with its huge guns +was advancing. The look of despair came into his eyes again, but it +rested there only a moment. He remembered his new courage and banished +it. + +"Perhaps I ought to be in the sky myself with the others," he said, "but +I'd only see what I don't like to see. The _Arrow_ and I can't be of any +help now." + +"You brought me here in the _Arrow_, Lannes," said John, seeking to +assume a light tone. "Now what do you intend to do with me? As everybody +is leaving Paris you ought to get me out of it." + +"I hardly know what to do. There are no orders. I've lost touch with the +commander of our flying corps, but you're right in concluding that we +shouldn't remain in Paris. Now where are we to go?" + +"We'll make no mistake if we seek the battle front. You know I'm bound +to rejoin my company, the Strangers, if I can. I must report as soon as +possible to Captain Colton." + +"That's true, John, but I can't leave Paris until tomorrow. I may have +orders to carry, I must obtain supplies for the _Arrow_, and I wish to +visit once more my people on the other side of the Seine." + +"Suppose you go now, and I'll meet you this afternoon in the Place de +l'Opéra." + +"Good. Say three o'clock. The first to arrive will await the other +before the steps of the Opera House?" + +John nodded assent and Lannes hurried away. Young Scott followed his +figure with his eyes until it disappeared in the crowd. A back may be an +index to a man's strength of mind, and he saw that Lannes, head erect +and shoulders thrown back, was walking with a rapid and springy step. +Courage was obviously there. + +But John, despite his own strong heart, could not keep from feeling an +infinite sadness and pity, not for Lannes, but for all the three million +people who inhabited the City of Light, most of whom were fleeing now +before the advance of the victorious invader. He could put himself in +their place. France held his deepest sympathy. He felt that a great +nation, sedulously minding its own business, trampled upon and robbed +once before, was now about to be trampled upon and robbed again. He +could not subscribe to the doctrine, that might was right. + +He watched the fugitives a long time. They were crowding the railway +stations, and they were departing by motor, by cart and on foot. Many of +the poorer people, both men and women, carried packs on their backs. The +boulevards and the streets were filled with the retreating masses. + +It was an amazing and stupefying sight, the abandonment by its +inhabitants of a great city, a city in many ways the first in the world, +and it gave John a mighty shock. He had been there with his uncle and +Mr. Anson in the spring, and he had seen nothing but peace and +brightness. The sun had glittered then, as it glittered now over the Arc +de Triomphe, the gleaming dome of the Invalides and the golden waters of +the Seine. It was Paris, soft, beautiful and bright, the Paris that +wished no harm to anybody. + +But the people were going. He could see them going everywhere. The +cruel, ancient times when cities were destroyed or enslaved by the +conqueror had come back, and the great Paris that the world had known so +long might become lost forever. + +The stream of fugitives, rich and poor, mingled, poured on without +ceasing. He did not know where they were going. Most of them did not +know themselves. He saw a great motor, filled high with people and +goods, break down in the streets, and he watched them while they worked +desperately to restore the mechanism. And yet there was no panic. The +sound of voices was not high. The Republic was justifying itself once +more. Silent and somberly defiant, the inhabitants were leaving Paris +before the giant German guns could rain shells upon the unarmed. + +It was three or four hours until the time to meet Lannes, and drawn by +an overwhelming curiosity and anxiety he began the climb of the Butte +Montmartre. If observers on the Eiffel Tower could see the German forces +approaching, then with the powerful glasses he carried over his shoulder +he might discern them from the dome of the Basilica of the Sacred +Heart. + +As he made his way up the ascent through the crooked and narrow little +streets he saw many eyes, mostly black and quick, watching him. This by +night was old Paris, dark and dangerous, where the Apache dwelled, and +by day in a fleeing city, with none to restrain, he might be no less +ruthless. + +But John felt only friendliness for them all. He believed that common +danger would knit all Frenchmen together, and he nodded and smiled at +the watchers. More than one pretty Parisian, not of the upper classes, +smiled back at the American with the frank and open face. + +Before he reached the Basilica a little rat of a young man stepped +before him and asked: + +"Which way, Monsieur?" + +He was three or four years older than John, wearing uncommonly tight +fitting clothes of blue, a red cap with a tassel, and he was about five +feet four inches tall. But small as he was he seemed to be made of +steel, and he stood, poised on his little feet, ready to spring like a +leopard when he chose. + +The blue eyes of the tall American looked steadily into the black eyes +of the short Frenchman, and the black eyes looked back as steadily. John +was fast learning to read the hearts and minds of men through their +eyes, and what he saw in the dark depths pleased him. Here were cunning +and yet courage; impudence and yet truth; caprice and yet honor. Apache +or not, he decided to like him. + +"I'm going up into the lantern of the Basilica," he said, "to see if I +can see the Germans, who are my enemies as well as yours." + +"And will not Monsieur take me, too, and let me have look for look with +him through those glasses at the Germans, some of whom I'm going to +shoot?" + +John smiled. + +"If you're going out potting Germans," he said, "you'd better get +yourself into a uniform as soon as you can. They have no mercy on _franc +tireurs_." + +"I'll chance that. But you'll take me with you into the dome?" + +"What's your name?" + +"Pierre Louis Bougainville." + +"Bougainville! Bougainville! It sounds noble and also historical. I've +read of it, but I don't recall where." + +The little Frenchman drew himself up, and his black eyes glittered. + +"There is a legend among us that it was noble once," he said, "but we +don't know when. I feel within me the spirit to make it great again. +There was a time when the mighty Napoleon said that every soldier +carried a marshal's baton in his knapsack. Perhaps that time has come +again. And the great emperor was a little man like me." + +John began to laugh and then he stopped suddenly. Pierre Louis +Bougainville, so small and so insignificant, was not looking at him. He +was looking over and beyond him, dreaming perhaps of a glittering +future. The funny little red cap with the tassel might shelter a great +brain. Respect took the place of the wish to laugh. + +"Monsieur Bougainville," he said in his excellent French, "my name is +John Scott. I am from America, but I am serving in the allied +Franco-British army. My heart like yours beats for France." + +"Then, Monsieur Jean, you and I are brothers," said the little man, his +eyes still gleaming. "It may be that we shall fight side by side in the +hour of victory. But you will take me into the lantern will you not? +Father Pelletier does not know, as you do, that I'm going to be a great +man, and he will not admit me." + +"If I secure entrance you will, too. Come." + +They reached side by side the Basilique de Sacré-Coeur, which crowns the +summit of the Butte Montmartre, and bought tickets from the porter, +whose calm the proximity of untold Germans did not disturb. John saw the +little Apache make the sign of the cross and bear himself with dignity. +In some curious way Bougainville impressed him once more with a sense of +power. Perhaps there was a spark of genius under the red cap. He knew +from his reading that there was no rule about genius. It passed kings +by, and chose the child of a peasant in a hovel. + +"You're what they call an Apache, are you not?" he asked. + +"Yes, Monsieur." + +"Well, for the present, that is until you win a greater name, I'm going +to call you Geronimo." + +"And why Zhay-ro-nee-mo, Monsieur?" + +"Because that was the name of a great Apache chief. According to our +white standards he was not all that a man should be. He had perhaps a +certain insensibility to the sufferings of others, but in the Apache +view that was not a fault. He was wholly great to them." + +"Very well then, Monsieur Scott, I shall be flattered to be called +Zhay-ro-nee-mo, until I win a name yet greater." + +"Where is the Father Pelletier, the priest, who you said would bar your +way unless I came with you?" + +"He is on the second platform where you look out over Paris before going +into the lantern. It may be that he has against me what you would call +the prejudice. I am young. Youth must have its day, and I have done some +small deeds in the quarter which perhaps do not please Father Pelletier, +a strict, a very strict man. But our country is in danger, and I am +willing to forgive and forget." + +He spoke with so much magnanimity that John was compelled to laugh. +Geronimo laughed, too, showing splendid white teeth. The understanding +between them was now perfect. + +"I must talk with Father Pelletier," said John. "Until you're a great +man, as you're going to be, Geronimo, I suppose I can be spokesman. +After that it will be your part to befriend me." + +On the second platform they found Father Pelletier, a tall young priest +with a fine but severe face, who looked with curiosity at John, and with +disapproval at the Apache. + +"You are Father Pelletier, I believe," said John with his disarming +smile. "These are unusual times, but I wish to go up into the lantern. I +am an American, though, as you can see by my uniform, I am a soldier of +France." + +"But your companion, sir? He has a bad reputation in the quarter. When +he should come to the church he does not, and now when he should not he +does." + +"That reputation of which you speak, Father Pelletier, will soon pass. +Another, better and greater will take its place. Our friend here, and +perhaps both of us will be proud to call him so some day, leaves soon to +fight for France." + +The priest looked again at Bougainville, and his face softened. The +little Apache met his glance with a firm and open gaze, and his figure +seemed to swell again, and to radiate strength. Perhaps the priest saw +in his eyes the same spark that John had noticed there. + +"It is a time when France needs all of her sons," he said, "and even +those who have not deserved well of her before may do great deeds for +her now. You can pass." + +Bougainville walked close to Father Pelletier, and John heard him say in +low tones: + +"I feel within me the power to achieve, and when you see me again you +will recognize it." + +The priest nodded and his friendly hand lay for a moment on the other's +shoulder. + +"Come on, Geronimo," said John cheerfully. "As I remember it's nearly a +hundred steps into the lantern, and that's quite a climb." + +"Not for youth like ours," exclaimed Bougainville, and he ran upward so +lightly that the American had some difficulty in following him. John was +impressed once more by his extraordinary strength and agility, despite +his smallness. He seemed to be a mass of highly wrought steel spring. +But unwilling to be beaten by anybody, John raced with him and the two +stood at the same time upon the utmost crest of the Basilique du +Sacré-Coeur. + +They paused a few moments for fresh breath and then John put the glasses +to his eye, sweeping them in a slow curve. Through the powerful lenses +he saw the vast circle of Paris, and all the long story of the past that +it called up. Two thousand years of history rolled beneath his feet, and +the spectacle was wholly magnificent. + +He beheld the great green valley with its hills, green, too, the line of +the Seine cutting the city apart like the flash of a sword blade, the +golden dome of the Hotel des Invalides, the grinning gargoyles of Notre +Dame, the arches and statues and fountains and the long green ribbons +that marked the boulevards. + +Although the city stood wholly in the sunlight a light haze formed on +the rim of the circling horizon. He now moved the glasses slowly over a +segment there and sought diligently for something. From so high a point +and with such strong aid one could see many miles. He was sure that he +would find what he sought and yet did not wish to see. Presently he +picked out intermittent flashes which he believed were made by sunlight +falling on steel. Then he drew a long and deep breath that was almost +like a sigh. + +"What is it?" asked Bougainville who had stood patiently by his side. + +"I fear it is the glitter of lances, my friend, lances carried by German +Uhlans. Will you look?" + +Bougainville held out his hands eagerly for the glasses, and then drew +them back a little. In his new dignity he would not show sudden emotion. + +"It will give me gladness to see," he said. "I do not fear the Prussian +lances." + +John handed him the glasses and he looked long and intently, at times +sweeping them slowly back and forth, but gazing chiefly at the point +under the horizon that had drawn his companion's attention. + +John meanwhile looked down at the city glittering in the sun, but from +which its people were fleeing, as if its last day had come. It still +seemed impossible that Europe should be wrapped in so great a war and +that the German host should be at the gates of Paris. + +His eyes turned back toward the point where he had seen the gleam of the +lances and he fancied now that he heard the far throb of the German +guns. The huge howitzers like the one Lannes and he had blown up might +soon be throwing shells a ton or more in weight from a range of a dozen +miles into the very heart of the French capital. An acute depression +seized him. He had strengthened the heart of Lannes, and now his own +heart needed strengthening. How was it possible to stop the German army +which had come so far and so fast that its Uhlans could already see +Paris? The unprepared French had been defeated already, and the slow +English, arriving to find France under the iron heel, must go back and +defend their own island. + +"The Germans are there. I have not a doubt of it, and I thank you, +Monsieur Scott, for the use of these," said Bougainville, handing the +glasses back to him. + +"Well, Geronimo," he said, "having seen, what do you say?" + +"The sight is unpleasant, but it is not hopeless. They call us decadent. +I read, Monsieur Scott, more than you think! Ah, it has been the +bitterness of death for Frenchmen to hear all the world say we are a +dying race, and it has been said so often that some of us ourselves had +begun to believe it! But it is not so! I tell you it is not so, and +we'll soon prove to the Germans who come that it isn't! I have looked +for a sign. I sought for it in all the skies through your glasses, but I +did not find it there. Yet I have found it." + +"Where?" + +"In my heart. Every beat tells me that this Paris of ours is not for the +Germans. We will yet turn them back!" + +He reminded John of Lannes in his dramatic intensity, real and not +affected, a true part of his nature. Its effect, too, upon the American +was powerful. He had given courage to Lannes, and now Bougainville, that +little Apache of the Butte Montmartre, was giving new strength to his +own weakening heart. Fresh life flowed back into his veins and he +remembered that he, too, had beheld a sign, the flash of light on the +Arc de Triomphe. + +"I think we have seen enough here, Geronimo," he said lightly, "and +we'll descend. I've a friend to meet later. Which way do you go from the +church?" + +"To the army. I shall be in a uniform tonight, and tomorrow maybe I +shall meet the Germans." + +John held out his hand and the Apache seized it in a firm clasp. + +"I believe in you, as I hope you believe in me," said young Scott. "I +belong to a company called the Strangers, made up chiefly of Americans +and English, and commanded by Captain Daniel Colton. If you're on the +battle line and hear of the Strangers there too I should like for you to +hunt me up if you can. I'd do the same for you, but I don't yet know to +what force you will belong." + +Bougainville promised and they walked down to the second platform, where +Father Pelletier was still standing. + +"What did you see?" he asked of John, unable to hide the eagerness in +his eyes. + +"Uhlans, Father Pelletier, and I fancied that I heard the echo of a +German forty-two centimeter. Would you care to use the glasses? The view +from this floor is almost as good as it is from the lantern." + +John distinctly saw the priest shudder. + +"No," he replied. "I could not bear it. I shall pray today that our +enemies may be confounded; tomorrow I shall throw off the gown of a +priest and put on the coat of a soldier." + +"Another sign," said John to himself, as they continued the descent. +"Even the priests will fight." + +When they were once more in the narrow streets of Montmartre, John said +farewell to Bougainville. + +"Geronimo," he said, "I expect to see you leading a victorious charge +directly into the heart of the German army." + +"If I can meet your hopes I will, Monsieur Scott," said the young +Frenchman gayly, "and now, _au revoir_, I depart for my uniform and +arms, which must be of the best." + +John smiled as he walked down the hill. His heart had warmed toward the +little Apache who might not be any Apache at all. Nevertheless the name +Geronimo seemed to suit him, and he meant to think of him by it until +his valor won him a better. + +He saw from the slopes the same endless stream of people leaving Paris. +They knew that the Germans were near, and report brought them yet +nearer. The tale of the monster guns had traveled fast, and the shells +might be falling among them at any moment. Aeroplanes dotted the skies, +but they paid little attention to them. They still thought of war under +the old conditions, and to the great mass of the people flying machines +were mere toys. + +But John knew better. Those journeys of his with Lannes through the +heavens and their battles in the air for their lives were unforgettable. +Stopping on the last slope of Montmartre he studied space with his +glasses. He was sure that he saw captive balloons on the horizon where +the German army lay, and one shape larger than the rest looked like a +Zeppelin, but he did not believe those monsters had come so far to the +south and west. They must have an available base. + +His heart suddenly increased its beat. He saw a darting figure and he +recognized the shape of the German Taube. Then something black shot +downward from it, and there was a crash in the streets of Paris, +followed by terrible cries. + +He knew what had happened. He caught another glimpse of the Taube +rushing away like a huge carnivorous bird that had already seized its +prey, and then he ran swiftly down the street. The bomb had burst in a +swarm of fugitives and a woman was killed. Several people were wounded, +and a panic had threatened, but the soldiers had restored order already +and ambulances soon took the wounded to hospitals. + +John went on, shocked to the core. It was a new kind of war. The flying +men might rain death from the air upon a helpless city, but their +victims were more likely to be women and children than armed men. For +the first time the clean blue sky became a sinister blanket from which +dropped destruction. + +The confusion created by the bomb soon disappeared. The multitude of +Parisians still poured from the city, and long lines of soldiers took +their place. John wondered what the French commanders would do. Surely +theirs was a desperate problem. Would they try to defend Paris, or would +they let it go rather than risk its destruction by bombardment? Yet its +fall was bound to be a terrible blow. + +Lannes was on the steps of the Opera House at the appointed time, +coming with a brisk manner and a cheerful face. + +"I want you to go with me to our house beyond the Seine," he said. "It +is a quaint old place hidden away, as so many happy homes are in this +city. You will find nobody there but my mother, my sister Julie, and a +faithful old servant, Antoine Picard, and his daughter, Suzanne." + +"But I will be a trespasser?" + +"Not at all. There will be a warm welcome for you. I have told them of +you, how you were my comrade in the air, and how you fought." + +"Pshaw, Lannes, it was you who did most of the fighting. You've given me +a reputation that I can't carry." + +"Never mind about the reputation. What have you been doing since I left +you this morning?" + +"I spent a part of the time in the lantern of the Basilica on +Montmartre, and I had with me a most interesting friend." + +Lannes looked at him curiously. + +"You did not speak of any friend in Paris at this time," he said. + +"I didn't because I never heard of him until a few hours ago. I made his +acquaintance while I was going up Montmartre, but I already consider +him, next to you, the best friend I have in France." + +"Acquaintanceship seems to grow rapidly with you, Monsieur Jean the +Scott." + +"It has, but you must remember that our own friendship was pretty +sudden. It developed in a few minutes of flight from soldiers at the +German border." + +"That is so, but it was soon sealed by great common dangers. Who is your +new friend, John?" + +"A little Apache named Pierre Louis Bougainville, whom I have nicknamed +Geronimo, after a famous Indian chief of my country. He has already gone +to fight for France, and, Philip, he made an extraordinary impression +upon me, although I don't know just why. He is short like Napoleon, he +has the same large and beautifully shaped head, and the same penetrating +eyes that seem able to look you through and through. Maybe it was a +spark of genius in him that impressed me." + +"It may be so," said Lannes thoughtfully. "It was said, and said truly +that the First Republic meant the open career to all the talents, and +the Third offers the same chance. One never can tell where military +genius is going to appear and God knows we need it now in whatever shape +or form it may come. Did you hear of the bomb?" + +"I saw it fall. But, Phil, I don't see the object in such attacks. They +may kill a few people, nearly always the unarmed, but that has no real +effect on a war." + +"They wish to spread terror, I suppose. Lend me your glasses, John." + +Lannes studied the heavens a long time, minutely examining every black +speck against the blue, and John stood beside him, waiting patiently. +Meanwhile the throng of fleeing people moved on as before, silent and +somber, even the children saying little. John was again stirred by the +deepest emotion of sympathy and pity. What a tremendous tragedy it would +be if New York were being abandoned thus to a victorious foe! Lannes +himself had seemed to take no notice of the flight, but John judged he +had made a powerful effort of the will to hide the grief and anger that +surely filled his heart. + +"I don't see anything in the air but our own machines," said Lannes, as +he returned the glasses. "It was evidently a dash by the Taube that +threw the bomb. But we've stayed here long enough. They're waiting for +us at home." + +He led the way through the multitude, relapsing into silence, but +casting a glance now and then at his own peculiar field, the heavens. +They reached the Place de la Concorde, and stopped there a moment or +two. Lannes looked sadly at the black drapery hanging from the stone +figure that typified the lost city of Strassburg, but John glanced up +the great sweep of the Place to the Arc de Triomphe, where he caught +again the glittering shaft of sunlight that he had accepted as a sign. + +"We may be looking upon all this for the last time," said Lannes, in a +voice of grief. "Oh, Paris, City of Light, City of the Heart! You may +not understand me, John, but I couldn't bear to come back to Paris +again, much as I love it, if it is to be despoiled and ruled by +Germans." + +"I do understand you, Philip," said John cheerfully, "but you mustn't +count a city yours until you've taken it. The Germans are near, but +they're not here. Now, lead on. It's not like you to despair!" + +Lannes shook himself, as if he had laid violent hands upon his own body, +and his face cleared. + +"That was the last time, John," he said. "I made that promise before, +but I keep it this time. You won't see me gloomy again. Henceforward +it's hope only. Now, we must hurry. My mother and Julie will be growing +anxious, for we are overdue." + +They crossed the Seine by one of the beautiful stone bridges and entered +a region of narrow and crooked streets, which John thought must be a +part of old Paris. In an American city it would necessarily have been a +quarter of the poor, but John knew that here wealth and distinction were +often hidden behind these modest doors. + +He began to feel very curious about Lannes' family, but he was careful +to ask no questions. He knew that the young Frenchman was showing great +trust and faith in him by taking him into his home. They stopped +presently before a door, and Lannes rang a bell. The door was opened +cautiously in a few moments, and a great head surmounted by thick, gray +hair was thrust out. A powerful neck and a pair of immense shoulders +followed the head. Sharp eyes under heavy lashes peered forth, but in an +instant, when the man saw who was before him, he threw open the door and +said: + +"Welcome, Monsieur." + +John had no doubt that this was the Antoine Picard of whom Lannes had +spoken, and he knew at the first glance that he beheld a real man. Many +people have the idea that all Frenchmen are little, but John knew +better. + +Antoine Picard was a giant, much over six feet, and with the limbs and +chest of a piano-mover. He was about sixty, but age evidently had made +no impression upon his strength. John judged from his fair complexion +that he was from Normandy. "Here," young Scott said to himself, "is one +of those devoted European family servants of whom I've heard so often." + +He regarded the man with interest, and Picard, in return, measured and +weighed him with a lightning glance. + +Lannes laughed. + +"It's all right, Antoine," he said. "He's the young man from that far +barbarian country called America, who escaped from Germany with me, only +he's no barbarian, but a highly civilized being who not only likes +France, but who fights for her. John, this is Antoine Picard, who rules +and protects this house." + +John held out his hand, American fashion, and it was engulfed in the +mighty grasp of the Norseman, as he always thought of him afterward. + +"Madame, your mother, and Mademoiselle, your sister, have been anxious," +said Picard. + +"We were delayed," said Lannes. + +They stepped into a narrow hall, and Picard shut the door behind them, +shooting into place a heavy bolt which sank into its socket with a click +like the closing of the entrance to a fortress. In truth, the whole +aspect of the house reminded John of a stronghold. The narrow hall was +floored with stone, the walls were stone and the light was dim. Lannes +divined John's thoughts. + +"You'll find it more cheerful, presently," he said. "As for us, we're +used to it, and we love it, although it's so old and cold and dark. It +goes back at least five centuries." + +"I suppose some king must have slept here once," said John. "In England +they point out every very old house as a place where a king passed the +night, and make reverence accordingly." + +Lannes laughed gayly. + +"No king ever slept here so far as I know," he said, "but the great +Marshal Lannes, whose name I am so proud to bear, was in this house more +than once, and to me, a staunch republican, that is greater than having +had a king for a tenant. The Marshal, as you may know, although he took +a title and served an Emperor, was always a republican and in the early +days of the empire often offended Napoleon by his frankness and brusque +truths. But enough of old things; we'll see my mother." + +He led the way up the steps, of solid stone, between walls thick enough +for a fortress, and knocked at a door. A deep, full voice responded +"Enter!" and pushing open the door Lannes went in, followed by John. + +It was a large room, with long, low windows, looking out over a sea of +roofs toward the dome of the Invalides and Napoleon's arch of triumph. A +tall woman rose from a chair, and saying "My son!" put her hands upon +Lannes shoulders and kissed him on the forehead. She was fair like her +son, and much less than fifty years of age. There was no stoop in her +shoulders and but little gray in her hair. Her eyes were anxious, but +John saw in them the Spartan determination that marked the women of +France. + +"My friend, John Scott, of whom I have already spoken to you, Madame my +mother," said Lannes. + +John bowed. He knew little of French customs, particularly in the heart +of a French family, and he was afraid to extend his hand, but she gave +him hers, and let it rest in his palm a moment. + +"Philip has told me much of you," she said in her deep, bell-like voice, +"and although I know little of your far America, I can believe the best +of it, if its sons are like you." + +John flushed at the compliment, which he knew to be so sincere. + +"Thank you, Madame," he said. "While my country can take no part in this +war, many of my countrymen will fight with you. France helped us once, +and some of us, at least, will help France now." + +She smiled gravely, and John knew that he was welcome in her house. +Lannes would see to that anyhow, but he wished to make a good impression +on his own account. + +"I know that Philip risks his life daily," she said. "He has chosen the +most dangerous of all paths, the air, but perhaps in that way he can +serve us most." + +She spoke with neither complaint nor reproach, merely as if she were +stating a fact, and her son added briefly: + +"You are right, mother. In the air I can work best for our people. Ah, +John, here is my sister, who is quite curious about the stranger from +across the sea." + +A young girl came into the room. She was tall and slender, not more than +seventeen, very fair, with blue eyes and hair of pure gold. John was +continually observing that while many of the French were dark and small, +in accordance with foreign opinion that made them all so, many more were +blonde and tall. Lannes' sister was scarcely more than a lovely child, +but his heart beat more quickly. + +Lannes kissed her on the forehead, just as he kissed his mother. + +"Julie," he said lightly and yet proudly, "this is the young American +hero of whom I was telling you, my comrade in arms, or rather in the +air, and adopted brother. Mr. John Scott, my sister, Mademoiselle Julie +Lannes." + +She made a shy curtsey and John bowed. It was the first time that he was +ever in the heart of an old French home, and he did not know the rules, +but he felt that he ought not to offer his hand. Young girls, he had +always heard, were kept in strict seclusion in France, but the great war +and the approach of the German army might make a difference. In any +event, he felt bold enough to talk to her a little, and she responded, a +beautiful color coming into her face. + +"Dinner is ready for our guest and you," said Madame Lannes, and she led +the way into another apartment, also with long, low windows, where the +table was set. The curtains were drawn from the windows, and John caught +through one of them a glimpse of the Seine, of marching troops in long +blue coats and red trousers, and of the great city, massing up beyond +like a wall. + +He felt that he had never before sat down to so strange a table. The +world without was shaking beneath the tread of the mightiest of all +wars, but within this room was peace and quiet. Madame was like a Roman +matron, and the young Julie, though shy, had ample dignity. John liked +Lannes' manner toward them both, his fine subordination to his mother +and his protective air toward his sister. He was glad to be there with +them, a welcome guest in the family. + +The dinner was served by a tall young woman. Picard's daughter Suzanne, +to whom Lannes had referred, and she served in silence and with +extraordinary dexterity one of the best dinners that he ever ate. + +As the dinner proceeded John admired the extraordinary composure of the +Lannes family. Surely a woman and a girl of only seventeen would feel +consternation at the knowledge that an overwhelming enemy was almost +within sight of the city they must love so much. Yet they did not refer +to it, until nearly the close of the dinner, and it was Madame who +introduced the subject. + +"I hear, Philip," she said, "that a bomb was thrown today from a German +aeroplane into the Place de l'Opéra, killing a woman and injuring +several other people." + +"It is true, mother." + +John glanced covertly at Julie, and saw her face pale. But she did not +tremble. + +"Is it true also that the German army is near?" asked Madame Lannes, +with just the faintest quiver in her voice. + +"Yes, mother. John, standing in the lantern of the Basilique du +Sacré-Coeur, saw through his glasses the flash of sunlight on the lances +of their Uhlans. A shell from one of their great guns could fall in the +suburbs of Paris." + +John's covert glance was now for Madame Lannes. How would the matron who +was cast in the antique mold of Rome take such news? But she veiled her +eyes a little with her long lashes, and he could not catch the +expression there. + +"I believe it is not generally known in Paris that the enemy is so very +near," said Philip, "and while I have not hesitated to tell you the full +truth, mother, I ask you and Julie not to speak of it to others." + +"Of course, Philip, we would add nothing to the general alarm, which is +great enough already, and with cause. But what do you wish us to do? +Shall we remain here, or go while it is yet time to our cousins, the +Menards, at Lyons?" + +Now it was the mother who, in this question of physical peril, was +showing deference to her son, the masculine head of the family. John +liked it. He remembered an old saying, and he felt it to be true, that +they did many things well in France. + +Lannes glanced at young Scott before replying. + +"Mother," he said, "the danger is great. I do not try to conceal it from +you. It was my intention this morning to see you and Julie safe on the +Lyons train, but John and I have beheld signs, not military, perhaps, +but of the soul, and we are firm in the belief that at the eleventh hour +we shall be saved. The German host will not enter Paris." + +Madame Lannes looked fixedly at John and he felt her gaze resting like a +weight upon his face. But he responded. His faith had merely grown +stronger with the hours. + +"I cannot tell why, Madame," he said, "but I believe as surely as I am +sitting here that the enemy will not enter the capital." + +Then she said decisively, "Julie and I remain in our own home in Paris." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE MESSENGER + + +There was little more talk. The dignified quiet of the Lannes family +remained unchanged, and John imitated it. If they could be so calm in +the face of overwhelming disaster it should be no effort for him to +remain unmoved. Yet he glanced often, though covertly, at Julie Lannes, +admiring her lovely color. + +When dinner was over they returned to the room in which Madame Lannes +had received them. The dark had come already, and Suzanne had lighted +four tall candles. There was neither gas nor electricity. + +"Mr. Scott will be our guest tonight, mother," said Lannes, "and +tomorrow he and I go together to the army." + +John raised his hand in protest. It had not been his intention when he +came to remain until morning, but Lannes would listen to no objection; +nor would his mother. + +"Since you fight for our country," she said, "you must let us give you +shelter for at least one night." + +He acquiesced, and they sat a little while, talking of the things +furthest from their hearts. Julie Lannes withdrew presently, and before +long her mother followed. Lannes went to the window, and looked out over +Paris, where the diminished lights twinkled. John stood at the other +window and saw the great blur of the capital. All sounds were fused into +one steady murmur, rather soothing, like the flowing of a river. + +He seemed to hear presently the distant thunder of German guns, but +reason told him it was only a trick of the imagination. Nerves keyed +high often created the illusion of reality. + +"What are you thinking about, Lannes?" he asked. + +"Of my mother and sister. Only the French know the French. The family +tie is powerful with us." + +"I know that, Phil." + +"So you do. You're an adopted child of France. Madame Lannes is a woman +of great heart, John. I am proud to be her son. I have read of your +civil war. I have read how the mothers of your young soldiers suffered +and yet were brave. None can know how much Madame, my mother, has +suffered tonight, with the Germans at the gates of Paris, and yet she +has shown no sign of it." + +John was silent. He did not know what to say, but Lannes did not pursue +the subject, remaining a full five minutes at the window, and not +speaking again, until he turned away. + +"John," he said then, "let's go outside and take a look about the +quarter. It's important now to watch for everything." + +John was full willing. He recognized the truth of Lannes' words and he +wanted air and exercise also. A fortress was a fortress, whether one +called it a home or not, Lannes led the way and they descended to the +lower hall, where the gigantic porter was on watch. + +"My friend and I are going to take a look in the streets, Antoine," said +Lannes. "Guard the house well while we are gone." + +"I will," replied the man, "but will you tell me one thing, Monsieur +Philip? Do Madame Lannes and Mademoiselle Julie remain in Paris?" + +"They do, Antoine, and since I leave tomorrow it will be the duty of you +and Suzanne to protect them." + +"I am gratified, sir, that they do not leave the capital. I have never +known a Lannes to flee at the mere rumor of the enemy's coming." + +"And I hope you never will, Antoine. I think we'll be back in an hour." + +"I shall be here, sir." + +He unbolted the door and Lannes and John stepped out, the cool night air +pouring in a grateful flood upon their faces. Antoine fastened the door +behind them, and John again heard the massive bolt sink into its place. + +"The quarter is uncommonly quiet," said Lannes. "I suppose it has a +right to be after such a day." + +Then be looked up, scanning the heavens, after the manner that had +become natural to him, a flying man. + +"What do you see, Philip?" asked John. + +"A sky of dark blue, plenty of stars, but no aeroplanes, Taubes or other +machines of man's making." + +"I fancy that some of them are on the horizon, but too far away to be +seen by us." + +"Likely as not. The Germans are daring enough and we can expect more +bombs to be dropped on Paris. Our flying corps must organize to meet +theirs. I feel the call of the air, John." + +Young Scott laughed. + +"I believe the earth has ceased to be your natural element," he said. +"You're happiest when you're in the _Arrow_ about a mile above our +planet." + +Lannes laughed also, and with appreciation. The friendship between the +two young men was very strong, and it had in it all the quality of +permanence. Their very unlikeness in character and temperament made them +all the better comrades. What one could not do the other could. + +As they walked along now they said but little. Each was striving to read +what he could in that great book, the streets of Paris. John believed +Lannes had not yet told him his whole mission. He knew that in their +short stay in Paris Philip had spent an hour in the office of the +military governor of the city, and his business must be of great +importance to require an hour from a man who carried such a fearful +weight of responsibility. But whatever Lannes' secret might be, it was +his own and he had no right to pry into it. If the time came for his +comrade to tell it he would do so. + +When they reached the Seine the city did not seem so quiet. They heard +the continuous sound of marching troops and people were still departing +through the streets toward the country or the provincial cities. The +flight went on by night as well as day, and John again felt the +overwhelming pity of it. + +He wondered what the French generals and their English allies would do? +Did they have any possible way of averting this terrible crisis? They +had met nothing but defeat, and the vast German army had crashed, +unchecked, through everything from the border almost to the suburbs of +Paris. + +They stood in the Place Valhubert at the entrance to the Pont +d'Austerlitz, and watched a regiment crossing the river, the long blue +coats and red trousers of the men outlined against the white body of the +bridge. The soldiers were short, they looked little to John, but they +were broad of chest and they marched splendidly with a powerful swinging +stride. + +"From the Midi," said Lannes. "Look how dark they are! France is called +a Latin nation, but I doubt whether the term is correct. These men of +the Midi though are the real Latins. We of northern France, I suspect, +are more Teutonic than anything else, but we are all knitted together in +one race, heart and soul, which are stronger ties than blood." + +"We are to go early in the morning, are we not, Philip?" + +"Yes, early. The _Arrow_ is at the hangar, all primed and eager for a +flight, fearful of growing rusty from a long rest." + +"I believe you actually look upon your plane as a human being." + +"A human being, yes, and more. No human being could carry me above the +clouds. No human being could obey absolutely and without question the +simplest touch of my hand. The _Arrow_ is not human, John, it is +superhuman. You have seen its exploits." + +The dark emitted a figure that advanced toward them, and took the shape +of a man with black hair, a short close beard and an intelligent face. +He approached John and Lannes and looked at them closely. + +"Mr. Scott!" he exclaimed, with eagerness, "I did not know what had +become of you. I was afraid you were lost in one of the battles!" + +"Why, it's Weber!" said John, "our comrade of the flight in the +automobile! And I was afraid that you too, were dead!" + +The two shook hands with great heartiness and Lannes joined in the +reunion. He too at once liked Weber, who always made the impression of +courage and quickness. He wore a new uniform, olive in color with dark +blue threads through it, and it became him, setting off his trim, +compact figure. + +"How did you get here, Mr. Weber?" asked John. + +"I scarcely know," he replied. "My duties are to a certain extent those +of a messenger, but I was caught in the last battle, wounded slightly, +and separated from the main French force. The little company which I had +formed tried to break through the German columns, but they were all +killed or captured except myself, and maybe two or three others. I hid +in a wood, slept a night there, and then reached Paris to see what is +going to happen. Ah, it is terrible! terrible! my comrades! The Germans +are advancing in five great armies, a million and a half strong, and no +troops were ever before equipped so magnificently." + +"Do you know positively that they have a million and a half?" asked +Lannes. + +"I did not count them," replied Weber, smiling a little, "but I have +heard from many certain sources that such are their numbers. I fear, +gentlemen, that Paris is doomed." + +"Scott and I don't think so," said Lannes firmly. "We've gained new +courage today." + +Weber was silent for a few moments. Then he said, giving Lannes his +title as an officer: + +"I've heard of you, Lieutenant Lannes. Who does not know the name of +France's most daring aviator? And doubtless you have information which +is unknown to me. It is altogether likely that one who pierces the air +like an eagle should bear messages between generals of the first rank." + +Lannes did not answer, but looked at Weber, who smiled. + +"Perhaps our trades are not so very different," said the Alsatian, "but +you shoot through clouds while I crawl on the ground. You have a great +advantage of me in method." + +Lannes smiled back. The little tribute was pleasing to the dramatic +instinct so strong in him. + +"You and I, Mr. Weber," he said, "know enough never to speak of what +we're going to do. Now, we'll bid you good night and wish you good luck. +I'd like to be a prophet, even for a day only, and tell what the morrow +would bring." + +"So do I," said Weber, "and I must hurry on my own errand. It may not +be of great importance, but is vital to me that I do it." + +He slid away in the darkness and both John and Lannes spoke well of him +as they returned to the house. Picard admitted them. + +"May I ask, sir, if there is any news that favors France?" he said to +Philip. + +"Not yet, my good Antoine, but it is surely coming." + +John heard the giant Frenchman smother a sigh, but he made no comment, +and walked softly with Lannes to the little room high up that had been +assigned to him. Here when he was alone with his candle he looked around +curiously. + +The room was quite simple, not containing much furniture, in truth, +nothing of any note save on the wall a fine picture of the great Marshal +Lannes, Napoleon's dauntless fighter, and stern republican, despite the +ducal title that he took. It was a good portrait, painted perhaps by +some great artist, and John holding up the candle, looked at it a long +time. + +He thought he could trace some likeness to Philip. Lannes' face was +always stern, in repose, far beyond his years, although when he became +animated it had all the sunniness of youth. But he noticed now that he +had the same tight lips of the Marshal, and the same unfaltering eyes. + +"Duke of Montebello!" said John to himself. "Well, you won that title +grandly, and while the younger Lannes may do as well, if the chance +comes to him, the new heroes of France will be neither dukes nor +princes." + +Then, after removing all the stiff pillows, inclines, foot pieces and +head pieces that make European beds so uncomfortable, he slipped between +the covers, and slid quickly into a long and soothing sleep, from which +he was awakened apparently about a minute later by Lannes himself, who +stood over him, dressed fully, tall and serious. + +"Why, I just got into bed!" exclaimed John. + +"You came in here a full seven hours ago. Open your window and you'll +see the dawn creeping over Paris." + +"Thank you, but you can open it yourself. I never fool with a European +window. I haven't time to master all the mechanism, inside, outside and +between, to say nothing of the various layers of curtains, full length, +half length and otherwise. Nothing that I can conceive of is better +fitted than the European window to keep out light and air." + +Lannes smiled. + +"I see that you're in fine feather this morning," he said, "I'll open it +for you." + +John jumped up and dressed quickly, while Lannes, with accustomed hand, +laid back shutters and curtains. + +"Now, shove up the window," exclaimed John as he wielded towel and +brush. "A little fresh air in a house won't hurt you; it won't hurt +anybody. We're a young people, we Americans, but we can teach you that. +Why, in the German hotels they'd seal up the smoking-rooms and lounges +in the evenings, and then boys would go around shooting clouds of +perfume against the ceilings. Ugh! I can taste now that awful mixture of +smoke, perfume and thrice-breathed air! Ah! that feels better! It's like +a breath from heaven!" + +"Ready now? We're going down to breakfast with my mother and sister." + +"Yes. How do I look in this uniform, Lannes?" + +"Very well. But, Oh, you Americans! we French are charged with vanity, +but you have it." + +John had thought little of his raiment until he came to the house of +Lannes, but now there was a difference. He gave the last touch to his +coat, and he and Philip went down together. Madame Lannes and Julie +received them. They were dressed very simply, Julie in white and Madame +Lannes in plain gray. Their good-morning to John was quiet, but he saw +that it came from the heart. They recognized in him the faithful comrade +in danger, of the son and brother, and he saw once more that French +family affection was very powerful. + +It was early, far earlier than the ordinary time for the European +breakfast, and he knew that it had been served so, because he and Lannes +were to depart. He sat facing a window, and he saw the dawn come over +Paris in a vast silver haze that soon turned to a cloud of gold. He +again stole glances at Julie Lannes. In all her beautiful fairness of +hair and complexion she was like one of the blonde American girls of his +own country. + +When breakfast was over and the two young men rose to go John said the +first farewell. He still did not know the French custom, but, bending +over suddenly, he kissed the still smooth and handsome hand of Madame +Lannes. As she flushed and looked pleased, he judged that he had made no +mistake. Then he touched lightly the hand of the young girl, and said: + +"Mademoiselle Julie, I hope to return soon to this house with your +brother." + +"May it be so," she said, in a voice that trembled, "and may you come +back to a Paris still French!" + +John bowed to them both and with tact and delicacy withdrew from the +room. He felt that there should be no witness of Philip's farewell to +his mother and sister, before going on a journey from which the chances +were that he would never return. + +He strolled down the hall, pretending to look at an old picture or two, +and in a few minutes Lannes came out and joined him. John saw tears in +his eyes, but his face was set and stern. Neither spoke until they +reached the front door, which the giant, Picard, opened for them. + +"If the worst should happen, Antoine," said Lannes, "and you must be the +judge of it when it comes, take them to Lyons, to our cousins the +Menards." + +"I answer with my life," said the man, shutting together his great +teeth, and John felt that it was well for the two women to have such a +guardian. Under impulse, he said: + +"I should like to shake the hand of a man who is worth two of most men." + +Whether the French often shake hands or not, his fingers were enclosed +in the mighty grasp of Picard, and he knew that he had a friend for +life. When they went out Lannes would not look back and was silent for a +long time. The day was warm and beautiful, and the stream of fugitives, +the sad procession, was still flowing from the city. Troops too were +moving, and it seemed to John that they passed in heavier masses than on +the day before. + +"I went out last night while you slept," said Lannes, when they were +nearly at the hangar, "and I will tell you that I bear a message to one +of our most important generals. I carry it in writing, and also in +memory in case I lose the written word. That is all I feel at liberty to +tell you, and in truth I know but little more. The message comes from +our leader to the commander of the army at Paris, who in turn orders me +to deliver it to the general whom we're going to seek. It directs him +with his whole force to move forward to a certain point and hold fast +there. Beyond that I know nothing. Its whole significance is hidden from +me. I feel that I can tell you this, John, as we're about to start upon +a journey which has a far better prospect of death than of life." + +"I'm not afraid," said John, and he told the truth. "I feel, Philip, +that great events are impending and that your dispatch or the effect of +it will be a part in some gigantic plan." + +"I feel that way, too. What an awful crisis! The Germans moved nearer in +the dark. I didn't sleep a minute last night. I couldn't. If the signs +that you and I saw are to be fulfilled they must be fulfilled soon, +because when a thing is done it's done, and when Paris falls it falls." + +"Well, here we are at the hangar, and the _Arrow_ will make you feel +better. You're like the born horseman whose spirits return when he's on +the back of his best runner." + +"I suppose I am. The air is now my proper medium, and anyway, John, my +gallant Yankee, for a man like me the best tonic is always action, +action, and once more action." + +The _Arrow_ was in beautiful condition, smooth, polished and fitted with +everything that was needed. They put on their flying clothes, drew down +their visors, stowed their automatics in handy pockets, and took their +seats in the aeroplane. Then, as he put his hand on the steering rudder +and the attendants gave the _Arrow_ a mighty shove, the soul of Lannes +swelled within him. + +They rose slowly and then swiftly over Paris, and his troubles were left +behind him on the earth. Up, up they went, in a series of graceful +spirals, and although John, at first, felt the old uneasy feeling, it +soon departed. He too exulted in their mounting flight and the rush of +cold air. + +"Use your glasses, John," said Lannes, "and tell me what you can see." + +"Some captive balloons, five other planes, all our own, and on the +horizon, where the German army lies, several black specks too vague and +indefinite for me to make out what they are, although I've no doubt +they're German flyers." + +"I'd like to have a look at the Germans, but our way leads elsewhere. +What else do you see, John?" + +"I look downward and I see the most magnificent and glittering city in +the world." + +"And that's Paris, our glorious Paris, which you and I and a million +others are going to save. I suppose it's hope, John, that makes me feel +we'll do something. Did you know that the Germans dropped two more bombs +on the city last night? One, luckily, fell in the Seine. The other +struck near the Madeleine, close to a group of soldiers, killing two and +wounding four more." + +"Bombs from the air can't do any great damage to a city." + +"No, but they can spread alarm, and it's an insult, too. We feel as the +Germans would if we were dropping bombs on Berlin. I wish you'd keep +those glasses to your eyes all the time, John, and watch the skies. Let +me know at once, if you see anything suspicious." + +John, continually turning in his seat, swept the whole curve of the +world with the powerful glasses. Paris was now far below, a blur of +white and gray. Above, the heavens were of the silkiest blue, beautiful +in their infinite depths, with tiny clouds floating here and there like +whitecaps on an ocean. + +"What do you see now, John?" + +"Nothing but one of the most beautiful days that ever was. It's a fine +sun, that you've got over here, Philip. I can see through these glasses +that it's made out of pure reddish gold." + +"Never mind about that sun, John. America is a full partner in its +ownership and you're used to it. I've heard that you have more sunshine +than we do. Watch for our companions of the air, friend or foe." + +"I see them flying; over Paris, but none is going in our direction. How +far is our port of entry, Lannes?" + +"We should be there in two hours, if nothing happens. Do we still have +the course to ourselves or is anything coming our way now?" + +"No company at all, unless you'd call a machine about three miles off +and much lower down, a comrade." + +"What does it look like?" + +"A French aeroplane, much resembling the _Arrow_." + +"Is it following us?" + +"Not exactly. Yes, it is coming our way now, although it keeps much +lower! A scout, I dare say." + +Lannes was silent for a little while, his eyes fixed on his pathway +through the blue. Then he said: + +"What has become of that machine, John?" + +"It has risen a little, but it's on our private course, that is, if we +can claim the right of way all down to the ground." + +Lannes glanced backward and downward, as well as his position would +allow. + +"A French plane, yes," he said thoughtfully. "There can be no doubt of +it, but why should it follow us in this manner? You do think it's +following us, don't you, John?" + +"It begins to look like it, Phil. It's rising a little now, and is +directly in our wake." + +"Take a long look through those glasses of yours." + +John obeyed, and the following aeroplane at once increased in size +tenfold and came much nearer. + +"It's French. There cannot be any doubt of it," he said, "and only one +man is in it. As he's hidden by his flying-suit I can't tell anything +about him." + +"Watch him closely, John, and keep your hand on the butt of your +automatic. I don't like that fellow's actions. Still, he may be a +Frenchman on an errand like ours. We've no right to think we're the only +people carrying important messages today." + +"He's gaining pretty fast. Although he keeps below us, it looks as if he +wanted to communicate with us." + +The second aeroplane suddenly shot forward and upward at a much greater +rate of speed. John, still watching through his glasses, saw the man +release the steering rudder for an instant, snatch a rifle from the +floor of his plane, and fire directly at Lannes. + +John uttered a shout of anger, and in action, too, he was as quick as a +flash. His automatic was out at once and he rained bullets upon the +treacherous machine. It was hard to take aim, firing from one flying +target, at another, but he saw the man flinch, turn suddenly, and then +go rocketing away at a sharp angle. + +Blazing with wrath John watched him, now far out of range, and then +reloaded his automatic. + +"Did you get him, John?" asked Lannes. + +"I know one bullet found him, because I saw him shiver and shrink, but +it couldn't have been mortal, as he was able to fly away." + +"I'm glad that you at least hit him, because he hit me." + +"What!" exclaimed John. Then he looked at his comrade and saw to his +intense horror that black blood was flowing slowly down a face deadly +pale. + +"His bullet went through my cap and then through my head," said Lannes. +"Oh, not through my skull, or I wouldn't be talking to you now. I think +it glanced off the bone, as I know it's gone out on the other side. But +I'm losing much blood, John, and I seem to be growing numb." + +His voice trailed off in weakness and the _Arrow_ began to move in an +eccentric manner. John saw that Lannes' hand on the rudder was uncertain +and that he had been hard hit. He was aghast, first for his friend, to +whom he had become so strongly attached, and then for the _Arrow_, their +mission and himself. Lannes would soon become unconscious and he, no +flying man at all, would be left high in air with a terrible weight of +responsibility. + +"We must change seats," said Lannes, struggling against the dimness that +was coming over his eyes and the weakness permeating his whole body. "Be +careful, Oh, be careful as you can, and then, in your American language, +a lot more. Slowly! Slowly! Yes, I can move alone. Drag yourself over +me, and I can slide under you. Careful! Careful!" + +The _Arrow_ fluttered like a wounded bird, dropping, darting upward, and +careering to one side. John was sick to his soul, both physically and +mentally. His head became giddy and the wind roared in his ears, but the +exchange of seats was at last, successfully accomplished. + +"Now," said Lannes, "you're a close observer. Remember all that you've +seen me do with the plane. Resolve to yourself that you do know how to +fly the _Arrow_. Fear nothing and fly straight for our destination. +Don't bother about the bleeding of my wound. My thick hair and thick cap +acting together as a heavy bandage will stop it. Now, John, our fate +rests with you." + +The last words were almost inaudible, and John from the corner of his +eye saw his comrade's head droop. He knew that Lannes had become +unconscious and now, appalling though the situation was, he rose to the +crisis. + +He knew the immensity of their danger. A sudden movement of the rudder +and the aeroplane might be wrecked. And in such a position the nerves of +a novice were subject at any time to a jerk. They might be assailed by +another treacherous machine, the dangers, in truth, were uncountable, +but he was upborne by a tremendous desire to carry the word and to save +Lannes and himself. + +In the face of intense resolve all obstacles became as nothing and his +hand steadied on the rudder. He knew that when it came to the air he was +no Lannes and never could be. The solid earth, no matter how much it +rolled around the sun or around itself, was his favorite field of +action, but he felt that he must make one flight, when he carried with +him perhaps the fate of a nation. + +The _Arrow_ was still rocking from side to side and dipping and jumping. +Slowly he steadied it, handling the rudder as if it were a loaded +weapon, and gradually his heart began to pound with triumph. It was no +such flying as the hand of Lannes drew from the _Arrow_, but to John it +seemed splendid for a first trial. He let the machine drop a little +until it was only six or seven hundred yards above the earth, and took +wary glances from side to side. He feared another pursuer, but the air +seemed clear. + +Lannes had sunk a little further forward. John saw that the +bleeding from his head had ceased. There was a dark stain down either +cheek, but it was drying there, and as Lannes had foreseen, his hair and +the cap had acted as a bandage, at last checking the flow effectively. +His breathing was heavy and jerky, but John believed that he would +revive before long. It was not possible that one so vital as Lannes, so +eager for great action, could die thus. + +Now he looked ahead. Their landmarks as Lannes had told him before the +fight, were to be a high hill, a low hill, and a small stream flowing +between. Just behind it they would find a great French army marching +northward and their errand would be over. He did not yet see the hills, +but he was sure that he was still in the pathway of the air. + +He had left Paris far behind, but when he looked down he saw a beautiful +country, a fertile land upon which man had worked for two thousand +years, too beautiful to be trodden to pieces by armies. He saw the +cultivated fields, varying in color like a checker board, and the neat +villages with trees about them. Here and there the spire of a church +rose high above everything. Churches and wars were so numerous in +Europe! + +John checked the speed of the _Arrow_. He was afraid, despite all his +high resolve, to fly fast, and then he must not go beyond the army for +which he was looking. He dropped a little lower as he was passing over a +wood, and then he heard the crack of rifles beneath him. Bullets whizzed +and sang past his ears and he took one fearful glance downward. + +He saw men, spiked helmets on their heads, galloping among the trees, +and he knew that they were a daring band of Uhlans, actually scouting +inside the French lines. They were shooting at the _Arrow_ and firing +fast. + +He attempted to rise so suddenly that the plane gave a violent jerk and +quivered in every fiber. He thought for a moment they were going to +fall, and the sickening sensation at his heart was overpowering. But the +trusty _Arrow_ ceased quivering, and then rose swiftly at an angle not +too great. + +Bullets still whizzed around the plane, and one glanced off its polished +side, but John's first nervous jerkiness in handling the machine had +probably saved him. The target had been so high in air, and of such a +shifting nature that the Uhlans had little chance to hit it. + +He was now beyond the range of any rifle, and he drew a long breath of +relief that was like a deep sigh. Then he took a single downward glance, +and caught a fleeting glimpse of the Uhlans galloping away. Doubtless +they were making all speed back to their own army. + +He flew on for a minute or two, searching the horizon eagerly, and at +last, he saw a tall hill, a low hill and a flash of water between. He +felt so much joy that he uttered a cry, and an echo of it came from a +point almost by his side. + +"Did I hear firing, John?" + +It was Lannes' voice, feeble, but showing all the signs of returning +strength, and again John uttered a joyous shout. + +"You did," he replied. "It was Uhlans in a grove. I was flying low and +their bullets whistled around us. But the _Arrow_ has taken no harm. I +see, too, the hills and the stream which are our landmarks. We're about +to arrive, Philip, with our message, but there's been treachery +somewhere. I wish I knew who was in that French plane." + +"So do I, John. It certainly came out of Paris. In my opinion it meant +to destroy us and keep our message from reaching the one for whom it was +intended. Who could it have been and how could he have known!" + +"Feeling better now, aren't you, Phil?" + +"A lot better. My head aches tremendously, but the dimness has gone from +before my eyes, and I'm able to think, in a poor and feeble way, +perhaps, but I'm not exactly a dumb animal. Where are the hills?" + +John pointed. + +"I can see them," said Lannes exultantly. "Since they did no harm I'm +glad the Uhlans fired at the _Arrow_. Their shots aroused me from stupor +and as we're to reach the army I want to be in possession of my five +senses when I get there." + +John understood perfectly. + +"It's your message and you deliver it," he said. + +Lannes' strength continued to increase, and his mind cleared rapidly. +His head ached frightfully, but he could think with all his usual +swiftness and precision. He sat erect in his seat. + +"Pass me your glasses, John," he said. + +"Now I see the troops," he said, after a long look. "Frenchmen, +Frenchmen, Frenchmen, infantry in thousands and scores of thousands, big +guns in scores and hundreds, cuirassiers, hussars, cannoneers! Ah! It's +a sight to kindle a dead heart back to life! John, this is one of the +great wheels in the mighty machine that is to move forward! Here come +two aeroplanes, scouts sent forward to see who and what we are." + +"You are sure they contain genuine Frenchmen? Remember the fellow who +shot you." + +"Frenchmen, good and true. I can see them for myself." + +He moved his hand, and in a few moments John heard hissing and purring +near, as if great birds were flying to meet him. The outlines of the +hovering planes showed by his side, and Lannes called in a loud voice to +shrouded and visored men. + +"Philip Lannes and his comrade, John Scott, with a message from Paris +to the commander!" he exclaimed. + +He was his old self again, erect, intense, dramatic. He evidently +expected the name Philip Lannes to be known well to them, and it was, as +a cheer followed high in air. + +"Now, John," said Lannes, "Be careful! Your hardest task is before you, +to land. But I've noticed that with you the harder the task the better +you do it. Make for that wide green space to the left of the stream and +come down as slowly and gently as you can. Just slide down." + +John had a fleeting glimpse of thousands of faces looking upward, but he +held a true course for the grassy area, and with a multitude looking on +his nerve was never steadier. Amid great cheering the _Arrow_ came +safely to rest at her appointed place. John and Lannes stepped forth, as +an elderly man in a quiet uniform came forward to meet them. + +Lannes, holding himself stiffly erect, drew a paper from his pocket and +extended it to the general. + +"A letter, sir, from the commander-in-chief of all our armies," he said, +saluting proudly. + +As the general took the letter, Lannes' knees bent beneath him, and he +sank down on his face. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +IN THE FRENCH CAMP + + +John rushed forward and grasped his comrade. The sympathetic hands of +others seized him also, and they raised him to his feet, while an +officer gave him stimulant out of a flask, John meanwhile telling who +his comrade was. Lannes' eyes opened and he flushed through the tan of +his face. + +"Pardon," he said, "it was a momentary weakness. I am ashamed of myself, +but I shall not faint again." + +"You've been shot," said the officer, looking at his sanguinary cap and +face. + +"So I have, but I ask your pardon for it. I won't let it occur again." + +Lannes was now standing stiffly erect, and his eyes shone with pride, as +the general, a tall, elderly man, rapidly read the letter that Philip +had delivered with his own hand. The officer who had spoken of his wound +looked at him with approval. + +"I've heard of you, Philip Lannes," he said, "you're the greatest flying +man in the world." + +Lannes' eyes flashed now. + +"You do me too much honor," he said, "but it was not I who brought our +aeroplane here. It was my American friend, John Scott, now standing +beside me, who beat off an attack upon us and who then, although he had +had no practical experience in flying, guided the machine to this spot. +Born an American, he is one of us and France already owes him much." + +John raised his hand in protest, but he saw that Lannes was enjoying +himself. His dramatic instinct was finding full expression. He had not +only achieved a great triumph, but his best friend had an important +share in it. There was honor for both, and his generous soul rejoiced. + +Both John and Lannes stood at attention until the general had read the +letter not once but twice and thrice. Then he took off his glasses, +rubbed them thoughtfully a moment or two, replaced them and looked +keenly at the two. He was a quiet man and he made no gestures, but John +met his gaze serenely, read his eyes and saw the tremendous weight of +responsibility back of them. + +"You have done well, you two, perhaps far better than you know," said +the general, "and now, since you are wounded, Philip Lannes, you must +have attention. De Rougemont, take care of them." + +De Rougemont, a captain, was the man to whom they had been talking, and +he gladly received the charge. He was a fine, well built officer, under +thirty, and it was obvious that he already took a deep interest in the +two young aviators. Noticing Lannes' anxious glances toward his precious +machine, he promptly detailed two men to take care of the _Arrow_ and +then he led John and Lannes toward the group of tents. + +"First I'll get a surgeon for you," he said to the Frenchman, "and after +that there's food for you both." + +"I hope you'll tell the surgeon to be careful how he takes off my cap," +said Lannes, "because it's fastened to my head now by my own dried +blood." + +"Trust me for that," said de Rougemont. "I'll bring one of our best +men." + +Then, unable to suppress his curiosity any longer, he added: + +"I suppose the message you brought was one of life or death for France." + +"I think so," said Lannes, "but I know little of its nature, myself." + +"I would not ask you to say any more. I know that you cannot speak of +it. But you can tell me this. Are the Germans before Paris?" + +"As nearly as I could tell, their vanguard was within fifteen miles of +the capital." + +"Then if we strike at all we must strike quickly. I think we're going to +strike." + +Lannes was silent, and they entered the tent, where blankets were spread +for him. A surgeon, young and skillful, came promptly, carefully removed +the cap and bound up his head. John stood by and handed the surgeon the +bandages. + +"You're not much hurt," he said to Lannes as he finished. "Your chief +injury was shock, and that has passed. I can keep down the fever and +you'll be ready for work very soon. The high powered bullet makes a +small and clean wound. It tears scarcely at all. Nor will your beauty be +spoiled in the slightest, young sir. Both orifices are under the full +thickness of your hair." + +"I'm grateful for all your assurances," said Lannes, his old indomitable +smile appearing in his eyes, "but you'll have to cure me fast, faster +than you ever cured anybody before, because I'm a flying man, and I fly +again tomorrow." + +"Not tomorrow. In two or three days, perhaps--" + +"Yes, tomorrow, I tell you! Nothing can keep me from it! This army will +march tonight! I know it! and do you think such a wound as this can keep +me here, when the fate of Europe is being decided? I'd rise from these +blankets and go with the army even if I knew that it would make me fall +dead the next day!" + +He spoke with such fierce energy that the surgeon who at first sternly +forbade, looked doubtful and then acquiescent. + +"Go, then," he said, "if you can. The fact that we have so many heroes +may save us." + +He left John alone in the tent with Lannes. The Frenchman regarded his +comrade with a cool, assured gaze. + +"John," he said, "I shall be up in the _Arrow_ tomorrow. I'm not nervous +and excited now, and I'll not cause any fever in my wound. Somebody will +come in five minutes with food. I shall eat a good supper, fall quietly +to sleep, sleep soundly until night, then rise, refreshed and strong, +and go about the work for which I'm best fitted. My mind shall rule over +my body." + +"I see you're what we would call at home a Christian Scientist, and in +your case when a mind like yours is brought to bear there's something in +it." + +The food appeared within the prescribed time, and both ate heartily. +John watched Lannes. He knew that he would suffer agonies of +mortification if he were not able to share in the great movement which +so obviously was about to take place, and, as he looked, he felt a +growing admiration for Philip's immense power of self-control. + +Mind had truly taken command of body. Lannes ate slowly and with evident +relish. From without came many noises of a great army, but he refused to +be disturbed or excited by them. He spoke lightly of his life before the +war, and of a little country home that the Lannes family had in +Normandy. + +"We own the two places, that and the home in the city," he said. "The +house in Normandy is small, but it's beautiful, hidden by flower gardens +and orchards, with a tiny river just back of the last orchard. Julie has +spent most of her life there. She and my mother would go there now, but +it's safer at Lyons or in the Midi. A wonderful girl, Julie! I hope, +John, that you'll come for a long stay with us after the war, among the +Normandy orchards and roses." + +"I hope so," said John. He was dreaming a little then, and he saw young +Julie sitting at the table with them back in Paris. Truly, her golden +hair was the purest gold he had ever seen, and there was no other blue +like the blue of her blue eyes. + +"Now, John," said Lannes, "I'll resume my place on the blankets and in +ten minutes I'll be asleep." + +He lay down, closed his eyes and three minutes short of the appointed +time slept soundly. John gazed at him for a moment in wonder and +admiration. The triumph of will over body had been complete. He touched +Lannes' head. It was normally cool. Either the surgeon's skill had been +great or the very strength of his resolve had been so immense that he +had kept nerves and blood too quiet for fever to rise. + +John left the tent, feeling for the time a personal detachment from +everything. He had no position in this army, and no orders had been +given to him by anybody. But he knew that he was among friends, and +while he stood looking about in uncertainty Captain de Rougemont +appeared. + +"How is young Lannes?" he asked. + +"Sleeping and free from fever. He will move with the army, or rather he +will be hovering over it in his aeroplane. I never before saw such +extraordinary power of will." + +"He's a wonderful fellow. Of course, most of us have heard of him +through his marvelous flying exploits, but it's the first time that I've +ever seen him. What are you going to do?" + +"I don't know. I seem to be left high and dry for the present, at least. +My company is with one of the armies, but where that army is now is more +than I can tell." + +"Nor do I know either. We're all in the dark here, but any young strong +man can certainly get a chance to fight in this war. I'm on the staff of +General Vaugirard, a brigade commander, and he needs active young +officers. You speak good French, and the fact that you came with Lannes +will be a great recommendation, I'll provide you with a horse and all +else necessary." + +John thanked him with great sincerity. The offer was in truth most +welcome. He knew that Lannes would willingly take him in the _Arrow_, +but he felt that he would be in the way there and, as he had said to his +friend, the rolling earth rather than the air around it was his true +field of action. His first enrollment in the French army had been +hurried and without due forms, but war had made it good. + +"I'll not come back for you until afternoon," said de Rougemont, +"because we're already making preparations to advance, and I shall have +much to do meanwhile. You can watch over Lannes and see that he's not +interrupted in his sleep. He'll need it." + +"Yes, I have reason to know that he did not sleep at all last night, and +he must be in a state of complete exhaustion. But, just as he predicted, +he'll rise, his old self again." + +Captain de Rougemont hurried away, and John was left alone in the midst +of a great army. He stood before Lannes' tent, which was in the midst of +a grassy and rather elevated opening, and he heard once more the +infinite sounds made by two hundred thousand armed men, blending into +one vast, fused note. + +The army, too, was moving, or getting ready to move. Batteries of the +splendid French artillery passed before him, squadrons of horsemen +galloped by, and regiments of infantry followed. It all seemed confused, +aimless to the eye, but John knew that nevertheless it was proceeding +with order and method, directed by a master mind. + +Often trumpets sounded and the motion of the troops seemed to quicken. +Now he beheld men from the lands of the sun, the short, dark, fierce +soldiers of the Midi, youths of Marseilles and youths of the first Roman +province, whose native language was Provencal and not French. He +remembered the men of the famous battalion who had marched from +Marseilles to Paris singing Rouget de Lisle's famous song, and giving it +their name, while they tore down an ancient kingdom. Doubtless, spirits +no less ardent and fearless than theirs were here now. + +He saw the Arabs in turbans and flowing robes, and black soldiers from +Senegal, and seeing these men from far African deserts he knew that +France was rallying her strength for a supreme effort. The German +Empire, with the flush of unbroken victory in war after war, could +command the complete devotion of its sons, but the French Republic, +without such triumphs as yet, could do as well. John felt an immense +pride because he, too, was republican to the core, and often there was a +lot in a name. + +It was about noon now, and the sun was shining with dazzling brilliancy. +The tall hill and the low hill were clothed in deep green, and the +waters of the little river that ran between, sparkled in the light. The +air was crisp with a cool wind that blew from the west, and John felt +that the omens were good for the great mysterious movement which he +believed to be at hand. + +He looked into the tent and saw that Lannes was sleeping soundly, with a +good color in his face. A powerful constitution aided by a strong will +had done its work and he was sure that on the morrow Lannes would again +be the most daring French scout of the air. + +John found the waiting hard work. There was so much movement and action +that he wanted to be a part of it. He had thrown in his lot with this +army and he wanted to share its work at once. Yet much time passed, and +de Rougemont did not return. The evidences that the great French army +was marching to the point designated in the note brought by Lannes +multiplied. From the crest of the hill he already saw large bodies of +troops marching forward steadily, their long blue coats flapping +awkwardly about their legs. He wondered once more why they wore such an +inharmonious and conspicuous uniform as blue frock coats and baggy red +trousers. + +He heard presently the martial sounds of the Marseillaise, and the +regiment singing it passed very close to him. The men were nearly all +short, dark, and very young. But the spring and fire with which they +marched were magnificent. As they thundered out the grand old tune their +feet seemed scarcely to touch the earth, and fierce eyes glowed in dark +faces. + +John, with a start, recognized one, a petty officer, a sergeant it +seemed, who marched beside the line. He was the most eager of them all, +and his face was tense and wrapt. It was Geronimo, the little Apache, in +whom the spark of patriotism had lit the fire of genius. His call had +come and it had drawn him from a half savage life into one of glorious +deeds for his country. + +"He'll be a general if he isn't killed first," murmured John, with +absolute conviction. + +Geronimo, at that moment, looked his way and recognized him. His hand +flew to his head in a military salute, which John returned in kind, and +his eyes plainly showed pleasure at sight of this new friend whom he had +made in a few minutes on the Butte Montmartre. + +"We meet again," he said, "and before the week is out it will be victory +or death." + +"I think so, too," said John. + +"I know it," said Geronimo, and, saluting once more, he marched on with +his regiment. John saw them pass across the valley and join the great +mass of troops that filled the whole northern horizon. About an hour +later a cheerful voice called to him, and he beheld Lannes standing in +the door of the tent, his head well bandaged, but his eyes clear and +strong and the natural color in his face. + +"What has happened, John?" he asked. + +"You've slept six or seven hours." + +"And while I slept, the army, as I can see, has begun its march +according to the order we brought. I'm sorry I had to miss any of it, +but I was bound to sleep." + +"You're a marvel." + +"No marvel at all. I'm merely one of a million Frenchmen molded on the +same model. An army can't move fast and tonight the _Arrow_ and I will +be hovering over its front. There's your old place for you in the +plane." + +"I'd only be in your way, Philip. But can't you wait until tomorrow? +Don't rush yourself while you've got a new wound." + +"The wound is nothing. I'm bound to go tonight with the _Arrow_. But +what are you going to do if you don't go with me?" + +"A new friend whom I've made while you slept has found a place for me +with him, on the staff of General Vaugirard, a brigade commander. I +shall serve there until I'm able to rejoin the Strangers." + +"General Vaugirard! I've seen him. An able man, and a most noticeable +figure. You've fared well." + +"I hope so. Here comes Captain de Rougemont." + +The captain showed much pleasure at seeing Lannes up and apparently +well. + +"What! Has our king of the air revived so soon!" he exclaimed. + +"The dead themselves would rise when we're about to strike for the life +of France," said Lannes, his dramatic quality again coming to the front. + +"Well spoken," said de Rougemont, the color flushing into his face. + +"I return to my aeroplane within two hours," said Lannes. "I hold a +commission from our government which allows me to operate somewhat as a +free lance, but, of course, I shall conform for the present to the +wishes of the man who commands the flying corps of this army. Meanwhile, +I leave with you my young Yankee friend here, John Scott. For some +strange reason I've conceived for him a strong brotherly affection. +Kindly see that he doesn't get killed unless it's necessary for our +country, and this, I think, is a long enough speech for me to make now." + +"I'll do my best for him," said de Rougemont earnestly. "I've come for +you, Scott." + +"Good-bye, Philip," said John, extending his hand. + +"Good-bye, John," said Lannes, "and do as I tell you. Don't get yourself +killed unless it's absolutely necessary." + +Usually so stoical, his voice showed emotion, and he turned away after +the strong pressure of the two hands. John and de Rougemont walked down +the valley, where they joined General Vaugirard and the rest of his +staff. + +As soon as John saw the general he knew what Lannes meant by his phrase +"a noticeable figure." General Vaugirard was a man of about sixty, so +enormously fat that he must have weighed three hundred pounds. His face +was covered with thick white beard, out of which looked small, sharp red +eyes. He reminded John of a great white bear. The little red eyes bored +him through for an instant, and then their owner said briefly: + +"De Rougemont has vouched for you. Stay with him. An orderly has your +horse." + +A French soldier held for him a horse bearing all the proper equipment, +and John, saluting the general, sprang into the saddle. He was a good +horseman, and now he felt thoroughly sure of himself. If it came to the +worst, and he was unseated, the earth was not far away, but if he were +thrown out of the _Arrow_ he would have a long and terrible time in +falling. + +General Vaugirard had not yet mounted, but stood beside a huge black +horse, fit to carry such a weight. He was listening and looking with the +deepest attention and his staff was silent around him. John saw from +their manner that these men liked and respected their immense general. + +More trumpets sounded, much nearer now, and a messenger galloped up, +handing a note to General Vaugirard, who glanced at it hastily, uttered +a deep Ah! of relief and joy and thrust it into his pocket. + +Then saying to his staff, "Gentlemen, we march at once," he put one hand +on his horse's shoulder, and, to John's immense surprise, leaped as +lightly into the saddle as if he had been a riding master. He settled +himself easily into his seat, spoke a word to his staff, and then he +rode with his regiments toward that great mass of men on the horizon who +were steadily marching forward. + +John kept by the side of de Rougemont. There were brief introductions to +some of the young officers nearest him, and he felt an air of +friendliness about him. As de Rougemont told them he had already given +ample proof of his devotion to the cause, and he was accepted promptly +as one of them. + +John was now conscious how strongly he had projected himself into the +life of the French. He was an American for generations back and his +blood by descent was British. He had been among the Germans and he liked +them personally, he had served already with the English, and their point +of view was more nearly like the American than any other. But he was +here with the French and he felt for them the deepest sympathy of all. +He was conscious of a tie like that of blood brotherhood. + +He knew it was due to the old and yet unpaid help France had given to +his own country, and above all to the conviction that France, minding +her own business, had been set upon by a greater power, with intent to +crush and destroy. France was attacked by a dragon, and the old similes +of mythology floated through his mind, but, oftenest, that of Andromeda +chained to the rock. And the figure that typified France always had the +golden hair and dark blue eyes of slim, young Julie Lannes. + +They advanced several hours almost in silence, as far as talk was +concerned, but two hundred thousand men marching made a deep and steady +murmur. General Vaugirard kept well in front of his staff, riding, +despite his immense bulk, like a Comanche, and occasionally putting his +glasses to those fiery little red eyes. At length he turned and beckoned +to John, who promptly drew up to his side. + +"You speak good French?" he said in his native tongue. + +"Yes, sir," replied John promptly. + +"I understand that you came with the flying man, Lannes, who brought the +message responsible for this march, and that it is not the only time +you've done good service in our cause?" + +John bowed modestly. + +"Did you see any German troops on the way?" + +"Only a band of Uhlans." + +"A mere scouting party. It occurred to me that you might have seen +masses of troops belonging to the foe, indicating perhaps what is +awaiting us at the end of our march." + +"I know nothing, sir. The Uhlans were all the foes we saw from the air, +save the man who shot Lannes." + +"I believe you. You belong to the youngest of the great nations. Your +people have not yet learned to say with the accents of truth the thing +that is not. I am sixty years old, and yet I have the curiosity to know +where I am going and what I am expected to do when I get there. Behold +how I, an old man, speak so frankly to you, so young." + +"When I saw your excellency leap into the saddle you did not seem to me +to be more than twenty." + +John called him "your excellency" because he thought that in the absence +of precise knowledge of what was fitting the term was as good as +another. + +A smile twinkled in the eyes of General Vaugirard. Evidently he was +pleased. + +"That is flattery, flattery, young man," he said, "but it pleases me. +Since I've drawn from you all you know, which is but little, you may +fall back with your comrades. But keep near; I fancy I shall have much +for you to do before long. Meanwhile, we march on, in ignorance of what +is awaiting us. Ah, well, such is life!" + +He seemed to John a strange compound of age and youth, a mixture of the +philosopher and the soldier. That he was a real leader John could no +longer doubt. He saw the little red eyes watching everything, and he +noticed that the regiments of Vaugirard had no superiors in trimness and +spirit. + +They marched until sundown and stopped in some woods clear of +undergrowth, like most of those in Europe. The camp kitchens went to +work at once, and they received good food and coffee. As far as John +could see men were at rest, but he could not tell whether the whole army +was doing likewise. It spread out much further to both right and left +than his eyes could reach. + +The members of the staff tethered their horses in the grove, and after +supper stood together and talked, while the fat general paced back and +forth, his brow wrinkled in deep thought. + +"Good old Papa Vaugirard is studying how to make the best of us," said +de Rougemont. "We're all his children. They say that he knows nearly ten +thousand men under his command by face if not by name, and we trust him +as no other brigade commander in the army is trusted by his troops. He's +thinking hard now, and General Vaugirard does not think for nothing. As +soon as he arrives at what seems to him a solution of his problem he +will begin to whistle. Then he will interrupt his whistling by saying: +'Ah, well, such is life.'" + +"I hope he'll begin to whistle soon," said John, "because his brow is +wrinkling terribly." + +He watched the huge general with a sort of fascinated gaze. Seen now in +the twilight, Vaugirard's very bulk was impressive. He was immense, +strong, primeval. He walked back and forth over a line about thirty feet +long, and the deep wrinkles remained on his brow. Every member of his +staff was asking how long it would last. + +A sound, mellow and soft, but penetrating, suddenly arose. General +Vaugirard was whistling, and John's heart gave a jump of joy. He did not +in the least doubt de Rougemont's assertion that an answer to the +problem had been found. + +General Vaugirard whistled to himself softly and happily. Then he said +twice, and in very clear tones: "Ah, well, such is life!" He began to +whistle again, stopped in a moment or two and called to de Rougemont, +with whom he talked a while. + +"We're to march once more in a half-hour," said de Rougemont, when he +returned to John and his comrades. "It must be a great converging +movement in which time is worth everything. At least, General Vaugirard +thinks so, and he has a plan to get us into the very front of the +action." + +"I hope so," said John. "I'm not anxious to get killed, but I'd rather +be in the battle than wait. I wonder if I'll meet anywhere on the front +that company to which I belong, the Strangers." + +"I think I've heard of them," said de Rougemont, "a body of Americans +and Englishmen, volunteers in the French service, commanded by Captain +Daniel Colton." + +"Right you are, and I've two particular friends in that company--I +suppose they've rejoined it--Wharton, an American, and Carstairs, an +Englishman. We went through a lot of dangers together before we reached +the British army near Mons, and I'd like to see them again." + +"Maybe you will, but here comes an extraordinary procession." + +They heard many puffing sounds, uniting in one grand puffing chorus, and +saw advancing down a white road toward them a long, ghostly train, as if +a vast troop of extinct monsters had returned to earth and were marching +this way. But John knew very well that it was a train of automobiles and +raising the glasses that he now always carried he saw that they were +empty except for the chauffeurs. + +General Vaugirard began to whistle his mellowest and most musical tune, +stopping only at times to mutter a few words under his breath. John +surmised that he was expressing deep satisfaction, and that he had been +waiting for the motor train. War was now fought under new conditions. +The Germans had thousands and scores of thousands of motors, and perhaps +the French were provided almost as well. + +"I fancy," said de Rougemont, who was also watching the arrival of the +machines, "that we'll leave our horses now and travel by motor." + +De Rougemont's supposition was correct. The line of automobiles began to +mass in front, many rows deep, and all the chauffeurs, their great +goggles shining through the darkness, were bent over their wheels ready +to be off at once with their armed freight. It filled John with elation, +and he saw the same spirit shining in the eyes of the young French +officers. + +General Vaugirard began to puff like one of the machines. He threw out +his great chest, pursed up his mouth and emitted his breath in little +gusts between his lips, "Very good! Very good, my children!" he said, +"Oil and electricity will carry us now, and we go forward, not +backward!" + +True to de Rougemont's prediction, the horses were given to orderlies, +and the staff and a great portion of the troops were taken into the +cars. General Vaugirard and several of the older officers occupied a +huge machine, and just behind him came de Rougemont, John and a +half-dozen young lieutenants and captains in another. Before them +stretched a great white road. Far overhead hovered many aeroplanes. John +had no doubt that the _Arrow_ was among them, or rather was the farthest +one forward. Lannes' eager soul, wound or no wound, would keep him in +front. + +They now moved rapidly, and John's spirits continued to rise. There was +something wonderful in this swift march on wheels in the moonlight. As +far back as he could see the machines came in a stream, and to the left +and right he saw them proceeding on other roads also. All the country +was strange to John. He could not remember having seen it from the +aeroplane, and he was sure that the army, instead of going to Paris, was +bound for some point where it would come in instant contact with the +German forces. + +"Do you know the road?" he asked of de Rougemont. + +"Not at all. I'm from the Gironde country. I've been in Paris, but I +know little of the region about it. A good way to reach the front, is it +not, Mr. Scott?" + +"Fine. I fancy that we're hurried forward to make a link in a chain, or +at least to stop a gap." + +"And those large birds overhead are scouting for us." + +"Look! One of them is dropping down. I dare say it's making a report to +some general higher in rank than ours." + +He pointed with a long forefinger, and John watched the aeroplane come +down in its slanting course like a falling star. It was a beautiful +night, a light blue sky, with a fine moon and hosts of clear stars. One +could see far, and soon after the plane descended John saw it rise again +from the same spot, ascend high in air, and shoot off toward the east. + +"That may have been Lannes," he said. + +"Likely as not," said de Rougemont. + +John now observed General Vaugirard, who sat erect in the front of his +automobile, with a pair of glasses, relatively as huge as himself, to +his eyes. Occasionally he would purse his lips, and John knew that his +favorite expression was coming forth. To the young American's +imaginative mind his broad back expressed rigidity and strength. + +The great murmuring sound, the blended advance of so many men, made John +sleepy by-and-by. In spite of himself his heavy eyelids drooped, and +although he strove manfully against it, sleep took him. When he awoke he +heard the same deep murmur, like the roll of the sea, and saw the army +still advancing. It was yet night, though fine and clear, and there +before him was the broad, powerful back of the general. Vaugirard was +still using the glasses and John judged that he had not slept at all. +But in his own machine everybody was asleep except the man at the wheel. + +The country had grown somewhat hillier, but its characteristics were the +same, fertile, cultivated fields, a small wood here and there, clear +brooks, and church spires shining in the dusk. Both horse and foot +advanced across the fields, but the roads were occupied by the motors, +which John judged were carrying at least twenty thousand men and maybe +forty thousand. + +He was not sleepy now, and he watched the vast panorama wheel past. He +knew without looking at his watch that the night was nearly over, +because he could already smell the dawn. The wind was freshening a bit, +and he heard its rustle in the leaves of a wood as they pushed through +it. + +Then came a hum and a whir, and a long line of men on motor cycles at +the edge of the road crept up and then passed them. One checked his +speed enough to run by the side of John's car, and the rider, raising +his head a little, gazed intently at the young American. His cap closed +over his face like a hood, but the man knew him. + +"Fortune puts us on the same road again, Mr. Scott," he said. + +"I don't believe I know you," said John, although there was a familiar +note in the voice. + +"And yet you've met me several times, and under exciting conditions. It +seems to me that we're always pursuing similar things, or we wouldn't be +together on the same road so often. You're acute enough. Don't you know +me now?" + +"I think I do. You're Fernand Weber, the Alsatian." + +"And so I am. I knew your memory would not fail you. It's a great +movement that we've begun, Mr. Scott. France will be saved or destroyed +within the next few days." + +"I think so." + +"You've deserted your friend, Philip Lannes, the finest of our airmen." + +"Oh, no, I haven't. He's deserted me. I couldn't afford to be a burden +on his aeroplane at such a time as this." + +"I suppose not. I saw an aeroplane come down to earth a little while +ago, and then rise again. I'm sure it was his machine, the _Arrow_." + +"So am I." + +"Here's where he naturally would be. Good-bye, Mr. Scott, and good luck +to you. I must go on with my company." + +"Good-bye and good luck," repeated John, as the Alsatian shot forward. +He liked Weber, who had a most pleasing manner, and he was glad to have +seen him once more. + +"Who was that?" asked de Rougemont, waking from his sleep and catching +the last words of farewell. + +"An Alsatian, named Fernand Weber, who has risked his life more than +once for France. He belongs to the motor-cycle corps that's just +passing." + +"May he and his comrades soon find the enemy, because here is the day." + +The leaves and grass rippled before the breeze and over the eastern +hills the dawn broke. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE INVISIBLE HAND + + +It was a brilliant morning sun, deepening the green of the pleasant +land, lighting up villages and glinting off church steeples. In a field +a little distance to their right John saw two peasants at work already, +bent over, their eyes upon the ground, apparently as indifferent to the +troops as the troops were to them. + +It was very early, but the sun was rising fast, unfolding a splendid +panorama. The French army with its blues and reds was more spectacular +than the German, and hence afforded a more conspicuous target. John was +sure that if the war went on the French would discard these vivid +uniforms and betake themselves to gray or khaki. He saw clearly that the +day of gorgeous raiment for the soldier had passed. + +The great puffing sound of primeval monsters which had blended into one +rather harmonious note ceased, as if by signal, and the innumerable +motors stopped. As far as John could see the army stretched to left and +right over roads, hills and fields, but in the fields behind them the +silent peasants went on with their work--in fields which the Republic +had made their own. + +"I think we take breakfast here," said Rougemont. "War is what one of +your famous American generals said it was, but for the present, at +least, we are marching _de luxe_. Here comes one of those glorious +camp-kitchens." + +An enormous motor vehicle, equipped with all the paraphernalia of a +kitchen, stopped near them, and men, trim and neatly dressed, served hot +food and steaming coffee. General Vaugirard had alighted also, and John +noticed that his step was much more springy and alert than that of some +officers half his age. His breath came in great gusts, and the small +portion of his face not covered by thick beard was ruddy and glowing +with health. He drank several cups of coffee with startling rapidity, +draining each at a breath, and between times he whistled softly a +pleasing little refrain. + +The march must be going well. Undoubtedly General Vaugirard had received +satisfactory messages in the night, while his young American aide, and +other Frenchmen as young, slept. + +"Well, my children," he said, rubbing his hands after his last cup of +coffee had gone to its fate, "the day dawns and behold the sun of France +is rising. It's not the sun of Austerlitz, but a modest republican sun +that can grow and grow. Behold we are at the appointed place, set forth +in the message that came to us from the commander-in-chief through +Paris, and then by way of the air! And, look, my children, the bird +from the blue descends once more among us!" + +There were flying machines of many kinds in the air, but John promptly +picked out one which seemed to be coming with the flight of an eagle out +of its uppermost heights. He seemed to know its slim, lithe shape, and +the rapidity and decision of its approach. His heart thrilled, as it had +thrilled when he saw the _Arrow_ coming for the first time on that spur +of the Alps near Salzburg. + +"It's for me," said General Vaugirard, as he looked upward. "This flying +demon, this man without fear, was told to report directly to me, and he +conies at the appointed hour." + +Something of the mystery that belongs to the gulf of the infinite was +reflected in the general's eyes. He, too, felt that man's flight in the +heavens yet had in it a touch of the supernatural. Lannes' plane had +seemed to shoot from white clouds, out of unknown spaces, and the +general ceased to whistle or breathe gustily. His chest rose and fell +more violently than usual, but the breath came softly. + +The plane descended rapidly and settled down on the grass very near +them. Lannes saluted and presented a note to General Vaugirard, who +started and then expelled the breath from his lungs in two or three +prodigious puffs. + +"Good, my son, good!" he exclaimed, patting Lannes repeatedly on the +shoulder; "and now a cup of coffee for you at once! Hurry with it, some +of you idle children! Can't you see that he needs it!" + +John was first with the coffee, which Lannes drank eagerly, although it +was steaming hot. John saw that he needed it very much indeed, as he was +white and shaky. He noticed, too, that there were spots of blood on +Lannes' left sleeve. + +"What is it, Philip?" he whispered. "You've been attacked again?" + +"Aye, truly. My movements seem to be observed by some mysterious eye. A +shot was fired at me, and again it came from a French plane. That was +all I could see. We were in a bank of mist at the time, and I just +caught a glimpse of the plane itself. The man was a mere shapeless +figure to me. I had no time to fight him, because I was due here with +another message which made vengeance upon him at that time a matter of +little moment." + +He flecked the red drops off his sleeve, and added: + +"It was but a scratch. My weary look comes from a long and hard flight +and not from the mysterious bullet. I'm to rest here an hour, which will +be sufficient to restore me, and then I'm off again." + +"Is there any rule against your telling me what you've seen, Philip?" + +De Rougemont and several other officers had approached, drawn by their +curiosity, and interest in Lannes. + +"None at all," he replied in a tone all could hear, "but I'm able to +speak in general terms only. I can't give details, because I don't know +'em. The Germans are not many miles ahead. They're in hundreds of +thousands, and I hear that this is only one of a half-dozen armies." + +"And our own force?" said de Rougemont eagerly. + +Lannes' chest expanded. The dramatic impulse was strong upon him again. + +"There is another army on our right, and another on our left," he +replied, "and although I don't know surely, I think there are others +still further on the line. The English are somewhere with us, too." + +John felt his face tingle as the blood rose in it. He had left a Paris +apparently lost. Within a day almost a tremendous transformation had +occurred. A mighty but invisible intellect, to which he was yet scarcely +able to attach a name, had been at work. The French armies, the beaten +and the unbeaten, had become bound together like huge links in a chain, +and the same invisible and all but nameless mind was drawing the chain +forward with gigantic force. + +"A million Frenchmen must be advancing," he heard Lannes saying, and +then he came out of his vision. General Vaugirard bustled up and gave +orders to de Rougemont, who said presently to John: + +"Can you ride a motor cycle?" + +"I've had some experience, and I'm willing to make it more." + +"Good. In this army, staff officers will no longer have horses shot +under them. We're to take orders on motor cycles. They've been sent +ahead for us, and here's yours waiting for you." + +The cycles were leaning against trees, and the members of the staff took +their places beside them. General Vaugirard walked a little distance up +the road, climbed into an automobile and, standing up, looked a long +time through his glasses. Lannes, who had been resting on the grass, +approached the general and John saw him take a note from him. Then +Lannes went away to the _Arrow_ and sailed off into the heavens. Many +other planes were flying over the French army and far off in front John +saw through his own glasses a fleet of them which he knew must be +German. + +Then he heard a sound, faint but deep, which came rolling like an echo, +and he recognized it as the distant note of a big gun. He quivered a +little, as he leaned against his motor cycle, but quickly stiffened +again to attention. The faint rolling sound came again from their right +and then many times. John, using his glasses, saw nothing there, and the +giant general, still standing up in the car and also using his glasses, +saw nothing there either. + +Yet the same quiver that affected John had gone through this whole army +of two hundred thousand men, one of the huge links in the French chain. +There was none among them who did not know that the far note was the +herald of battle, not a mere battle of armies, but of nations face to +face. + +General Vaugirard did not show any excitement. He leaped lightly from +the car, and then began to pace up and down slowly, as if he were +awaiting orders. The men moved restlessly on the meadows, looking like a +vast sea of varied colors, as the sun glimmered on the red and blue of +their uniforms. + +But no order came for them to advance. John thought that perhaps they +were saved to be driven as a wedge into the German center and whispered +his belief to de Rougemont, who agreed with him. + +"They are opening on the left, too," said the Frenchman. "Can't you hear +the growling of the guns there?" + +John listened and soon he separated the note from other sounds. Beyond a +doubt the battle had now begun on both flanks, though at distant points. +He wondered where the English force was, though he had an idea that it +was on the left then. Yet he was already thoroughly at home with the +staff of General Vaugirard. + +The growling on either side of them seemed soon to come a little closer, +but John knew nevertheless that it was many miles away. + +"Not an enemy in sight, not even a trace of smoke," said de Rougemont to +him. "We seem to be a great army here, merely resting in the fields, and +yet we know that a huge battle is going on." + +"And that's about all we do know," said John. "What has impressed me in +this war is the fact that high officers even know so little. When cannon +throw shells ten or twelve miles, eyesight doesn't get much chance." + +A wait for a full half-hour followed, a period of intense anxiety for +all in the group, and for the whole army too. John used his glasses +freely, and often he saw the French soldiers moving about in a restless +manner, until they were checked by their officers. But most of them were +lying down, their blue coats and red trousers making a vast and vivid +blur against the green of the grass. + +All the while the sound of the cannon grew, but, despite the power of +his glasses, John could not see a sign of war. Only that roaring sound +came to tell him that battle, vast, gigantic, on a scale the world had +never seen before, was joined, and the volume of the cannon fire, beyond +a doubt, was growing. It pulsed heavily, and either he or his fancy +noticed a steady jarring motion. A faint acrid taint crept into the air +and he felt it in his nose and throat. He coughed now and then, and he +observed that men around him coughed also. But, on the whole, the army +was singularly still, the soldiers straining eye or ear to see something +or hear more of the titanic struggle that was raging on either side of +them. + +John again searched the horizon eagerly with his glasses, but it showed +only green hills and bits of wood, bare of human activity. The French +aeroplanes still hovered, but not in front of General Vaugirard. They +were off to right and left, where the wings of the nations had closed in +combat. He was ceasing to think of the foes as armies, but as nations in +battle line. Here stood not a French army, but France, and there stood +not a German army, but Germany. + +As he looked toward the left he picked out a narrow road, running +between hedges, and showing but a strip of white even through the +glasses. He saw something coming along this road. It was far away when +he first noticed it, but it was coming with great speed, and he was soon +able to tell that it was a man on a motor cycle. His pulse leaped +again. He felt instinctively that the rider was for them and that he +bore something of great import. The figure, man and cycle, molded into +one, sped along the narrow road which led to the base of the hill on +which General Vaugirard and his staff stood. + +The huge general saw the approaching figure too, and he began to whistle +melodiously like the note of a piccolo, with the vast thunder of the +guns accompanying him as an orchestra. John knew that the cyclist was a +messenger, and that he was eagerly expected. An order of some kind was +at hand! All the members of the staff had the same conviction. + +The cyclist stopped at the bottom of the hill, leaped from the machine +and ran to General Vaugirard, to whom he handed a note. The general read +it, expelled his breath in a mighty gust, and turning to his staff, +said: + +"My children, our time has come. The whole central army of which we are +a part will advance. It will perhaps be known before night whether +France is to remain a great nation or become the vassal of Germany. My +children, if France ever had need for you to fight with all your hearts +and souls, that need is here today." + +His manner was simple and majestic, and his words touched the mind and +feeling of every one who heard them. John was moved as much as if he had +been a Frenchman too. He felt a profound sympathy for this devoted +France, which had suffered so much, to which his own country still owed +that great debt, and which had a right to her own soil, fertilized with +so many centuries of labor. + +General Vaugirard, resting a pad on his knee, wrote rapid notes which he +gave to the members of his staff in turn to be delivered. John's was to +a Parisian regiment lying in a field, and expanding body and mind into +instant action, he leaped upon the cycle and sped away. It was often +hard for him now to separate fact from fancy. His imagination, vivid at +all times, painted new pictures while such a tremendous drama passed +before him. + +Yet he knew afterward that the sound of the battle did increase in +volume as he flew over the short distance to the regiment. Both east and +west were shaking with the tremendous concussion. One crash he heard +distinctly above the others and he believed it was that of a forty-two +centimeter. + +He reached the field, his cycle spun between the eager soldiers, and as +he leaped off in the presence of the colonel he fairly thrust the note +into his hand, exclaiming at the same time in his zeal, "It's an order +to advance! The whole Army of the Center is about to attack." + +He called it the Army of the Center at a guess, but names did not matter +now. The colonel glanced at the note, waved his sword above his head and +cried in a loud voice: + +"My lads, up and forward!" + +The regiment arose with a roar of cheering and began to advance across +the fields. John caught a glimpse of a petty officer, short and small, +but as compact and fierce as a panther, driving on men who needed no +driving. "Geronimo is going to make good," he said to himself. "He'll do +or die today." + +As he raced back for new orders, if need be, he knew now that fact not +fancy told him the battle was growing. The earth shook not only on right +and left but in front also. A hasty look through the glasses showed +little tongues of fire licking up on the horizon before them and he knew +that they came from the monster cannon of the Germans who were surely +advancing, while the French were advancing also to meet them. + +General Vaugirard sprang into his automobile, taking only two of his +senior officers with him, while the rest followed on their motor cycles. +As far as John could see on either side the vast rows of French swept +across hills and fields. There was little shouting now and no sound of +bands, but presently a shout arose behind them: "Way for the artillery!" + +Then he heard cries, the rumble of wheels and the rapid beat of hoofs. +With an instinctive shudder, lest he be ground to pieces, he pulled from +the road, and saw the motor of General Vaugirard turn out also. Then the +great French batteries thundered past to seek positions soon in the +fields behind low hills. He saw them a little later unlimbering and +making ready. + +The French advance changed from a walk to a trot. John saw the Parisian +regiment, not far away, but at the very front and he knew that among all +those ardent souls there was none more ardent than that of the little +Apache, Bougainville. Meanwhile, Vaugirard in his motor kept to the +road and the staff on their motor cycles followed closely. + +On both flanks the thunder of massed cannon was deepening, and now John, +who used his glasses occasionally, was able to see wisps and tendrils of +smoke on the eastern and northern horizons. The tremor in the air was +strong and continuous. It played incessantly upon the drums of his ears, +and he found that he could not hear the words of the other aides so well +as before. But there was no succession of crashes. The sound was more +like the roaring of a distant storm. + +They advanced another mile, two hundred thousand men, afire with zeal, a +whole vast army moved forward as the other French armies were by the +hidden hand which they could not see, of which they knew nothing, but +the touch of which they could feel. + +John heard a whizzing sound, he caught a glimpse of a dark object, +rushing forward at frightful velocity, and then he and his wheel reeled +beneath the force of a tremendous explosion. The shell coming from an +invisible point, miles away, had burst some distance on his right, +scattering death and wounds over a wide radius. But Vaugirard's brigades +did not stop for one instant. They cheered loudly, closed up the gap in +their line, and went on steadily as before. Some one began to sing the +Marseillaise, and in an instant the song, like fire in dry grass, spread +along a vast front. John had often wished that he could have heard the +armies of the French Revolution singing their tremendous battle hymn as +they marched to victory, and now he heard it on a scale far more +gigantic than in the days of the First French Republic. + +The vast chorus rolled for miles and for all he knew other armies, far +to right and left, might be singing it, too. The immense volume of the +song drowned out everything, even that tremor in the air, caused by the +big guns. John's heart beat so hard that it caused actual physical pain +in his side, and presently, although he was unconscious of it, he was +thundering out the verses with the others. + +He was riding by the side of de Rougemont, and he stopped singing long +enough to shout, at the top of his voice: + +"No enemy in sight yet?" + +"No," de Rougemont shouted back, "but he doesn't need to be. The German +guns have our range." + +From a line on the distant horizon, from positions behind hills, the +German shells were falling fast, cutting down men by hundreds, tearing +great holes in the earth, and filling the air with an awful shrieking +and hissing. It was all the more terrible because the deadly missiles +seemed to come from nowhere. It was like a mortal hail rained out of +heaven. John had not yet seen a German, nothing but those tongues of +fire licking up on the horizon, and some little whitish clouds of smoke, +lifting themselves slowly above the trees, yet the thunder was no longer +a rumble. It had a deep and angry note, whose burden was death. + +They must maintain their steady march directly toward the mouths of +those guns. John comprehended in those awful moments that the task of +the French was terrible, almost superhuman. If their nation was to live +they must hurl back a victorious foe, practically numberless, armed and +equipped with everything that a great race in a half-century of supreme +thought and effort could prepare for war. It was spirit and patriotism +against the monstrous machine of fire and steel, and he trembled lest +the machine could overcome anything in the world. + +He was about to shout again to de Rougemont, but his words were lost in +the rending crash of the French artillery. Their batteries were posted +on both sides of him, and they, too, had found the range. All along the +front hundreds of guns were opening and John hastily thrust portions +that he tore from his handkerchief into his ear, lest he be deafened +forever. + +The sight, at first magnificent, now became appalling. The shells came +in showers and the French ranks were torn and mangled. Companies existed +and then they were not. The explosions were like the crash of +thunderbolts, but through it all the French continued to advance. Those +whose knees grew weak beneath them were upborne and carried forward by +the press of their comrades. The French gunners, too, were making +prodigious efforts but with cannon of such long range neither side could +see what its batteries were accomplishing. John was sure, though, that +the great French artillery must be giving as good as it received. + +He was conscious that General Vaugirard was still going forward along +the long white road, sweeping his glasses from left to right and from +right to left in a continuous semi-circle, apparently undisturbed, +apparently now without human emotion. He was no figure of romance, but +he was a man, cool and powerful, ready to die with all his men, if death +for them was needed. + +Still the invisible hand swept them on, the hand that a million men in +action could not see, but which every one of the million, in his own +way, felt. The crash of the guns on both sides had become fused together +into one roar, so steady and continued so long that the sound seemed +almost normal. Voices could now be heard under it and John spoke to de +Rougemont. + +"Can you make anything of it?" he asked. "Do we win or do we lose?" + +"It's too early yet to tell anything. The cannon only are speaking, but +you'll note that our army is advancing." + +"Yes, I see it. Before I've only beheld it in retreat before +overwhelming numbers. This is different." + +General Vaugirard beckoned to his aides, and again sent them out with +messages. John's note was to the commander of a battery of field guns +telling him to move further forward. He started at once through the +fields on his motor cycle, but he could not go fast now. The ground had +been cut deep by artillery and cavalry and torn by shells and he had to +pick his way, while the shower of steel, sent by men who were firing by +mathematics, swept over and about him. + +Shivers seized him more than once, as shrapnel and pieces of shell flew +by. Now and then he covered his eyes with one hand to shut out the +horror of dead and torn men lying on either side of his path, but in +spite of the shells, in spite of the deadly nausea that assailed him at +times, he went on. The rush of air from a shell threw him once from his +motor cycle, but as he fell on soft clodded earth he was not hurt, and, +springing quickly back on his wheel, he reached the battery. + +The order was welcome to the commander of the guns, who was anxious to +go closer, and, limbering up, he advanced as rapidly as weapons of such +great weight could be dragged across the fields. John followed, that he +might report the result. They were now facing toward the east and the +whole horizon there was a blaze of fire. The shells were coming thicker +and thicker, and the air was filled with the screaming of the shrapnel. + +The commander of the battery, a short, powerful Frenchman, was as cool +as ice, and John drew coolness from him. One can get used to almost +anything, and his nervous tremors were passing. Despite the terrible +fire of the German artillery the French army was still advancing. Many +thousands had fallen already before the shells and shrapnel of the +invisible foe, but there had been no check. + +The cannon crossed a brook, and, unlimbering, again opened a tremendous +fire. To one side and on a hill here, a man whom the commander watched +closely was signaling. John knew that he was directing the aim of the +battery and the French, like the Germans, were killing by mathematics. + +He rode his cycle to the crest of a little elevation behind the battery +and with his newfound coolness began to use his glasses again. Despite +the thin, whitish smoke, he saw men on the horizon, mere manikins moving +back and forth, apparently without meaning, but men nevertheless. He +caught, too, the outline of giant tubes, the huge guns that were sending +the ceaseless rain of death upon the French. + +He also saw signs of hurry and confusion among those manikins, and he +knew that the French shells were striking them. He rode down to the +commander and told him. The swart Frenchman grinned. + +"My children are biting," he said, glancing affectionately at his guns. +"They're brave lads, and their teeth are long and sharp." + +He looked at his signal man, and the guns let loose again with a force +that sent the air rushing away in violent waves. Batteries farther on +were firing also with great rapidity. In most of these the gunners were +directed by field telephones strung hastily, but the one near John still +depended upon signal men. It was composed of eight five-inch guns, and +John believed that its fire was most accurate and deadly. + +Using his glasses again, he saw that the disturbance among those +manikins was increasing. They were running here and there, and many +seemed to vanish suddenly--he knew that they were blown away by the +shells. To the right of the great French battery some lighter field guns +were advancing. One drawn by eight horses had not yet unlimbered, and he +saw a shell strike squarely upon it. In the following explosion pieces +of steel whizzed by him and when the smoke cleared away the gun, the +gunners and the horses were all gone. The monster shell had blown +everything to pieces. The other guns hurried on, took up their positions +and began to fire. John shuddered violently, but in a moment or two, he, +too, forgot the little tragedy in the far more gigantic one that was +being played before him. + +He rode back to General Vaugirard and told him that his order had been +obeyed. The general nodded, but did not take his glasses from the +horizon, where a long gray line was beginning to appear against the +green of the earth. "It goes well so far," John heard him say in the +under note which was audible beneath the thunder of the battle. + +In a quarter of an hour the great batteries limbered up again, and once +more the French army went forward, the troops to lie down and wait +again, while the artillery worked with ferocious energy. It was yet a +battle of big guns, at least in the center. The armies were not near +enough to each other for rifles; in truth not near enough yet to be +seen. John, even with his glasses, could only discern the gray line +advancing, he could make little of its form or order or of what it was +trying to do. + +But a light wind was now bringing smoke from one flank where the battle +was far heavier than in the center, and the concussion of the artillery +at that point became so frightful that the air seemed to come in waves +of the utmost violence and to beat upon the drum of the ear with the +force of a hammer. Owing to the wind John could not hear the battle on +the other flank so well, but he believed that it was being fought there +with equal fury and determination. + +He was watching with such intentness that he did not hear the sweep of +an aeroplane behind him, but he did see Lannes run to General +Vaugirard's car and give him a note. + +While the general read and pondered, Lannes turned toward the wheel on +which John sat. Although he tried to preserve calm, John knew that he +was tremendously excited. He had taken off his heavy glasses and his +wonderful gray eyes were flashing. It was obvious to his friend, who now +knew him so well, that he was moved by some tremendous emotion. + +John rode up by the side of Lannes and said: + +"What have you seen, Philip? You can tell a little at least, can't you?" + +"More than a little! A lot! The _Arrow_ and I have looked over a great +area, John! Miles and miles and yet more miles! and wherever we went we +gazed down upon armies locked in battle, and beyond that were other +armies locked in battle, too! The nations meet in wrath! You can't see +it here, nor from anywhere on the earth! It's only in the air high +overhead that one can get even a partial view of its immensity! The +English army is off there on the flank, a full thirty miles away, and +you're not likely to see it today!" + +He would have said more, but General Vaugirard beckoned to him, gave him +a note which he had written hastily, and in a few more minutes Lannes +was flitting like a swallow through the heavens. Then General +Vaugirard's car moved forward and brigade after brigade of the French +army resumed its advance also. + +John felt that the great German machine had been met by a French machine +as great. Perhaps the master mind that thrills through an organism of +steel no less than one of human flesh was on the French side. He did not +know. The invisible hand thrusting forward the French armies was still +invisible to him. Yet he felt with the certainty of conviction that the +eye and the brain of one man were achieving a marvel. In some mysterious +manner the French defense had become an offense. The Republican troops +were now attacking and the Imperial troops were seeking to hold fast. + +He seemed to comprehend it all in an instant, and a mighty joy surged +over him. De Rougemont saw his glistening eye and he asked curiously: + +"What is it that you are feeling so strongly, Mr. Scott?" + +"The thrill of the advance! The unknown plan, whatever it is, is +working! Your nation is about to be saved! I feel it! I know it!" + +De Rougemont gazed at him, and then the light leaped into his own eyes. + +"A prophet! A prophet!" he cried. "Inspired youth speaks!" + +A great crisis may call into being a great impulse, and de Rougemont's +words were at once accepted as truth by all the young aides. Words of +fire, words vital with life had gone forth, predicting their triumph, +and as they rode among the troops carrying orders they communicated +their burning zeal to the men who were already eager for closer battle. + +The storm of missiles from the cannon was increasing rapidly. John now +distinctly saw the huge German masses, not advancing but standing firm +to receive the French attack, their front a vast line of belching guns. +He knew that they would soon be within the area of rifle fire and he +knew with equal truth that it would take the valor of immense numbers, +wielded by the supreme skill of leaders to drive back the Germans. + +The guns, some drawn by horses and others by motors, were moving forward +with them. When the horses were swept away by a shell, men seized the +guns and dragged them. Then they stopped again, took new positions and +renewed the rain of death on the German army. + +They began to hear a whistle and hiss that they knew. It was that of the +bullets, and along the vast front they were coming in millions. But the +French were using their rifles, too, and at intervals the deep +thundering chant of the Marseillaise swept through their ranks. In spite +of shell, shrapnel and bullets, in spite of everything, the French army +in the center was advancing and John believed that the armies on the +other parts of the line were advancing, too. + +The bullets struck around them, and then among them. One aide fell from +his cycle, and lay dead in the road, two more were wounded, but two +hundred thousand men, their artillery blazing death over their heads, +went on straight at the mouths of a thousand cannon. + +Companies and regiments were swept away, but there was no check. Nor did +the other French armies, the huge links in the chain, stop. A feeling of +victory had swept along the whole gigantic battle front. They were +fighting for Paris, for their country, for the soil which they tended, +alive, and in which they slept, dead, and just at the moment when +everything seemed to have been lost they were saving all. The heroic age +of France had come again, and the Third Republic was justifying the +First. + +The battle deepened and thickened to an extraordinary degree, as the +space between the two fronts narrowed. John for the first time saw the +German troops without the aid of glasses. They were mere outlines +against a fiery horizon, reddened by the mouths of so many belching +cannon, but they seemed to him to stand there like a wall. + +Another giant shell burst near them, and two more members of the staff +fell from their cycles, dead before they touched the ground. That +convulsive shudder seized John again, but the crash of tremendous events +was so rapid that fear and horror alike passed in an instant. A piece of +the same shell struck General Vaugirard's car and put it out of action +at once. But the general leaped lightly to the ground, then swung his +immense bulk across one of the riderless motor cycles and advanced with +the surviving members of his staff. Imperturbable, he still swept the +field with his glasses. Two aides were now sent to the right with +messages, and a third, John himself, was despatched to the left on a +similar errand. + +It was John's duty to tell a regiment to bear in further to the left and +close up a vacant spot in the line. He wheeled his cycle into a field, +and then passed between rows of grapevines. The regiment, its ranks much +thinned, was now about a hundred yards away, but shell and bullets alike +were sweeping the distance between. + +Nevertheless, he rode on, his wheel bumping over the rough ground, until +he heard a rushing sound, and then blank darkness enveloped him. He fell +one way, and the motor cycle fell another. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +SEEN FROM ABOVE + + +John's period of unconsciousness was brief. The sweep of air from a +gigantic shell, passing close, had taken his senses for a minute or two, +but he leaped to his feet to find his motor cycle broken and puffing out +its last breath, and himself among the dead and wounded in the wake of +the army which was advancing rapidly. The turmoil was so vast, and so +much dust and burned gunpowder was floating about that he was not able +to tell where the valiant Vaugirard with the remainder of his staff +marched. In front of him a regiment, cut up terribly, was advancing at a +swift pace, and acting under the impulse of the moment he ran forward to +join them. + +When he overtook the regiment he saw that it had neither colonel, nor +captains nor any other officers of high degree. A little man, scarcely +more than a youth, his head bare, his eyes snapping fire, one hand +holding aloft a red cap on the point of a sword, had taken command and +was urging the soldiers on with every fierce shout that he knew. The +men were responding. Command seemed natural to him. Here was a born +leader in battle. John knew him, and he knew that his own prophecy had +been fulfilled. + +"Geronimo!" he gasped. + +But young Bougainville did not see him. He was still shouting to the men +whom he now led so well. The point of the sword, doubtless taken from +the hand of some fallen officer, had pierced the red cap which was +slowly sinking down the blade, but he did not notice it. + +John looked again for his commander, but not seeing him, and knowing how +futile it was now to seek him in all the fiery crush, he resolved to +stay with the young Apache. + +"Geronimo," he cried, and it was the last time he called him by that +name, "I go with you!" + +In all the excitement of the moment young Bougainville recognized him +and something droll flashed in his eyes. + +"Did I boast too much?" he shouted. + +"You didn't!" John shouted back. + +"Come on then! A big crowd of Germans is just over this hill, and we +must smash 'em!" + +John kept by his side, but Bougainville, still waving his sword, while +the red cap sank lower and lower on the blade, addressed his men in +terms of encouragement and affection. + +"Forward, my children!" he shouted. "Men, without fear, let us be the +first to make the enemy feel our bayonets! Look, a regiment on the right +is ahead of you, and another also on the left leads you! Faster! +Faster, my children!" + +An angle of the German line was thrust forward at this point where a +hill afforded a strong position. Bullets were coming from it in showers, +but the Bougainville regiment broke into a run, passed ahead of the +others and rushed straight at the hill. + +It was the first time that men had come face to face in the battle and +now John saw the French fury, the enthusiasm and fire that Napoleon had +capitalized and cultivated so sedulously. Shouting fiercely, they flung +themselves upon the Germans and by sheer impact drove them back. They +cleared the hill in a few moments, triumphantly seized four cannon and +then, still shouting, swept on. + +John found himself shouting with the others. This was victory, the first +real taste of it, and it was sweet to the lips. But the regiment was +halted presently, lest it get too far forward and be cut off, and a +general striding over to Bougainville uttered words of approval that +John could not hear amid the terrific din of so many men in battle--a +million, a million and a half or more, he never knew. + +They stood there panting, while the French line along a front of maybe +fifty miles crept on and on. The French machine with the British wheels +and springs coöperating, was working beautifully now. It was a match and +more for their enemy. The Germans, witnessing the fire and dash of the +French and feeling their tremendous impact, began to take alarm. It had +not seemed possible to them in those last triumphant days that they +could fail, but now Paris was receding farther and farther from their +grasp. + +John recovered a certain degree of coolness. The fire of the foe was +turned away from them for the present, and, finding that the glasses +thrown over his shoulder, had not been injured by his fall, he examined +the battle front as he stood by the side of Bougainville. The country +was fairly open here and along a range of miles the cannon in hundreds +and hundreds were pouring forth destruction. Yet the line, save where +the angle had been crushed by the rush of Bougainville's regiment, stood +fast, and John shuddered at thought of the frightful slaughter, needed +to drive it back, if it could be driven back at all. + +Then he glanced at the fields across which they had come. For two or +three miles they were sprinkled with the fallen, the red and blue of the +French uniform showing vividly against the green grass. But there was +little time for looking that way and again he turned his glasses in +front. The regiment had taken cover behind a low ridge, and six rapid +firers were sending a fierce hail on the German lines. But the men under +orders from Bougainville, withheld the fire of their rifles for the +present. + +Bougainville himself stood up as became a leader of men, and lowered his +sword for the first time. The cap had sunk all the way down the blade +and picking it off he put it back on his head. He had obtained glasses +also, probably from some fallen officer, and he walked back and forth +seeking a weak spot in the enemy's line, into which he could charge with +his men. + +John admired him. His was no frenzied rage, but a courage, measured and +stern. The springs of power hidden in him had been touched and he stood +forth, a born leader. + +"How does it happen," said John, "that you're in command?" + +"Our officers were all in front," replied Bougainville, "when our +regiment was swept by many shells. When they ceased bursting upon us and +among us the officers were no longer there. The regiment was about to +break. I could not bear to see that, and seizing the sword, I hoisted my +cap upon it. The rest, perhaps, you saw. The men seem to trust me." + +"They do," said John, with emphasis. + +Bougainville, for the time at least, was certainly the leader of the +regiment. It was an incident that John believed possible only in his own +country, or France, and he remembered once more the famous old saying of +Napoleon that every French peasant carried a marshal's baton in his +knapsack. + +Now he recalled, too, that Napoleon had fought some of his greatest +defensive battles in the region they faced. Doubtless the mighty emperor +and his marshals had trod the very soil on which Bougainville and he now +stood. Surely the French must know it, and surely it would give them +superhuman courage for battle. + +"I belong to the command of General Vaugirard," he said to Bougainville. +"I'm serving on his staff, but I was knocked off my motor cycle by the +rush of air from a shell. The cycle was ruined and I was unconscious +for a moment or two. When I revived, my general and his command were +gone." + +"You'd better stay with me a while," said Bougainville. "We're going to +advance again soon. When night comes, if you're still alive, then you +can look for General Vaugirard. The fire of the artillery is increasing. +How the earth shakes!" + +"So it does. I wish I knew what was happening." + +"There comes one of those men in the air. He is going to drop down by +us. Maybe you can learn something from him." + +John felt a sudden wild hope that it was Lannes, but his luck did not +hold good enough for it. The plane was of another shape than the +_Arrow_, and, when it descended to the ground, a man older than Lannes +stepped out upon the grass. He glanced around as if he were looking for +some general of division for whom he had an order, and John, unable to +restrain himself, rushed to him and exclaimed: + +"News! News! For Heaven's sake, give us news! Surely you've seen from +above!" + +The man smiled and John knew that a bearer of bad news would not smile. + +"I'm the friend and comrade of Philip Lannes," continued John, feeling +that all the flying men of France knew the name of Lannes, and that it +would be a password to this man's good graces. + +"I know him well," said the air scout. "Who of our craft does not? My +own name is Caumartin, and I have flown with Lannes more than once in +the great meets at Rheims. In answer to your question I'm able to tell +you that on the wings the soldiers of France are advancing. A wedge has +been thrust between the German armies and the one nearest Paris is +retreating, lest it be cut off." + +Bougainville heard the words, and he ran among the men, telling them. A +fierce shout arose and John himself quivered with feeling. It was +better, far better than he had hoped. He realized now that his courage +before had been the courage of despair. Lannes and he, as a last resort, +had put faith in signs and omens, because there was nothing else to bear +them up. + +"Is it true? Is it true beyond doubt! You've really seen it with your +own eyes?" he exclaimed. + +Caumartin smiled again. His were deep eyes, and the smile that came from +them was reassuring. + +"I saw it myself," he replied. "At the point nearest Paris the gray +masses are withdrawing. I looked directly down upon them. And now, can +you tell me where I can find General Vaugirard?" + +"I wish I could. I'm on his staff, but I've lost him. He's somewhere to +the northward." + +"Then I'll find him." + +Caumartin resumed his place in his machine. John looked longingly at the +aeroplane. He would gladly have gone with Caumartin, but feeling that he +would be only a burden at such a time, he would not suggest it. +Nevertheless he called to the aviator: + +"If you see Philip Lannes in the heavens tell him that his friend John +Scott is here behind a low ridge crested with trees!" + +Caumartin nodded, and as some of the soldiers gave his plane a push he +soared swiftly away in search of General Vaugirard. John watched him a +moment or two and then turned his attention back to the German army in +front of them. + +The thudding of the heavy guns to their left had become so violent that +it affected his nerves. The waves of air beat upon his ears like +storm-driven rollers, and he was glad when Bougainville's regiment moved +forward again. The Germans seemed to have withdrawn some of their force +in the center, and, for a little while, the regiment with which John now +marched was not under fire. + +They heard reserves now coming up behind them, more trains of motor +cars, bearing fresh troops, and batteries of field guns advancing as +fast as they could. Men were busy also stringing telephone wires, and, +presently, they passed a battery of guns of the largest caliber, the +fire of which was directed entirely by telephone. Some distance beyond +it the regiment stopped again. The huge shells were passing over their +heads toward the German lines, and John believed that he could hear and +count every one of them. + +The remains of the regiment now lay down in a dip, as they did not know +anything to do, except to wait for the remainder of the French line to +advance. + +Something struck near them presently and exploded with a crash. Steel +splinters flew, but as they were prone only one man was injured. + +"They're reaching us again with their shell fire," said John. + +"Not at all," said Bougainville. "Look up." + +John saw high in the heavens several black specks, which he knew at +once were aeroplanes. Since the bomb had been dropped from one of them +it was obvious that they were German flyers, and missiles of a like +nature might be expected from the same source. Involuntarily he crouched +close to the ground, and tried to press himself into it. He knew that +such an effort would afford him no protection, but the body sought it +nevertheless. All around him the young French soldiers too were clinging +to Mother Earth. Only Bougainville stood erect. + +John had felt less apprehension under the artillery fire and in the +charge than he did now. He was helpless here when death fell like hail +from the skies, and he quivered in every muscle as he waited. A crash +came again, but the bomb had struck farther away, then a third, and a +fourth, each farther and farther in its turn, and Bougainville suddenly +uttered a shout that was full of vengeance and exultation. + +John looked up. The group of black specks was still in the sky, but +another group was hovering near, and clapping his glasses to his eyes he +saw flashes of light passing between them. + +"You're right, Bougainville! you're right!" he cried, although +Bougainville had not said a word. "The French flyers have come and +there's a fight in the air!" + +He forgot all about the battle on earth, while he watched the combat in +the heavens. Yet it was an affair of only a few moments. The Germans +evidently feeling that they were too far away from their base, soon +retreated. One of their machines turned over on its side and fell like a +shot through space. + +John shuddered, took the glasses down, and, by impulse, closed his eyes. +He heard a shock near him, and, opening his eyes again, saw a huddled +mass of wreckage, from which a foot encased in a broad German shoe +protruded. The ribs of the plane were driven deep into the earth and he +looked away. But a hum and swish suddenly came once more, and a sleek +and graceful aeroplane, which he knew to be the _Arrow_, sank to the +earth close to him. Lannes, smiling and triumphant, stepped forth and +John hailed him eagerly. + +"I met Caumartin in an aerial road," said Lannes, in his best dramatic +manner, "and he described this place, at which you were waiting. As it +was directly on my way I concluded to come by for you. I was delayed by +a skirmish overhead which you may have seen." + +"Yes, I saw it, or at least part of it." + +"I came in at the end only. The Taubes were too presuming. They came +over into our air, but we repelled the attack, and one, as I can see +here, will never come again. I found General Vaugirard, although he is +now two or three miles to your right, and when I deliver a message that +he has given me I return. But I take you with me now." + +John was overjoyed, but he would part from Bougainville with regret. + +"Philip," he said, "here is Pierre Louis Bougainville, whom I met that +day on Montmartre. All the officers of this regiment have been killed +and by grace of courage and intuition he now leads it better than it was +ever led before." + +Lannes extended his hand. Bougainville's met it, and the two closed in +the clasp of those who knew, each, that the other was a man. Then a drum +began to beat, and Bougainville, waving his sword aloft, led his +regiment forward again with a rush. But the _Arrow_, with a hard push +from the last of the soldiers, was already rising, Lannes at the +steering rudder and John in his old place. + +"You can find your cap and coat in the locker," said Lannes without +looking back, and John put them on quickly. His joy and eagerness were +not due to flight from the field of battle, because the heavens +themselves were not safe, but because he could look down upon this field +on which the nations struggled and, to some extent, behold and measure +it with his own eyes. + +The _Arrow_ rose slowly, and John leaned back luxuriously in his seat. +He had a singular feeling that he had come back home again. The sharp, +acrid odor that assailed eye and nostril departed and the atmosphere +grew rapidly purer. The rolling waves of air from the concussion of the +guns became much less violent, and soon ceased entirely. All the smoke +floated below him, while above the heavens were a shining blue, +unsullied by the dust and flame of the conflict. + +"Do you go far, Philip?" John asked. + +"Forty miles. I could cover the distance quickly in the _Arrow_, but on +such a day as this I can't be sure of finding at once the man for whom +I'm looking. Besides, we may meet German planes. You've your automatic +with you?" + +"I'm never without it. I'm ready to help if they come at us. I've been +through so much today that I've become blunted to fear." + +"I don't think we'll meet an enemy, but we must be armed and watchful." + +John had not yet looked down, but he knew that the _Arrow_ was rising +high. The thunder of the battle died so fast that it became a mere +murmur, and the air was thin, pure and cold. When he felt that the +_Arrow_ had reached its zenith he put the glasses to his eyes and looked +over. + +He saw a world spouting fire. Along a tremendous line curved and broken, +thousands of cannon great and small were flashing, and for miles and +miles a continuous coil of whitish smoke marked where the riflemen were +at work. Near the center of the line he saw a vast mass of men advancing +and he spoke of it to Lannes. + +"I've seen it already," said the Frenchman. "That's where a great force +of ours is cutting in between the German armies. It's the movement that +has saved France, and the mind that planned it was worth a million men +to us today." + +"I can well believe it. Now I see running between the hills a shining +ribbon which I take to be a river." + +"That's the Marne. If we can, we'll drive the Germans back across it. +Search the skies that way and see if you can find any of the Taubes." + +"I see some black specks which I take to be the German planes, but they +don't grow." + +"Which indicates that they're not coming any nearer. They've had enough +of us for the present and it's to their interest too to keep over their +own army now. What do you see beneath us?" + +"A great multitude of troops, French, as I can discern the uniform, and +by Jove, Lannes, I can trace far beyond the towers and spires of Paris!" + +"I knew you could. It marks how near the Germans have come to the +capital, but they'll come no nearer. The great days of the French have +returned, and we'll surely drive them upon the Marne." + +"Suppose we fly a little lower, Lannes. Then we can get a better view of +the field as we go along." + +"I'll do as you say, John. I rose so high, because I thought attack here +was less possible, but as no enemy is in sight we'll drop down." + +The _Arrow_ sank gradually, and now both could get a splendid view of a +spectacle, such as no man had ever beheld until that day. The sounds of +battle were still unheard, but they clearly saw the fire of the cannon, +the rapid-firers, and the rifles. It was like a red streak running in +curves and zigzags across fifty or maybe a hundred miles of country. + +"We continue to cut in," said Lannes. "You can see how our armies off +there are marching into that great open space between the Germans. +Unless the extreme German army hastens it will be separated entirely +from the rest. Oh, what a day! What a glorious, magnificent day! A day +unlike any other in the world's story! Our heads in the dust in the +morning and high in the air by night!" + +"But we haven't won yet?" + +"No, but we are winning enough to know that we will win." + +"How many men do you think are engaged in that battle below?" + +"Along all its windings two millions, maybe, or at least a million and a +half anyhow. Perhaps nobody will ever know." + +Then they relapsed into silence for a little while. The _Arrow_ flew +fast and the motor drummed steadily in their ears. Lannes let the +aeroplane sink a little lower, and John became conscious of a new sound, +akin nevertheless to the throb of the motor. It was the concussion of +the battle. The topmost and weakest waves of air hurled off in circles +by countless cannon and rifles were reaching them. But they had been +softened so much by distance that the sound was not unpleasant, and the +_Arrow_ rocked gently as if touched by a light wind. + +John never ceased to watch with his glasses, and in a few minutes he +announced that men in gray were below. + +"I expected that," said Lannes. "This battle line, as you know, is far +from straight, and, in order to reach our destination in the quickest +time possible, we must pass over a portion of the German army, an +extended corner or angle as it were. What are they doing there, John?" + +"Firing about fifty cannon as fast as they can. Back of the cannon is a +great huddle of motors and of large automobile trucks, loaded, I should +say, with ammunition." + +"You're quite sure of what you say?" asked Lannes, after a silence of a +moment or two. + +"Absolutely sure. I fancy that it's an ammunition depot." + +"Then, John, you and I must take a risk. We are to deliver a message, +but we can't let go an opportunity like this. You recall how you threw +the bombs on the forty-two centimeter. I have more bombs here in the +_Arrow_--I never fly now without 'em--little fellows, but tremendously +powerful. I shall dip and when we're directly over the ammunition depot +drop the bombs squarely into the middle of it." + +"I'm ready," said John, feeling alternate thrills of eagerness and +horror, "but Philip, don't you go so near that if the depot blows up it +will blow us up too." + +"Never fear," said Lannes, laughing, not with amusement but with +excitement, "I've no more wish to be scattered through the firmament +than you have. Besides, we've that message to deliver. Do you think the +Germans have noticed us?" + +"No, a lot of smoke from their cannon fire has gathered above them and +perhaps it veils us. Besides, their whole attention must be absorbed by +the French army, and I don't think it likely that they're looking up." + +"But they're bound to see us soon. We have one great advantage, however. +The target is much larger than the forty-two centimeter was, and there +are no Taubes or dirigibles here to drive us off. Ready now, John, and +when I touch the bottom of my loop you throw the bombs. Here they are!" + +Four bombs were pushed to John's side and they lay ready to his grasp. +Then as the _Arrow_ began its downward curve, he laid his glasses aside +and watched. The most advanced German batteries were placed in a pit, +into which a telephone wire ran. Evidently these guns, like the French, +were fired by order from some distant point. John longed to hurl a bomb +at the pit, but the chances were ten to one that he would miss it, and +he held to the ammunition depot, spread over a full acre, as his target. + +Now the Germans saw them. He knew it, as many of them looked up, and +some began to fire at the _Arrow_, but the aeroplane was too high and +swift for their bullets. + +"Now!" said Lannes in sudden, sharp tones. + +The aeroplane dipped with sickening velocity, but John steadied himself, +and watching his chance he threw four bombs so fast that the fourth had +left his hands before the first touched the ground. An awful, rending +explosion followed, and for a minute the _Arrow_ rocked violently, as if +in a hurricane. Then, as the waves of air decreased in violence, it +darted upward on an even keel. + +John saw far below a vast scene of wreckage, amid which lay many dead or +wounded men. Motors were blown to pieces and cannon dismounted. + +"Score heavily for us," said Lannes. "I scarcely hoped for such a goodly +blow as this while we were on our way!" + +John would not look down again. Despite the value of the deed, he +shuddered and he was glad when the _Arrow_ in its swift flight had left +the area of devastation far behind. + +"We're flying over the French now," he said. "So I expected," said +Lannes. "Can you see a hill crested with a low farm house?" + +"Yes," replied John, after looking a little while. "It's straight ahead. +The house is partly hidden by trees." + +"Then that's the place. You wouldn't think we'd come nearly fifty miles, +would you, John?" + +"Fifty miles! It feels more like a thousand!" + +Lannes laughed, this time with satisfaction, not excitement. + +"You'll find there the general to whom we reported first," he said, "and +he'll be glad to see us! I can't tell you how glad he will be. His joy +will be far beyond our personal deserts. It will have little to do with +the fact that you, John Scott, and I, Philip Lannes, have come back to +him." + +The circling _Arrow_ came down in a meadow just behind the house, and +officers rushed forward to meet it. Lannes and John, stepping out, left +it in charge of two of the younger men. Then, proudly waving the others +aside, they walked to the low stone farmhouse, in front of which the +elderly, spectacled general was standing. He looked at Lannes +inquiringly, but the young Frenchman, without a word, handed him a note. + +John watched the general read, and he saw the transformation of the +man's face. Doubting, anxious, worn, it was illumined suddenly. In a +voice that trembled he said to the senior officers who clustered about +him: + +"We're advancing in the center, and on the other flank. Already we've +driven a huge wedge between the German armies, and Paris, nay, France +herself, is saved!" + +The officers, mostly old men, did not cheer, but John had never before +witnessed such relief expressed on human faces. It seemed to him that +they had choked up, and could not speak. The commander held the note in +a shaking hand and presently he turned to Lannes. + +"Your fortune has been great. It's not often that one has a chance to +bear such a message as this." + +"My pride is so high I can't describe it," said Lannes in a dramatic but +sincere tone. + +"Go in the house and an orderly will give food and wine to you and your +comrade. In a half hour, perhaps, I may have another message for you." + +Both John and Lannes needed rest and food, and they obeyed gladly. The +strain upon the two was far greater than they had realized at the time, +and for a few moments they were threatened with collapse which very +strong efforts of the will prevented. They were conscious, too, as they +stood upon the ground, of a quivering, shaking motion. They were +assailed once more by the violent waves of air coming from the +concussion of cannon and rifles past counting. The thin, whitish film +which was a compound of dust and burned gunpowder assailed them again +and lay, bitter, in their mouths and nostrils. + +"The earth shakes too much," said Lannes in a droll tone. "I think we'd +better go back into the unchanging ether, where a man can be sure of +himself." + +"I'm seasick," said John; "who wouldn't be, with ten thousand cannon, +more or less, and a million or two of rifles shaking the planet? I'm +going into the house as fast as I can." + +It was a building, centuries old, of gray crumbling stone, with large, +low rooms, and, to John's amazement, the peasant who inhabited it and +his family were present. The farmer and his wife, both strong and dark, +were about forty, and there were four children, the oldest a girl of +about thirteen. What fear they may have felt in the morning was gone +now, and, as they knew that the French army was advancing, a joy, +reserved but none the less deep, had taken its place. + +John and Lannes sat down at a small table covered with a neat white +cloth, and Madame, walking quickly and lightly, served them with bread, +cold meat and light red wine. The smaller children hovered in the +background and looked curiously at the young foreigner who wore the +French uniform. + +"May I ask your name, Madame?" John asked politely. + +"Poiret," she said. "My man is Jules Poiret, and this farm has been in +his family since the great revolution. You and your comrade came from +the air, as I saw, and you can tell us, can you not, whether the Poiret +farm is to become German or remain French? The enemy has been pushed +back today, but will he come so near to Paris again? Tell me truly, on +your soul, Monsieur!" + +"I don't believe the Germans will ever again be so near to Paris," +replied John with sincerity. "My friend, who is the great Philip Lannes, +the flying man, and I, have looked down upon a battle line fifty, maybe +a hundred miles long, and nearly everywhere the Germans are retreating." + +She bent her head a little as she poured the coffee for them, but not +enough to hide the glitter in her eye. "Perhaps the good God intervened +at the last moment, as Father Hansard promised he would," she said +calmly. "At any rate, the Germans are gone. I gathered as much from +chance words of the generals--never before have so many generals +gathered under the Poiret roof, and it will never happen again--but I +wished to hear it from one who had seen with his own eyes." + +"We saw them withdrawing, Madame, with these two pairs of eyes of ours," +said Lannes. + +"And then Poiret can go back to his work with the vines. Whether it is +war or peace, men must eat and drink, Monsieur." + +"But certainly, Madame, and women too." "It is so. I trust that soon the +Germans will be driven back much faster. The house quivers all the time. +It is old and already several pieces of plaster have fallen." + +Her anxiety was obvious. With the Germans driven back she thought now of +the Poiret homestead. John, in the new strength that had come to him +from food and drink, had forgotten for the moment that ceaseless quiver +of the earth. He held the little bottle aloft and poured a thin stream +of wine into his glass. The red thread swayed gently from side to side. + +"You speak truly, Madame," he said. "The rocking goes on, but I'm sure +that the concussion of the guns will be too far away tonight for you to +feel it." + +They offered her gold for the food and wine, but after one longing +glance she steadfastly refused it. + +"Since you have come across the sea to fight for us," she said to John, +"how could I take your money?" + +Lannes and John returned to the bit of grass in front of the house, +where the elderly general and other generals were still standing and +using their glasses. + +"You are refreshed?" said the general to Lannes. + +"Refreshed and ready to take your orders wherever you wish them to go." + +John stepped aside, while the general talked briefly and in a low tone +to his comrade. He looked upon himself merely as a passenger, or a sort +of help to Lannes, and he would not pry into military secrets. But when +the two rose again in the _Arrow_, the general and all his suite waved +their caps to them. Beyond a doubt, Lannes had done magnificent work +that day, and John was glad for his friend's sake. + +The _Arrow_ ascended at a sharp angle, and then hovered for a little +while in curves and spirals. John saw the generals below, but they were +no longer watching the aeroplane. Their glasses were turned once more to +the battle front. + +"Ultimately we're to reach the commander of the central army, if we +can," said Lannes, "but meanwhile we're to bend in toward the German +lines, in search of your immediate chief, General Vaugirard, who is one +of the staunchest and most daring fighters in the whole French Army. If +we find him at all it's likely that we'll find him farther forward than +any other general." + +"But not any farther than my friend of Montmartre, Bougainville. There's +a remarkable fellow. I saw his military talent the first time I met him. +Or I should better say I felt it rather than saw it. And he was making +good in a wonderful manner today." + +"I believe with you, John, that he's a genius. But if we find General +Vaugirard and then finish our errand we must hasten. It will be night in +two hours." + +He increased the speed of the aeroplane and they flew eastward, +searching all the hills and woods for the command of General Vaugirard. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +IN HOSTILE HANDS + + +The task that lay before the two young men was one of great difficulty. +The battle line was shifting continually, although the Germans were +being pressed steadily back toward the east and north, but among so many +generals it would be hard to find the particular one to whom they were +bearing orders. The commander of the central army was of high +importance, but the fact did not bring him at once before the eye. + +They were to see General Vaugirard, too, but it was possible that he had +fallen. John, though, could not look upon it as a probability. The +general was so big, so vital, that he must be living, and he felt the +same way about Bougainville. It was incredible that fate itself should +snuff out in a day that spark of fire. + +Lannes, uncertain of his course, bore in again toward the German lines, +and dropped as low as he could, compatible with safety from any kind of +shot. John meanwhile scanned every hill and valley wood and field with +his powerful glasses, and he was unable to see any diminution in the +fury of the struggle. The cannon thundered, with all their might, along +a line of scores of miles; rapid firers sent a deadly hail upon the +opposing lines; rifles flashed by the hundred thousand, and here and +there masses of troops closed with the bayonet. + +Seen from a height the battle was stripped of some of its horrors, but +all its magnitude remained to awe those who looked down upon it. From +the high, cold air John could not see pain and wounds, only the swaying +back and forth of the battle lines. All the time he searched attentively +for men who did not wear the red and blue of France, and at last he +said: + +"I've failed to find any sign of the British army." + +"They're farther to the left," replied Lannes. "I caught a glimpse of +their khaki lines this morning. Their regular troops are great fighters, +as our Napoleon himself admitted more than once, and they've never done +better than they're doing today. When I saw them they were advancing." + +"I'm glad of that. It's curious how I feel about the English, Philip. +They've got such a conceit that they irritate me terribly at times, yet +I don't want to see them beaten by any other Europeans. That's our +American privilege." + +"A family feeling, perhaps," said Lannes, laughing, "but we French and +English have been compelled to be allies, and after fighting each other +for a thousand years we're now the best of friends. I think, John, we'll +have to go down and procure information from somebody about our +general. Otherwise we'll never find him." + +"We must be near the center of our army, and that's where he's likely to +be. Suppose we descend in the field a little to the east of us." + +Lannes looked down, and, pronouncing the place suitable, began to drop +in a series of spirals until they rested in a small field that had been +devoted to the growth of vegetables. Here John at once felt the shaking +of the earth, and tasted the bitter odor again. But woods on either side +of them hid the sight of troops, although the sound of the battle was as +great and violent as ever. + +"We seem to have landed on a desert island," said Lannes. + +"So we do," said John. "Evidently there is nobody here to tell us where +we can find our dear and long lost general. I'll go down to the edge of +the nearest wood and see if any of our skirmishers are there." + +"All right, John, but hurry back. I'll hold the _Arrow_ ready for +instant flight, as we can't afford to linger here." + +John ran toward the wood, but before he reached the first trees he +turned back with a shout of alarm. He had caught a glimpse of horses, +helmets and the glittering heads of lances. Moreover, the Uhlans were +coming directly toward him. + +In that moment of danger the young American showed the best that was in +him. Forgetful of self and remembering the importance of Lannes' +mission, he shouted: + +"The Uhlans are upon us, Philip! I can't escape, but you must! Go! Go +at once!" + +Lannes gave one startled glance, and he understood in a flash. He too +knew the vital nature of his errand, but his instant decision gave a +wrench to his whole being. He saw the Uhlans breaking through the woods +and John before them. He was standing beside the _Arrow_, and giving the +machine a sharp push he sprang in and rose at a sharp angle. + +"Up! Up, Philip!" John continued to cry, until the cold edge of a lance +lay against his throat and a brusque voice bade him to surrender. + +"All right, I yield," said John, "but kindly take your lance away. It's +so sharp and cold it makes me feel uncomfortable." + +As he spoke he continued to look upward. The _Arrow_ was soaring higher +and higher, and the Uhlans were firing at it, but they were not able to +hit such a fleeting target. In another minute it was out of range. + +John felt the cold steel come away from his throat, and satisfied that +Lannes with his precious message was safe, he looked at his captors. +They were about thirty in number, Prussian Uhlans. + +"Well," said John to the one who seemed to be their leader, "what do you +want with me?" + +"To hold you prisoner," replied the man, in excellent English--John was +always surprised at the number of people on the continent who spoke +English--"and to ask you why we find an American here in French +uniform." + +The man who spoke was young, blond, ruddy, and his tone was rather +humorous. John had been too much in Germany to hate Germans. He liked +most of them personally, but for many of their ideas, ideas which he +considered deadly to the world, he had an intense dislike. + +"You find me here because I didn't have time to get away," he replied, +"and I'm in a French uniform because it's my fighting suit." + +The young officer smiled. John rather liked him, and he saw, too, that +he was no older than himself. + +"It's lucky for you that you're in some kind of a uniform," the German +said, "or I should have you shot immediately. But I'm sorry we didn't +take the man in the aeroplane instead of you." + +John looked up again. The _Arrow_ had become small in the distant blue. +A whimsical impulse seized him. + +"You've a right to be sorry," he said. "That was the greatest flying man +in the world, and all day he has carried messages, heavy with the fate +of nations. If you had taken him a few moments ago you might have saved +the German army from defeat today. But your chance has gone. If you were +to see him again you would not know him and his plane from others of +their kind." + +The officer's eyes dilated at first. Then he smiled again and stroked +his young mustache. + +"It may be true, as you say," he replied, "but meanwhile I'll have to +take you to my chief, Captain von Boehlen." + +John's heart sank a little when he heard the name von Boehlen. Fortune, +he thought, had played him a hard trick by bringing him face to face +with the man who had least cause to like him. But he would not show it. + +"Very well," he said; "which way?" + +"Straight before you," said the officer. "I'd give you a mount, but it +isn't far. Remember as you walk that we're just behind you, and don't +try to run away. You'd have no chance on earth. My own name is Arnheim, +Wilhelm von Arnheim." + +"And mine's John Scott," said John, as he walked straight ahead. + +They passed through a wood and into another field, where a large body of +Prussian cavalry was waiting. A tall man, built heavily, stood beside a +horse, watching a distant corner of the battle through glasses. John +knew that uncompromising figure at once. It was von Boehlen. + +"A prisoner, Captain," said von Arnheim, saluting respectfully. + +Von Boehlen turned slowly, and a malicious light leaped in his eyes when +he saw John on foot before him, and wholly in his power. + +"And so," he said, "it's young Scott of the hotel in Dresden and of the +wireless station, and you've come straight into my hands!" + +The whimsical humor which sometimes seized John when he was in the most +dangerous situation took hold of him again. It was not humor exactly, +but it was the innate desire to make the best of a bad situation. + +"I'm in your hands," he replied, "but I didn't walk willingly into 'em. +Your lieutenant, von Arnheim here, and his men brought me on the points +of their lances. I'm quite willing to go away again." + +Von Boehlen recognized the spirit in the reply and the malice departed +from his own eyes. Yet he asked sternly: + +"Why do you put on a French uniform and meddle in a quarrel not your +own?" + +"I've made it my own. I take the chances of war." + +"To the rear with him, and put him with the other prisoners," said von +Boehlen to von Arnheim, and the young Prussian and two Uhlans escorted +him to the edge of the field where twenty or thirty French prisoners sat +on the ground. + +"I take it," said von Arnheim, "that you and our captain have met +before." + +"Yes, and the last time it was under circumstances that did not endear +me to him." + +"If it was in war it will not be to your harm. Captain von Boehlen is a +stern but just man, and his conduct is strictly according to our +military code. You will stay here with the other prisoners under guard. +I hope to see you again." + +With these polite words the young officer rode back to his chief, and +John's heart warmed to him because of his kindness. Then he sat down on +the grass and looked at those who were prisoners with him. Most of them +were wounded, but none seemed despondent. All were lying down, some +propped on their elbows, and they were watching and listening with the +closest attention. A half-dozen Germans, rifle in hand, stood near by. + +John took his place on the grass by the side of a fair, slim young man +who carried his left arm in a bandage. + +"Englishman?" said the young man. + +"No, American." + +"But you have been fighting for us, as your uniform shows. What +command?" + +"General Vaugirard's, but I became separated from it earlier in the +day." + +"I've heard of him. Great, fat man, as cool as ice and as brave as a +lion. A good general to serve under. My own name is Fleury, Albert +Fleury. I was wounded and taken early this morning, and the others and I +have been herded here ever since by the Germans. They will not tell us a +word, but I notice they have not advanced." + +"The German army is retreating everywhere. For this day, at least, we're +victorious. Somebody has made a great plan and has carried it through. +The cavalry of the invader came within sight of Paris this morning, but +they won't be able to see it tomorrow morning. Whisper it to the others. +We'll take the good news quietly. We won't let the guards see that we +know." + +The news was circulated in low tones and every one of the wounded forgot +his wound. They spoke among themselves, but all the while the thunder of +the hundred-mile battle went on with unremitting ferocity. John put his +ear to the ground now, and the earth quivered incessantly like a ship +shaken at sea by its machinery. + +The day was now waning fast and he looked at the mass of Uhlans who +stood arrayed in the open space, as if they were awaiting an order. +Lieutenant von Arnheim rode back and ordered the guards to march on with +them. + +There was none too severely wounded to walk and they proceeded in a file +through the fields, Uhlans on all sides, but the great mass behind them, +where their commander, von Boehlen, himself rode. + +The night was almost at hand. Twilight was already coming over the +eastern hills, and one of the most momentous days in the story of man +was drawing to a close. People often do not know the magnitude of an +event until it has passed long since and shows in perspective, but John +felt to the full the result of the event, just as the old Greeks must +have known at once what Salamis or Platæa meant to them. The hosts of +the world's greatest military empire were turned back, and he had all +the certainty of conviction that they would be driven farther on the +next day. + +The little band of prisoners who walked while their Prussian captors +rode, were animated by feelings like those of John. It was the captured +who exulted and the captors who were depressed, though neither expressed +it in words, and the twilight was too deep now for faces to show either +joy or sorrow. + +John and Fleury walked side by side. They were near the same age. Fleury +was an Alpinist from the high mountain region of Savoy and he had +arrived so recently in the main theater of conflict that he knew little +of what had been passing. He and John talked in whispers and they spoke +encouraging words to each other. Fleury listened in wonder to John's +account of his flights with Lannes. + +"It is marvelous to have looked down upon a battle a hundred miles +long," he said. "Have you any idea where these Uhlans intend to take +us?" + +"I haven't. Doubtless they don't know themselves. The night is here now, +and I imagine they'll stop somewhere soon." + +The twilight died in the west as well as the east, and darkness came +over the field of gigantic strife. But the earth continued to quiver +with the thunder of artillery, and John felt the waves of air pulsing in +his ears. Now and then searchlights burned in a white blaze across the +hills. Fields, trees and houses would stand out for a moment, and then +be gone absolutely. + +John's vivid imagination turned the whole into a storm at night. The +artillery was the thunder and the flare of the searchlights was the +lightning. His mind created, for a little while, the illusion that the +combat had passed out of the hands of man and that nature was at work. +He and Fleury ceased to talk and he walked on, thinking little of his +destination. He had no sense of weariness, nor of any physical need at +all. + +Von Arnheim rode up by his side and said: + +"You'll not have to walk much further, Mr. Scott. A camp of ours is just +beyond a brook, not more than a few hundred yards away, and the +prisoners will stay there for the night. I'm sorry to find you among +the French fighting against us. We Germans expected American sympathy. +There is so much German blood in the United States." + +"But, as I told Captain von Boehlen, we're a republic, and we're +democrats. In many of the big ideas there's a gulf between us and +Germany so wide that it can never be bridged. This war has made clear +the enormous difference." + +Von Arnheim sighed. + +"And yet, as a people, we like each other personally," he said. + +"That's so, but as nations we diverge absolutely." + +"Perhaps, I can't dispute it. But here is our camp. You'll be treated +well. We Germans are not barbarians, as our enemies allege." + +John saw fires burning in an ancient wood, through which a clear brook +ran. The ground was carpeted with bodies, which at first he thought were +those of dead men. But they were merely sleepers. German troops in +thousands had dropped in their tracks. It was scarcely sleep, but +something deeper, a stupor of exhaustion so utter, both mental and +physical, that it was like the effect of anesthesia. They lay in every +imaginable position, and they stretched away through the forest in +scores of thousands. + +John and Fleury saw their own place at once. Several hundred men in +French uniforms were lying or sitting on the ground in a great group +near the forest. A few slept, but the others, as well as John could see +by the light of the fires, were wide awake. + +The sight of the brook gave John a burning thirst, and making a sign to +the German guard, who nodded, he knelt and drank. He did not care +whether the water was pure or not, most likely it was not, with armies +treading their way across it, but as it cut through the dust and grime +of his mouth and throat he felt as if a new and more vigorous life were +flowing into his veins. After drinking once, twice, and thrice, he sat +down on the bank with Fleury, but in a minute or two young von Arnheim +came for him. + +"Our commander wishes to talk with you," he said. + +"I'm honored," said John, "but conversation is not one of my strong +points." + +"The general will make the conversation," said von Arnheim, smiling. "It +will be your duty, as he sees it, to answer questions." + +John's liking for von Arnheim grew. He had seldom seen a finer young +man. He was frank and open in manner, and bright blue eyes shone in a +face that bore every sign of honesty. Official enemies he and von +Arnheim were, but real enemies they never could be. + +He divined that he would be subjected to a cross-examination, but he had +no objection. Moreover, he wanted to see a German general of high +degree. Von Arnheim led the way through the woods to a little glade, in +which about a dozen officers stood. One of them, the oldest man present, +who was obviously in command, stood nearest the fire, holding his helmet +in his hand. + +The general was past sixty, of medium height, but extremely broad and +muscular. His head, bald save for a fringe of white hair, had been +reddened by the sun, and his face, with its deep heavy lines and his +corded neck, was red, too. He showed age but not weakness. His eyes, +small, red and uncommonly keen, gazed from under a white bushy thatch. +He looked like a fierce old dragon to John. + +"The American prisoner, sir," said von Arnheim in English to the +general. + +The old man concentrated the stare of his small red eyes upon John for +many long seconds. The young American felt the weight and power of that +gaze. He knew too instinctively that the man before him was a great +fighter, a true representative of the German military caste and system. +He longed to turn his own eyes away, but he resolutely held them steady. +He would not be looked down, not even by an old Prussian general to whom +the fate of a hundred thousand was nothing. + +"Very well, Your Highness, you may stand aside," said the general in a +deep harsh voice. + +Out of the corner of his eye John saw that the man who stood aside was +von Arnheim. "Your Highness!" Then this young lieutenant must be a +prince. If so, some princes were likable. Wharton and Carstairs and he +had outwitted a prince once, but it could not be von Arnheim. He turned +his full gaze back to the general, who continued in his deep gruff +voice, speaking perfect English: + +"I understand that you are an American and your name is John Scott." + +"And duly enrolled and uniformed in the French service," said John, +"You can't shoot me as a _franc tireur_." + +"We could shoot you for anything, if we wished, but such is not our +purpose. I have heard from a captain of Uhlans, Rudolf von Boehlen, a +most able and valuable officer, that you are brave and alert." + +"I thank Captain von Boehlen for his compliment. I did not expect it +from him." + +"Ah, he bears you no malice. We Germans are large enough to admire skill +and courage in others. He has spoken of the affair of the wireless. It +cost us much, but it belongs to the past. We will achieve what we wish." + +John was silent. He believed that these preliminaries on the part of the +old general were intended to create an atmosphere, a belief in his mind +that German power was invincible. + +"We have withdrawn a portion of our force today," continued the general, +"in order to rectify our line. Our army had advanced too far. Tomorrow +we resume our march on Paris." + +John felt that it was an extraordinary statement for an old man, one of +such high rank, the commander of perhaps a quarter of a million +soldiers, to be making to him, a young American, but he held his peace, +awaiting what lay behind it all. + +"Now you are a captive," continued the general, "you will be sent to a +prison, and you will be held there until the end of the war. You will +necessarily suffer much. We cannot help it. Yet you might be sent to +your own country. Americans and Germans are not enemies. I know from +Captain von Boehlen who took you that you have been in an aeroplane with +a Frenchman. Some account of what you saw from space might help your +departure for America." + +And so that was it! Now the prisoner's eye steadily confronted that of +the old general. + +"Your Highness," he said, as he thought that the old man might be a +prince as well as a general, "you have read the history of the great +civil war in my country, have you not?" + +"It was a part of my military duty to study it. It was a long and +desperate struggle with many great battles, but what has it to do with +the present?" + +"Did you ever hear of any traitor on either side, North or South, in +that struggle?" + +The deep red veins in the old general's face stood out, but he gave no +other sign. + +"You prefer, then," he said, "to become a charge upon our German +hospitality. But I can say that your refusal will not make terms harder +for you. Lieutenant von Arnheim, take him back to the other prisoners." + +"Thank you, sir," said John, and he gave the military salute. He could +understand the old man's point of view, rough and gruff though he was, +and he was not lacking in a certain respect for him. The general +punctiliously returned the salute. + +"You've made a good impression," said von Arnheim, as they walked away +together. + +"I gather," said John, "from a reference by the general, that you're a +prince." + +Von Arnheim looked embarrassed. + +"In a way I am," he admitted, "but ours is a mediatized house. Perhaps +it doesn't count for much. Still, if it hadn't been for this war I might +have gone to your country and married an heiress." + +His eyes were twinkling. Here, John thought was a fine fellow beyond +question. + +"Perhaps you can come after the war and marry one," he said. "Personally +I hope you'll have the chance." + +"Thanks," said von Arnheim, a bit wistfully, "but I'm afraid now it will +be a long time, if ever. I need not seek to conceal from you that we +were turned back today. You know it already." + +"Yes, I know it," said John, speaking without any trace of exultation, +"and I'm willing to tell you that it was one of the results I saw from +the aeroplane. Can I ask what you intend to do with the prisoners you +have here, including myself?" + +"I do not know. You are to sleep where you are tonight. Your bed, the +earth, will be as good as ours, and perhaps in the morning we'll find an +answer to your question." + +Von Arnheim bade him a pleasant good night and turned to duties +elsewhere. John watched him as he strode away, a fine, straight young +figure. He had found him a most likable man, and he was bound to admit +that there was much in the German character to admire. But for the +present it was--in his view--a Germany misled. + +The prisoners numbered perhaps six hundred, and at least half of them +were wounded. John soon learned that the hurt usually suffered in +stoical silence. It was so in the great American civil war, and it was +true now in the great European war. + +Rough food was brought to them by German guards, and those who were able +drank at the brook. Water was served to the severely wounded by their +comrades in tin cups given to them by the Germans, and then all but a +few lay on the grass and sought sleep. + +John and his new friend, Fleury, were among those who yet sat up and +listened to the sounds of battle still in progress, although it was far +in the night. It was an average night of late summer or early autumn, +cool, fairly bright, and with but little wind. But the dull, moaning +sound made by the distant cannonade came from both sides of them, and +the earth yet quivered, though but faintly. Now and then, the +searchlights gleamed against the background of darkness, but John felt +that the combat must soon stop, at least until the next day. The German +army in which he was a prisoner had ceased already, but other German +armies along the vast line fought on, failing day, by the light which +man himself had devised. + +Fleury was intelligent and educated. Although it was bitter to him to be +a prisoner at such a time, he had some comprehension of what had +occurred, and he knew that John had been in a position to see far more +than he. He asked the young American many questions about his flight in +the air, and about Philip Lannes, of whom he had heard. + +"It was wonderful," he said, "to look down on a battle a hundred miles +long." + +"We didn't see all of it," said John, "but we saw it in many places, and +we don't know that it was a hundred miles long, but it must have been +that or near it." + +"And the greatest day for France in her history! What mighty +calculations must have been made and what tremendous marchings and +combats must have been carried out to achieve such a result." + +"One of the decisive battles of history, like Platæa, or the Metaurus or +Gettysburg. There go the Uhlans with Captain von Boehlen at their head. +Now I wonder what they mean to do!" + +A thousand men, splendidly mounted and armed, rode through the forest. +The moonlight fell on von Boehlen's face and showed it set and grim. +John felt that he was bound to recognize in him a stern and resolute +man, carrying out his own conceptions of duty. Nor had von Boehlen been +discourteous to him, although he might have felt cause for much +resentment. The Prussian glanced at him as he passed, but said nothing. +Soon he and his horsemen passed out of sight in the dusk. + +John, wondering how late it might be, suddenly remembered that he had a +watch and found it was eleven o'clock. + +"An hour of midnight," he said to Fleury. + +Most all the French stretched upon the ground were now in deep slumber, +wounded and unwounded alike. The sounds of cannon fire were sinking +away, but they did not die wholly. The faint thunder of the distant +guns never ceased to come. But the campfire, where he knew the German +generals slept or planned, went out, and darkness trailed its length +over all this land which by night had become a wilderness. + +John was able to trace dimly the sleeping figures of Germans in the +dusk, sunk down upon the ground and buried in the sleep or stupor of +exhaustion. As they lay near him so they lay in the same way in hundreds +of thousands along the vast line. Men and horses, strained to their last +nerve and muscle, were too tired to move. It seemed as if more than a +million men lay dead in the fields and woods of Northeastern France. + +John, who had been wide awake, suddenly dropped on the ground where the +others were stretched. He collapsed all in a moment, as if every drop of +blood had been drained suddenly from his body. Keyed high throughout the +day, his whole system now gave way before the accumulated impact of +events so tremendous. The silence save for the distant moaning that +succeeded the roar of a million men or more in battle was like a +powerful drug, and he slept like one dead, never moving hand or foot. + +He was roused shortly before morning by some one who shook him gently +but persistently, and at last he sat up, looking around in the dim light +for the person who had dragged him back from peace to a battle-mad +world. He saw an unkempt, bearded man in a French uniform, one sleeve +stained with blood, and he recognized Weber, the Alsatian. + +"Why, Weber!" he exclaimed, "they've got you, too! This is bad! They +may consider you, an Alsatian, a traitor, and execute you at once!" + +Weber smiled in rather melancholy fashion, and said in a low tone: + +"It's bad enough to be captured, but I won't be shot Nobody here knows +that I'm an Alsatian, and consequently they will think I'm a Frenchman. +If you call me anything, call me Fernand, which is my first name, but +which they will take for the last." + +"All right, Fernand. I'll practice on it now, so I'll make no slip. How +did you happen to be taken?" + +"I was in a motor car, a part of a train of about a hundred cars. There +were seven in it besides myself. We were ordered to cross a field and +join a line of advancing infantry. When we were in the middle of the +field a masked German battery of rapid-firers opened on us at short +range. It was an awful experience, like a stroke of lightning, and I +don't think that more than a dozen of us escaped with our lives. I was +wounded in the arm and taken before I could get out of the field. I was +brought here with some other prisoners and I have been sleeping on the +ground just beyond that hillock. I awoke early, and, walking the little +distance our guards allow, I happened to recognize your figure lying +here. I was sorry and yet glad to see you, sorry that you were a +prisoner, and glad to find at least one whom I knew, a friend." + +John gave Weber's hand a strong grasp. + +"I can say the same about you," he said warmly. "We're both prisoners, +but yesterday was a magnificent day for France and democracy." + +"It was, and now it's to be seen what today will be." + +"I hope and believe it will be no less magnificent." + +"I learned that you were taken just after you alighted from an +aeroplane, and that a man with you escaped in the plane. At least, I +presume it was you, as I heard the Germans talking of such a person and +I knew of your great friendship for Philip Lannes. Lannes, of course was +the one who escaped." + +"A good surmise, Fernand. It was no less a man than he." + +Weber's eyes sparkled. + +"I was sure of it," he said. "A wonderful fellow, that Lannes, perhaps +the most skillful and important bearer of dispatches that France has. +But he will not forget you, Mr. Scott. He knows, of course, where you +were taken, and doubtless from points high in the air he has traced the +course of this German army. He will find time to come for you. He will +surely do so. He has a feeling for you like that of a brother, and his +skill in the air gives him a wonderful advantage. In all the history of +the world there have never before been any scouts like the aeroplanes." + +"That's true, and that, I think, is their chief use." + +Impulse made John look up. The skies were fast beginning to brighten +with the first light in the east, and large objects would be visible +there. But he saw nothing against the blue save two or three captive +balloons which floated not far above the trees inside the German lines. +He longed for a sight of the _Arrow_. He believed that he would know its +shape even high in the heavens, but they were speckless. + +The Alsatian, whose eyes followed his, shook his head. + +"He is not there, Mr. Scott," he said, "and you will not see him today, +but I have a conviction that he will come, by night doubtless." + +John lowered his eyes and his feeling of disappointment passed. It had +been foolish of him to hope so soon, but it was only a momentary +impulse, Lannes could not seek him now, and even if he were to come +there would be no chance of rescue until circumstances changed. + +"Doubtless you and he were embarked on a long errand when you were +taken," said Weber. + +"We were carrying a message to the commander of one of the French +armies, but I don't know the name of the commander, I don't know which +army it is, and I don't know where it is." + +Weber laughed. + +"But Lannes knew all of those things," he said. "Oh, he's a close one! +He wouldn't trust such secrets not even to his brother-in-arms." + +"Nor should he do so. I'd rather he'd never tell them to me unless he +thought it necessary." + +"I agree with you exactly, Mr. Scott. Hark! Did you hear it? The battle +swells afresh, and it's not yet full day!" + +The roaring had not ceased, but out of the west rose a sound, louder +yet, deep, rolling and heavy with menace. It was the discharge of a +great gun and it came from a point several miles away. + +"We don't know who fired that," said Weber, "It may be French, English +or German, but it's my opinion that we'll hear its like in our forest +all day long, just as we did yesterday. However, it shall not keep me +from bathing my face in this brook." + +"Nor me either," said John. + +The cold water refreshed and invigorated him, and as he stooped over the +brook, he heard other cannon. They seemed to him fairly to spring into +action, and, in a few moments, the whole earth was roaring again with +the huge volume of their fire. + +Other prisoners, wounded and unwounded, awakened by the cannon, strolled +down to the brook and dipped into its waters. + +"I'd better slip back to my place beyond the hillock," said Weber. +"We're in two lots, we prisoners, and I belong in the other lot. I don't +think our guards have noticed our presence here, and it will be safer +for me to return. But it's likely that we'll all be gathered into one +body soon, and I'll help you watch for Lannes." + +"I'll be glad of your help," said John sincerely. "We must escape. In +all the confusion of so huge a battle there ought to be a chance." + +Weber slipped away in the crowd now hurrying down to the stream, and in +a few moments John was joined by Fleury, whose attention was centered on +the sounds of the distant battle. He deemed it best to say nothing to +him of Weber, who did not wish to be known as an Alsatian. Fleury's +heavy sleep had made him strong and fresh again, but he was in a fury at +his helplessness. + +"To think of our being tied here at such a time," he said. "France and +England are pushing the battle again! I know it, and we're helpless, +mere prisoners!" + +"Still," said John, "while we can't fight we may see things worth +seeing. Perhaps it's not altogether our loss to be inside the German +army on such a day." + +Fleury could not reconcile himself to such a view, but he sought to make +the best of it, and he was cheered, too, by the vast increase in the +volume of the cannon fire. Before the full day had crossed from east to +west the great guns were thundering again along the long battle line. +But in their immediate vicinity there was no action. All the German +troops here seemed to be resting on their arms. No Uhlans were visible +and John judged that the detachment under von Boehlen, having gone forth +chiefly for scouting purposes, had not yet returned. + +They received bread, sausage and coffee for breakfast from one of the +huge kitchen automobiles, and nearly all ate with a good appetite. Their +German captors did not treat them badly, but John, watching both +officers and men, did not see any elation. He had no doubt that the +officers were stunned by the terrible surprise of the day before, and as +for the men, they would know nothing. He had seen early that the Germans +were splendid troops, disciplined, brave and ingenious, but the habit of +blind obedience would blind them also to the fact that fortune had +turned her face away from them. + +He wished that his friend von Arnheim--friend he regarded him--would +appear and tell him something about the battle, but his wish did not +come true for an hour and meanwhile the whole heavens resounded with the +roar of the battle, while distant flashes from the guns could be seen on +either flank. + +The young German, glasses in hand, evidently seeking a good view, walked +to the crest of the hillock behind which Weber had disappeared. John +presumed enough on their brief friendship to call to him. + +"Do you see anything of interest?" he asked. + +Von Arnheim nodded quickly. + +"I see the distant fringe of a battle," he replied amiably, "but it's +too early in the morning for me to pass my judgment upon it." + +"Nevertheless you can look for a day of most desperate struggle!" + +Von Arnheim nodded very gravely. + +"Men by tens of thousands will fall before night," he said. + +As if to confirm his words, the roar of the battle took a sudden and +mighty increase, like a convulsion. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE TWO PRINCES + + +John sat with the other prisoners for more than two hours listening to +the thunder of the great battle or rather series of battles which were +afterwards classified under the general head the Battle of the Marne. He +was not a soldier, merely a civilian serving as a soldier, but he had +learned already to interpret many of the signs of combat. There was an +atmospheric feeling that registered on a sensitive mind the difference +between victory and defeat, and he was firm in the belief that as +yesterday had gone today was going. Certainly this great German army +which he believed to be in the center was not advancing, and something +of a character most menacing was happening to the wings of the German +force. He read it in the serious, preoccupied faces of the officers who +passed near. There was not a smile on the face of the youngest of them +all, but deepest anxiety was written alike on young and old. + +John and Fleury sat together at the edge of the brook, and for a while +forgot their chagrin at not being on the battle line. The battle itself +which they could not see, but which they could hear, absorbed them so +thoroughly that they had no time to think of regrets. + +John had thought that man's violence, his energy in destruction on the +first day could not be equalled, but it seemed to him now that the +second day surpassed the first. The cannon fire was distant, yet the +waves of air beat heavily upon them, and the earth shook without +ceasing. Wisps of smoke floated toward them and the air was tainted +again with the acrid smell of burned gunpowder. + +"You're a mountaineer, Fleury, you told me," said Scott, "and you should +be able to judge how sound travels through gorges. I suppose you yodel, +of course?" + +"Yodel, what's that?" + +"To make a long singing cry on a peak which is supposed to reach to +somebody on another peak who sends back the same kind of a singing cry. +We have a general impression in America that European mountaineers don't +do much but stand in fancy costumes on crests and ridges and yodel to +one another." + +"It may have been so once," said the young Savoyard, "but this is a bad +year for yodeling. The voice of the cannon carries so far that the voice +of man doesn't amount to much. But what sound did you want me to +interpret?" + +"That of the cannon. Does its volume move eastward or westward? I should +think it's much like your mountain storms and you know how they travel +among the ridges." + +"The comparison is just, but I can't yet tell any shifting of the +artillery fire. The wind brings the sound toward us, and if there's any +great advance or retreat I should be able to detect it. I should say +that as far as the second day is concerned nothing decisive has happened +yet." + +"Do you know this country?" + +"A little. My regiment marched through here about three weeks ago and we +made two camps not far from this spot. This is the wood of Sénouart, and +the brook here runs down to the river Marne." + +"And we're not far from that river. Then we've pressed back the Germans +farther than I thought. It's strange that the German army here does not +move." + +"It's waiting, and I fancy it doesn't know what to do. I've an idea that +our victory yesterday was greater than the French and British have +realized, but which the Germans, of course, understand. Why do they +leave us here, almost neglected, and why do their officers walk about, +looking so doubtful and anxious? I've heard that the Germans were +approaching Paris with five armies. It may be that we've cut off at +least one of those armies and that it's in mortal danger." + +"It may be so. But have you thought, Fleury, of the extraordinary +difference between this morning and yesterday morning?" + +"I have. In conditions they're worlds apart. Hark! Listen now, Scott, my +friend!" + +He lay on the grass and put his ear to the ground, just as John had +often done. Listening intently for at least two minutes, he announced +with conviction that the cannonade was moving eastward. + +"Which means that the Germans are withdrawing again?" said John. + +"Undoubtedly," said Fleury, his face glowing. + +They listened a quarter of an hour longer, and John himself was then +able to tell that the battle line was shifting. The Germans elsewhere +must have fallen back several miles, but the army about him did not yet +move. He caught a glimpse of the burly general walking back and forth in +the forest, his hands clasped behind him, and a frown on his broad, +fighting face. He would walk occasionally to a little telephone station, +improvised under the trees--John could see the wires stretching away +through the forest--and listen long and attentively. But when he put +down the receiver the same moody look was invariably on his face, and +John was convinced as much by his expression as by the sound of the guns +that affairs were not going well with the Germans. + +Another long hour passed and the sun moved on toward noon, but a German +army of perhaps a quarter of a million men lay idle in the forest of +Sénouart, as John now called the whole region. + +Presently the general walked down the line and John lost sight of him. +But Weber reappeared, coming from the other side of the hillock, and +John was glad to see him, since Fleury had gone back to attend to a +wounded friend. + +"There doesn't seem to be as much action here as I expected," said +Weber, cheerfully, sitting down on the grass beside young Scott. + +"But they're shaking the world there! and there!" said John, nodding to +right and to left. + +"So they are. This is a most extraordinary reversal, Mr. Scott, and I +can't conceive how it was brought about. Some mysterious mind has made +and carried through a plan that was superbly Napoleonic. I'd give much +to know how it was done." + +John shook his head. + +"I know nothing of it," he said. + +"But doubtless your friend Lannes does. What a wonderful thing it is to +carry through the heavens the dispatches which may move forward a +million armed men." + +"I don't know anything about Lannes' dispatches." + +"Nor do I, but I can make a close guess, just as you can. He's surely +hovering over the battle field today, and as I said last night he +certainly has some idea where you are, and sooner or later will come for +you." + +John looked up, but again the heavens were bare and clear. Then he +looked down and saw walking near them a heavy, middle-aged, bearded man +to whom all the German officers paid great deference. The man's manner +was haughty and overbearing, and John understood at once that in the +monarchical sense he was a personage. + +"Do you know the big fellow there?" he said to Weber. "Have you heard +anyone speak of him?" + +"I saw him this morning, and one of the guards told us who he is. That +is Prince Karl of Auersperg. The house of Auersperg is one of the +oldest in Germany, much older than the Emperor's family, the +Hohenzollerns. I don't suppose the world contains any royal blood more +ancient than that of Prince Karl." + +"Evidently he feels that it's so. I'm getting used to princes, but our +heavy friend there must be something of a specialist in the princely +line. I should judge from his manner that he is not only the oldest man +on earth, speaking in terms of blood, but the owner of the earth as +well." + +"The Auerspergs have an immense pride." + +"I can see it, but a lot of pride fell before Paris yesterday, and a lot +more is falling among these hills and forests today. There seems to be a +lot of difference between princes, the Arnheims and the Auerspergs, for +instance." + +Then a sudden thought struck John. It had the vaguest sort of basis, but +it came home to him with all the power of conviction. + +"I wonder if Prince Karl of Auersperg once owned a magnificent armored +automobile," he said. + +Weber looked puzzled, and then his eyes lightened. + +"Ah, I know what you mean!" he exclaimed. "The one in which we took that +flight with Carstairs the Englishman and Wharton the American. It +belonged to a prince, without doubt, yes. But no, it couldn't have been +Prince Karl of Auersperg who owned the machine." + +"I'm not so sure. I've an intuition that it is he. Besides, he looks +like just the kind of prince from whom I'd like to take his best +automobile, also everything else good that he might happen to have. I +shall feel much disappointed if this proves not to be our prince." + +"You Americans are such democrats." + +"I don't go so far as to say a man is necessarily bad because of his +high rank, but as I reminded you a little while ago, there are princes +and princes. The ancient house of Auersperg as it walks up and down, +indicating its conviction of its own superiority to everything else on +earth, does not please me." + +"The Uhlans are coming back!" exclaimed Weber in tones of excitement. + +"And that's von Boehlen at their head! I'd know his figure as far as I +could see it! And they've had a brush, too! Look at the empty saddles +and the wounded men! As sure as we live they've run into the French +cavalry and then they've run out again!" + +The Uhlans were returning at a gallop, and the German officers of high +rank were crowding forward to meet them. It was obvious to every one +that they had received a terrible handling, but John knew that von +Boehlen was not a man to come at a panicky gallop. Some powerful motive +must send him so fast. + +He saw the Prussian captain spring from his horse and rush to a little +group composed of the general, the prince and several others of high +rank who had drawn closely together at his coming. + +Von Boehlen was wounded slightly, but he stood erect as he saluted the +commander and talked with him briefly and rapidly. John's busy and +imaginative mind was at work at once with surmises, and he settled upon +one which he was sure must be the truth. The French advance in the +center was coming, and this German army also must soon go into action. + +He was confirmed in his belief by a hurried order to the guards to go +eastward with the prisoners. As the captives, the wounded and the +unwounded, marched off through the forest of Sénouart they heard at a +distance, but behind them, the opening of a huge artillery fire. It was +so tremendous that they could feel the shaking of the earth as they +walked, and despite the hurrying of their guards they stopped at the +crest of a low ridge to look back. + +They gazed across a wide valley toward high green hills, along which +they saw rapid and many flashes. John longed now for the glasses which +had been taken from him when he was captured, but he was quite sure that +the flashes were made by French guns. From a point perhaps a mile in +front of the prisoners masked German batteries were replying. Fleury +with his extraordinary power of judging sound was able to locate these +guns with some degree of approximation. + +"Look! the aeroplanes!" said John, pointing toward the hills which he +now called to himself the French line. + +Numerous dark shapes, forty or fifty at least, appeared in the sky and +hovered over the western edge of the wide, shallow basin. John was sure +that they were the French scouts of the blue, appearing almost in line +like troops on the ground, and his heart gave a great throb. No doubt +could be left now, that this German army was being attacked in force +and with the greatest violence. It followed then that the entire German +line was being assailed, and that the French victory was continuing its +advance. The Republic had rallied grandly and was hurling back the +Empire in the most magnificent manner. + +All those emotions of joy and exultation that he had felt the day before +returned with increased force. In daily contact he liked Germans as well +as Frenchmen, but he thought that no punishment could ever be adequate +for the gigantic crimes of kings. Napoleon himself had been the champion +of democracy and freedom, until he became an emperor and his head +swelled so much with success that he thought of God and himself +together, just as the Kaiser was now thinking. It was a curious +inversion that the French who were fighting then to dominate Europe were +fighting now to prevent such a domination. But it was now a great French +republican nation remade and reinvigorated, as any one could see. + +The guards hurried them on again. Another mile and they stopped once +more on the crest of a low hill, where it seemed that they would remain +some time, as the Germans were too busy with a vast battle to think much +about a few prisoners. It was evident that the whole army was engaged. +The old general, the other generals, the princes and perhaps dukes and +barons too, were in the thick of it. John's heart was filled with an +intense hatred of the very name of royalty. Kings and princes could be +good men personally, but as he saw its work upon the huge battle fields +of Europe he felt that the institution itself was the curse of the +earth. + +"We shall win again today," said Fleury, rousing him from his +absorption. "Look across the fields, Scott, my friend, and see how those +great masses of infantry charging our army have been repulsed." + +It was a far look, and at the distance the German brigades seemed to be +blended together, but the great gray mass was coming back slowly. He +forgot all about himself and his own fate in his desire to see every act +of the gigantic drama as it passed before him. He took no thought of +escape at present, nor did Fleury, who stood beside him. The fire of the +guns great and small had now blended into the usual steady thunder, +beneath which human voices could be heard. + +"We don't have the forty-two centimeters, nor the great siege guns," +said Fleury, "but the French field artillery is the best in the world. +It's undoubtedly holding back the German hosts and covering the French +advance." + +"That's my opinion, too," said John. "I saw its wonderful work in the +retreat toward Paris. I think it saved the early French armies from +destruction." + +The German army was made of stern material. Having planted its feet here +it refused to be driven back. Its cannon was a line of flaming +volcanoes, its cavalry charged again and again into the face of death, +and its infantry perished in masses, but the stern old general spared +nothing. Passing up and down the lines, listening at the telephone and +receiving the reports of air scouts and land scouts, he always hurled +in fresh troops at the critical points and Fritz and Karl and Wilhelm +and August, sober and honest men, went forward willingly, sometimes +singing and sometimes in silence, to die for a false and outworn system. +John as a prisoner had a better view than he would have had if with the +French army. In a country open now he could see a full mile to right and +left, where the German hosts marched again and again to attack, and +while the French troops were too far away for his eyes he beheld the +continuous flare of their fire, like a broad red ribbon across the whole +western horizon. + +The passing of time was nothing to him. He forgot all about it in his +absorption. But the sun climbed on, afternoon came, and still the battle +at this point raged, the French unable to drive the Germans farther and +the Germans unable to stop the French attacks. John roused himself and +endeavored to dissociate the thunder on their flanks from that in front, +and, after long listening, he was able to make the separation, or at +least he thought so. He knew now that the struggle there was no less +fierce than the one before him. + +The Kaiser himself must be present with one or the other of these +armies, and a man who had talked for more than twenty years of his +divine right, his shining armor, his invincible sword and his mailed +fist must be raging with the bitterness of death to find that he was +only a mortal like other mortals, and that simple French republicans +were defeating the War Lord, his Grand Army and the host of kings, +princes, dukes, barons, high-born, very high-born, and all the other +relics of medievalism. Dipped to the heel and beyond in the fountain of +democracy, John could not keep from feeling a fierce joy as he saw with +his own eyes the Germans fighting in the utmost desperation, not to take +Paris and destroy France, but to save themselves from destruction. + +The afternoon, slow and bright, save for the battle, dragged on. Scott +and Fleury kept together. Weber appeared once more and spoke rather +despondently. He believed that the Germans would hold fast, and might +even resume the offensive toward Paris again, but Fleury shook his head. + +"Today is like yesterday," he said. + +"How can you tell?" asked Weber. + +"Because the fire on both flanks is slowly moving eastward, that is, the +Germans there are yielding ground. My ears, trained to note such things, +tell me so. My friend, I am not mistaken." + +He spoke gravely, without exultation, but John took fresh hope from his +words. Toward night the fire in their front died somewhat, and after +sunset it sank lower, but they still heard a prodigious volume of firing +on both flanks. John remembered then that they had eaten nothing since +morning, but when some of the prisoners who spoke German requested food +it was served to them. + +Night came over what seemed to be a drawn battle at this point, and +after eating his brief supper John saw the automobiles and stretchers +bringing in the wounded. They passed him in thousands and thousands, +hurt in every conceivable manner. At first he could scarcely bear to +look at them, but it was astonishing how soon one hardened to such +sights. + +The wounded were being carried to improvised hospitals in the rear, but +so far as John knew the dead were left on the field. The Germans with +their usual thorough system worked rapidly and smoothly, but he noticed +that the fires were but very few. There was but little light in the wood +of Sénouart or the hills beyond, and there was little, too, on the +ridges that marked the French position. + +John kept near the edges of the space allotted to the prisoners, hoping +that he might again see von Arnheim. He had discovered early that the +Germans were unusually kind to Americans, and the fact that he had been +taken fighting against them did not prevent them from showing generous +treatment. The officer in charge of the guard even wanted to talk to him +about the war and prove to him how jealousy had caused the other nations +to set upon Germany. But John evaded him and continued to look for the +young prince who was serving as a mere lieutenant. + +It was about an hour after dark when he caught his first glimpse of von +Arnheim, and he was really glad to see that he was not wounded. + +"I've come to tell you, Mr. Scott," said von Arnheim, "that all of you +must march at once. You will cross the Marne, and then pass as prisoners +into Germany. You will be well treated there and I think you can +probably secure your release on condition that you return to your own +country and take no further part in the war." + +John shook his head. + +"I don't expect any harshness from the Germans," he said, "but I'm in +this war to stay, if the bullets and shells will let me. I warn you now +that I'm going to escape." + +Von Arnheim laughed pleasantly. + +"It's fair of you to give us warning of your intentions," he said, "but +I don't think you'll have much chance. You must get ready to start at +once." + +"I take it," said John, "that our departure means the departure of the +German army also." + +Von Arnheim opened his mouth to speak, but he closed it again suddenly. + +"It's only a deduction of mine," said John. + +Von Arnheim nodded in farewell and hurried away. + +"Now I'm sure," said John to Fleury a few minutes later, "that this army +is going to withdraw." + +"I think so too," said Fleury. "I can yet hear the fire of the cannon on +either flank and it has certainly moved to the east. In my opinion, my +friend, both German wings have been defeated, and this central army is +compelled to fall back because it's left without supports. But we'll +soon see. They can't hide from us the evidences of retreat." + +The prisoners now marched in a long file in the moonlight across the +fields, and John soon recognized the proof that Fleury was right. The +German army was retreating. There were innumerable dull, rumbling +sounds, made by the cannon and motors of all kinds passing along the +roads, and at times also he heard the heavy tramp of scores of +thousands marching in a direction that did not lead to Paris. + +John began to think now of Lannes. Would he come? Was Weber right when +he credited to him a knowledge near to omniscience? How was it possible +for him to pick out a friend in all that huge morass of battle! And yet +he had a wonderful, almost an unreasoning faith in Philip, and, as +always when he thought of him, he looked up at the heavens. + +It was an average night, one in which large objects should be visible in +the skies, and he saw several aeroplanes almost over their heads, while +the rattle of a dirigible came from a point further toward the east. + +The aeroplane was bound to be German, but as John looked he saw a sleek +shape darting high over them all and flying eastward. Intuition, or +perhaps it was something in the motion and shape of the machine, made +him believe it was the _Arrow_. It must be the _Arrow_! And Lannes must +be in it! High over the army and high over the German planes it darted +forward like a swallow and disappeared in a cloud of white mist. His +hair lifted a little, and a thrill ran down his spine. + +He still looked up as he walked along, and there was the sleek shape +again! It had come back out of the white mist, and was circling over the +German planes, flying with the speed and certainty of an eagle. He saw +three of the German machines whirl about and begin to mount as if they +would examine the stranger. But the solitary plane began to rise again +in a series of dazzling circles. Up, up it went, as if it would +penetrate the last and thinnest layer of air, until it reached the dark +and empty void beyond. + +The _Arrow_--he was sure it could be no other--was quickly lost in the +infinite heights, and then the German planes were lost, too, but they +soon came back, although the _Arrow_ did not. It had probably returned +to some point over the French line or had gone eastward beyond the +Germans. + +John felt that he had again seen a sign. He remembered how he and Lannes +had drawn hope from omens when they were looking at the Arc de Triomphe, +and a similar hope sprang up now. Weber was right! Lannes would come to +his rescue. Some thought or impulse yet unknown would guide him. + +Light clouds now drifted up from the southwest, and all the aeroplanes +were hidden, but the heavy murmur of the marching army went on. The +puffing and clashing of innumerable automobiles came from the roads +also, though John soon ceased to pay attention to them. As the hours +passed, he felt an increased weariness. He had sat still almost the +whole day, but the strain of the watching and waiting had been as great +as that of the walking now was. He wondered if the guards would ever let +them stop. + +They waded another brook, passed through another wood and then they were +ordered to halt. The guards announced that they could sleep, as they +would go no farther that night. The men did not lie down. They fell, and +each lay where he fell, and in whatever position he had assumed when +falling. + +John was conscious of hearing the order, of striking the grass full +length, and he knew nothing more until the next morning when he was +aroused by Fleury. He saw a whitish dawn with much mist floating over +the fields, and he believed that a large river, probably the Marne, must +be near. + +As far as he could see the ground was covered with German soldiers. They +too had dropped at the command to stop, and had gone to sleep as they +were falling. The majority of them still slept. + +"What is it, Fleury? Why did you wake me up?" asked John. + +"The river Marne is close by, and I'm sure that the Germans are going to +retreat across it. I had an idea that possibly we might escape while +there's so much mist. They can't watch us very closely while they have +so much else to do, and doubtless they would care but little if some of +us did escape." + +"We'll certainly look for the chance. Can you see any sign of the French +pursuit?" + +"Not yet, but our people will surely follow. They're still at it already +on the flanks!" + +The distant thunder of cannon came from both right and left. + +"A third day of fighting is at hand," said Fleury. + +"And it will be followed by a fourth." + +"And a fifth." + +"But we shall continue to drive the enemy away." + +Both spoke with the utmost confidence. Having seen their armies +victorious for two days they had no doubt they would win again. All that +morning they listened to the sounds of combat, although they saw much +less than on the day before. The prisoners were in a little wood, where +they lay down at times, and then, restless and anxious, would stand on +tiptoe again, seeking to see at least a corner of the battle. + +John and Fleury were standing near noon at the edge of the wood, when a +small body of Uhlans halted close by. Being not more than fifty in +number, John judged that they were scouts, and the foaming mouths of +their horses showing that they had been ridden hard, confirmed him in +the opinion. They were only fifty or sixty yards from him, and although +they were motionless for some time, their eager faces showed that they +were waiting for some movement. + +It was pure chance, but John happened to be looking at a rather large +man who sat his horse easily, his gloved hand resting on his thigh. He +saw distinctly that his face was very ruddy and covered with beads of +perspiration. Then man and horse together fell to the ground as if +struck by a bolt of lightning. The man did not move at all, but the +horse kicked for a few moments and lay still. + +There was a shout of mingled amazement and horror from the other Uhlans, +and it found its echo in John's own mind. He saw one of the men look up, +and he looked up also. A dark shape hovered overhead. Something small +and black, and then another and another fell from it and shot downward +into the group of Uhlans. A second man was hurled from his horse and lay +still upon the ground. Again John felt that thrill of horror and +amazement. + +"What is it? What is it?" he cried. + +"I think it's the steel arrow," said Fleury, pressing a little further +forward and standing on tiptoe. "As well as I can see, the first passed +entirely through the head of the man and then broke the backbone of the +horse beneath him." + +John saw one of the Uhlans, who had dismounted, holding up a short, +heavy steel weapon, a dart rather than an arrow, its weight adjusted so +that it was sure to fall point downward. Coming from such a height John +did not wonder that it had pierced both horse and rider, and as he +looked another, falling near the Uhlan, struck deep into the earth. + +"There goes the aeroplane that did it," said John to Fleury, pointing +upward. + +It hovered a minute or two longer and flew swiftly back toward the +French lines, pursued vainly a portion of the distance by the German +Taubes. + +"A new weapon of death," said Fleury. "The fighters move in the air, +under the water, on the earth, everywhere." + +"The Uhlans are off again," said John. "Whatever their duty was the +steel arrows have sent them on it in a hurry." + +"And we're about to move too. See, these batteries are limbering up +preparatory to a withdrawal." + +Inside of fifteen minutes they were again marching eastward, though +slowly and with the roar of battle going on as fiercely behind them as +ever. John heard again from some of the talk of the guards that the +Germans had five armies along their whole line, but whether the one with +which he was now a prisoner was falling back with its whole force he +had no way of knowing. Both he and Fleury were sure the prisoners +themselves would soon cross the Marne, and that large detachments of the +enemy would go with them. + +Thoughts of escape returned. Crossing a river in battle was a perilous +operation, entailing much confusion, and the chance might come at the +Marne. They could see too that the Germans were now being pressed +harder. The French shells were coming faster and with more deadly +precision. Now and then they exploded among the masses of German +infantry, and once or twice they struck close to the captives. + +"It would be a pity to be killed by our own people," said Fleury. + +"And at such a time as this," said John. "Do you know, Fleury, that my +greatest fear about getting killed is that then I wouldn't know how this +war is going to end?" + +"I feel that way myself sometimes. Look, there's the Marne! See its +waters shining! It's the mark of the first great stage in the German +retreat." + +"I wonder how we're going to cross. I suppose the bridges will be +crowded with artillery and men. It might pay the Germans just to let us +go." + +"They won't do that. There's nothing in their rules about liberating +prisoners, and they wouldn't hear of such a thing, anyhow, trouble or no +trouble." + +"I see some boats, and I fancy we'll cross on them. I wonder if we +couldn't make what we call in my country a get-away, while we're waiting +for the embarkation." + +"If our gunners become much more accurate our get-away, as you call it, +will be into the next life." + +Two huge shells had burst near, and, although none of the flying metal +struck them, their faces were stung by fine dirt. When John brushed the +dust out of his eyes he saw that he was right in his surmise about the +crossing in boats, but wrong about probable delays in embarkation. The +German machine even in retreat worked with neatness and dispatch. There +were three boats, and the first relay of prisoners, including John and +Fleury, was hurried into them. A bridge farther down the stream rumbled +heavily as the artillery crossed on it. But the French force was coming +closer and closer. A shell struck in the river sixty or eighty feet from +them and the water rose in a cataract. Some of the prisoners had been +put at the oars and they, like the Germans, showed eagerness to reach +the other side. John noted the landing, a narrow entrance between thick +clumps of willows, and he confessed to himself that he too would feel +better when they were on the farther bank. + +The Marne is not a wide river, and a few powerful pulls at the oars sent +them near to the landing. But at that moment a shell whistled through +the air, plunged into the water and exploded practically beneath the +boat. + +John was hurled upward in a gush of foam and water, and then, when he +dropped back, the Marne received him in its bosom. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE SPORT OF KINGS + + +John Scott, who was suffering from his second immersion in a French +river, came up with mouth, eyes and nose full of water. The stream +around him was crowded with men swimming or with those who had reached +water shallow enough to permit of wading. As well as he could see, the +shell had done no damage besides giving them a huge bath, of which every +one stood in much need. + +But he had a keen and active mind and it never worked quicker than it +did now. He had thought his chance for escape might come in the +confusion of a hurried crossing, and here it was. He dived and swam down +the stream toward the willows that lined the bank. When he could hold +his breath no longer he came up in one of the thickest clumps. The water +reached to his waist there, and standing on the bottom in all the +density of willows and bushes he was hidden thoroughly from all except +watchful searchers. And who would miss him at such a time, and who, if +missing, would take the trouble to look for him while the French cannon +were thundering upon them and a perilous crossing was to be made? + +It was all so ridiculously easy. He knew that he had nothing to do but +stand close while the men pulled themselves out of the river and the +remaining boats made their passage. For further protection he moved into +water deep enough to reach to his neck, while he still retained the +cover of the willows and bushes. Here he watched the German troops pass +over, and listened to the heavy cannonade. He soon noted that the +Germans, after crossing, were taking up strong positions on the other +side. He could tell it from the tremendous artillery fire that came from +their side of the Marne. + +John now found that his position, while safe from observation, was far +from comfortable. The chill of the water began to creep into his bones +and more shells struck unpleasantly near. Another fell into the river +and he was blinded for a moment by the violent showers of foam and +spray. He began to feel uneasy. If the German and French armies were +going to fight each other from the opposing sides of the Marne he would +be held there indefinitely, either to be killed by a shell or bullet or +to drown from cramp. + +But time passed and he saw no chance of leaving his watery lair. The +chill went further into his bones. He was lonesome too. He longed for +the companionship of Fleury, and he wondered what had become of him. He +sincerely hoped that he too had reached a covert and that they should +meet again. + +No rumbling came from the bridge below, and, glancing down the stream, +John saw that it was empty. There must be many other bridges over the +Marne, but he believed that the German armies had now crossed it, and +would devote their energy to a new attack. He was squarely between the +lines and he did not see any chance to escape until darkness. + +He looked up and saw a bright sun and blue skies. Night was distant, and +so far as he was concerned it might be a year away. If two armies were +firing shells directly at a man they must hit him in an hour or two, and +if not, a polar stream such as the Marne had now become would certainly +freeze him to death. He had no idea French rivers could be so cold. The +Marne must be fed by a whole flock of glaciers. + +His teeth began to chatter violently, and then he took stern hold of +himself. He felt that he was allowing his imagination to run away with +him, and he rebuked John Scott sternly and often for such foolishness. +He tried to get some warmth into his veins by jumping up and down in the +water, but it was of little avail. Yet he stood it another hour. Then he +made one more long and critical examination of the ground. + +Shells were now screaming high overhead, but nobody was in sight. He +judged that it was now an artillery battle, with the foes perhaps three +or four miles apart, and, leaving the willows, he crept out upon the +bank. It was the side held by the Germans, but he knew that if he +attempted to swim the river to the other bank he would be taken with +cramps and would drown. + +There was a little patch of long grass about ten yards from the river, +and, crawling to it, he lay down. The grass rose a foot high on either +side of him, but the sun, bright and hot, shone directly down upon his +face and body. It felt wonderfully good after that long submersion in +the Marne. Removing all his heavy wet clothing, he wrung the water out +of it as much as he could, and lay back in a state of nature, for both +himself and his clothing to dry. Meanwhile, in order to avoid cold, he +stretched and tensed his muscles for a quarter of an hour before he lay +still again. + +A wonderful warmth and restfulness flowed back into his veins. He had +feared chills and a serious illness, but he knew now that they would not +come. Youth, wiry and seasoned by hard campaigning, would quickly +recover, but knowing that, for the present, he could neither go forward +nor backward, he luxuriated in the grass, while the sun sucked the damp +out of his clothing. + +Meanwhile the battle was raging over his head and he scarcely noticed +it. The shells whistled and shrieked incessantly, but, midway between +the contending lines, he felt that they were no longer likely to drop +near. So he relaxed, and a dreamy feeling crept over him. He could hear +the murmur of insects in the grass, and he reflected that the smaller +one was, the safer one was. A shell was not likely to take any notice of +a gnat. + +He felt of his clothing. It was not dry yet and he would wait a little +longer. Anyhow, what was the use of hurrying? He turned over on his +side and continued to luxuriate in the long grass. + +The warmth and dryness had sent the blood pulsing in a strong flood +through his veins once more, and the mental rebound came too. Although +he lay immediately between two gigantic armies which were sending +showers of metal at each other along a line of many miles, he considered +his escape sure and the thought of personal danger disappeared. If one +only had something to eat! It is curious how the normal instincts and +wants of man assert themselves even under the most dangerous conditions. +He began to think of the good German brown bread and the hot sausage +that he had devoured, and the hot coffee that he had drunk. One could +eat the food of an enemy without compunction. + +But it was folly to move, even to seek dinner or supper, while the +shells were flying in such quantities over his head. As he turned once +more and lay on his back he caught glimpses as of swift shadows passing +high above, and the whistling and screaming of shells and shrapnel was +continuous. It was true that a missile might fall short and find him in +the grass, but he considered the possibility remote and it did not give +him a tremor. As he was sure now that he would suffer no bodily ill from +his long bath in the Marne he might remain in the grass until night and +then creep away. Blessed night! It was the kindly veil for all +fugitives, and no one ever awaited it with more eagerness than John +Scott. + +The sun was now well beyond the zenith, and its golden darts came +indirectly. His clothing was thoroughly dry at last, and he put it on +again. Clad anew he was tempted to seek escape at once, but the sound of +a footstep caused him to lie down in the shelter of the grass again. + +His ear was now against the earth and the footsteps were much more +distinct. He was sure that they were made by a horse, and he believed +that a Uhlan was riding near. He remembered how long and sharp their +lances were, and he was grateful that the grass was so thick and tall. +He longed for the automatic revolver that had been such a trusty friend, +but the Germans had taken it long since, and he was wholly unarmed. + +He was afraid to raise his head high enough to see the horseman, lest he +be seen, but the footsteps, as if fate had a grudge against him, were +coming nearer. His blood grew hot in a kind of rebellion against chance, +or the power that directed the universe. It was really a grim joke that, +after having escaped so much, a mere wandering scout of a Uhlan should +pick him up, so to speak, on the point of his lance. + +He pressed hard against the earth. He would have pressed himself into it +if he could, and imagination, the deceiver, made him think that he was +doing so. The temptation to raise his head above the grass and look +became more violent, but will held him firm and he still lay flat. + +Then he noticed that the hoofbeats wandered about in an irregular, +aimless fashion. Not even a scout hunting a good position for +observation would ride in such a way, and becoming more daring he +raised his head slowly, until he could peep over the grass stems. He saw +a horse, fifteen or twenty feet from him, but without rider, bridle or +saddle. It was a black horse of gigantic build like a Percheron, with +feet as large as a half-bushel measure, and a huge rough mane. + +The horse saw John and gazed at him out of great, mild, limpid eyes. The +young American thought he beheld fright there and the desire for +companionship. The animal, probably belonging to some farmer who had +fled before the armies, had wandered into the battle area, seeking the +human friends to whom he was so used, and nothing living was more +harmless than he. He reminded John in some ways of those stalwart and +honest peasants who were so ruthlessly made into cannon food by the +gigantic and infinitely more dangerous Tammany that rules the seventy +million Germans. + +The horse walked nearer and the look in his eyes became so full of +terror and the need of man's support that for the time he stood as a +human being in John's imagination. + +"Poor old horse!" he called, "I'm sorry for you, but your case is no +worse than mine. Here we both are, wishing harm to nobody, but with a +million men shooting over our backs." + +The horse, emboldened by the friendly voice, came nearer and nuzzled at +the human friend whom he had found so opportunely, and who, although so +much smaller than himself, was, as he knew, so much more powerful. This +human comrade would show him what to do and protect him from all harm. +But John took alarm. He too found pleasure in having a comrade, even if +it were only a horse, but the animal would probably attract the +attention of scouts or skirmishers. He tried to shoo him away, but for a +long time the horse would not move. At last he pulled a heavy bunch of +grass, wadded it together and threw it in his face. + +The horse, staring at him reproachfully, turned and walked away. John's +lively fancy saw a tear in the huge, luminous eye, and his conscience +smote him hard. + +"I had to do it, Marne, old fellow," he called. "You're so big and you +stick up so high that you arouse attention, and that's just what I don't +want." + +He had decided to call the horse Marne, after the river near by, and he +noticed that he did not go far. The animal, reassured by John's friendly +after-word, began to crop the grass about twenty feet away. He had a +human friend after all, one on whom he could rely. Man did not want to +be bothered by him just then, but that was the way of man, and he did +not mind, since the grass was so plentiful and good. He would be there, +close at hand, when he was needed. + +John was really moved by the interlude. The loneliness, and then the +friendliness of the horse appealed to him. He too needed a comrade, and +here he was. He forgot, for a time, the moaning of the shells over his +head, and began to think again about his escape. So thinking, the horse +came once more into his mind. He showed every sign of grazing there +until dark came. Then why not ride away on him? It was true that a +horse was larger and made more noise than a fugitive man slipping +through the grass, but there were times when strength and speed, +especially speed, counted for a lot. + +The last hours of the afternoon waned, trailing their slow length, +minute by minute, and throughout that time the roar of the battle was as +steady as the fall of Niagara. It even came to the point that John paid +little attention to it, but the sport of kings, in which thousands of +men were ground up, they knew not why, went merrily on. None of the +shells struck near John, and with infinite joy he saw the coming of the +long shadows betokening the twilight. The horse, still grazing near by, +raised his head more than once and looked at him, as if it were time to +go. As the sun sank and the dusk grew John stood up. He saw that the +night was going to be dark and he was thankful. The Marne was merely a +silver streak in the shadow, and in the wood near by the trees were +fusing into a single clump of darkness. + +He stood erect, stretching his muscles and feeling that it was glorious +to be a man with his head in the air, instead of a creature that +grovelled on the ground. Then he walked over to the horse and patted him +on the shoulder. + +"Marne, old boy," he said, "I think it's about time for you and me to +go." + +The horse rubbed his great head against John's arm, signifying that he +was ready to obey any command his new master might give him. John knew +from his build that he was a draught horse, but there were times in +which one could not choose a particular horse for a particular need. + +"Marne, old fellow," he said, stroking the animal's mane, "you're not to +be a menial cart horse tonight. I am an Arabian genie and I hereby turn +you into a light, smooth, beautifully built automobile for one passenger +only, and I'm that passenger." + +Holding fast to the thick mane he sprang upon the horse's back, and +urged him down the stream, keeping close to the water where there was +shelter among the willows and bushes. He had no definite idea in his +head, but he felt that if he kept on going he must arrive somewhere. He +was afraid to make the horse swim the river in an effort to reach the +French army. Appearing on the surface of the water he felt that he would +almost certainly be seen and some good rifleman or other would be sure +to pick him off. + +He concluded at last that if no German troops came in sight he would let +the horse take him where he would. Marne must have a home and a master +somewhere and habit would send him to them. So he ceased to push at his +neck and try to direct him, and the horse continued a slow and peaceful +progress down the stream in the shadow of small trees. The night was +darker than those just before it, and the dampness of the air indicated +possible flurries of rain. Cannon still rumbled on the horizon like the +thunder of a summer night. + +While trusting to the horse to lead him to some destination, John kept a +wary watch, with eyes now growing used to the darkness. If German +troops appeared and speed to escape were lacking, he would jump from +Marne's back and hunt a new covert. But he saw nobody. The evidences of +man's work were present continually in the cannonade, but man himself +was absent. + +The horse went on with ponderous and sure tread. Evidently he had +wandered far under the influence of the firing, but it was equally +evident that his certain instinct was guiding him back again. He crossed +a brook flowing down into the Marne, passed through a wheat field, and +entered a little valley, where grew a number of oaks, clear of +undergrowth. + +When he saw what was lying under the oaks he pulled hard at the rough +mane, until the horse stopped. He had distinctly made out the figures of +men, stretched upon the ground, apparently asleep, and sure to be +Germans. He stared hard at them, but the horse snorted and tried to pull +away. The action of the animal rather than his own eyesight made him +reckon aright. + +A horse would not be afraid of living men, and, slipping from the back +of Marne, John approached cautiously. A few rays of wan moonlight +filtered through the trees, and when he had come close he shuddered over +and over again. About a dozen men lay on the ground and all were stone +dead. The torn earth and their own torn figures showed that a shell had +burst among them. Doubtless it had been an infantry patrol, and the +survivors had hurried away. + +John, still shuddering, was about to turn back to his horse, when he +remembered that he needed much and that in war one must not be too +scrupulous. Force of will made him return to the group and he sought for +what he wanted. Evidently the firing had been hot there and the rest of +the patrol had not lingered in their flight. + +He took from one man a pair of blankets. He could have had his choice of +two or three good rifles, but he passed them by in favor of a large +automatic pistol which would not be in the way. This had been carried by +a young man whom he took to be an officer, and he also found on him many +cartridges for the pistol. Then he searched their knapsacks for food, +finding plenty of bread and sausage and filling with it one knapsack +which he put over his shoulder. + +He returned hastily to his horse, guided him around the fatal spot, and +when he was some distance on the other side dismounted and ate as only a +half-starved man can eat. Water was obtained from a convenient brook and +carefully storing the remainder of the food in the knapsack he remounted +the horse. + +"Now go on, my good and gallant beast," he said, "and I feel sure that +your journey is nearly at an end. A draught horse like you, bulky and +slow, would not wander any great distance." + +The horse himself immediately justified his prediction by raising his +head, neighing and advancing at a swifter pace. John saw, standing among +some trees, a low and small house, built of stone and evidently very +old, its humble nature indicating that it belonged to a peasant. Behind +it was a tiny vineyard, and there was a stable and another outhouse. + +"Well, Marne, my lad, here's your home, beyond a doubt," said John. But +no answer came to the neigh. The house remained silent and dark. It +confirmed John's first belief that the horse belonged to some peasant +who had fled with his family from the armies. He stroked the animal's +neck, and felt real pity for him, as if he had been a child abandoned. + +"I know that while I'm a friend I'm almost a stranger to you, but come, +we'll examine things," he said. + +He sprang off the horse, and drew his automatic. The possession of the +pistol gave him an immense amount of courage and confidence, but he did +not anticipate any trouble at the house as he was sure that it was +abandoned. + +He pushed open the door and saw a dark inside. Staring a little he made +out a plainly furnished room, from which all the lighter articles had +been taken. There was a hearth, but with no fire on it, and John decided +that he would sleep in the house. It was in a lonely place, but he would +take the risk. + +The horse had already gone to the stable and was pushing the door with +his nose. John let him in, and found some oat straw which he gave him. +Then he left him munching in content, and as he departed he struck him a +resounding blow of friendliness on the flank. + +"Good old Marne," he said, "you're certainly one of the best friends +I've found in Europe. In fact, you're about the only living being I've +associated with that doesn't want to kill somebody." + +He entered the house and closed the door. In addition to the +sitting-room there was a bedroom and a kitchen, all bearing the signs of +recent occupancy. He found a small petroleum lamp, but he concluded not +to light it. Instead he sat on a wooden bench in the main room beside a +small window, ate a little more from the knapsack, and watched a while +lest friend or enemy should come. + +It had grown somewhat darker and the clouds were driving across the sky. +The wind was rising and the threatened flurries of rain came, beating +against the cottage. John was devoutly glad that he had found the little +house. Having spent many hours immersed to his neck in a river he felt +that he had had enough water for one day. Moreover, his escape, his snug +shelter and the abundance of food at hand, gave him an extraordinary +sense of ease and rest. He noticed that in the darkness and rain one +might pass within fifty feet of the cottage without seeing it. + +The wind increased and moaned among the oaks that grew around the house, +but above the moaning the sounds of battle, the distant thunder of the +artillery yet came. The sport of kings was going merrily on. Neither +night nor storm stopped it and men were still being ground by thousands +into cannon food. But John had now a feeling of detachment. Three days +of continuous battle had dulled his senses. They might fight on as they +pleased. It did not concern him, for tonight at least. He was going to +look out for himself. + +He fastened the door securely, but, as he left the window open, +currents of fresh cool air poured into the room. He was now fully +revived in both mind and body, and he took present ease and comfort, +thinking but little of the future. The flurries of rain melted into a +steady pour. The cold deepened, and as he wrapped the two blankets +around him his sense of comfort increased. Lightning flared at +infrequent intervals and now and then real thunder mingled with that of +the artillery. + +He felt that he might have been back at home. It was like some snug +little place in the high hills of Pennsylvania or New York. Like many +other Americans, he often felt surprise that Europe should be so much +like America. The trees and the grass and the rivers were just the same. +Nothing was different but the ancient buildings. He knew now that +history and a long literature merely created the illusion of difference. + +He wondered why the artillery fire did not die, with the wind sweeping +such gusts of rain before it. Then he remembered that the sound of so +many great cannon could travel a long distance, and there might be no +rain at the points from which the firing came. The cottage might stand +in a long narrow valley up which the clouds would travel. + +Not feeling sleepy yet he decided to have another look about the house. +A search revealed a small box of matches near the lamp on the shelf. +Then he closed the window in order to shut in the flame, and, lighting +the lamp, pursued his investigation. + +He found in the kitchen a jar of honey that he had overlooked, and he +resolved to use a part of it for breakfast. Europeans did not seem able +to live without jam or honey in the mornings, and he would follow the +custom. Not much was left in the other rooms, besides some old articles +of clothing, including two or three blue blouses of the kind worn by +French peasants or workmen, but on one of the walls he saw an excellent +engraving of the young Napoleon, conqueror of Italy. + +It showed him, horseback, on a high road looking down upon troops in +battle, Castiglione or Rivoli, perhaps, his face thin and gaunt, his +hair long and cut squarely across his forehead, the eyes deep, burning +and unfathomable. It was so thoroughly alive that he believed it must be +a reproduction of some great painting. He stood a long time, fascinated +by this picture of the young republican general who rose like a meteor +over Europe and who changed the world. + +John, like nearly all young men, viewed the Napoleonic cycle with a +certain awe and wonder. A student, he had considered Napoleon the great +democratic champion and mainly in the right as far as Austerlitz. Then +swollen ambition had ruined everything and, in his opinion, another +swollen ambition, though for far less cause, was now bringing equal +disaster upon Europe. A belief in one's infallibility might come from +achievement or birth, but only the former could win any respect from +thinking men. + +It seemed to John presently that the deep, inscrutable eyes were gazing +at him, and he felt a quivering at the roots of his hair. It was young +Bonaparte, the republican general, and not Napoleon, the emperor, who +was looking into his heart. + +"Well," said John, in a sort of defiance, "if you had stuck to your +early principles we wouldn't have all this now. First Consul you might +have been, but you shouldn't have gone any further." + +He turned away with a sigh of regret that so great a warrior and +statesman, in the end, should have misused his energies. + +He returned to the room below, blew out the lamp and opened the window +again. The cool fresh air once more poured into the room, and he took +long deep breaths of it. It was still raining, though lightly, and the +pattering of the drops on the leaves made a pleasant sound. The thunder +and the lightning had ceased, though not the far rumble of artillery. +John knew that the sport of kings was still going on under the +searchlights, and all his intense horror of the murderous monarchies +returned. He was not sleepy yet, and he listened a long time. The sound +seemed to come from both sides of him, and he felt that the abandoned +cottage among the trees was merely a little oasis in the sea of war. + +The rain ceased and he concluded to scout about the house to see if any +one was near, or if any farm animals besides the horse had been left. +But Marne was alone. There was not even a fowl of any kind. He concluded +that the horse had probably wandered away before the peasant left, as so +valuable an animal would not have been abandoned otherwise. + +His scouting--he was learning to be very cautious--took him some +distance from the house and he came to a narrow road, but smooth and +hard, a road which troops were almost sure to use, while such great +movements were going on. He waited behind a hedge a little while, and +then he heard the hum of motors. + +He had grown familiar with the throbbing, grinding sound made by many +military automobiles on the march, but he waited calmly, merely +loosening his automatic for the sake of precaution. He felt sure that +while he stood behind a hedge he would never be seen on a dark night by +men traveling in haste. The automobiles came quickly into view and in +those in front he saw elderly men in uniforms of high rank. Nearly all +the German generals seemed to him to be old men who for forty or fifty +years had studied nothing but how to conquer, men too old and hardened +to think much of the rights of others or ever to give way to generous +emotions. + +He also saw sitting erect in one of the motors the man for whom he had +felt at first sight an invincible repulsion. Prince Karl of Auersperg. +Young von Arnheim had represented the good prince to him, but here was +the medieval type, the believer in divine right, and in his own +superiority, decreed even before birth. John noted in the moonlight his +air of ownership, his insolent eyes and his heavy, arrogant face. He +hoped that the present war would sweep away all such as Auersperg. + +He watched nearly an hour while the automobiles, cyclists, a column of +infantry, and then several batteries of heavy guns drawn by motors, +passed. He judged that the Germans were executing a change of front +somewhere, and that the Franco-British forces were still pressing hard. +The far thunder of the guns had not ceased for an instant, although it +must be nearly midnight. He wished he knew what this movement on the +part of the Germans meant, but, even if he had known, he had no way of +reaching his own army, and he turned back to the cottage. + +Having fastened the door securely again he spread the blankets on the +bench by the window and lay down to sleep. The tension was gone from his +nerves now, and he felt that he could fall asleep at once, but he did +not. A shift in the wind brought the sound of the artillery more +plainly. His imagination again came into vivid play. He believed that +the bench beneath him, the whole cottage, in fact, was quivering before +the waves of the air, set in such violent motion by so many great guns. + +It annoyed him intensely. He felt a sort of personal anger against +everybody. It was past midnight of the third day and it was time for the +killing to stop. At least they might rest until morning, and give his +nerves a chance. He moved restlessly on the bench a half hour or more, +but at last he sank gradually to sleep. As his eyes closed the thunder +of the cannonade was as loud and steady as ever. He slept, but the +murderous sport of kings went on. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE PUZZLING SIGNAL + + +When John awoke a bright sun was shining in at the window, bringing with +it the distant mutter of cannon, a small fire was burning on the hearth +on the opposite side of the room, a man was bending over the coals, and +the pleasant odor of boiling coffee came to his nostrils. He sat up in +amazement and looked at the man who, not turning around, went on +placidly with his work of preparing breakfast. But he recognized the +figure. + +"Weber!" he exclaimed. + +"None other!" said the Alsatian, facing about, and showing a cheery +countenance. "I was in the boat just behind you when your own was +demolished by the shell. In all the spray and foam and confusion I saw +my chance, and dropping overboard from ours I floated with the stream. I +had an idea that you might escape, and since you must come down the +river between the two armies I also, for the same reasons, chose the +same path. I came upon this cottage several hours ago, picked the +fastenings of the door and to my astonishment and delight found you, my +friend, unharmed, but sound asleep upon the bench there. I slept a while +in the corner, then I undertook to make breakfast with provisions and +utensils that I found in the forest. Ah, it was easy enough last night +to find almost anything one wished. The fields and forest were full of +dead men." + +"I provided myself in the same way, but I'm delighted to see you. I was +never before in my life so lonely. How chance seems to throw us together +so often!" + +"And we've both profited by it. The coffee is boiling now, Mr. Scott. +I've a good German coffee pot and two cups that I took from the fallen. +God rest their souls, they'll need them no more, while we do." + +"The battle goes on," said John, listening a moment at the window. + +"Somewhere on the hundred mile line it has continued without a break of +an instant, and it may go on this way for a week or a month. Ah, it's a +fearful war, Mr. Scott, and we've seen only the beginning! But drink the +coffee now, while it's hot. And I've warmed too, some of the cold food +from the knapsacks. German sausage is good at any time." + +"And just now it's heavenly. I'm glad we have such a plentiful supply of +sausage and bread, even if we did have to take it from the dead. I want +to tell you again how pleasant it is to see you here." + +"I feel that way too. We're like comrades united. Now if we only had +your English friend Carstairs, your American friend Wharton, and Lannes +we'd be quite a family group." + +"I fancy that we'll see Lannes before we do Carstairs and Wharton." + +"I think so too. He'll certainly be hovering today somewhere over the +ground between the two armies--either to observe the Germans or more +likely to carry messages between the French generals. I tell you, Mr. +Scott, that Philip Lannes is perhaps the most wonderful young man in +Europe. In addition to his extraordinary ability in the air he has +courage, coolness, perception and quickness almost without equal. +There's something Napoleonic about him." + +"You know he's descended from the family of the famous Marshal, Lannes, +not from Lannes himself, but from a close relative, and the blood's the +same. They say that blood will tell, and don't you think that the spirit +of the great Lannes may have reappeared in Philip?" + +"It's altogether likely." + +"I've been thinking a lot about Napoleon. There's a wonderful picture of +him as a young republican general in a room here. Perhaps it's the +conditions around us, but at times I am sure the heroic days of the +First Republic have returned to France. The spirit that animated Hoche +and Marceau and Kleber and Bonaparte, before he became spoiled, seems to +have descended upon the French. And there were Murat, Lannes and +Lefebvre, and Berthier and the others. Think of that wonderful crowd of +boys leading the republican armies to victories over all the kings! It +seems to me the most marvelous thing in the history of war, since the +Greeks turned back the Persians." + +Weber refilled his coffee cup, drank a portion of it, and said: + +"I have thought of it, Mr. Scott, I have thought of it more than once. +It may be that the Gallic fury has been aroused. It has seemed so to me +since the German armies were turned back from Paris. The French have +burned more gunpowder than any other nation in Europe, and they're a +fighting race. It would appear now that the Terrible Year, 1870, was +merely an aggregation of mistakes, and did not represent either the +wisdom or natural genius of the nation." + +"That is, the French were then far below normal, as we would say, but +have now returned to their best, and that the two Kaisers made the +mistake of thinking the French in their lowest form were the French in +their usual form?" + +"It may be so," said Weber, thoughtfully. "Nations reckon their strength +in peace, but only war itself discloses the fact. Evidently tremendous +miscalculations have been made by somebody." + +"By somebody? By whom? That's why I'm against the Kaisers and all the +secret business of the military monarchies. War made over night by a +dozen men! a third of the world's population plunged into battle! and +the rest drawn into the suffering some way or other! I don't like a lot +of your European ways." + +Weber shook his head. + +"We've inherited kings," he said. "But how did you find this place?" + +"Accident. Stumbled on it, and mighty grateful I was, too. It kept me +warm and dry after standing so long in the Marne I thought I was bound +to turn into a fish. Isolated little place, but the Germans have been +passing near. Before sleeping last night, I went out scouting and as I +stood behind a hedge I saw a lot of them. I recognized in a motor the +Very High Born, his High Mightiness, the owner of the earth, the Prince +of Auersperg." + +Weber took another drink of coffee. + +"An able man and one of our most bitter enemies," he said. "A foe of +democracy everywhere. I think he was to have been made governor of +Paris, and then Paris would have known that it had a governor. I've seen +him in Alsace, and I've heard a lot about him." + +"But all that's off now. I fancy that the next governor of Paris, if it +should have a governor, will be a Frenchman. But the day is advancing, +Weber; what do you think we ought to do?" + +"I've been thinking of your friend Lannes. I've an idea that he'll come +for you, if he finds an interval in his duties." + +"But how could he possibly find me? Why, it's the old needle in the +haystack business." + +"He couldn't unless we made some sort of signal." + +"There's no signal that I can make." + +"But there's one that I can. Look, Mr. Scott." + +He unbuttoned his long French coat, and took from his breast a roll of +red, white and blue. He opened it and disclosed a French flag about four +feet long. + +"If that were put in a conspicuous place," he said, "an aviator with +glasses could see it a long way, and he would come to find out what it +meant." + +"The top of a tree is the place for it!" exclaimed John. "Now if you +only had around here a real tree, or two, in place of what we call +saplings in my country, we might do some fine signaling with the flag." + +"We'll try it, but I think we should go a considerable distance from the +cottage. If Germans instead of French should come then we'd have a +better chance of escaping among the hedges and vineyards." + +John agreed with him and they quickly made ready, each taking his +automatic and knapsack, and leaving the fire to die of itself on the +hearth. + +"I'm telling that cottage good-bye with regret," said John, as they +walked away. "I spent some normal and peaceful hours there last night +and it's a neat little place. I hope its owners will be able to come +back to it. As soon as I open the stable door, in order that the horse +may go where he will, I'll be ready." + +He gave the big animal a friendly pat as he left and Marne gazed after +him with envious sorrowful eyes. + +They walked a full mile, keeping close to the Marne, where the trees and +bushes were thickest, and listened meanwhile to the fourth day's +swelling roar of the battle. Its long continuance had made it even more +depressing and terrifying than in its earlier stages. To John's mind, at +least, it took on the form of a cataclysm, of some huge paroxysm of the +earth. He ate to it, he slept to it, he woke to it, and now he was +walking to it. The illusion was deepened by the fact that no human being +save Weber was visible to him. The country between the two monstrous +battle lines was silent and deserted. + +"Apparently," said Weber, "we're in no danger of human interference as +we walk here." + +"Not unless a shell coming from a point fifteen miles or so beyond the +hills should drop on us, or we should be pierced by an arrow from one of +our Frenchmen in the clouds. But so far as I can see there's nothing +above us, although I can make out one or two aeroplanes far toward the +east." + +"The air is heavy and cloudy and that's against them, but they'll be out +before long. You'll see. I think, Mr. Scott, that we'll find a good tree +in that little grove of beeches there." + +"The tall one in the center. Yes, that'll suit us." + +They inspected the tree and then made a long circuit about it, finding +nobody near. John, full of zeal and enthusiasm, volunteered to climb the +tree and fasten the flag to its topmost stem, and Weber, after some +claims on his own behalf, agreed. John was a good climber, alert, agile +and full of strength, and he went up the trunk like an expert. It was an +uncommonly tall tree for France, much more than a sapling, and when he +reached the last bough that would support him he found that he could see +over all the other trees and some of the low hills. At a little distance +ran the Marne, a silver sheet, and he thought he could discern faint +puffs of smoke on the hills beyond. No human being was in sight, but +although high in the tree he could still feel the vibrations of the air +beneath the throb of so many great guns. Several aeroplanes hovered at +points far distant, and he knew that others would be on the long battle +line. + +Reaching as high as he could he tied the flag with a piece of twine that +Weber had given him--the Alsation seemed to have provided for +everything--and then watched it as it unfolded and fluttered in the +light breeze. He felt a certain pride, as he had done his part of the +task well. The flag waved above the green leaves and any watcher of the +skies could see it. + +"How does it show?" he called to Weber. + +"Well, indeed. You'd better climb down now. If the Germans come from the +air they'll get you there, and if they come on land they'll have you in +the tree. You'll be caught between air and earth." + +"That being the case I'll come down at once," said John, and he +descended the tree rapidly. At Weber's advice they withdrew to a cluster +of vines growing near, where they would be well hidden, since their +signal was as likely to draw enemies as friends. + +"I think Lannes will surely see that flag," said Weber. + +"Why do you have such great confidence in his coming?" asked John. + +"He inspires confidence, when you see him, and there's his reputation. +I've an idea that he'll be carrying dispatches between the two wings of +the French army, dispatches of vast importance, since the different +French forces have to cooperate now along a line of four or five score +miles. Of course the telephone and the telegraph are at work, too, but +the value of the aeroplane as a scout and dispatch bearer cannot be over +estimated." + +"One is coming now," said John, "and I think it has been attracted by +our flag. I take it to be German." + +"Then we'd better keep very close. Still, there's little chance of our +being seen here, and the aviators, even if they suspect a presence, +can't afford to descend, leave their planes and search for anybody." + +"I agree with you there. One can remain here in comparative safety and +watch the results of our signal. That machine is coming fast and I'm +quite sure it's German." + +"An armored machine with two men and a light rapid fire gun in it. +Beyond a doubt it will circle about our tree." + +The plane was very near now, and assuredly it was German. John could +discern the Teutonic cast of their countenances, as the two men in it +leaned over and looked at the flag. They dropped lower and lower and +then flew in circles about the tree. John, despite his anxiety and +suspense, could not fail to notice the humorous phase of it. The plane +certainly could not effect a landing in the boughs, and if it descended +to the ground in order that one of their number might get out, climb the +tree and capture the flag, they would incur the danger of a sudden swoop +from French machines. Besides, the flag would be of no value to them, +unless they knew who put it there and why. + +"The Germans, of course, see that it's a French flag," he said to +Weber. "I wonder what they're going to do." + +"I think they'll have to leave it," said Weber, "because I can now see +other aeroplanes to the west, aeroplanes which may be French, and they +dare not linger too long." + +"And our little flag may make a big disturbance in the heavens." + +"So it seems." + +The German plane made circle after circle around the tree, finally drew +off to some distance, and then, as it wavered back and forth, its +machine gun began to spit fire. Little boughs and leaves cut from the +tree fell to the ground, but the flag, untouched, fluttered defiantly in +the light breeze. + +"They're trying to shoot it down," said John, "and with such an unsteady +gun platform they've missed every time." + +"I doubt whether they'll continue firing," said Weber. "An aeroplane +doesn't carry any great amount of ammunition and they can't afford to +waste much." + +"They're through now," said John. "See, they're flying away toward the +east, and unless my imagination deceives me, their machine actually +looks crestfallen, while our flag is snapping away in the wind, haughty +and defiant." + +"A vivid fancy yours, Mr. Scott, but it's easy to imagine that German +machine looking cheap, because that's just the way the men on board it +must feel. Suppose we sit down here and take our ease. No flying man +can see through those vines over our heads, and we can watch in safety. +We're sure to draw other scouts of the air, while for us it's an +interesting and comparatively safe experience." + +"Our flag is certainly an attraction," said John, making himself +comfortable on the ground. "There's a bird of passage now, coming down +from the north as swift as a swallow." + +"It's a little monoplane," said Weber, "and it certainly resembles a +swallow, as it comes like a flash toward this tree. I thought at first +it might be Lannes in the _Arrow_, but the plane is too small, and it's +of German make." + +"I fancy it won't linger long. This is not a healthy bit of space for +lone fellows in monoplanes." + +The little plane slackened its speed, as it approached the tree, and +then sailed by it at a moderate rate. When it was opposite the flag a +spurt of flame came from the pistol of the man in it, and John actually +laughed. + +"That was sheer spite," he said. "Did he think he could shoot our flag +away with a single bullet from a pistol when a machine gun has just +failed? That's right, turn about and make off as fast as you can, you +poor little mono!" + +The monoplane also curved around the tree, but did not make a series of +circles. Instead, when its prow was turned northward it darted off again +in that direction, going even more swiftly than it had come, as if the +aviator were ashamed of himself and wished to get away as soon as +possible from the scene of his disgrace. Away and away it flew, +dwindling to a black speck and then to nothing. + +John's shoulders shook, and Weber, looking at him, was forced to smile +too. + +"Well, it was funny," he said. "Our flag is certainly making a stir in +the heavens." + +"I wonder what will come next," said John. "It's like bait drawing birds +of prey." + +The heavens were now beautifully clear, a vault of blue velvet, against +which anything would show. Far away the cannon groaned and thundered, +and the waves of air pulsed heavily, but John noticed neither now. His +whole attention was centered upon the flag, and what it might call from +the air. + +"In such a brilliant atmosphere we can certainly see our visitors from +afar," he said. + +"So we can," said Weber, "and lo! another appears out of the east!" + +The dark speck showed on the horizon and grew fast, coming apparently +straight in their direction. John did not believe it had seen their flag +at first, owing to the great distance, but was either a messenger or a +scout. As it soon began to descend from its great height in the air, +although still preserving a straight course for the tree, he felt sure +that the flag had now come into its view. It grew very fast in size and +was outlined with startling clearness against the burning blue of the +sky. + +The approaching machine consisted of two planes alike in shape and size, +superimposed and about six feet apart, the whole with a stabilizing tail +about ten feet long and six feet broad. John saw as it approached that +the aviator sat before the motor and screw, but that the elevating and +steering rudders were placed in front of him. There were three men +besides the aviator in the machine. + +"A biplane," said John. + +"Yes," said Weber, "I recognize the type of the machine. It's originally +a French model." + +"But in this case, undoubtedly a German imitation. They've seen our +flag, because I can make out one of the men with glasses to his eyes. +They hover about as if in uncertainty. No wonder they can't make up +their minds, because there's the tricolor floating from the top of that +tall tree, and not a thing in the world to explain why it's in such a +place. A man with a rifle is about to take a shot at it. Bang! There it +goes! But I can't see that the bullet has damaged our flag. Look, how it +whips about and snaps defiance! Now, all the men except the aviator +himself have out glasses and are studying the phenomenon of our signal. +They come above the tree, and I think they're going to make a swoop +around the grove near the ground. Lie close, Weber! As I found out once +before, a thick forest is the best defense against aeroplanes. They +can't get through the screen of boughs." + +They heard a whirring and drumming, and the biplane not more than fifty +feet above the earth made several circles about the little wood. John +saw the men in it very clearly. He could even discern the German cast of +countenance where all except the one at the wheel that controlled the +two rudders had thrown back their hoods and taken off their glasses. +The three carried rifles which they held ready for use, in case they +detected an enemy. + +Whirling around like a vast primeval bird of prey the biplane began to +rise, as if disappointed of a victim, and winding upward was soon above +the trees. Then John heard the rapid crackle of rifles. + +"Shooting at our flag again!" he exclaimed. + +But the whizz of a bullet that buried itself in the earth near him told +him better. + +"It isn't possible that they've seen us!" he exclaimed. + +"No," said Weber, "they're merely peppering the woods and vines in the +hope that they'll hit a concealed enemy, if such there should be." + +"That being the case," said John, "I'm going to make my body as small as +possible, and push myself into the ground if I can." + +He lay very close, but the rifle fire quickly passed to other portions +of the wood, and then died away entirely. John straightened himself out +and saw the biplane becoming smaller, as it flew off in the direction +whence it had come. + +"I hope you'll come to no good," he said, shaking his fist at the +disappearing plane. "You've scared me half to death with your shots, and +I hope that both your rudders will get out of gear and stay out of gear! +I hope that the wheel controlling them will be smashed up! I hope that +the top plane will crash into the bottom one! I hope that a French shell +will shoot your tail off! And I hope that you'll tumble to the earth and +lie there, nothing but a heap of rotting wood and rusty old metal!" + +"Well done, Mr. Scott!" said Weber. "That was quite a curse, but I think +it will take something more solid to disable the biplane." + +"I think so too, but I've relieved my feelings, and after a man has done +so he can work a lot better. What are we to look for now, Weber? We +don't seem to have success in attracting anything but Germans. If Lannes +is coming at all, as you think he will, he'll get a pretty late ticket +of admission to our reserved section of the air." + +"You must remember that the sky above us is a pretty large place, and at +any rate we're a drawing power. We're always pulling something out of +the ether." + +"And our biggest catch is coming now! Look, Weber, look I If that isn't +one of Herr Zeppelin's railroad trains of the air then I'll eat it when +it gets here!" + +"You're right, Mr. Scott. There the monster comes. It can't be anything +but a Zeppelin! They must have one of their big sheds not far east of +us." + +"We'll hear its rattling soon. Like the others it will surely see our +flag and make for it. But if they take a notion to shoot up the wood, as +the men on that biplane did, we'd better hunt holes. A Zeppelin can +carry a lot of soldiers." + +The Zeppelin was not moving fast. It had none of the quick graceful +movements of the aeroplanes, but came on slowly like some huge monster +of the air, looking about for prey. It turned southeast for a moment or +two, then some one on board saw the flag and coming back it lumbered +toward the tree. + +"Ugly things," said John. "Lannes and I blew up one once, and I wish I +had the same chance against that fellow up there. But they're in the +same puzzled state that the other fellows were. Men on both platforms +are examining the flag through glasses, and the flag doesn't give a rap +for them. It's standing out in the wind, now, straight and stiff. It +seems to know that old Noah's ark can't make it out." + +The huge Zeppelin drew its length along the grove, coming as close to +the trees as it dared, then passed above, and after some circling +lumbered away to the south. + +"Good-bye, old Mr. Curiosity," exclaimed John. "You weren't invited +here, and I don't care whether you ever come again. Besides, you're +nothing but a big bluff, anyway. There's our flag, still standing +straight out in the wind, so you can see every stripe on it, and yet you +haven't, despite your visit, the remotest idea why it was put there!" + +Weber smiled. + +"They've all gone away as ignorant as they were when they came," he +said, "but we must be due for a French visitor or two. After so long a +run of Germans we should have Frenchmen soon." + +"I begin to believe with you that Lannes will arrive some time or other. +He flies fast and far and in time he must see our signal." + +"I've never doubted it. Meanwhile I think I'll take a little luncheon, +and I'd advise you to do the same. We haven't had such a bad time here, +saving those random rifle shots from the biplane." + +"Not at all. It's like watching a play, and you certainly have a clear +field for observation, when you look up at the heavens. The stage is +always in full view." + +John was feeling uncommonly good. Their concealment while they watched +the scouts and messengers from the skies coming to see the meaning of +the flag had been easy and restful. Much of his long and painful tension +had relaxed. The hum of distant artillery was in his ears as ever, like +a moaning of the wind, but he was growing so used to it that he would +now have noticed its absence rather than its presence. So he ate his +share of bread and sausage with a good appetite, meanwhile keeping a +watchful eye upon the heavens which burned in the same brilliant blue. + +It was now about noon. The rain the night before had given fresh tints +to the green of grass and foliage. The whole earth, indifferent to the +puny millions that struggled on its vast bosom, seemed refreshed and +revitalized. A modest little bird in brown plumage perched on a bough +near them, and, indifferent too, to war, poured forth a brilliant volume +of song. + +"Happy little fellow," John said. "Nothing to do but eat and sleep and +sing." + +"Unless he's snapped up by some bigger bird," said Weber, "but having +been an hour without callers we're now about to have a new one. And as +this comes from the west it's likely to be French." + +John felt excitement, and stood up. Yes, there was the machine coming +out of the blue haze in the west, soaring beautifully and fast. It was +very high, but his eye, trained now, saw that it was descending +gradually. He felt an intense hope that it was Lannes, but he soon knew +that it was not lie. The approaching machine could not possibly be the +_Arrow_. + +"It's a Bleriot monoplane," said Weber. "I can tell the type almost as +far as I can see it. It's much like a gigantic bird, with powerful +parchment wings mounted upon a strong body. The wings as you see now +present a concave surface to the earth. They always do that. The flyer +sits between the two wings and has in front of him the lever with which +he controls the whole affair." + +"You seem to know a good deal about flying machines, Weber." + +"Oh, yes, I've observed them a lot. I've always been curious about them +and I've attended the great flying meets at Rheims, but personally I'm a +coward about heights. I study the types of these wonderful machines, but +I don't go up in 'em. That's a little fellow coming now and he's seen +the flag." + +"There's only one man in the plane, but as he's undoubtedly French what +do you think we ought to do? He can't carry us away with him in the +machine, it's too small. Do you think we should signal him to come to +the ground and have a talk?" + +"Perhaps we'd better let him pass, Mr. Scott. We have no real +information to give. He might suspect that we are Germans and a lot of +time would be lost maneuvering. Suppose we remain in hiding, and say +nothing until Lannes himself appears." + +"You still feel sure that he will come?" + +"It's a conviction." + +"Same way with me, and I agree with you that we'd better let our friend +in the Bleriot go by. He's descending fast now. The plane certainly does +look like a bird. Reminds me somewhat of a German Taube, though this +machine is much smaller." + +"The pilot will take only a look or two at the flag. Then, if we don't +hail him, he'll sail swiftly back to the west." + +"For good reasons too. The air here is chiefly in the German sphere of +influence, and if I were in his place I'd take to my heels too at a +single glance." + +"That's what he's doing now. He's flying past the flag just as one of +the Germans did. He leans over to take a look at it, can't make out what +it means, glances back apprehensively toward the German quarter of the +heavens, and now he's sliding like a streak through the blue for French +air." + +"So near and yet so far! A friend in the air just over our heads, and we +had to let him go. Well, he couldn't have done us any good." + +"No, he couldn't, and he's gone back so fast that he's out of sight +already, but another and different inhabitant of the air is coming out +of the south. See, the shape off there, Mr. Scott. Wait until it comes +nearer, and I think I can tell you what it is. Now it's made out the +flag and is steering for it." + +"What class of plane is it, Weber? Can you tell that yet?" + +"Yes. It's an Esnault-Pelterie, an invention of a young Frenchman. It's +a monoplane with flexible, warped wings. It's made of steel tubes, +welded together, and it has two wheels, one behind the other for contact +with the ground." + +"I noticed something queer in its appearance. It's the wheels. I don't +call this machine any great beauty, but it seems to cut the air well. I +suppose we'd better treat it as we did the Bleriot--let it go as it +came, none the worse and none the wiser?" + +"I think so. But we have no other choice! That flyer is a suspicious +fellow and he isn't taking any chances. He's come fairly close to the +flag, and now he's sheering off at an angle." + +"I don't blame him. He probably has something more important to do than +to unravel the meaning of a flag in a tree top." + +"Nor I either. But whatever comes we'll wait for Lannes, always for +Lannes. The heavens here, Mr. Scott, are peopled with strange birds, but +of all the lot there is one particular bird for which we are looking." + +"Right again. My eyes have grown a little weary of watching the skies. +For a long stare, blue isn't as soft and easy a sight as green, and I +think I'll look at the grass and leaves for a little while." + +"Then while you rest I'll keep an outlook and when I'm tired you can +relieve me." + +"Good enough." + +John lay down in the grass and rested his body while he eased his worn +eyes. Weber commented now and then on the new birds in the heavens, +aeroplanes of all kinds, but they kept their distance. + +"The air over us is not held now by either French or Germans," said +Weber, "and I imagine that only the more daring make incursions into it. +Perhaps, too, they are kept busy elsewhere, because, as my ears +distinctly tell me, the battle is increasing in volume." + +"I noticed the swelling fire when I lay down here," said John. "It seems +a strange thing, but for a while I had forgotten all about the battle." + +Presently Weber took his eyes from the heavens, moved about and looked +uneasy. + +"If I'm not mistaken," he said, "I caught a glimpse of steel down the +river. I think it was a lance head glittering in the sun, and Uhlans may +be near." + +"How far away do you think it was." + +"A half-mile or more. I must take a look in that direction. I'm a good +scout, Mr. Scott, and I'll see what's up. Watch here will you, until I +come back? It may be some time." + +"All right, but don't get yourself captured, Weber. I'd be mighty +lonesome without you." + +"Don't fear for me. Of course, as I told you, I'll be gone for some +time, and if I may suggest, Mr. Scott, I wouldn't move from among the +vines." + +"Catch me doing it! I'll say here in my green bower and as my eyes are +back in form I'll watch the heavens." + +"Good-bye, then, for a while." + +Weber slipped away. His tread was so light that he vanished, as if he +had melted into air. + +"That man would certainly have made a good scout in our old Indian +days," thought John, and with the thought came the conviction that Weber +was too clever to let himself be caught. Then he turned his attention +back to the heavens. + +They were now well on into the afternoon, and the sun was at the zenith. +A haze of gold shimmered against the vast blue vault. A wind perfumed +with grass and green leaves, brought also the ceaseless roar of the +guns, and now and then the bitter taste of burned gunpowder. The faint +trembling of the earth, or rather of the air just above it, went on, and +John, turning about in his little bower, surveyed the heavens from all +quarters. + +He saw shapes, faint, dark and floating on every horizon, but none of +them came near until a full half-hour had elapsed. Then one shot out of +the west, sailed toward the northeast, but curving suddenly, came back +in the direction of the tree. As the shape grew larger and more defined +John's heart began to throb. He had seen many aeroplanes that day, and +most of them had been swift and graceful, but none was as swift and +graceful as the one that was now coming. + +It was a machine, beautiful in shape, and as lithe and fast as the +darting swallow. There could be none other like it in the heavens, and +his heart throbbed harder. Intuition, perhaps, was back of knowledge and +he never for a moment doubted that it was he for whom they had looked so +long. + +The aeroplane seemed fairly to shoot out of space. First its outlines +became visible, and then the man at the rudder. He came straight toward +the tree, dropped low and circled about it, while John rushed from the +vines and cried as loud as he could: + +"Lannes! Lannes, it's me! John Scott! I've been waiting for you!" + +The _Arrow_ dropped further, barely touched the earth, and Lannes, +leaning over, shouted to John in tones, tense and sharp with command: + +"Give the plane a shove with all your might, and jump in. For God's sake +don't linger, man! Jump!" + +The impulse communicated by Lannes was so powerful that before he knew +what he was doing John pushed the _Arrow_ violently and sprang into the +extra seat, just as it was leaving the earth. + +Lannes gave the rudder a strong twist and the aeroplane shot up like a +mounting bird. John got back his breath and presence of mind. + +"Wait, Philip! Wait!" he cried. "We're leaving behind our friend Weber! +He's down there, somewhere by the river!" + +Lannes made no reply. The _Arrow_ continued its rise, sharp and swift, +and John heard a crackling sound below. Little missiles, steel and +deadly, shot by them. One passed so close to his face that his breath +went again. When he recovered it once more the _Arrow_, its inmates, +unharmed, was far above the range of rifles, flying in a circle. + +"Look down, John," said Lannes. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +OLD FRIENDS + + +John, obeying Lannes' command, glanced down, as one looks over the side +of a ship toward the sea, and he saw many horsemen galloping across the +field. He recognized at once the Uhlans, and, for all he knew; they +might be von Boehlen's own command. + +"Hand me your glasses, will you?" he said. + +When Lannes passed them to him he looked long and well, but he did not +see any sign of a prisoner among the Prussians. He also searched the +woods and other fields near by, but they were empty. The whole Prussian +force was gathered beneath them. John breathed a deep sigh of relief. + +"It's evident that Weber has escaped," he said. "Doubtless this was the +very troop of Uhlans of which the Alsatian had caught a glimpse. He is +clever and swift and I've no doubt he found a covert." + +"I'm sorry we had to leave him," said Lannes, "but there was no other +choice. I came to the tree to examine the flag, and being above I saw +the Uhlans nearby before you did. Then I heard your shout and dropped +down. But as I knew the Uhlans were coming for us I made you jump almost +before you knew it, and we got away by a hair. The _Arrow_ was struck +twice, but the bullets glanced off its polished sides. There are two +slight scars, but I can have them removed." + +John laughed. + +"Philip," he said, "I believe you love the _Arrow_ as a fellow loves his +best girl." + +"Well spoken, Monsieur Jean the Scott, and the _Arrow_ never fails me. +And so you've been with Weber?" + +"It's a long tale. I was in a boat crossing the Marne. It was sunk by +one of the French shells, and I escaped. I reached the deserted cottage +of a peasant, and Weber, who was wandering around, happened to come +there, too. We've been trying to escape today, and we put that flag up +in the tree as a sort of signal, while we hid among the vines below, +until you should come, as he believed you would. He was right, but he +was unlucky enough to be absent when you arrived." "Maybe it couldn't +have happened in a better way. The _Arrow_ can carry only two, and I +don't know what we'd have done with him. He's a clever fellow and he'll +make his way back to the army." + +"I hope so, in fact I feel so. But, Philip, it's glorious to be with you +again, and to be up here, where the bullets can't reach you." + +"That is, so long as the German flyers don't come near enough to take +shots at us." + +"I don't see any in sight, and meanwhile I intend to be comfortable. +Good old _Arrow_! The best little rescuer in the world! Lannes, I +believe it's a large part of your business to fly about over fields of +battle and rescue me." + +"You certainly give me plenty of opportunities," laughed Lannes. + +"What's been happening? I fancy that a lot of water has flowed under the +bridges of the Marne since I left you." + +"We continue to gain," replied Lannes, with quiet satisfaction. "We +press the German armies back everywhere. Our supreme chief is a silent +man, but he has delivered a master stroke. We've emerged from the very +gulf of defeat and despair to the heights of victory. We're not only +driving the Germans across the Marne, but we're driving them further. +Moreover, their armies are cut apart, and one is fighting for its +existence, just as the French and English were fighting for theirs in +that terrible retreat from Mons and Charleroi." + +"It's glorious, but we mustn't be too sanguine, Lannes. The powers that +overcome the German and Austro-Hungarian Empires will not forget for a +hundred years that they had a war." + +"You're not telling me any news, Monsieur Jean the Scott. I've been in +Germany often, and like you I've seen what they have and what they are. +We're only beginning." + +"Where are you going now, Philip?" + +"Toward the end of our line. I've some dispatches for the commander of +the British force. Your friends, Carstairs and Wharton, are there, and +you may see them. But I understand that the Strangers are to remain with +the French, so you, Carstairs and Wharton will have to consider +yourselves Frenchmen and stay under our banner." + +"That's all right. I hope we'll be under the command of General +Vaugirard. Do you know anything of him?" + +"Not today, but he was alive yesterday. Take the glasses now, John, will +you, and be my eyes as you have been before. One needs to watch the +heavens all the time." + +John took Lannes' powerful glasses, and objects invisible before leaped +into view. + +"I see two or three rivers, a dozen villages, and troops," he said. "The +troops are to the west, and although they are this side of the Marne, I +should judge that they are ours." + +"Ours undoubtedly," said Lannes, glancing the way John's glasses +pointed. "Not less than a hundred thousand of our men have crossed the +Marne at that point, and more will soon be coming. It's a part of the +great wedge thrust forward by our chief. But keep your eye on the air, +John. What do you see there?" + +"Nothing that's near. In the east I barely catch seven or eight black +dots that I take to be German aeroplanes, but they seem to be content +with hovering over their own lines. They don't approach." + +"Doubtless they don't, because they're beginning to watch the air over +the Marne as a danger zone. That pretty little signal of yours may have +scared them." + +Lannes laughed. It was evident that he was in a most excellent humor. + +"All right, have your fun," said John, showing his own teeth in a smile. +"If our flag didn't frighten away the German army it at least achieved +what we wanted, that is, it brought you. The whole episode would be +perfect if it were not for the fact that we lost sight of Weber." + +"I tell you again not to worry about him. That man has shown uncommon +ability to take care of himself." + +"All right. I'll let him go for the present. Hello, here we are crossing +the Marne again, and without getting our feet wet." + +"We're a good half mile above it, but we'll cross it once more soon. I'm +following the shortest road to the British army and that takes us over a +loop of the river." + +"Yes, here we are recrossing, and now we're coming to a region of +chequered fields, green and brown and yellow. I always like these varied +colors of the French country. It's a beautiful land down there, Philip." + +"So it is, but see if it isn't defaced by sixty or seventy thousand +sunburnt men in khaki, the khaki often stained with blood. The men, too, +should be tired to death, but you can't tell that from this height." + +"The British army you mean? Yes, by all that's glorious, I see them, or +at least a part of them! I see thousands of men lying down in the +fields as if they were dead." + +"They're not dead, though. They just drop in their tracks and sleep in +any position." + +"I saw the Germans doing that, too. I suppose we'll land soon, Philip, +won't we? They've sighted us and a plane is coming forward to meet us." + +"We'll make for the meadow over there just beyond the little stream. I +think I can discern the general's marquee, and I must deliver my message +as soon as possible. Wave to that fellow that we're friends." + +An English aeroplane was now very near them and John, leaning over, made +gestures of amity. Although the aviator's head was almost completely +enshrouded in a hood, he discerned a typically British face. + +"Kings of the air, with dispatches for your general!" John cried. He +knew that the man would not hear him, but he was so exultant that he +wanted to say something, to shout to him, or in the slang of his own +land, to let off steam. + +But while the English aviator could not understand the words the +gestures were clear to him, and he waved a hand in friendly fashion. +Then, wheeling in a fine circle, he came back by their side as an +escort. + +The _Arrow_, like a bird, folding its wings, sank gracefully into the +meadow, and Lannes, hastily jumping out, asked John to look after the +aeroplane. Then he rushed toward a group of officers, among whom he +recognized the chief of the army. + +John himself disembarked stiffly, and stretched his limbs, while several +young Englishmen looked at him curiously. He had learned long since how +to deal with Englishmen, that is to take no notice of them until they +made their presence known, and then to acquiesce slowly and reluctantly +in their existence. So, he took short steps back and forth on the grass, +flexing and tensing his muscles, as abstractedly as if he were alone on +a desert island. + +"I say," said a handsome fair young man at last, "would you mind telling +us, old chap, where you come from?" + +John continued to stretch his muscles and took several long and deep +breaths. After the delay he turned to the fair young man and said: + +"Beg pardon, but did you speak to me?" + +The Englishman flushed a little and pulled at his yellow mustache. An +older man said: + +"Don't press His Highness, Lord James. Don't you see that he's an +American and therefore privileged?" + +"I'm privileged," said John, "because I was with you fellows from +Belgium to Paris, and since then I've been away saving you from the +Germans." + +Lord James laughed. He had a fine face and all embarrassment disappeared +from it. + +"We want to be friends," he said. "Shake hands." + +John shook. He also shook the hand of the older man and several others. +Then he explained who he was, and told who had come with him, none less +than the famous young French aviator, Philip Lannes. + +"Lannes," said Mr. Yellow Mustache, who, John soon learned, was Lord +James Ivor. "Why, we've all heard of him. He's come to the chief with +messages a half-dozen times since this battle began, and I judge from +the way he rushed to him just now that he has another, that can't be +delayed." + +"I think so, too," said John, "although I don't know anything about it +myself. He's a close-mouthed fellow. But do any of you happen to have +heard of an Englishman, Carstairs, and an American, Wharton, who belong +to a company called the Strangers in the French army, but who must be at +present with you--that is, if they're alive?" + +John's voice dropped a little, as he added the last words, but Lord +James Ivor walked to the brow of a low hill, called to somebody beyond, +and then walked back. + +"It's a happy chance that I can tell you what you want to know," he +said. "Those two men have been serving in my own company, and they're +both alive and well. But they were lying on the grass there, dead to the +world, that is, sleeping, as if they were two of the original seven +sleepers." + +Two figures appeared on the brow of the hill, gazed at first in a +puzzled manner at John and then, uttering shouts of welcome, rushed +toward him. Carstairs seized him by one hand and Wharton by the other. + +"Not killed, I see," said Carstairs. + +"Nor is he going to be killed," said Wharton. + +"Now, where have you been?" asked Carstairs. + +"Yes, where have you been?" asked Wharton. + +"I've been taking a couple of pleasure trips with my friend, Lannes," +replied John. "Between trips I was a prisoner of the Germans, and I've +seen a lot of the great battle. Has the British army suffered much?" + +A shade flitted over the face of Carstairs as he replied: + +"We haven't been shot up so much since Waterloo. It's been appalling. +For days and nights we've been fighting and marching. Whenever we +stopped even for a moment we fell on the ground and were asleep before +we touched it. Half the fellows I knew have been killed. I think as long +as I live I'll hear the drumming of those guns in my ears, and, confound +'em, I still hear 'em in reality now. If you turn your attention to it +you can hear the confounded business quite plainly! But what I do know, +Scott, is that we've been winning! I don't know where I am and I haven't +a clear idea of what I've been doing all the time, but as sure as we're +in France the victory is ours." + +"But won by the French chiefly" John could not keep from saying. + +"Quite true. Our own army is not large, but it has done as much per +man." + +"And the moral support," added John. "The French have felt the presence +of a friend, a friend, too, who in six months will be ten times as +strong as he is now." + +"Where is Lannes?" asked Wharton. + +"He's got your job, Wharton," replied John with a smile. "He's Envoy +Extraordinary and Bearer of Messages concerning Life and Death between +the armies. As soon as he landed he went directly to the British +commander, and they're now conferring in a tent. That will never happen +to you. You will never be closeted with the leader of a great army." + +"I don't know. I may not be able to fly like the Frenchman, but he can't +handle the wireless as I can, and he isn't the chain-lightning chauffeur +that Carstairs is. Please to remember those facts." + +"I do. But here comes Lannes, the man of mystery." + +Lannes seemed preoccupied, but he greeted Carstairs and Wharton warmly. + +"I'm about to take another flight," he said. "No, thank you so much, but +I've time neither to eat nor to drink. I must fly at once, though it's +to be a short flight. Take care of my friend, Monsieur Jean the Scott, +while I'm gone, won't you? Don't let him wander into German hands again, +because I won't have time to go for him once more." + +"We won't!" said Carstairs and Wharton with one voice. "Having got him +back we're going to keep him." + +Lannes smiling sprang into the _Arrow_. The willing young Englishmen +gave it a mighty push, and rising into the blue afternoon sky he sailed +away toward the south. + +"He'll be back all right," said Carstairs. "I've come to the conclusion +that nothing can ever catch that fellow. He's a wonder, he is. One of +the most difficult jobs I have, Scott, is to give the French all the +credit that's due 'em. I've been trained, as all other Englishmen were, +to consider 'em pretty poor stuff that we've licked regularly for a +thousand years, and here we suddenly find 'em heroes and +brothers-in-arms. It's all the fault of the writers. Was it Shakespeare +who said: 'Methinks that five Frenchmen on one pair of English legs did +walk?'" + +"No," said Lord James Ivor, "It was the other way around. 'Methinks that +one Englishman on five pairs of French legs did walk.'" + +"I'm not so sure about the number, either," interjected Wharton. "Are +you positive it was five?" + +"Whatever it was," said Carstairs, "the Frenchman was slandered, and by +our own great bard, too. But come and take something with us, if Lord +James, our immediate chief, is willing." + +"He's willing, and he'll go with you," said Lord James Ivor. "I need a +bite myself and in war like this a man can't afford to neglect food and +drink, when the chance is offered." + +"The habits of you Europeans are strong," said John, whose spirits were +still exuberant. "If you didn't have to stop now and then to work or to +fight you'd eat all the time. One meal would merge into another, making +a beautiful, savory chain linked together. I know the Englishman's +heaven perfectly well. It's made of lakes of ale, beer, porter and +Scotch highballs, surrounded by high banks of cheese, mutton and roast +beef." + +"There could be worse heavens," said Carstairs, "and if it should happen +that way it wouldn't be long before you Yankees would be trying to break +out of your heaven and into ours. But here's a taste of it now, the +cheese, for instance, and the beer, although it's in bottles." + +A spry Tommy Atkins served them, and John, thankful at heart, ate and +drank with the best of them. And while they ate the pulsing waves of air +from the battle beat upon their ears. It seemed to these young men to +have been beating that way for weeks. + +"Lannes will be back soon," said John to Carstairs and Wharton, "and +he'll tear you away from your friends here. You think, Carstairs, that +you're an Englishman, and you're convinced, Wharton, that you're an +American, but you're both wrong. You're Frenchmen, and you're going back +to the French army, where you belong. Then Captain Daniel Colton of the +Strangers will want to know from you why you haven't returned sooner." + +"But how are we to go?" said Carstairs. + +"And where are we to go?" said Wharton. + +"I'd go in a minute," added Carstairs, "if the German army would let +me." + +"So would I," said Wharton, "but the Germans fight so hard that we can't +get away." + +"Lannes will attend to all those matters," said John. "I'll rest until +he comes, if I have the chance. Is that your artillery firing?" + +"It's our big guns out in front," said Lord James Ivor. "Jove, but what +work they've done! A lot of our guns have been smashed, one half of our +gunners maybe have been smashed with 'em, but they've never flinched. +They covered our retreat from Belgium, and they've been the heralds of +our advance here on the Marne! Listen to 'em! How they talk!" + +The heavy crash of guns far in front and the thunder of the German guns +replying came back to their ears. It was a louder note in the general +and ceaseless murmur of the battle, but the young men paid it only a +passing moment of attention. Carstairs presently added as an +afterthought: + +"Unless Lannes returns soon I don't think we'll hear from him. That +blaze of the guns in front of us indicates close fighting again, and +we'll probably be ordered forward soon." + +"I don't think so," said Lord James Ivor. "Our guns and the German guns +will talk together for quite a while before the infantry advance. You +can spend a good two hours with us yet, and still have time to depart +for the French army." + +It was evident that Lord James Ivor knew what he was talking about, +since, as far as John could see, the khaki army lay outspread on the +turf. These men were too much exhausted and too much dulled to danger to +stir merely because the cannon were blazing. It took the sharp orders of +their officers to move them. Shells from the German guns began to fall +along the fringe of the troops, but thousands slept heavily on. + +John, after disposing of the excellent rations offered to him, sat down +on the grass with Wharton, Carstairs and Lord James Ivor. The sun was +now waning, but the western sky was full of gold, and the yellow rays +slanting across the hills and fields made them vivid with light. Lord +James handed his glasses to John with the remark: + +"Would you like to take a look there toward the east, Scott?" + +John with the help of the glasses discerned the English batteries in +action. He saw the men working about them, the muzzles pointing upward, +and then the flash. Some of the guns were completely hidden in foliage, +and he could detect their presence only by the heavy detonations coming +from such points. Yet, like many of the English soldiers about him, +John's mind did not respond to so much battle. He looked at the flashes, +and he listened to the reports without emotion. His senses had become +dulled by it, and registered no impressions. + +"We've masked our batteries as much as possible," said Lord James. "The +Germans are great fellows at hiding their big guns. They use every clump +of wood, hay stacks, stray stacks and anything else, behind which you +could put a piece of artillery. They trained harder before the war, but +we'll soon be able to match 'em." + +While Lord James was talking, John turned the glasses to the south and +watched the sky. He had observed two black dots, both of which grew fast +into the shape of aeroplanes. One, he knew, was the _Arrow_. He had +learned to recognize the plane at a vast distance. It was something in +the shape or a trick of motion perhaps, almost like that of a human +being, with which he had become familiar and which he could not mistake. +The other plane, by the side of Lannes' machine, bothered him. It was +much larger than the _Arrow_, but they seemed to be on terms of perfect +friendship, each the consort of the other. + +"Lannes is coming," announced John. "He's four or five miles to the +south and he's about a quarter of a mile up, but he has company. Will +you have a look, Lord James?" + +Lord James Ivor, taking back his own glasses, studied the two +approaching planes. + +"The small one looks like your friend's plane," he said, "and the other, +although much bigger, has only one man in it too. But they fly along +like twins. We'll soon know all about them because they're coming +straight to us. They're descending now into this field." + +The _Arrow_ slanted gently to the earth and the larger machine descended +near by. Lannes stepped out of one, and an older man, whom John +recognized as the aviator Caumartin, alighted from the other. + +"My friends," said Lannes, cheerily, "here we are again. You see I've +brought with me a friend, Monsieur Caumartin, a brave man, and a great +aviator." + +He paused to introduce Caumartin to Wharton and the Englishmen, and then +went on: + +"This flying machine in which our friend Caumartin comes is not so swift +and so graceful as the _Arrow_--few aeroplanes are--but it is strong and +it has the capacity. It is what you might call an excursion steamer of +the air. It can take several people and our good Caumartin has come in +it for Lieutenant Wharton and Lieutenant Carstairs. So! he has an order +for them written by the brave Captain Colton of the Strangers. Produce +the order, Monsieur Caumartin." + +The aviator took a note from a pocket in his jacket and handed it to +Lord James Ivor, who announced that it was in truth such an order. + +"You're to be delivered to the Strangers F.O.B.," said John. + +"What's F.O.B.?" exclaimed Carstairs. + +"It's a shipping term of my country," replied John. "It means Free on +Board, and you'll arrive among the Strangers without charge." + +"But," said Carstairs, looking dubiously at the big, ugly machine, +"automobiles are my specialty!" + +"And the wireless is mine!" said Wharton in the same doubting tone. + +"Oh, it's easy," said John lightly. "Easiest thing in the world. You +have nothing to do but sit still and look calm and wise. If you're +attacked by a Zeppelin, throw bombs--no doubt Caumartin has them on +board--but if a flock of Taubes assail you use your automatics. I +congratulate you both on making your first flight under such auspices, +with two armies of a million men each, more or less, looking at you, and +with the chance to dodge the shells from four or five thousand cannon." + +"Your trouble, Scott, is talking too much," said Wharton, "because you +went up in the air when you had no other way to go, you think you're a +bird." + +"So I am at times," laughed John. "A bird without the feathers. Come +now, brace up! Remember that the solid earth is always below you, a long +way below, perhaps, but it's there, and Friend Caumartin is bound to +deliver you soon to your rightful master, Captain Daniel Colton, who +will talk to you like an affectionate but stern parent." + +"For Heaven's sake, let's start and get away from this wild Yankee," +said Carstairs. + +"But you won't get away from me," rejoined John. "Lannes and I in the +_Arrow_ will watch over you all the way, and, if we can, rescue you, +should your plane break down." + +Caumartin supplied Wharton and Carstairs with suitable coats and caps, +and they took their places unflinchingly in the big plane. Their hearts +may have been beating hard, but they would not let their hands tremble. + +"I suppose the _Omnibus_ starts first, Philip, doesn't it?" asked John. + +"Yes," replied Lannes, smiling, "and we can overtake it. _Omnibus_ is a +good name for it. We'll call it that. It looks awkward, John, but it's +one of the safest machines built." + +Plenty of willing hands gave the _Omnibus_ a lift and then did a like +service for the _Arrow_. As they rose, aviators and passengers alike +waved a farewell to Lord James Ivor, and he and the Englishmen about him +waved back. But the thousands lying on the grass slept heavily on, while +the cannon on their utmost fringe thundered and crashed and the German +cannon crashed and thundered, replying. + +The _Arrow_ kept close to the _Omnibus_, so close that John could see +the white faces of Wharton and Carstairs and their hands clenching the +sides. But he remembered his own original experience, and he was not +disposed to jest at them now. + +"They're air-sick--as I was," he said to Lannes. "Call to them to look +westward at the troops," said Lannes. "Great portions of the French and +English armies are now visible, and such a sight will make them forget +their natural apprehensions." + +Lannes was right. When they beheld the magnificent panorama spread out +for them the color came back into the faces of Carstairs and Wharton, +and their clenched fingers relaxed. The spectacle was indeed grand and +gorgeous as they looked up at the sky, down at the earth, and at the +line where they met. The sun was now low, but mighty terraces of red and +gold rose in the west, making it a blaze of varied colors. In the east +the terraces were silver and silver gray, and the light there was +softer. The green earth beneath was mottled with the red and silver and +gold from the skies. + +The German army was yet invisible beyond the hills, although the cannon +were flashing there, but to the west they saw vast masses of infantry, +some stationary, while others moved slowly forward. Looking upon this +wonderful sight, Wharton and Carstairs forgot that they were high in the +air. Their hearts beat fast, and their eyes became brilliant with +enthusiasm. They waved hands at the _Arrow_ which flew near like a +guiding friend. + +"Wonderful, isn't it?" shouted John. + +"I never expect to see its like again," Carstairs shouted back, and +then, lest he should not be true to his faith, he added: + +"But I won't desert the automobile. It's my best friend." + +"British obstinacy!" shouted John. + +Carstairs shouted back something, but the planes were now too far apart +for him to hear. John saw that the _Omnibus_, despite her awkward look, +was flying well and he also saw through Lannes' glasses four aeroplanes +bearing up from the east. He did not say much until he had examined them +well and had concluded that they were Taubes. + +"Lannes," he said, "German machines are trespassing on our air, and +unless I'm mistaken they're making for us." + +"It's likely. Just under the locker there you'll find a rifle, and a +belt of cartridges. It's a good weapon, and if the pinch comes you'll +have to use it. Are your friends good shots?" + +"I think they are, and I know they're as brave as lions." + +"Then they'll have a chance to show it. The _Omnibus_ carries several +rifles and an abundance of ammunition. She might be called a cargo boat, +as there's a lot of room on her. I'm going to bear in close, and you +tell Caumartin and the others of the danger." + +The _Arrow_ swerved, came near to the _Omnibus_, and John shouted the +warning. Carstairs and Wharton instantly seized rifles and he saw them +lay two others loaded at their feet. With the prospect of a battle for +life air-sickness disappeared. + +"You can rely on them, Philip," said John as the _Arrow_ bore away a +little, "but I don't like the looks of one of those German machines." + +"What's odd about it?" + +"It's bigger than the others. Ah, now I see! It carries a machine gun." + +"That's bad. It can send a hail of metal at us. It's lucky that +aeroplanes are such unstable gun-platforms. When platforms and targets +are alike swerving it's hard to hit anything. We're going to rise and +dive, and rise and dive and swerve and swerve, John, so be ready. I'll +signal to Caumartin to do the same, and maybe the machine gun won't get +us." + +John was quite sure that the _Arrow_ could escape by immediate flight, +but he knew that Lannes would never desert the _Omnibus_, and its +passengers, and he felt the same way. The subject was not even mentioned +by either. + +The German machines, approaching rapidly, spread out like a fan, the +heavier one with the machine gun in the center. John could see the man +at the rapid firer, but he did not yet open with it. The _Arrow_ and the +_Omnibus_ were wavering like feathers in a storm and closer range was +needed. John sat with his own rifle across his knee and then looked at +Wharton in the _Omnibus_ scarcely a hundred yards away. The figure of +Wharton was tense and rigid. His rifle was raised and his eyes never +left the man at the machine gun. + +"I forgot to tell you, Philip," said John, "that Wharton is a great +sharpshooter. It's natural to him, and I don't believe the shifting +platform will interfere with his aim." + +"Then I hope that he never has done better sharp-shooting than he will +do today. Ah, there goes the machine gun!" + +There was a rapid rat-a-tat, not so clear and distinct as it would have +been at the same distance on ground, and a stream of bullets poured from +the machine gun. But they passed between the _Arrow_ and the _Omnibus_, +and only cut the unoffending air. Meanwhile Wharton was watching. A +wrath, cold but consuming, had taken hold of him. The fact that he was +high above the earth, perched in a swaying unstable seat was forgotten. +He had eyes and thought only for the murderous machine gun and the man +who worked it. An instinctive marksman, he and his rifle were now as +one, and of all the birds of prey in the air at that moment Wharton was +the most dangerous. + +The machine gun was silent for a minute. The riflemen in the Taubes on +the wings of the attacking force fired a few shots, but all of them went +wild. John, tense and silent, sat with his own rifle raised, but half of +the time he watched Wharton. + +The two forces came a little nearer. Again the machine gun poured forth +its stream of bullets. Two glanced off the sides of the _Omnibus_, and +then John saw Wharton's rifle leap to his shoulder. The movement and the +flash of the weapon were so near together that be seemed to take no aim. +Yet his bullet sped true. The man at the machine gun, who was standing +in a stooped position, threw up his hands, fell backward and out of the +plane. A thrill of horror shot through John, and he shut his eyes a +moment to keep from seeing that falling body. + +"What has happened?" asked Lannes, who had not looked around. + +"Wharton has shot the man at the machine gun clean out of the aeroplane. +He must be falling yet." + +"Ghastly, but necessary. Has anybody taken the slain man's place?" + +"Yes, another has sprung to the gun! But he's gone! Wharton has shot him +too! He's fallen on the floor of the car, and he lies quite still." + +"Your friend is indeed a sharpshooter. How many men are left in the +plane?" + +"Only one! No, good God, there's none! Wharton has shot the third man +also, and now the machine goes whirling and falling through space!" + +"I said that friend of yours must be a sharpshooter," said Lannes, in a +tone of awe, "but he must be more! He must be the king of all riflemen. +It's evident that the _Omnibus_ knows how to defend herself. I'll swing +in a little, and you can take a shot or two." + +John fired once, without hitting anything but the air, which made no +complaint, but the battle was over. Horrified by the fate that had +overtaken their comrades and seeing help for their enemy at hand the +Taubes withdrew. + +The _Arrow_ and the _Omnibus_ flew on toward the French lines, whence +other machines were coming to meet them. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE CONTINUING BATTLE + + +The _Arrow_ bore in toward the _Omnibus_. Wharton had put his rifle +aside and was staring downward as if he would see the wreck that he had +made. Lannes called to him loudly: + +"You've saved us all!" + +Wharton looked rather white, but he shouted back: + +"I had no other choice." + +The French aeroplanes were around them now, their motors drumming +steadily and the aviators shouting congratulations to Lannes and +Caumartin, whom they knew well. It was a friendly group, full of pride +and exultation, and the _Arrow_ and the _Omnibus_ had a triumphant +escort. Soon they were directly over the French, and then they began +their descent. As usual, when they reached the army they made it amid +cheers, and the first man who greeted John was short and young but with +a face of pride. + +"You have come back to us out of the air, Monsieur Scott," he said, "and +I salute you." + +It was Pierre Louis Bougainville, made a colonel already for +extraordinary, almost unprecedented, valor and ability in so young a +man. John recognized his rank by his uniform, and he acknowledged it +gladly. + +"It's true, I have come back, Colonel Bougainville," he said, "and right +glad I am to come. I see that your country has had no cause to complain +of you in the last week." + +"Nor of hundreds of thousands of Frenchmen," said Bougainville. "Your +company, the Strangers, is close at hand, and here is your captain now." + +Captain Daniel Colton, thin and ascetic, walked forward. John gave him +his best salute and said: + +"Captain Colton, I beg to report to you for duty." + +A light smile passed swiftly over Cotton's face. + +"You're a little late, Lieutenant Scott," he said. + +"I know it, sir, but I've brought Lieutenant Carstairs and Lieutenant +Wharton with me. There have been obstacles which prevented our speedy +return. We've done our best." + +"I can well believe it. You left on horseback, and you return by air. +But I'm most heartily glad to see all three of you again. I feared that +you were dead." + +"Thank you, sir," said John. "But we don't mean to die." + +"Nevertheless," said Captain Colton, gravely, "death has been all about +us for days and nights. Many of the Strangers are gone. You will find +the living lying in the little valley just beyond us, and you can resume +your duties." + +Lannes, after a word or two, left them, and Caumartin took the +_Omnibus_ to another part of the field. Lannes' importance was +continually growing in John's eyes, nor was it the effect of +imagination. He saw that under the new conditions of warfare the ability +of the young Frenchman to carry messages between generals separated +widely could not be overrated. He might depart that very night on +another flight. + +"May I ask, sir," he said to Captain Colton, "to what command or +division the Strangers are now attached?" + +"To that of General Vaugirard, a very able man." + +"I'm glad to hear it, sir. I know him. I was with him before I was taken +by the Germans." + +"It seems that you're about to have a general reunion," said Carstairs +to young Scott, as they walked away. + +"I am, and I'm mighty happy over it. I'll admit that I was rather glad +to see you, you blooming Britisher." + +About one-third of the Strangers were gone forever, and the rest, except +the higher officers, were prostrate in the glade. White, worn and +motionless they lay in the same stupor that John had seen overtake the +German troops. Some were flat upon their backs, with arms outstretched, +looking like crosses, others lay on their faces, and others were curled +up on their sides. Few were over twenty-five. Nearly all had mothers in +America or Great Britain. + +While they slept the guns yet grumbled at many points. The sound on the +horizon had gone on so long now that it seemed normal to John. He knew +that it would continue so throughout the night, and maybe for many more +days and nights. Unless it came near and made him a direct personal +menace he would pay no attention to it. + +It was growing late. Night was spreading once more over the vast battle +field, stretching over thirty leagues maybe. The common soldier knew +nothing, majors and colonels knew little more, but the silent man whose +invisible hand had swept the gigantic German army back from Paris knew +much. While the fire of the artillery continued under the searchlights +the exhausted infantry sank down. Then the telephones began to talk over +a vast stretch of space, dazzling white lights made signals, the +sputtering wireless sent messages in the air, and the flying machines +shot through the heavens. Commanders talked to one another in many ways +now, and they would talk all through the night. + +John and his comrades ate supper, while most of the Strangers slept +around them. Those who were awake recognized them, shook hands and said +a few words. They were a taciturn lot. After supper Carstairs and +Wharton dropped upon the grass and were soon sound asleep. Scott was +inclined to be wakeful and he walked along the edge of the glade, +looking anxiously at the sleeping forms. + +He saw the loom of a fire just beyond the ridge and going to the crest +to look at it he beheld outlined before it a gigantic figure that he +recognized at once. It was General Vaugirard, and John would have been +glad to speak to him, but he hesitated to approach a general. While he +stood doubting a hand fell upon his shoulder and a glad voice said in +his ear: + +"And our young American has come back! Ah, my friend, let me shake your +hand!" + +It was Captain de Rougemont, trim, erect and without a wound. John +gladly let him shake. Then in reply to de Rougemont's eager questions he +told briefly of all that had happened since they parted. + +"The general has asked twice if we had any news of you," said de +Rougemont. "He does not forget. A great mind in a vast body." + +"Could I speak to him?" + +"Of a certainty, my friend; come." + +They advanced toward the fire. General Vaugirard was walking up and +down, his hands clasped behind his back, and whistling softly. His huge +figure looked yet more huge outlined against the flames. He heard the +tread of the two young men and looking up recognized John instantly. + +"Risen from the dead!" he exclaimed with warmth, clasping the young +man's hand in his own gigantic palm. "I had despaired of ever seeing you +again! There are so many more gallant lads whom I will certainly never +see! Ah, well, such is life! The roll of our brave young dead is long, +very long!" + +He reclasped his hands behind his back and walking up and down began to +whistle again softly. His emotion over the holocaust had passed, and +once more he was the general planning for victory. But he stopped +presently and said to John: + +"The Strangers, to whom you belong, have come under my command. You are +one of my children now. I have my eye on all of you. You are brave lads. +Go and seek rest with them while you can. You may not have another +chance in a month. We have driven the German, but he will turn, and then +we may fight weeks, months, no one knows how long. Ah, well, such is +life!" + +John saluted respectfully, and withdrew to the little open glade in +which the Strangers were lying, sleeping a great sleep. Captain Colton +himself, wrapped in a blanket, was now a-slumber under a tree, and +Wharton and Carstairs near by, stretched on their sides, were deep in +slumber too. Fires were burning on the long line, but they were not +numerous, and in the distance they seemed mere pin points. At times bars +of intense white light, like flashes of lightning, would sweep along the +front, showing that the searchlights of either army still provided +illumination for the fighting. The note of the artillery came like a +distant and smothered groan, but it did not cease, and it would not +cease, since the searchlights would show it a way all through the night. + +John sat down, looked at the faint flashes on the far horizon and +listened to that moaning which grew in volume as one paid close +attention to it. Europe or a great part of it had gone mad. He was +filled once more with wrath against kings and all their doings as he +looked upon the murderous aftermath of feudalism, the most gigantic of +all wars, made in a few hours by a few men sitting around a table. Then +he laughed at himself. What was he! A mere feather in a cyclone! +Certainly he had been blown about like one! + +His nervous imagination now passed quickly and throwing himself upon the +ground he slept like those around him. All the Strangers were awakened +at early dawn by the signal of a trumpet, and when John opened his eyes +he found the air still quivering beneath the throb of the guns. As he +had foreseen they had never ceased in the darkness, and he could not +remember how many days and nights now they had been raining steel upon +human beings. + +He was refreshed and strengthened by a night of good sleep, but his mind +was as sensitive as ever. In the morning no less bitterly than at night +he raged against the folly and ambition of the kings. But the others +paid no attention to the cannon. They were light of heart and easy of +tongue. They chaffed one another in the cool dawn, and cried to the +cooks for breakfast, which was soon brought to them, hot and plentiful. + +"I suppose it's forward again," said Carstairs between drinks of coffee. + +"I fancy you're right," said Wharton. "Since we've been put in the +brigade of that giant of a general, Vaugirard, we're always going +forward. He seems to have an uncommon love of fighting for a fat man." + +"It's an illusion," said John, "that a fat man is more peaceful than a +thin one." + +"How are you going to prove it?" asked Wharton. + +"Look at Napoleon. When he was thin he was a great fighter, and when he +became stout he was just as great a fighter as ever. Fat didn't take +away his belligerency." + +"I hear that the whole German army has been driven across the Marne," +said Carstairs, "and that the force we hoped to cut off has either +escaped or is about to escape. If that's so they won't retreat much +further. The pride of the Germans is too great, and their army is too +powerful for them to yield much more ground to us." + +"I think you're right, or about as near right as an Englishman can be, +Carstairs," said John. "What must be the feelings of the Emperor and the +kings and the princes and the grand dukes and the dukes and the martial +professors to know that the German army has been turned back from Paris, +just when the City of Light seemed ready to fall into their hands?" + +"Pretty bitter, I think," said Carstairs, "but it's not pleasant to have +the capital of a country fall into the hands of hostile armies. I don't +read of such things with delight. It wouldn't give me any such +overwhelming joy for us to march into Berlin. To beat the Germans is +enough." + +Another trumpet blew and the Strangers rose for battle again with an +invisible enemy. All the officers, like the men, were on foot, their +horses having been killed in the earlier fighting, and they advanced +slowly across the stubble of a wheat field. The morning was still cool, +although the sun was bright, and the air was full of vigor. The rumbling +of the artillery grew with the day, but the Strangers said little. +Battle had ceased to be a novelty. They would fight somewhere and with +somebody, but they would wait patiently and without curiosity until the +time came. + +"I suppose Lannes didn't come back," said Carstairs. "I haven't heard +anyone speak of seeing him this morning." + +"He may have returned before we awoke," said John. "The _Arrow_ flies +very fast. Like as not he delivered his message, whatever it was, and +was off again with another in a few minutes. He may be sixty or eighty +miles from here now." + +"Odd fellow that Lannes," said Carstairs. "Do you know anything about +his people, Scott?" + +"Not much except that he has a mother and sister. I spent a night with +them at their house in Paris. I've heard that French family ties are +strong, but they seemed to look upon him as the weak would regard a +great champion, a knight, in their own phrase, without fear and without +reproach." + +"That speaks well for him." + +John's mind traveled back to that modest house across the Seine. It had +done so often during all the days and nights of fighting, and he thought +of Julie Lannes in her simple white dress, Julie with the golden hair +and the bluest of blue eyes. She had not seemed at all foreign to him. +In her simplicity and openness she was like one of the young girls of +his own country. French custom might have compelled a difference at +other times, but war was a great leveler of manners. She and her mother +must have suffered agonies of suspense, when the guns were thundering +almost within hearing of Paris, suspense for Philip, suspense for their +country, and suspense in a less degree for themselves. Maybe Lannes had +gone back once in the _Arrow_ to show them that he was safe, and to tell +them that, for the time at least, the great German invasion had been +rolled back. + +"A penny for your dream!" said Carstairs. + +"Not for a penny, nor for a pound, nor for anything else," said John. +"This dream of mine had something brilliant and beautiful and pure at +the very core of it, and I'm not selling." + +Carstairs looked curiously at him, and a light smile played across his +face. But the smile was sympathetic. + +"I'll wager you that with two guesses I can tell the nature of your +dream," he said. + +John shook his head, and he, too, smiled. + +"As we say at home," he said, "you may guess right the very first time, +but I won't tell you whether you're right or wrong." + +"I take only one guess. That coruscating core of your dream was a girl." + +"I told you I wouldn't say whether you were right or wrong." + +"Is she blonde or dark?" + +"I repeat that I'm answering no questions." + +"Does she live in one of your Northern or one of your Southern States?" + +John smiled. + +"I suppose you haven't heard from her in a long time, as mail from +across the water isn't coming with much regularity to this battle +field." + +John smiled again. + +"And now I'll conclude," said Carstairs, speaking very seriously. "If +it is a girl, and I know it is, I hope that she'll smile when she thinks +of you, as you've been smiling when you think of her. I hope, too, that +you'll go through this war without getting killed, although the chances +are three or four to one against it, and go back home and win her." + +John smiled once more and was silent, but when Carstairs held out his +hand he could not keep from shaking it. Then Paris, the modest house +beyond the Seine, and the girl within it, floated away like an illusion, +driven from thought in an instant by a giant shell that struck within a +few hundred yards of them, exploding with a terrible crash and filling +the air with deadly bits of flying shell. + +There was such a whistling in his ears that John thought at first he had +been hit, but when he shook himself a little he found he was unhurt, and +his heart resumed its normal beat. Other shells coming out of space +began to strike, but none so near, and the Strangers went calmly on. On +their right was a Paris regiment made up mostly of short, but +thick-chested men, all very dark. Its numbers were only one-third what +they had been a week before, and its colonel was Pierre Louis +Bougainville, late Apache, late of the Butte Montmartre. All the +colonels, majors and captains of this regiment had been killed and he +now led it, earning his promotion by the divine right of genius. He, at +least, could look into his knapsack and see there the shadow of a +marshal's baton, a shadow that might grow more material. + +John watched him and he wondered at this transformation of a rat of +Montmartre into a man. And yet there had been many such transformations +in the French Revolution. What had happened once could always happen +again. Napoleon himself had been the son of a poor little lawyer in a +distant and half-savage island, not even French in blood, but an Italian +and an alien. + +Crash! Another shell burst near, and told him to quit thinking of old +times and attend to the business before him. The past had nothing more +mighty than the present. The speed of the Strangers was increased a +little, and the French regiments on either side kept pace with them. +More shells fell. They came, shrieking through the air like hideous +birds of remote ages. Some passed entirely over the advancing troops, +but one fell among the French on John's right, and the column opening +out, passed shudderingly around the spot where death had struck. + +Two or three of the Strangers were blown away presently. It seemed to +John's horrified eyes that one of them entirely vanished in minute +fragments. He knew now what annihilation meant. + +The heavy French field guns behind them were firing over their heads, +but there was still nothing in front, merely the low green hills and not +even a flash of flame nor a puff of smoke. The whistling death came out +of space. + +The French went on, a wide shallow valley opened out before them, and +they descended by the easy slope into it. Here the German shells and +shrapnel ceased to fall among them, but, as the heavy thunder +continued, John knew the guns had merely turned aside their fire for +other points on the French line. Carstairs by his side gave an immense +sigh of relief. + +"I can never get used to the horrible roaring and groaning of those +shells," he said. "If I get killed I'd like it to be done without the +thing that does it shrieking and gloating over me." + +They were well in the valley now, and John noticed that along its right +ran a dense wood, fresh and green despite the lateness of the season. +But as he looked he heard the shrill snarling of many trumpets, and, for +a moment or two, his heart stood still, as a vast body of German cavalry +burst from the screen of the wood and rushed down upon them. + +It was not often in this war that cavalry had a great chance, but here +it had come. The ambush was complete. The German signals, either from +the sky or the hills, had told when the French were in the valley, and +then the German guns had turned aside their fire for the very good +reason that they did not wish to send shells among their own men. + +John's feeling was one of horrified surprise. The German cavalry +extending across a mile of front seemed countless. Imagination in that +terrific moment magnified them into millions. He saw the foaming mouths, +the white teeth and the flashing eyes of the horses, and then the tense +faces and eyes of their riders. Lances and sabers were held aloft, and +the earth thundered with the tread of the mounted legions. + +"Good God!" cried Wharton. + +"Wheel, men, wheel!" shouted Captain Colton. + +As they turned to face the rushing tide of steel, the regiment of +Bougainville whirled on their flank and then Bougainville was almost at +his side. He saw fire leap from the little man's eye. He saw him shout +commands, rapid incisive, and correct and he saw clearly that if this +were Napoleon's day that marshal's baton in the knapsack would indeed +become a reality. + +The Paris regiment, kneeling, was the first to fire, and the next +instant flame burst from the rifles of the Strangers. It was not a +moment too soon. It seemed to many of the young Americans and Englishmen +that they had been ridden down already, but sheet after sheet of bullets +fired by men, fighting for their lives, formed a wall of death. + +The Uhlans, the hussars and the cuirassiers reeled back in the very +moment of triumph. Horses with their riders crashed to the ground, and +others, mad with terror, rushed wildly through the French ranks. + +John, Carstairs and Wharton snatched up rifles, all three, and began to +fire with the men as fast as they could. A vast turmoil, frightful in +its fury, followed. The German cavalry reeled back, but it did not +retreat. The shrill clamor of many trumpets came again, and once more +the horsemen charged. The sheet of death blazed in their faces again, +and then the French met them with bayonet. + +The Strangers had closed in to meet the shock. John felt rather than saw +Carstairs and Wharton on either side of him, and the three of them were +firing cartridge after cartridge into the light whitish smoke that hung +between them and the charging horsemen. He was devoutly thankful that +the Paris regiment was immediately on their right, and that it was led +by such a man as Bougainville. General Vaugirard, he knew, was farther +to their left, and now he began to hear the rapid firers, pouring a rain +of death upon the cavalry. + +"We win! we win!" cried Carstairs. "If they couldn't beat us down in the +first rush they can't beat us down at all!" + +Carstairs was right. The French had broken into no panic, and, when, +infantry standing firm, pour forth the incessant and deadly stream of +death, that modern arms make possible, no cavalry can live before them. +Yet the Germans charged again and again into the hurricane of fire and +steel. The tumult of the battle face to face became terrific. + +John could no longer hear the words of his comrades. He saw dimly +through the whitish smoke in front, but he continued to fire. Once he +leaped aside to let a wounded and riderless horse gallop past, and +thrice he sprang over the bodies of the dead. + +The infantry were advancing now, driving the cavalry before them, and +the French were able to bring their lighter field guns into action. John +heard the rapid crashes, and he saw the line of cavalry drawing back. +He, too, was shouting with triumph, although nobody heard him. But all +the Strangers were filled with fiery zeal. Without orders they rushed +forward, driving the horsemen yet further. John saw through the whitish +mist a fierce face and a powerful arm swinging aloft a saber. + +He recognized von Boehlen and von Boehlen recognized him. Shouting, the +Prussian urged his horse at him and struck him with the saber. John, +under impulse, dropped to his knees, and the heavy blade whistled above +him. But something else struck him on the head and he fell senseless to +the earth. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +JULIE LANNES + + +John Scott came slowly out of the darkness and hovered for a while +between dusk and light. It was not an unpleasant world in which he +lingered. It seemed full of rest and peace. His mind and body were +relaxed, and there was no urgent call for him to march and to fight. The +insistent drumming of the great guns which could play upon the nervous +system until it was wholly out of tune was gone. The only sound he heard +was that of a voice, a fresh young voice, singing a French song in a +tone low and soft. He had always liked these little love songs of the +kind that were sung in a subdued way. They were pathetic and pure as a +rose leaf. + +He might have opened his eyes and looked for the singer, but he did not. +The twilight region between sleep and consciousness was too pleasant. He +had no responsibilities, nothing to do. He had a dim memory that he had +belonged to an army, that it was his business to try to kill some one, +and to try to keep from getting killed, but all that was gone now. He +could lie there, without pain of body or anxiety of mind, and let vague +but bright visions pass through his soul. + +His eyes still closed, he listened to the voice. It was very low, +scarcely more than a murmur, yet it was thrillingly sweet. It might not +be a human voice, after all, just the distant note of a bird in the +forest, or the murmur of a brave little stream, or a summer wind among +green leaves. + +He moved a little and became conscious that he was not going back into +that winter region of dusk. His soul instead was steadily moving toward +the light. The beat of his heart grew normal, and then memory in a full +tide rushed upon him. He saw the great cavalry battle with all its red +turmoil, the savage swing of von Boehlen's saber and himself drifting +out into the darkness. + +He opened his eyes, the battle vanished, and he saw himself lying upon a +low, wooden platform. His head rested upon a small pillow, a blanket was +under him, and another above him. Turning slowly he saw other men +wrapped in blankets like himself on the platform in a row that stretched +far to right and left. Above was a low roof, but both sides of the +structure were open. + +He understood it all in a moment. He had come back to a world of battle +and wounds, and he was one of the wounded. But he listened for the soft, +musical note which he believed now, in his imaginative state, had drawn +him from the mid-region between life and death. + +The stalwart figure of a woman in a somber dress with a red cross sewed +upon it passed between him and the light, but he knew that it was not +she who had been singing. He closed his eyes in disappointment, but +reopened them. A man wearing a white jacket and radiating an atmosphere +of drugs now walked before him. He must be a surgeon. At home, surgeons +wore white jackets. Beyond doubt he was one and maybe he was going to +stop at John's cot to treat some terrible wound of which he was not yet +conscious. He shivered a little, but the man passed on, and his heart +beat its relief. + +Then a soldier took his place in the bar of light. He was a short, thick +man in a ridiculous, long blue coat, and equally ridiculous, baggy, red +trousers. An obscure cap was cocked in an obscure manner over his ears, +and his face was covered with a beard, black, thick and untrimmed. He +carried a rifle over his shoulder and nobody could mistake him for +anything but a Frenchman. Then he was not a prisoner again, but was in +French hands. That, at least, was a consolation. + +It was amusing to lie there and see the people, one by one, pass between +him and the light. He could easily imagine that he was an inspection +officer and that they walked by under orders from him. Two more women in +those somber dresses with the red crosses embroidered upon them, were +silhouetted for a moment against the glow and then were gone. Then a man +with his arm in a sling and his face very pale walked slowly by. A +wounded soldier! There must be many, very many of them! + +The musical murmur ceased and he was growing weary. He closed his eyes +and then he opened them again because he felt for a moment on his face a +fragrant breath, fleeting and very light. He looked up into the eyes of +Julie Lannes. They were blue, very blue, but with infinite wistful +depths in them, and he noticed that her golden hair had faint touches of +the sun in it. It was a crown of glory. He remembered that he had seen +something like it in the best pictures of the old masters. + +"Mademoiselle Julie!" he said. + +"You have come back," she said gently. "We have been anxious about you. +Philip has been to see you three times." + +He noticed that she, too, wore the somber dress with the red cross, and +he began to comprehend. + +"A nurse," he said. "Why, you are too young for such work!" + +"But I am strong, and the wounded are so many, hundreds of thousands, +they say. Is it not a time for the women of France to help as much as +they can?" + +"I suppose so. I've heard that in our civil war the women passed over +the battle fields, seeking the wounded and nursed them afterward. But +you didn't come here alone, did you, Mademoiselle Julie?" + +"Antoine Picard--you remember him--and his daughter Suzanne, are with +me. My mother would have come too, but she is ill. She will come later." + +"How long have I been here?" + +"Four days." + +John thought a little. Many and mighty events had happened in four days +before he was wounded and many and mighty events may have occurred +since. + +"Would you mind telling me where we are, Mademoiselle Julie?" he asked. + +"I do not know exactly myself, but we are somewhere near the river, +Aisne. The German army has turned and is fortifying against us. When the +wind blows this way you can hear the rumble of the guns. Ah, there it is +now, Mr. Scott!" + +John distinctly heard that low, sinister menace, coming from the east, +and he knew what it was. Why should he not? He had listened to it for +days and days. It was easy enough now to tell the thunder of the +artillery from real thunder. He was quite sure that it had never ceased +while he was unconscious. It had been going on so long now, as steady as +the flowing of a river. + +"I've been asking you a lot of questions, Mademoiselle Julie, but I want +to ask you one more." + +"What is it, Mr. Scott?" + +"What happened to me?" + +"They say that you were knocked down by a horse, and that when you were +falling his knee struck your head. There was a concussion but the +surgeon says that when you come out of it you will recover very fast." + +"Is the man who says it a good surgeon, one upon whom a fellow can rely, +one of the very best surgeons that ever worked on a hurt head?" + +"Yes, Mr. Scott. But why do you ask such a question? Is it your odd +American way?" + +"Not at all. Mademoiselle Julie. I merely wanted to satisfy myself. He +knows that I'm not likely to be insane or weak-minded or anything of the +kind, because I got in the way of that horse's knee?" + +"Oh, no, Mr. Scott, there is not the least danger in the world. Your +mind will be as sound as your body. Don't trouble yourself." + +She laughed and now John knew that it was she whom he had heard singing +the chansonette in that low murmuring tone. What was that little song? +Well, it did not matter about the words. The music was that of a soft +breeze from the south blowing among roses. John's imaginings were +growing poetical. Perhaps there were yet some lingering effects from the +concussion. + +"Here is the surgeon now," said Mademoiselle Julie. "He will take a look +at you and he will be glad to find that what he has predicted has come +true." + +It was the man in the white jacket, and with that wonderful tangle of +black whiskers, like a patch cut out of a scrub forest. + +"Well, my young Yankee," he said, "I see that you've come around. You've +raised an interesting question in my mind. Since a cavalry horse wasn't +able to break it, is the American skull thicker than the skulls of other +people?" + +"A lot of you Europeans don't seem to think we're civilized." + +"But when you fight for us we do. Isn't that so, Mademoiselle Lannes?" + +"I think it is." + +"War is a curious thing. While it drives people apart it also brings +them together. We learn in battle, and its aftermath, that we're very +much alike. And now, my young Yankee, I'll be here again in two hours to +change that bandage for the last time. I'll be through with you then, +and in another day you can go forward to meet the German shells." + +"I prefer to run against a horse's knee," said John with spirit. + +Surgeon Lucien Delorme laughed heartily. + +"I'm confirmed in my opinion that you won't need me after another change +of bandages," he said. "We've a couple of hundred thousand cases much +worse than yours to tend, and Mademoiselle Lannes will look after you +today. She has watched over you, I understand, because you're a friend +of her brother, the great flying man, Philip Lannes." + +"Yes," said John, "that's it, of course." + +Julie herself said nothing. + +Surgeon Delorme passed through the bar of brilliant light and +disappeared, his place being taken by a gigantic figure with grizzled +hair, and the stern face of the thoughtful peasant, the same Antoine +Picard who had been left as a guardian over the little house beyond the +Seine. John closed his eyes, that is nearly, and caught the glance that +the big man gave to Julie. It was protecting and fatherly, and he knew +that Antoine would answer for her at any time with his life. It was one +remnant of feudalism to which he did not object. He opened his eyes wide +and said: + +"Well, my good Picard, perhaps you thought you were going to look at a +dead American, but you are not. Behold me!" + +He sat up and doubled up his arm to show his muscle and power. Picard +smiled and offered to shake hands in the American fashion. He seemed +genuinely glad that John had returned to the real world, and John +ascribed it to Picard's knowledge that he was Lannes' friend. + +Julie said some words to Picard, and with a little _au revoir_ to John, +went away. John watched her until she was out of sight. He realized +again that young French girls were kept secluded from the world, immured +almost. But the world had changed. Since a few men met around a table +six or seven weeks before and sent a few dispatches a revolution had +come. Old customs, old ideas and old barriers were going fast, and might +be going faster. War, the leveler, was prodigiously at work. + +These were tremendous things, but he had himself to think about too, and +personality can often outweigh the universe. Julie was gone, taking a +lot of the light with her, but Picard was still there, and while he was +grizzled and stern he was a friend. + +John sat up quite straight and Picard did not try to keep him from it. + +"Picard," he said, "you see me, don't you?" + +"I do, sir, with these two good eyes of mine, as good as those in the +head of any young man, and fifty is behind me." + +"That's because you're not intellectual, Picard, but we'll return to our +lamb chops. I am here, I, a soldier of France, though an American--for +which I am grateful--laid four days upon my back by a wound. And was +that wound inflicted by a shell, shrapnel, bomb, lance, saber, bullet or +any of the other noble weapons of warfare? No, sir, it was done by a +horse, and not by a kick, either, he jostled me with his knee when he +wasn't looking. Would you call that an honorable wound?" + +"All wounds received in the service of one's country or adopted country +are honorable, sir." + +"You give me comfort, Picard. But spread the story that I was not hit by +a horse's knee but by a piece of shell, a very large and wicked piece of +shell. I want it to get into the histories that way. The greatest of +Frenchmen, though he was an Italian, said that history was a fable +agreed upon, and you and I want to make an agreement about myself and a +shell." + +"I don't understand you at all, sir." + +"Well, never mind. Tell me how long Mademoiselle Julie is going to stay +here. I'm a great friend of her brother, Lieutenant Philip Lannes. Oh, +we're such wonderful friends! And we've been through such terrible +dangers together!" + +"Then, perhaps it's Lieutenant Lannes and not his sister, Mademoiselle +Julie, that you wish to inquire about." + +"Don't be ironical, Picard. I was merely digressing, which I admit is +wrong, as you're apt to distract the attention of your hearer from the +real subject. We'll return to Mademoiselle Julie. Do you think she's +going to remain here long?" + +"I would tell you if I could, sir, but no one knows. I think it depends +upon many circumstances. The young lady is most brave, as becomes one of +her blood, and the changes in France are great. All of us who may not +fight can serve otherwise." + +"Why is it that you're not fighting, Picard?" + +The great peasant flung up his arms angrily. + +"Because I am beyond the age. Because I am too old, they said. Think of +it! I, Antoine Picard, could take two of these little officers and crush +them to death at once in my arms! There is not in all this army a man +who could walk farther than I can! There is not one who could lift the +wheel of a cannon out of the mud more quickly than I can, and they would +not take me! What do a few years mean?" + +"Nothing in your case, Antoine, but they'll take you, later on. Never +fear. Before this war is over every country in it will need all the men +it can get, whether old or young." + +"I fear that it is so," said the gigantic peasant, a shadow crossing his +stern face, "but, sir, one thing is decided. France, the France of the +Revolution, the France that belongs to its people, will not fall." + +John looked at him with a new interest. Here was a peasant, but a +thinking peasant, and there were millions like him in France. They were +not really peasants in the old sense of the word, but workingmen with a +stake in the country, and the mind and courage to defend it. It might be +possible to beat the army of a nation, but not a nation in arms. + +"No, Picard," said John, "France will not fall." + +"And that being settled, sir," said Picard, with grim humor, "I think +you'd better lie down again. You've talked a lot for a man who has been +unconscious four days." + +"You're right, my good Picard, as I've no doubt you usually are. Was I +troublesome, much, when I was out in the dark?" + +"But little, sir. I've lifted much heavier men, and that Dr. Delorme is +strong himself, not afraid, either, to use the knife. Ah, sir, you +should have seen how beautifully he worked right under the fire of the +German guns! Psst! if need be he'd have taken a leg off you in five +minutes, as neatly as if he had been in a hospital in Paris!" + +John felt apprehensively for his legs. Both were there, and in good +condition. + +"If that man ever comes near me with the intention of cutting off one of +my legs I'll shoot him, good fellow and good doctor though he may be," +he said. "Help me up a little higher, will you, Picard? I want to see +what kind of a place we're in." + +Picard built up a little pyramid of saddles and knapsacks behind him and +John drew himself up with his back against them. The rows and rows of +wounded stretched as far as he could see, and there was a powerful odor +of drugs. Around him was a forest, of the kind with which he had become +familiar in Europe, that is, of small trees, free from underbrush. He +saw some distance away soldiers walking up and down and beyond them the +vague outline of an earthwork. + +"What place is this, anyway, Picard?" he asked. + +"It has no name, sir. It's a hospital. It was built in the forest in a +day. More than five thousand wounded lie here. The army itself is +further on. You were found and brought in by some young officers of that +most singular company composed of Americans and English who are always +quarreling among one another, but who unite and fight like demons +against anybody else." + +"A dollar to a cent it was Wharton and Carstairs who brought me here," +said John, smiling to himself. + +"What does Monsieur say?" + +"Merely commenting on some absent friends of mine. But this isn't a bad +place, Picard." + +The shed was of immense length and breadth and just beyond it were some +small buildings, evidently of hasty construction. John inferred that +they were for the nurses and doctors, and he wondered which one +sheltered Julie Lannes. The forest seemed to be largely of young pines, +and the breeze that blew through it was fresh and wholesome. As he +breathed it young Scott felt that he was inhaling new life and strength. +But the wind also brought upon its edge that far faint murmur which he +knew was the throbbing of the great guns, miles and miles away. + +"Perhaps, Monsieur had better lie down again now and sleep awhile," said +Picard insinuatingly. + +"Sleep! I need sleep! Why, Picard, by your own account I've just +awakened from a sleep four days and four nights long." + +"But, sir, that was not sleep. It was the stupor of unconsciousness. +Now your sleep will be easy and natural." + +"Very well," said John, who had really begun to feel a little weary, +"I'll go to sleep, since, in a way, you order it, but if Mademoiselle +Julie Lannes should happen to pass my cot again, will you kindly wake me +up?" + +"If possible, sir," said Picard, the faintest smile passing over his +iron features, and forced to be content with that reply, John soon slept +again. Julie passed by him twice, but Picard did not awaken him, nor +try. The first time she was alone. Trained and educated like most young +French girls, she had seen little of the world until she was projected +into the very heart of it by an immense and appalling war. But its +effect upon her had been like that upon John. Old manners and customs +crumbled away, an era vanished, and a new one with new ideas came to +take its place. She shuddered often at what she had seen in this great +hospital in the woods, but she was glad that she had come. French +courage was as strong in the hearts of women as in the hearts of men, +and the brusque but good Dr. Delorme had said that she learned fast. She +had more courage, yes, and more skill, than many nurses older and +stronger than she, and there was the stalwart Suzanne, who worked with +her. + +She was alone the first time and she stopped by John's cot, where he +slept so peacefully. He was undeniably handsome, this young American who +had come to their house in Paris with Philip. And her brother, that +wonderful man of the air, who was almost a demi-god to her, had spoken +so well of him, had praised so much his skill, his courage, and his +honesty. And he had received his wound fighting so gallantly for France, +her country. Her beautiful color deepened a little as she walked away. + +John awoke again in the afternoon, and the first sound he heard was that +same far rumble of the guns, now apparently a part of nature, but he did +not linger in any twilight land between dark and light. All the mists of +sleep cleared away at once and he sat up, healthy, strong and hungry. +Demanding food from an orderly he received it, and when he had eaten it +he asked for Surgeon Delorme. + +The surgeon did not come for a half hour and then he demanded brusquely +what John wanted. + +"None of your drugs," replied happy young Scott, "but my uniform and my +arms. I don't know your procedure here, but I want you to certify to the +whole world that I'm entirely well and ready to return to the ranks." + +Surgeon Delorme critically examined the bandage which he had changed +that morning, and then felt of John's head at various points. + +"A fine strong skull," he said, smiling, "and quite undamaged. When this +war is over I shall go to America and make an exhaustive study of the +Yankee skull. Has bone, through the influence of climate or of more +plentiful food, acquired a more tenacious quality there than it has +here? It is a most interesting and complicated question." + +"But it's solution will have to be deferred, my good Monsieur Delorme, +and so you'd better quit thumping my head so hard. Give me that +certificate, because if you don't I'll get up and go without it. Don't +you hear those guns out there, doctor? Why, they're calling to me all +the time. They tell me, strong and well, again, to come at once and join +my comrades of the Strangers, who are fighting the enemy." + +"You shall go in the morning," said Surgeon Delorme, putting his broad +hand upon young Scott's head. "The effects of the concussion will have +vanished then." + +"But I want to get up now and put on my uniform; can't I?" + +"I know no reason why you shouldn't. There's a huge fellow named Picard +around here who has been watching over you, and who has your uniform. +I'll call him." + +When John was dressed he walked with Picard into the edge of the forest. +His first steps were wavering, and his head swam a little, but in a few +minutes the dizziness disappeared and his walk became steady and +elastic. He was his old self again, strong in every fiber. He would +certainly be with the Strangers the next morning. + +Many more of the wounded, thousands of them, were lying or sitting on +the short grass in the forest. They were the less seriously hurt, and +they were cheerful. Some of them sang. + +"They'll be going back to the army fast," said Picard. "Unless they're +torn by shrapnel nearly all the wounded get well again and quickly. The +bullet with the great power is merciful. It goes through so fast that it +does not tear either flesh or bone. If you're healthy, if your blood is +good, psst! you're well again in a week." + +"Do you know if Lieutenant Lannes is expected here?" asked John. + +"I heard from Mademoiselle Julie that he would come at set of sun. He +has been on another perilous errand. Ah, his is a strange and terrible +life, sir. Up there in the sky, a half mile, maybe a mile, above the +earth. All the dangers of the earth and those, too, of the air to fight! +Nothing above you and nothing below you. It's a new world in which +Monsieur Philip Lannes moves, but I would not go in it with him, not for +all the treasures of the Louvre!" + +He looked up at the calm and benevolent blue sky and shuddered. + +John laughed. + +"Some of us feel that way," he said. "Many men as brave as any that ever +lived can't bear to look down from a height. But sunset is approaching, +my gallant Picard, and Lannes should soon be here." + +The rays of the sun fell in showers of red gold where they stood, but a +narrow band of gray under the eastern horizon showed that twilight was +not far away. The two stood side by side staring up at the heavens, +where they felt with absolute certainty the black dot would appear at +the appointed time. It was a singular tribute to the courage and +character of Lannes that all who knew him had implicit faith in his +promises, not alone in his honesty of purpose, but in his ability to +carry it out in the face of difficulty and danger. The band of gray in +the east broadened, but they still watched with the utmost faith. + +"I see something to the eastward," said John, "or is it merely a shadow +in the sky?" + +"I don't think it's a shadow. It must be one of those terrible machines, +and perhaps it's that of our brave Monsieur Philip." + +"You're right, Picard, it's no shadow, nor is it a bit of black cloud. +It's an aeroplane, flying very fast. The skies over Europe hold many +aeroplanes these days, but I know all the tricks of the _Arrow_, all its +pretty little ways, its manner of curving, looping and dropping, and I +should say that the _Arrow_, Philip Lannes aboard, is coming." + +"I pray, sir, that you are right. I always hold my breath until he is on +the ground again." + +"Then you'll have to make a record in holding breath, my brave Picard. +He is still far, very far, from us, and it will be a good ten minutes +before he arrives." + +But John knew beyond a doubt, after a little more watching, that it was +really the _Arrow_, and with eager eyes he watched the gallant little +machine as it descended in many a graceful loop and spiral to the earth. +They hurried forward to meet it, and Lannes, bright-eyed and trim, +sprang out, greeting John with a welcome cry. + +"Up again," he exclaimed, "and, as I see with these two eyes of mine, +as well as ever! And you too, my brave Picard, here to meet me!" + +He hastened away with a report, but came back to them in a few minutes. + +"Now," he said, "We'll go and see my sister." + +John was not at all unwilling. + +They found her in one of the new houses of pine boards, and the faithful +and stalwart Suzanne was with her. It was the plainest of plain places, +inhabited by at least twenty other Red Cross nurses, and John stood on +one side until the first greeting of brother and sister was over. Then +Lannes, by a word and a gesture, included him in what was practically a +family group, although he was conscious that the stalwart Suzanne was +watching him with a wary eye. + +"Julie and Suzanne," said Lannes, "are going tomorrow with other nurses +to the little town of Ménouville, where also many wounded lie. They are +less well supplied with doctors and nurses than we are here. Dr. Delorme +goes also with a small detachment as escort. I have asked that you, +Monsieur Jean the Scott, be sent with them. Our brave Picard goes too. +Ménouville is about eight miles from here, and it's not much out of the +way to the front. So you will not be kept long from your Strangers, +John." + +"I go willingly," said John, "and I'm glad, Philip, that you've seen fit +to consider me worth while as a part of the escort." + +He spoke quietly, but his glance wandered to Julie Lannes. It may have +been a chance, but hers turned toward him at the same time, and the +eyes, the blue and the gray, met. Again the girl's brilliant color +deepened a little, and she looked quickly away. Only the watchful and +grim Suzanne saw. + +"Do you have to go away at once, Philip?" asked Julie. + +"In one hour, my sister. There is not much rest for the _Arrow_ and me +these days, but they are such days as happen perhaps only once in a +thousand years, and one must do his best to be worthy. I'm not +preaching, little sister, don't think that, but I must answer to every +call." + +The twilight had spread from east to west. The heavy shadows in the east +promised a dark night, but out of the shadows, as always, came that +sullen mutter of the ruthless guns. Julie shivered a little, and glanced +at the dim sky. + +"Must you go up there in the cold dark?" she said. "It's like leaving +the world. It's dangerous enough in the day, but you have a bright sky +then. In the night it's terrible!" + +"Don't you fear for me, little sister," said Lannes. "Why, I like the +night for some reasons. You can slip by your enemies in the dark, and if +you're flying low the cannon don't have half the chance at you. Besides, +I've the air over these regions all mapped and graded now. I know all +the roads and paths, the meeting places of the clouds, points suitable +for ambush, aerial fields, meadows and forests. Oh, it's home up there! +Don't you worry, and do you write, too, to Madame, my mother, in Paris, +that I'm perfectly safe." + +Lannes kissed her and went away abruptly. John was sure that an attempt +to hide emotion caused his brusque departure. + +"Believe everything he tells you, Mademoiselle Julie," he said. "I've +come to the conclusion that nothing can ever trap your brother. Besides +courage and skill he has luck. The stars always shine for him." + +"They're not shining tonight," said Picard, looking up at the dusky sky. + +"But I believe, Mr. Scott, that you are right," said Julie. + +"He'll certainly come to us at Ménouville tomorrow night," said John, +speaking in English--all the conversation hitherto had been in French, +"and I think we'll have a pleasant ride through the forest in the +morning, Miss Lannes. You'll let me call you Miss Lannes, once or twice, +in my language, won't you? I like to hear the sound of it." + +"I've no objection, Mr. Scott," she replied also in English. She did not +blush, but looked directly at him with bright eyes. John was conscious +of something cool and strong. She was very young, she was French, and +she had lived a sheltered life, but he realized once more that human +beings are the same everywhere and that war, the leveler, had broken +down all barriers. + +"I've not heard who is to be our commander, Miss Lannes," he continued +in English, "but I'll be here early in the morning. May I wish you happy +dreams and a pleasant awakening, as they say at home?" + +"But you have two homes now, France and America." + +"That's so, and I'm beginning to love one as much as the other. Any +way, to the re-seeing, Miss Lannes, which I believe is equivalent to _au +revoir_." + +He made a very fine bow, one that would have done credit to a trained +old courtier, and withdrew. The fierce and watchful eyes of Suzanne +followed him. + +John was up at dawn, as strong and well as he had ever been in his life. +As he was putting on his uniform an orderly arrived with a note from +Lieutenant Hector Legaré, telling him to report at once for duty with a +party that was going to Ménouville. + +The start was made quickly. John found that the women with surgical +supplies were traveling in carts. The soldiers, about twenty in number, +walked. John and the doctor walked with them. All the automobiles were +in use carrying troops to the front, but the carts were strong and +comfortable and John did not mind. It ought to be a pleasant trip. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE MIDDLE AGES + + +The little party moved away without attracting notice. In a time of such +prodigious movement the going or coming of a few individuals was a +matter of no concern. The hood that Julie Lannes had drawn over her hair +and face, and her plain brown dress might have been those of a nun. She +too passed before unseeing eyes. + +Lieutenant Legaré was a neutral person, arousing no interest in John who +walked by the side of the gigantic Picard, the stalwart Suzanne being in +one of the carts beside Julie. The faint throbbing of the guns, now a +distinct part of nature, came to them from a line many miles away, but +John took no notice of it. He had returned to the world among pleasant +people, and this was one of the finest mornings in early autumn that he +had ever seen. + +The country was much more heavily forested than usual. At points, the +woods turned into what John would almost have called a real forest. Then +they could not see very far ahead or to either side, but the road was +good and the carts moved forward, though not at a pace too great for the +walkers. + +Picard carried a rifle over his shoulders, and John had secured an +automatic. All the soldiers were well armed. John felt a singular +lightness of heart, and, despite the forbidding glare of Suzanne, who +was in the last cart, he spoke to Julie. + +"It's too fine a morning for battle," he said in English. "Let's pretend +that we're a company of troubadours, minnesingers, jongleurs, acrobats +and what not, going from one great castle to another." + +"I suppose Antoine there is the chief acrobat?" + +"He might do a flip-flap, but if he did the earth would shake." + +"Then you are the chief troubadour. Where is your harp or viol, Sir +Knight of the Tuneful Road?" + +"I'm merely imagining character, not action. I haven't a harp or a viol, +and if I had them I couldn't play on either." + +"Do you think it right to talk In English to the strange young American, +Mademoiselle? Would Madame your mother approve?" said Suzanne in a +fierce whisper. + +"It is sometimes necessary in war, Suzanne, to talk where one would not +do so in peace," replied Julie gravely, and then she said to John again +in English: + +"We cannot carry out the pretense, Mr. Scott. The tuneful or merry folk +of the Middle Ages did not travel with arms. They had no enemies, and +they were welcome everywhere. Nor did they travel as we do to the +accompaniment of war. The sound of the guns grows louder." + +"So it does," said John, bending an ear--he had forgotten that a battle +was raging somewhere, "but we're behind the French lines and it cannot +touch us." + +"It was a wonderful victory. Our soldiers are the bravest in the world +are they not, Mr. Scott?" + +John smiled. They were still talking English. He liked to hear her +piquant pronunciation of it, and he surmised too that the bravest of +hearts beat in the bosom of this young girl whom war had suddenly made a +woman. How could the sister of such a man as Lannes be otherwise than +brave? The sober brown dress, and the hood equally sober, failed to hide +her youthful beauty. The strands of hair escaping from the hood showed +pure gold in the sunshine, and in the same sunshine the blue of her eyes +seemed deeper than ever. + +John was often impressed by the weakness of generalities, and one of +them was the fact that so many of the French were so fair, and so many +of the English so dark. He did not remember the origin of the Lannes +family, but he was sure that through her mother's line, at least, she +must be largely of Norman blood. + +"What are you thinking of so gravely, Mr. Scott?" she asked, still in +English, to the deep dissatisfaction of Suzanne, who never relaxed her +grim glare. + +"I don't know. Perhaps it was the contrast of our peaceful journey to +what is going on twelve or fifteen miles away." + +"It is beautiful here!" she said. + +Truly it was. The road, smooth and white, ran along the slopes of hills, +crested with open forest, yet fresh and green. Below them were fields of +chequered brown and green. Four or five clear brooks flowed down the +slopes, and the sheen of a little river showed in the distance. Three +small villages were in sight, and, clean white smoke rising from their +chimneys, blended harmoniously into the blue of the skies. It reminded +John of pictures by the great French landscape painters. It was all so +beautiful and peaceful, nor was the impression marred by the distant +mutter of the guns which he had forgotten again. + +Julie and Suzanne, her menacing shadow, dismounted from the wagon +presently and walked with John and Picard. Lieutenant Legaré was stirred +enough from his customary phlegm to offer some gallant words, but war, +the great leveler, had not quite leveled all barriers, so far as he was +concerned, and, after her polite reply, he returned to his martial +duties. John had become the friend of the Lannes family through his +association with Philip in dangerous service, and his position was +recognized. + +The road ascended and the forest became deeper. No houses were now in +sight. As the morning advanced it had grown warmer under a brilliant +sun, but it was pleasant here in the shade. Julie still walked, showing +no sign of a wish for the cart again. John noticed that she was very +strong, or at least very enduring. Suddenly he felt a great obligation +to take care of her for the sake of Lannes. The sister of his +comrade-in-arms was a precious trust in his hands, and he must not +fail. + +The wind shifted and blew toward the east, no longer bringing the sound +of guns. Instead they heard a bird now and then, chattering or singing +in a tree. The illusion of the Middle Ages returned to John. They were a +peaceful troupe, going upon a peaceful errand. + +"Don't tell me there isn't a castle at Ménouville," he said. "I know +there is, although I've never been there, and I never heard of the place +before. When we arrive the drawbridge will be down and the portcullis +up. All the men-at-arms will have burnished their armor brightly and +will wait respectfully in parallel rows to welcome us as we pass +between. His Grace, the Duke of Light Heart, in a suit of red velvet +will be standing on the steps, and Her Graciousness, the Duchess, in a +red brocade dress, with her hair powdered and very high on her head, +will be by his side to greet our merry troupe. Behind them will be all +the ducal children, and the knights and squires and pages, and ladies. I +think they will all be very glad to see us, because in these Middle Ages +of ours, life, even in a great ducal castle, is somewhat lonely. +Visitors are too rare, and there is not the variety of interest that +even the poor will have in a later time." + +"You make believe well, Mr. Scott," she said. + +"There is inspiration," he said, glancing at her. "We are here in the +deeps of an ancient wood, and perhaps the stories and legends of these +old lands move the Americans more than they do the people who live here. +We're the children of Europe and when we look back to the land of our +fathers we often see it through a kind of glorified mist." + +"The wind is shifting again," she said. "I hear the cannon once more." + +"So do I, and I hear something else too! Was that the sound of hoofs?" + +John turned in sudden alarm to Legaré, who heard also and stiffened at +once to attention. They were not alone on the road. The rapid beat of +hoofs came, and around a corner galloped a mass of Uhlans, helmets and +lances glittering. Picard with a shout of warning fired his rifle into +the thick of them. Legaré snatched out his revolver and fired also. + +But they had no chance. The little detachment was ridden down in an +instant. Legaré and half of the men died gallantly. The rest were taken. +Picard had been brought to his knees by a tremendous blow from the butt +of a lance, and John, who had instinctively sprung before Julie, was +overpowered. Suzanne, who endeavored to reach a weapon, fought like a +tigress, but two Uhlans finally subdued her. + +It was so swift and sudden that it scarcely seemed real to John, but +there were the dead bodies lying ghastly in the road, and there stood +Julie, as pale as death, but not trembling. The leader of the Uhlans +pushed his helmet back a little from his forehead, and looked down at +John, who had been disarmed but who stood erect and defiant. + +"It is odd, Mr. Scott," said Captain von Boehlen, "how often the +fortunes of this war have caused us to meet." + +"It is, and sometimes fortune favors one, sometimes the other. You're +in favor now." + +Von Boehlen looked steadily at his prisoner. John thought that the +strength and heaviness of the jaw were even more pronounced than when he +had first seen the Prussian in Dresden. The face was tanned deeply, and +face and figure alike seemed the embodiment of strength. One might +dislike him, but one could not despise him. John even found it in his +heart to respect him, as he returned the steady gaze of the blue eyes +with a look equally as firm. + +"I hope," said John, "that you will send back Mademoiselle Lannes and +the nurses with her to her people. I take it that you're not making war +upon women." + +Von Boehlen gave Julie a quick glance of curiosity and admiration. But +the eyes flashed for only a moment and then were expressionless. + +"I know of one Lannes," he said, "Philip Lannes, the aviator, a name +that fame has brought to us Germans." + +"I am his sister," said Julie. + +"I can wish, Mademoiselle Lannes," said von Boehlen, politely in French, +"that we had captured your brother instead of his sister." + +"But as I said, you will send them back to their own people? You don't +make war upon women?" repeated John. + +"No, we do not make war upon women. We are making war upon Frenchmen, +and I do not hesitate to say in the presence of Mademoiselle Lannes that +this war is made upon very brave Frenchmen. Yet we cannot send the +ladies back. The presence of our cavalry here within the French lines +must not be known to our enemies. Moreover, I obey the orders of +another, and I am compelled to hold them as prisoners--for a while at +least." + +Von Boehlen's tone was not lacking in the least in courtesy. It was more +than respectful when he spoke directly to Julie Lannes, and John's +feeling of repugnance to him underwent a further abatement--he was a +creation of his conditions, and he believed in his teachings. + +"You will at least keep us all as prisoners together?" said John. + +"I know of no reason to the contrary," replied von Boehlen briefly. Then +he acted with the decision that characterized all the German officers +whom John had seen. The women and the prisoners were put in the carts. +Dismounted Uhlans took the place of the drivers and the little +procession with an escort of about fifty cavalry turned from the road +into the woods, von Boehlen and the rest, about five hundred in number, +rode on down the road. + +John was in the last cart with Julie, Suzanne and Picard, and his soul +was full of bitter chagrin. He had just been taking mental resolutions +to protect, no matter what came, Philip Lannes' sister, and, within a +half hour, both she and he were prisoners. But when he saw the face of +Antoine Picard he knew that one, at least, in the cart was suffering as +much as he. The gigantic peasant was the only one whose arms were bound, +and perhaps it was as well. His face expressed the most ferocious anger +and hate, and now and then he pulled hard upon his bonds. John could see +that they were cutting into the flesh. He remembered also that Picard +was not in uniform. He was in German eyes only a _franc tireur_, subject +to instant execution, and he wondered why von Boehlen had delayed. + +"Save your strength, Antoine," he whispered soothingly. "We'll need it +later. I've been a prisoner before and I escaped. What's been done once +can be done again. In such a huge and confused war as this there's +always a good chance." + +"Ah, you're right, Monsieur," said Antoine, and he ceased to struggle. + +Julie had heard the whisper, and she looked at John confidently. She was +the youngest of all the women in the carts, but she was the coolest. + +"They cannot do anything with us but hold us a few days," she said. + +John was silent, turning away his somber face. He did not like this +carrying away of the women as captives, and to him the women were +embodied in Julie. They were following a little path through the woods, +the German drivers and German guards seeming to know well the way. John, +calculating the course by the sun, was sure that they were now going +directly toward the German army and that they would pass unobserved +beyond the French outposts. The path was leading into a narrow gorge and +the banks and trees would hide them from all observation. He was +confirmed in his opinion by the action of their guards. The leader rode +beside the carts and said in very good French that any one making the +least outcry would be shot instantly. No exception would be made in the +case of a woman. + +John knew that the threat would be kept. Julie Lannes paled a little, +and the faithful Suzanne by her side was darkly menacing, but they +showed no other emotion. + +"Don't risk anything," said John in the lowest of whispers. "It would be +useless." + +Julie nodded. The carts moved on down the gorge, their wheels and the +hoofs of the horses making but little noise on the soft turf. The crash +of the guns was now distinctly louder and far ahead they saw wisps of +smoke floating above the trees. John was sure that the German batteries +were there, but he was equally sure that even had he glasses he could +not have seen them. They would certainly be masked in some adroit +fashion. + +The roaring also grew on their right and left. That must be the French +cannon, and soon they would be beyond the French lines. His bitterness +increased. Nothing could be more galling than to be carried in this +manner through one's own forces and into the camp of the enemy. And +there was Julie, sitting quiet and pale, apparently without fear. + +He reckoned that they rode at least three miles in the gorge. Then they +came into a shallow stream about twenty feet wide that would have been +called a creek at home. Its banks were fairly high, lined on one side by +a hedge and on the other by willows. Instead of following the path any +further the Germans turned into the bed of the stream and drove down it +two or three miles. The roar of the artillery from both armies was now +very great, and the earth shook. Once John caught the shadow of a huge +shell passing high over their heads. + +All the prisoners knew that they were well beyond hope of rescue for the +present. The French line was far behind them and they were within the +German zone. It was better to be resigned, until they saw cause for +hope. + +When they came to a low point in the eastern bank of the stream the +carts turned out, reached a narrow road between lines of poplars and +continued their journey eastward. In the fields on either side John saw +detachments of German infantry, skirmishers probably, as they had not +yet reached the line of cannon. + +"Officer," said John to the German leader, "couldn't you unbind the arms +of my friend in the cart here? Ropes around one's wrists for a long time +are painful, and since we're within your lines he has no chance of +escape now." + +The officer looked at Picard and shrugged his shoulders. + +"Giants are strong," he said. + +"But a little bullet can lay low the greatest of them." + +"That is so." + +He leaned from his horse, inserted the point of his sword between +Picard's wrists and deftly cut the rope without breaking the skin. +Picard clenched and unclenched his hands and drew several mighty breaths +of relief. But he was a peasant of fine manners and he did not forget +them. Turning to the officer, he said: + +"I did not think I'd ever thank a German for anything, but I owe you +gratitude. It's unnatural and painful to remain trussed up like a fowl +going to market." + +The officer gave Picard a glance of pity and rode to the head of the +column, which turned off at a sharp angle toward the north. The great +roar and crash now came from the south and John inferred that they would +soon pass beyond the zone of fire. But for a long time the thunder of +the battle was undiminished. + +"Do you know this country at all?" John asked Picard. + +The giant shook his head. + +"I was never here before, sir," he said, "and I never thought I should +come into any part of France in this fashion. Ah, Mademoiselle Julie, +how can I ever tell the tale of this to your mother?" + +"No harm will come to me, Antoine," said Julie. "I shall be back in +Paris before long. Suzanne and you are with me--and Mr. Scott." + +Suzanne again frowned darkly, but John gave Julie a grateful glance. +Wisdom, however, told him to say nothing. The officer in command came +back to the cart and said, pointing ahead: + +"Behold your destination! The large house on the hill. It is the +headquarters of a person of importance, and you will find quarters there +also. I trust that the ladies will hold no ill will against me. I've +done only what my orders have compelled me to do." + +"We do not, sir," said Julie. + +The officer bowed low and rode back to the head of the column. He was a +gallant man and John liked him. But his attention was directed now to +the house, an old French château standing among oaks. The German flag +flew over it and sentinels rode back and forth on the lawn. John +remembered the officer's words that a "person of importance" was making +his headquarters there. It must be one of the five German army +commanders, at least. + +He looked long at the château. It was much such a place as that in which +Carstairs, Wharton and he had once found refuge, and from the roof of +which Wharton had worked the wireless with so much effect. But houses of +this type were numerous throughout Western Europe. + +It was only two stories in height, large, with long low windows, and the +lawn was more like a park in size. It as now the scene of abundant life, +although, as John knew instinctively, not the life of those to whom it +belonged. A number of young officers sat on the grass reading, and at +the edge of the grounds stood a group of horses with their riders lying +on the ground near them. Not far away were a score of high powered +automobiles, several of which were armored. John also saw beyond them a +battery of eight field guns, idle now and with their gunners asleep +beside them. He had no doubt that other troops in thousands were not far +away and that, in truth, they were in the very thick of the German army. + +The château and its grounds were enclosed by a high iron fence and the +little procession of carts stopped at the great central gate. A group +of officers who had been sitting on the grass, reading a newspaper, came +forward to meet them and John, to his amazement and delight, recognized +the young prince, von Arnheim. It was impossible for him to regard von +Arnheim as other than a friend, and springing impulsively from the cart +he said: + +"I had to leave you for a while. It had become irksome to be a prisoner, +but you see I've come back." + +Von Arnheim stared, then recognition came. + +"Ah, it's Scott, the American! I speak truth when I say that I'm sorry +to see you here." + +"I'm sorry to come," said John, "but I'd rather be your prisoner than +anybody else's, and I wish to ask your courtesy and kindness for the +young lady, sitting in the rear of the cart, Mademoiselle Julie Lannes, +the sister of that great French aviator of whom everybody has heard." + +"I'll do what I can, but you're mistaken in assuming that I'm in command +here. There's a higher personage--but pardon me, I must speak to the +lieutenant." + +The officer in charge was saluting, obviously anxious to make his report +and have done with an unpleasant duty. Von Arnheim gave him rapid +directions in German and then asked Julie and the two Picards to +dismount from the cart, while the others were carried through the gate +and down a drive toward some distant out-buildings. + +John saw von Arnheim's eyes gleam a little, when he noticed the beauty +of young Julie, but the Prussian was a man of heart and manner. He +lifted his helmet, and bowed with the greatest courtesy, saying: + +"It's an unhappy chance for you, but not for us, that has made you our +prisoner, Mademoiselle Lannes. In this château you must consider +yourself a guest, and not a captive. It would not become us to treat +otherwise the sister of one so famous as your brother." + +John noticed that he paid her no direct compliment. It was indirect, +coming through her brother, and he liked von Arnheim better than ever, +because the young captive was, in truth, very beautiful. The brown dress +and the sober hood could not hide it as she stood there, the warm red +light from the setting sun glancing across her rosy face and the +tendrils of golden hair that fell from beneath the hood. She was +beautiful beyond compare, John repeated to himself, but scarcely more +than a child, and she had come into strange places. The stalwart Suzanne +also took note, and she moved a little nearer, while her grim look +deepened. + +"We will give you the best hospitality the house affords," continued von +Arnheim. "It's scarcely equipped for ladies, although the former owners +left--" + +He paused and reddened. John knew his embarrassment was due to the fact +that the house to which he was inviting Julie belonged to one of her own +countrymen. But she did not seem to notice it. The manner and appearance +of von Arnheim inspired confidence. + +"We'll be put with the other prisoners, of course," said John +tentatively. + +"I don't know," replied von Arnheim. "That rests with my superior, whom +you shall soon see." + +They were walking along the gravel toward a heavy bronze door, that told +little of what the house contained. Officers and soldiers saluted the +young prince as he passed. John saw discipline and attention everywhere. +The German note was discipline and obedience, obedience and discipline. +A nation, with wonderful powers of thinking, it was a nation that ceased +to think when the call of the drill sergeant came. Discipline and +obedience had made it terrible and unparalleled in war, to a certain +point, but beyond that point the nations that did think in spite of +their sergeants, could summon up reserves of strength and courage which +the powers of the trained militarists could not create. At least John +thought so. + +The long windows of the house threw back the last rays of the setting +sun, and it was twilight when von Arnheim and his four captives entered +the château. A large man, middle-aged, heavy and bearded, wearing the +uniform of a German general rose, and a staff of several officers rose +with him. It was Auersperg, the medieval prince, and John's heart was +troubled. + +Von Arnheim saluted, bowing deeply. He stood not only in the presence of +his general, but of royalty also. It was something in the German blood, +even in one so brave and of such high rank as von Arnheim himself, that +compelled humility, and John, like the fierce democrat he was, did not +like it at all. The belief was too firmly imbedded in his mind ever to +be removed that men like Auersperg and the mad power for which they +stood had set the torch to Europe. + +"Captain von Boehlen took some prisoners, Your Highness," said von +Arnheim, "and as he was compelled to continue on his expedition he has +sent them here under the escort of Lieutenant Puttkamer. The young lady +is Mademoiselle Julie Lannes, the sister of the aviator, of whom we all +know, the woman and the peasant are her servants, and the young man, +whom we have seen before, is an American, John Scott in the French +service." + +He spoke in French, with intention, John thought, and the heavy-lidded +eyes of Auersperg dwelt an instant on the fresh and beautiful face of +Julie. And that momentary glance was wholly medieval. John saw it and +understood it. A rage against Auersperg that would never die flamed up +in his heart. He already hated everything for which the man stood. +Auersperg's glance passed on, and slowly measured the gigantic figure of +Picard. Then he smiled in a slow and ugly fashion. + +"Ah, a peasant in civilian's dress, captured fighting our brave armies! +Our orders are very strict upon that point. Von Arnheim, take this +_franc tireur_ behind the château and have him shot at once." + +He too had spoken in French, and doubtless with intention also. John +felt a thrill of horror, but Julie Lannes, turning white, sprang before +Picard: + +"No! No!" she cried to Auersperg. "You cannot do such a thing! He is not +a soldier! They would not take him because he is too old! He is my +mother's servant! It would be barbarous to have him shot!" + +Auersperg looked again at Julie, and smiled, but it was the slow, cold +smile of a master. + +"You beg very prettily, Mademoiselle," he said. + +She flushed, but stood firm. + +"It would be murder," she said. "You cannot do it!" + +"You know little of war. This man is a _franc tireur_, a civilian in +civilian's garb, fighting against us. It is our law that all such who +are caught be shot immediately." + +"Your Highness," said von Arnheim, "I have reason to think that the +lady's story is correct. This man's daughter is her maid, and he is +obviously a servant of her house." + +Auersperg turned his slow, heavy look upon the young Prussian, but John +noticed that von Arnheim met it without flinching, although Picard had +really fired upon the Germans. He surmised that von Arnheim was fully as +high-born as Auersperg, and perhaps more so. John knew that these things +counted for a lot in Germany, however ridiculous they might seem to a +democratic people. Nevertheless Auersperg spoke with irony: + +"Your heart is overworking, von Arnheim," he said "Sometimes I fear that +it is too soft for a Prussian. Our Emperor and our Fatherland demand +that we shall turn hearts of steel to our enemies, and never spare them. +But it may be, my brave Wilhelm, that your sympathy is less for this +hulking peasant and more for the fair face of the lady whom he serves." + +John saw Julie's face flush a deep red, and his hand stole down to his +belt, but no weapon was there. Von Arnheim's face reddened also, but he +stood at attention before his superior officer and replied with dignity: + +"I admire Mademoiselle Lannes, although I have known her only ten +minutes, but I think, Your Highness, that my admiration is warranted, +and also that it is not lacking in respect." + +"Good for you, von Arnheim," said John, under his breath. But the +medieval mind of Auersperg was not disturbed. The slow, cruel smile +passed across his face again. + +"You are brave my Wilhelm," he said, "but I am confirmed in my opinion +that some of our princely houses have become tainted. The harm that was +done when Napoleon smashed his way through Europe has never been undone. +The touch of the democracy was defilement, and it does not pass. Do you +think our ancestors would have wasted so much time over a miserable +French peasant?" + +This was a long speech, much too long for the circumstances, John +thought, but von Arnheim still standing stiffly at attention, merely +said: + +"Your Highness I ask this man's life of you. He is not a _franc tireur_ +in the real sense." + +"Since you make it a personal matter, my brave young Wilhelm, I yield. +Let him be held a prisoner, but no more requests of the same kind. This +is positively the last time I shall yield to such a weakness." + +"Thank you, Your Highness," said von Arnheim. Julie gave him one +flashing look of gratitude and stepped away from Picard, who had stood, +his arms folded across his chest, refusing to utter a single word for +mercy. "This indeed," thought John "is a man." Suzanne was near, and now +both he and his daughter turned away relaxing in no wise their looks of +grim resolution. "Here also is a woman as well as a man," thought John. + +"I hope, Your Highness, that I may assign Mademoiselle Lannes and her +maid to one of the upper rooms," said von Arnheim in tones respectful, +but very firm. "Here also is another man," thought John. + +"You may," said Auersperg shortly, "but let the peasant be sent to the +stables, where the other prisoners are kept." + +Two soldiers were called and they took Picard away. Julie and Suzanne +followed von Arnheim to a stairway, and John was left alone with +medievalism. The man wore no armor, but when only they two stood in the +room his feeling that he was back in the Middle Ages was overpowering. +Here was the baron, and here was he, untitled and unknown. + +Auersperg glanced at Julie, disappearing up the stairway, and then +glanced back at John. Over his heavy face passed the same slow cruel +smile that set all John's nerves to jumping. + +"Why have you, an American, come so far to fight against us?" he asked. + +"I didn't come for that purpose. I was here, visiting, and I was caught +in the whirl of the war, an accident, perhaps. But my sympathies are +wholly with France. I fight in her ranks from choice." + +Auersperg laughed unpleasantly. + +"A republic!" he said. "Millions of the ignorant, led by demagogues! +Bah! The Hohenzollerns will scatter them like chaff!" + +"I can't positively say that I saw any Hohenzollern, but I did see their +armies turned back from Paris by those ignorant people, led by their +demagogues. I'm not even sure of the name of the French general who did +it, but God gave him a better brain for war, though he may have been +born a peasant for all I know, than he did to your Kaiser, or any king, +prince, grand duke or duke in all the German armies!" + +John had been tried beyond endurance and he knew that he had spoken with +impulsive passion, but he knew also that he had spoken with truth. The +face of Auersperg darkened. The medieval baron, full of power, without +responsibility, believing implicitly in what he chose to call his order, +but which was merely the chance of birth, was here. And while the Middle +Ages in reality had passed, war could hide many a dark tale. John was +unable to read the intent in the cruel eyes, but they heard the +footsteps of von Arnheim on the stairs, and the clenched hand that had +been raised fell back by Auersperg's side. Nevertheless medievalism did +not relax its gaze. + +"What to you is this girl who seems to have charmed von Arnheim?" he +asked. + +"Her brother has become my best friend. She has charmed me as she has +charmed von Arnheim, and as she charms all others whom she meets. And I +am pleased to tell Your Highness that the spell she casts is not alone +her beauty, but even more her pure soul." + +Auersperg laughed in an ugly fashion. + +"Youth! Youth!" he exclaimed. "I see that the spell is upon you, even +more than it is upon von Arnheim. But dismiss her from your thoughts. +You go a prisoner into Germany, and it's not likely that you'll ever see +her again." + +Young Scott felt a sinking of the heart, but he was not one to show it. + +"Prisoners may escape," he said boldly, "and what has been done once can +always be done again." + +"We shall see that it does not happen a second time in your case. Von +Arnheim will dispose of you for the night, and even if you should +succeed in stealing from the château there is around it a ring of German +sentinels through which you could not possibly break." + +Some strange kink appeared suddenly in John's brain--he was never able +to account for it afterward, though Auersperg's manner rasped him +terribly. + +"I mean to escape," he said, "and I wager you two to one that I do." + +Auersperg sat down and laughed, laughed in a way that made John's face +turn red. Then he beckoned to von Arnheim. + +"Take him away," he said. "He is characteristic of his frivolous +democracy, frivolous and perhaps amusing, but it is a time for serious +not trifling things." + +John was glad enough to go with von Arnheim, who was silent and +depressed. Yet the thought came to him once more that there were princes +and princes. Von Arnheim led the way to a small bare room under the +roof. John saw that there were soldiers in the upper halls as well as +the lower, and he was sorry that he had made such a boast to Auersperg. +As he now saw it his chance of escape glimmered into nothing. + +"You should not have spoken so to His Highness," said von Arnheim. "I +could not help but hear. He is our commander here, and it is not well to +infuriate one who holds all power over you?" + +"I am but human," replied John. + +"And being human, you should have had complete control over yourself at +such a time." + +"I admit it," said John, taking the rebuke in the right spirit. + +"You're to spend the night here. I've been able to secure this much +lenity for you, but it's for one night only. Tomorrow you go with the +other prisoners in the stables. Your door will be locked, but even if +you should succeed in forcing it don't try to escape. The halls swarm +with sentinels, and you would be shot instantly. I'll have food sent to +you presently." + +He spoke brusquely but kindly. When he went out John heard a huge key +rumbling in the lock. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +A PROMISE KEPT + + +The room in which John was confined contained only a bed, a chair and a +table. It was lighted by a single window, from which he could see +numerous soldiers below. He also heard the distant mutter of the cannon, +which seemed now to have become a part of nature. There were periods of +excitement or of mental detachment, when he did not notice it, but it +was always there. Now the soldiers in the grounds were moving but +little, and the air pulsed with the thud of the great guns. + +He recalled again his promise, or rather threat, to Auersperg that he +would escape. Instinctively he went to the narrow but tall window and +glanced at the heavens. Then he knew that impulse had made him look for +Lannes and the _Arrow_, and he laughed at his own folly. Even if Lannes +knew where they were he could not slip prisoners out of a house, +surrounded by watchful German troops. + +He heard the heavy key turning in the lock, and a silent soldier brought +him food, which he put upon the table. The man remained beside the door +until John had eaten his supper, when he took the dishes and withdrew. +He had not spoken a word while he was in the room, but as he was passing +out John said: + +"Good-bye, Pickelbaube! Let's have no ill feeling between you and me." + +The German--honest peasant that he was--grinned and nodded. He could not +understand the English words, but he gathered from John's tone that they +were friendly, and he responded at once. But when he closed the door +behind him John heard the heavy key turning in the lock again. He knew +there was little natural hostility between the people of different +nations. It was instilled into them from above. + +Food brought back new strength and new courage. He took his place again +at the window which was narrow and high, cut through a deep wall. The +illusion of the Middle Ages, which Auersperg had created so completely, +returned. This was the dungeon in a castle and he was a prisoner doomed +to death by its lord. Some dismounted Uhlans who were walking across the +grounds with their long lances over their shoulders gave another touch +to this return of the past, as the first rays of the moonlight glittered +on helmet and lance-head. + +He was not sleepy at all, and staying by the window he kept a strange +watch. He saw white flares appear often on a long line in the west. He +knew it was the flashing of the searchlights, and he surmised that what +he saw was meant for signals. The fighting would go on under steady +light continued long, and that it would continue admitted of no doubt. +He could hear the mutter of the guns, ceaseless like the flowing of a +river. + +He saw the battery drive out of the grounds, then turn into the road +before the château and disappear. He concluded that the cannon were +needed at some weak point where the Franco-British army was pressing +hard. + +Then a company of hussars came from the forest and rode quietly into the +grounds, where they dismounted. John saw that many, obviously the +wounded, were helped from their horses. In battle, he concluded, and not +so far off. Perhaps not more than two or three miles. Rifle-fire, with +the wind blowing the wrong way, would not be heard that distance. + +The hussars, leading their horses, disappeared in a wood behind the +house, and they were followed presently by a long train of automobiles, +moving rather slowly. The moonlight was very bright now and John saw +that they were filled with wounded who stirred but little and who made +no outcry. The line of motors turned into the place and they too +disappeared behind the château, following the hussars. + +Two aeroplanes alighted on the grass and their drivers entered the +house. Bearers of dispatches, John felt sure, and while he watched he +saw both return, spring into their machines and fly away. Their +departure caused him to search the heavens once more, and he knew that +he was looking for Lannes, who could not come. + +Now von Arnheim passed down the graveled walk that led to the great +central gate, but, half way, turned from it and began to talk to some +sentinels who stood on the grass. He was certainly a fine fellow, tall, +well built, and yet free from the German stoutness of figure. He wore a +close uniform of blue-gray which fitted him admirably, and the moonlight +fell in a flood on his handsome, ruddy face. + +"I hope you won't be killed," murmured John. "If there is any French +shell or shrapnel that is labeled specially for a prince and that must +have a prince, I pray it will take Auersperg in place of von Arnheim." + +It was a serious prayer and he felt that it was without a trace of +wickedness or sacrilege. Evidently von Arnheim was giving orders of +importance, as two of the men, to whom he was talking, hurried to +horses, mounted and galloped down the road. Then the young prince walked +slowly back to the house and John could see that he was very thoughtful. +He passed his hand in a troubled way two or three times across his +forehead. Perhaps the medieval prince inside was putting upon the modern +prince outside labors that he was far from liking. + +John's unformed plan of escape included Julie Lannes. He could not go +away without her. If he did he could never face Lannes again, and what +was more, he could never face himself. It was in reality this thought +that made his resolve to escape seem so difficult. It had been lurking +continuously in the back of his head. To go away without Julie was +impossible. Under ordinary circumstances her situation as a prisoner +would not be alarming. Germans regarded women with respect. They had +done so from the earliest times, as he had learned from the painful +study of Tacitus. Von Arnheim had received a deep impression from +Julie's beauty and grace. John could tell it by his looks, but those +looks were honest. They came from the eyes and heart of one who could do +no wrong. But the other! The man of the Middle Ages, the older prince. +He was different. War re-created ancient passions and gave to them +opportunities. No, he could not think of leaving without Julie! + +He kept his place at the tall, narrow window, and the night was steadily +growing brighter. A full, silver moon was swinging high in the heavens. +The stars were out in myriads in that sky of dusky, infinite blue, and +danced regardless of the tiny planet, Earth, shaken by battle. From the +hills came the relentless groaning which he knew was the sound of the +guns, fighting one another under the searchlights. + +Then he heard the clatter of hoofs, and another company of Uhlans rode +up to the château. Their leader dismounted and entered the great gate. +John recognized von Boehlen, who had taken off his helmet to let the +cool air blow upon his close-cropped head. He stood on the graveled walk +for a few minutes directly in a flood of silver rays, every feature +showing clearly. He had been arrogant and domineering, but John liked +him far better than Auersperg. His cruelty would be the cruelty of +battle, and there might be a streak of sentimentalism hidden under the +stiff and harsh German manner, like a vein of gold in rock. As von +Boehlen resumed his approach to the house he passed from John's range of +vision, and then the prisoner watched the horizon for anything that he +might see. Twice he beheld the far flare of searchlights, but nobody +else came to the château, and the night darkened somewhat. No rattle of +arms or stamp of hoofs came from the hussars in the grounds, and he +judged that all but the sentinels slept. Nor was there any sound of +movement in the house, and in the peaceful silence he at last began to +feel sleepy. The problems of his position were too great for him to +solve--at least for the present--and lying down on the cot he was fast +asleep before he knew it. + +Youth does not always sleep soundly, and the tension of John's nerves +continued long after he lapsed into unconsciousness. That, perhaps, was +the reason why he awoke at once when the heavy key began to turn again +in the lock. He sat up on the cot--he had not undressed--and his hand +instinctively slipped to his belt, where there was no weapon. + +The key was certainly turning in the lock, and then the door was +opening! A shadow appeared in the space between door and wall, and +John's first feeling was of apprehension. An atmosphere of suspicion had +been created about him and he considered his life in much more danger +there than it had been when he was first a prisoner. + +The door closed again quickly and softly, but somebody was inside the +room, somebody who had a light, feline step, and John felt the prickling +of the hair at the back of his neck. He longed for a weapon, something +better than only his two hands, but he was reassured when the intruder, +speaking French, called in a whisper: + +"Are you awake, Mr. Scott?" + +It was surely not the voice and words of one who had come to do murder, +and John felt a thrill of recognition. + +"Weber!" he exclaimed. + +"Yes, it's Weber, Mr. Scott." + +"How under the sun did you get here, Weber?" + +"By pretending to be a German. I'm an Alsatian, you know, and it's not +difficult. I'm doing work for France. It's terribly dangerous. My life +is on the turn of a hair every moment, but I'm willing to take the risk. +I did not know you were here until late tonight, when I came to the +château to see if I could discover anything further about the numbers +and movements of the enemy. You must get away now. I think I can help +you to escape." + +There was a tone in Weber's voice that aroused John's curiosity. + +"It's good of you, Weber," he said, "to take such a risk for me, but why +is it so urgent that I escape tonight?" + +"I've learned since I came to the château that the Prince of Auersperg +is much inflamed against you. Perhaps you spoke to him in a way that +gave offense to his dignity. Ah, sir, the members of these ancient royal +houses, those of the old type, consider themselves above and beyond the +other people of the earth. In Germany you cannot offend them without +risk, and it may be, too, that you stand in his way in regard to +something that he very much desires!" + +Although Weber spoke in a whisper his voice was full of energy and +earnestness. His words sank with the weight of truth into John's heart. + +"Can you really help me to escape?" he asked. + +"I think so. I'm sure of it. The guards in the house are relaxed at this +late hour, and they would seem needless anyhow with so many sentinels +outside." + +"But, Weber, Julie Lannes, the sister of Philip Lannes, is here a +prisoner also. She was taken when I was. She is a Red Cross nurse, and +although the Germans would not harm a woman, I do not like to leave her +in this château. Your Prince of Auersperg does not seem to belong to our +later age." + +"Perhaps not. He holds strongly for the old order, but the young von +Arnheim is here also. His is a devoted German heart, but his German eyes +have looked with admiration, nay more, upon a French face. He will +protect that beautiful young Mademoiselle Julie with his life against +anybody, against his senior in military rank, the Prince of Auersperg +himself. Sir, you must come! If you wish to help Philip Lannes' sister +you can be of more help to her living than dead. If you linger here you +surely disappear from men tomorrow!" + +"How do you know these things, Weber?" + +"I have been in the house three or four hours and there is talk among +the soldiers. I pray you, don't hesitate longer!" + +"How can you find a way?" + +"Wait a minute." + +He slipped back to the door, opened it and looked into the hall. + +"The path is clear," he said, when he returned. "There is no sentinel +near your door, and I've found a way leading out of the château at the +back. Most of these old houses have crooked, disused passages." + +"But suppose we succeed in reaching the outside, Weber, what then? The +place is surrounded by an army." + +"A way is there, too. One man in the darkness can pass through a +multitude. We can't delay, because another chance may not come!" + +John was overborne. Weber was half pulling him toward the door. +Moreover, there was much sense in what the Alsatian said. It was a +commonplace that he could be of more service to Julie alive than dead, +and the man's insistence deciding him, he crept with the Alsatian into +the hall. They stood a few minutes in the dark, listening, but no sound +came. Evidently the house slept well. + +"This way, Mr. Scott," whispered Weber, and he led toward the rear of +the house. Turning the corner of the hall he opened a small door in the +wall, which John would have passed even in the daylight without +noticing. + +"Put a hand on my coat and follow me," said Weber. + +John obeyed without hesitation, and they ascended a half dozen steps +along a passage so narrow that his shoulders touched the walls. It was +very dark there, but at the top they entered a room into which some +moonlight came, enough for John to see barrels, boxes and bags heaped on +the floor. + +"A storeroom," said Weber. "The French are thrifty. The owner of this +house had splendor below, and he has kept provision for it above, almost +concealed by the narrowness of the door and stair. But we'll find a +broader stair on the other side, and then we'll descend through the +kitchen and beyond." + +"This looks promising. You're a clever man, Weber, and my debt to you is +too big for me." + +"Don't think about it. Be careful and don't make any noise. Here's the +other stair. You'd better hold to my coat again." + +They stole softly down the stair, crossed an unused room, went down +another narrow, unused passage, and then, when Weber opened a door, John +felt the cool air of the night blowing upon his face. When the attempt +at escape began, he had not been so enthusiastic, because he was leaving +Julie behind, but with every step his eagerness grew and the free wind +brought with it a sort of intoxication. He did not doubt now that he +would make good his flight. Weber, that fast friend of his, was a +wonderful man. He worked miracles. Everything came out as he predicted +it would, and he would work more miracles. + +"Where are we now?" asked John. + +"This door is by the side of the kitchens. A little to the left is an +extensive conservatory, nearly all the glass of which has been shattered +by a shell, but that fact makes it all the more useful as a path for +us. If we reach it unobserved we can creep through the mass of flowers +and shrubbery to a large fishpond which lies just beyond it. You're a +good swimmer, as I know--and you can swim along its edge until you reach +the shrubbery on the other side. Then you ought to find an opening by +which you can reach the French army." + +"And you, Weber?" + +"I? Oh, I must stay here. The Prince of Auersperg is a man of great +importance. He is high in the confidence of the Kaiser. Besides his +royal rank he commands one of the German armies. If I am to secure +precious information for France it must be done in this house." + +"Come away with me, Weber. You've risked enough already. They'll catch +you and you know the fate of spies. I feel like a criminal or coward +abandoning you to so much danger, after all that you've done for me." + +"Thank you for your good words, Mr. Scott, but it's impossible for me to +go. Keep in the shadow of the wall, and a dozen steps will take you to +the conservatory." + +John wrung the Alsatian's hand, stepped out, and pressed himself against +the side of the house. The breeze still blew upon his face, revivifying +and intoxicating. The lazy, feathery clouds were yet drifting before the +moon and stars. + +He saw to his right the gleam of a bayonet as a sentinel walked back and +forth and he saw another to his left. His heart beat high with hope. He +was merely a mote in infinite night, and surely they could not see him. + +He walked swiftly along in the shadow of the house, and then sprang into +the conservatory, where he crouched between two tall rose bushes. He +waited there a little while, breathing hard, but he had not been +observed. From his rosy shelter he could still see the sentinels on +either side, walking up and down, undisturbed. Around him was a +frightful litter. The shell, the history of which he would never know, +had struck fairly in the center of the place, and it must have burst in +a thousand fragments. Scarcely a pane of glass had been left unbroken, +and the great pots, containing rare fruits and flowers, were mingled +mostly in shattered heaps. It was a pitiable wreck, and it stirred John, +although he had seen so many things so much worse. + +He walked a little distance in a stooping position, and then stood up +among some shrubs, tall enough to hide him. He noticed a slight dampness +in the air, and he saw, too, that the feathery clouds were growing +darker. The faint quiver in the air brought with it, as always, the +rumble of the guns, but he believed that it was not a blended sound. +There was real thunder on the horizon, where the French lay, and then he +saw a distant flash, not white like that of a searchlight, but like +yellow lightning. Rain, a storm perhaps, must be at hand. He had read +that nearly all the great battles in the civil war in his own country +had been followed at once by violent storms of thunder, lightning and +rain. Then why not here, where immense artillery combats never ceased? + +Near the end of the conservatory he paused and looked back at the house. +Every window was dark. There must be light inside, but shutters were +closed. His heart throbbed with intense gratitude to Weber. Without him +escape would have been impossible. He would make his way to the French. +He would find Lannes and together in some way they would rescue Julie, +Julie so young and so beautiful, held in the castle of the medieval +baron. In the lowering shadows the house became a castle and Auersperg +had always been of the Middle Ages. + +The wind freshened and a few drops of rain struck his face. He stood +boldly erect now, unafraid of observation, and picked a way through the +mass of broken glass and overturned shrubbery toward the end of the +conservatory, seeing beyond it a gleam of water which must be the big +fishpond. + +He turned to the left and reached the edge of the pond just as four +figures stepped from the dusk, their raised rifles pointing at him. The +shock was so great that, driven by some unknown but saving impulse, he +threw himself forward into the water just as the soldiers fired. He +heard the four rifles roaring together. Then he swam below water to the +far edge of the pond and came up under the shelter of its circling +shrubbery, raising above its surface only enough of his face for breath. + +As his eyes cleared he saw the four soldiers standing at the far edge of +the pond, looking at the water. Doubtless they were waiting for his +body to reappear, as his action, half fall, half spring, and the roaring +of the rifles had been so close together that they seemed a blended +movement. + +He was trembling all over from intense nervous exertion and excitement, +but his mind steadied enough for him to observe the soldiers. +Undoubtedly they were talking together, as he saw them making the +gestures of men who speak, but, even had he heard them, he could not +have understood their German. They were watching for his body, and as it +did not reappear they might make the circle of the pond looking for it. +He intended, in such an event, to leap out and run, but the elements +were intereceding in his favor. Thunder now preponderated greatly in +that rumble on the western horizon, and a blaze of yellow lightning +played across the surface of the pond. It was followed by a rush of rain +and the soldiers turned back toward the house, evidently sure that they +had not missed. + +John drew himself out of the water and climbed up the bank. His knees +gave way under him and he sank to the ground. Excitement and emotion had +been so violent that he was robbed of strength, but the condition lasted +only a minute or two. Then he rose and began to pick a way. + +The rain was driving hard, and it had grown so dark that one could not +see far. But he felt that the German sentinels now would seek a little +shelter from the wrath of the skies, and keeping in the shelter of a +hedge he passed by the stables, where many of the hussars and Uhlans +slept, through an orchard, the far side of which was packed with +automobiles, and thence into a wood, where he believed at last that he +was safe. + +He stopped here a little while in the lee of a great oak to protect +himself from the driving rain, and he noticed then that it was but a +passing shower, sent, it seemed then to him, as a providential aid. The +part of the rumble that was real thunder was dying. The yellow flare of +the lightning stopped and the rain swept off to the east. The moon and +stars were coming out again. + +John tried to see the château, but it was hidden from him by trees. They +would miss him there, and then they would know that it was he whom the +soldiers had fired upon at the edge of the pond. All of them would +believe that he was dead, and he remembered suddenly that Julie, who was +there among them, would believe it, too. Would she grieve? Or would he +merely be one of the human beings passing through her life, fleeting and +forgotten, like the shower that had just gone? It was true that he had +escaped, but he might be killed in some battle before she was rescued +from Auersperg--if she was rescued. + +These thoughts were hateful, and turning into the road by which they had +come to the château he ran down it. He ran because he wanted motion, +because he wished to reach the French army as quickly as he could, and +help Lannes organize for the rescue of Julie. + +He ran a long distance, because his excitement waned slowly, and because +the severe exercise made the blood course rapidly through his veins, +counteracting the effects of his cold and wetting. When he began to feel +weary he turned out of the road, knowing that it was safer in the +fields. He had the curious belief or impression now that the black +shower was all arranged for his benefit. Providence was merely making +things even. The soldiers had been brought upon him when the chances +were a hundred to one against him, and then the shower had been sent to +cover him, when the chances were a hundred to one against that, too. + +He saw far to the south a sudden faint radiance and he knew that it was +the last of the lightning. The little feathery clouds, which looked so +friendly and pleasant against the blue of the sky, came back and the +moaning on the western horizon toward which he was traveling was wholly +that of the guns. + +He heard a noise over his head, a mixture of a whistle and a scream, and +he knew that a shell was passing high. He walked on, and heard another. +But they could not be firing at him. He was still that mere mote in the +infinite darkness, but, looking back for the bursting of the shells, he +saw a blaze leap up near the point from which he had come. + +A cold shiver seized him. The range was that of the château, and Julie +was there. The French gunners could have no knowledge that their own +people were prisoners in the building, and if one of those huge shells +burst in it, ruin and destruction would follow. The conservatory had +been a silent witness of what flying metal could do. He stopped, +appalled. He had been wrong to leave without Julie, and yet he could +have done nothing else. It was impossible to foresee a shelling of the +château by the French themselves. + +The screaming and whistling came again, but he did not see any +explosion near the château. One could not tell much from such a swift +and passing sound, but he concluded that it was a German shell replying. +He had seen a German battery near the house and it would not remain +quiet under bombardment. + +He had no doubt that the French gunners, having got the range, would +keep it. Somebody, perhaps an aeroplane or an officer with flags in a +tree, was signaling. It was horrible, this murderous mechanism by which +men fired at targets miles away, targets which they could not see, but +which they hit nevertheless. Every pulse beating hard, John shook his +fist at the invisible German guns and the invisible French guns alike. + +Then he recovered himself with an angry shake and began to run again. He +knew now that he must go forward and secure a French force for rescue. +But no matter how much he urged himself on, a great power was pulling at +him, and it was Julie Lannes, a prisoner of the Germans in the château. +Often he stopped and looked back, always in the same direction. Twice +more he saw shells burst in the neighborhood of the house, and then his +heart would beat hard, but after brief hesitation he would always pursue +his course once more toward the French army. + +He did not know the time, but he believed it to be well past midnight. +He had his watch, but his immersion in the fish pond had caused it to +stop. Still, the feel of the air made him believe that he was in the +morning hours. Shells continued to pass over his head, and now they +came from many points. He had seen or heard so much firing in the last +eight or ten days that the world, he felt, must be turned into a huge +ammunition factory to feed all the guns. He laughed to himself at his +own grim joke. He was overstrained and he began to see everything +through a red mist. + +His clothing was drying fast, but his throat was very hot from +excitement and exertion. He came to a little brook, and kneeling down, +drank greedily. Then he bathed his face and felt stronger and better. +His nerves also grew steadier. There was not so much luminous mist in +the atmosphere. Ahead of him the crash of the guns was much louder, and +he knew that he had already come a long distance. It seemed that the +passing of the storm had renewed the activity of the gunners. The mutter +had become rolling thunder, and both to north and south the searchlights +flared repeatedly. + +He heard the beat of hoofs, and he hoped that they were French cavalry +on patrol, but they proved to be German Hussars, Bavarians he judged by +the light blue uniforms, and they were coming from the direction of the +French lines. They had been scouting there, he had no doubt, but they +passed in a few moments, and, leaving his hedge, he resumed his own +rapid flight, continually hoping that he would meet some French force, +scouting also. + +But he was doomed to a long trial of patience. Twice he saw Germans and +hid until they had gone by. They seemed to be scouting in the night +almost to the mouths of the French guns, and he admired their energy +although it stood in the way of his own plans. He came to a second +brook, drank again, and then took a short cut through a small wood. He +had marked the reports of guns from a hill about two miles in front of +him, and he was sure that a French battery must be posted there. He +reckoned that he could reach it in a half hour, if he exerted himself. + +Half way through the wood and human figures rose up all about him. +Strong hands seized his arms and an electric torch flashed in his face. + +"Who are you?" came the fierce question in French. + +But it was not necessary for John to answer. The man who held the torch +was short, but very muscular and strong, his face cut in the antique +mold, his eyes penetrating and eager. It was Bougainville and John gave +a gasp of joy. Then he straightened up and saluted: + +"Colonel Bougainville," he said, "I see that you know me! I have just +escaped from the enemy for the second time. There is a house in that +direction, and it is occupied by the Prince of Auersperg, one of the +German generals." + +He pointed where the château lay, and Bougainville uttered a shout: + +"Ah!" + +"He holds there a prisoner, Mademoiselle Julie Lannes, the sister of the +great Philip Lannes, the aviator; and other Frenchwomen." + +"Ah!" said Bougainville again. + +"You will help rescue them, will you not?" + +Bougainville smiled slightly. + +"An army can't turn aside for the rescue of women," he replied, "but it +happens that this brigade, under General Vaugirard is marching forward +now to find, if possible, an opening between the German armies, and +you're the very man to lead it." + +John's heart bounded with joy. He would be again with the general whom +he admired and trusted, and he would certainly guide the brigade +straight to the château. + +"Is General Vaugirard near?" he asked. + +"Just over the brow of this hill, down there where the dim light is +visible among the trees." + +"Then take me to him at once." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE RESCUE + + +Escorted by Bougainville, John went down a little slope to a point where +several officers stood talking earnestly. The central figure was that of +a huge man who puffed out his cheeks as he spoke, and whose words and +movements were alive with energy. Even had he seen but a dim outline, +John would have recognized him with no difficulty as General Vaugirard, +and beside him stood de Rougemont. + +Bougainville saluted and said; + +"The American, John Scott, sir. He has just escaped from the enemy and +he brings important information." + +Vaugirard puffed out his great cheeks and whistled with satisfaction. + +"Ah, my young Yankee!" he said. "They cannot hold you!" + +"No, my general," replied John, "I've come back again to fight for +France." + +General Vaugirard looked at him keenly. + +"You're exhausted," he said. "You've been under tremendous pressure." + +"But I can guide you. I want neither sleep nor rest." + +"You need both, as I can see with these two old eyes of mine. Sleep you +can't have now, but rest is yours. You go with me in my automobile, +which this war has trained to climb mountains, jump rivers, and crash +through forests. The motor has become a wonderful weapon of battle." + +"May I ask one question, General?" said John. + +"A dozen." + +"Do you know where the aviator, Philip Lannes, is? His sister is held a +prisoner by a German general in a château toward which we will march, +and doubtless he would wish to go at once to her rescue." + +"He is not here, but his friend, Caumartin, is only a half-mile away. +I'll send a man at once with a message to him to find Lannes, who will +surely follow us, if he can be found. And now, my brave young Yankee, +here is my machine. Into it, and we'll lead the way." + +John sprang into the automobile, and sank down upon the cushions. He had +a vast sense of ease and luxury. He had not known until then, the extent +of his mental and physical overstrain, but de Rougemont, who was also in +the machine, observed it and gave him a drink from a flask, which +revived him greatly. + +Then the automobile turned into the road and moved forward at a slow +gait, puffing gently like a monster trying to hold in his breath. From +the wood and the fields came the tread of many thousand men, marching +to the night attack. Behind their own automobile rose the hum of +motors, bearing troops also, and dragging cannon. + +John felt that he was going back in state, riding by the side of a +general and at the head of an army. He found both pride and exultation +in it. Sleep was far from his eyes. How could one think of sleep at such +a moment? But youth, the restorer, was bringing fresh strength to his +tired muscles and he was never more alert. + +At one point they stopped while the general examined the dusky horizon +through his glasses, and a company of men with faces not French marched +past them. They were John's own Strangers, and despite the presence of +General Vaugirard both Wharton and Carstairs reached up and shook his +hand as they went by. + +"Welcome home," said Wharton. + +"See you again in the morning," said Carstairs. + +"God bless you both," said John with some emotion. + +Captain Daniel Colton nodded to him. They were not effusive, these men +of the Strangers, but their feelings were strong. When the automobile in +its turn passed them again and resumed its place at the head of the +column, they seemed to take no notice. + +No more shells passed over John's head. He knew that General Vaugirard +had sent back word for the batteries to cease firing in that direction, +but both to south and north of them the sullen thunder went on. The +night remained light, adorned rather than obscured by the little white +clouds floating against the sky. The only sound that John could hear was +the great hum and murmur of a moving army, a sound in which the puffing +of automobiles had introduced a new element. He wondered why they had +not roused up German skirmishers, but perhaps those vigilant gentlemen, +had grown weary at last. + +They reached the first brook, and, as they were crossing it, the rifle +fire expected so long began to crackle in front. Then the French +trumpets shrilled, and the whole force marched rapidly, rifles and field +guns opening in full volume. But the French had the advantage of +surprise. Their infantry advanced at the double quick, a powerful force +of cavalry on their right flank galloped to the charge, and +Bougainville's Paris regiment and the Strangers swept over the field. + +A heavy fire met them, but the general's automobile kept in front +puffing along the main road. General Vaugirard puffed with it, but now +and then he ceased his puffing to whistle. John knew that he was pleased +and that all was going well. The battle increased in volume, and their +whole front blazed with fire. The dark was thinning away in the east and +dawn was coming. + +"The château! The château!" cried John as a dark shape rose on the +horizon. Even as he looked a shell burst over it and it leaped into +flames. He cried aloud in fear, not for himself, but for those who were +there. But General Vaugirard was calmly examining the field and the +house through powerful glasses. + +"They're pouring from the building," he said, "and it's full time. Look +how the fire gains! What a pity that we should destroy the home of some +good Frenchman in order to drive out the enemy." + +"Faster, sir! Faster! Ah, I pray you go faster!" exclaimed John, whose +heart was eaten up with anxiety as he saw the château roaring with +flames. But he did not need the general's glasses now to see the people +stream from it, and then rush for refuge from the fire of the French. +The surprise had been so thorough that at this point the enemy was able +to offer little resistance, and, in a few moments more, the automobile +reached the grounds surrounding the burning château. + +John, reckless of commands and of everything else, leaped out of the +machine and ran forward. A gigantic man bearing a slender figure in his +arms emerged from the shrubbery. Behind him came a stalwart young woman, +grim of face. John shouted with joy. It was Picard, carrying Julie, and +the woman who followed was the faithful Suzanne. + +Picard put Julie down. She stood erect, pale as death. But the color +flooded into her face when she saw John, and uttering a cry of joy she +ran forward to meet him. She put her hands in his and said: + +"I knew that you would save me!" + +Time and place were extraordinary, and war, the great leveler, was once +more at work. + +"The château was set on fire by shells, Monsieur Scott," Picard said, +"and when the enemy saw the French force appearing across the fields +they took to flight. That dog of a prince, the Auersperg, tried to carry +off Mademoiselle Julie in his automobile, but the young prince +interfered and while they were quarreling I seized her and took her +away. All the other women have escaped too." + +"Thank God, Picard," exclaimed John, wringing the huge hand of the +peasant, who was at once a peasant and a prince too. + +"And look," said Carstairs, who with Wharton had approached unnoticed. +"An aeroplane comes like the flight of an eagle, and my guess is poor if +it is not our friend, the great Lannes." + +Caumartin in truth had found Philip, and he came like the lightning, +circling and swooping until he touched the ground almost at Julie's +feet. Brother and sister were united in a close embrace, and Lannes +turned to John. + +"I have heard from Caumartin that it was you who brought the word. We +can never repay you." + +"We'll wait and see," said John. + +Her brother did not see Julie flush rosily, as she turned her face away. + +"And now," said Lannes, "we go to Paris. My duties allow me enough time +for the flight. No, John, my friend, don't object. She's been up in the +_Arrow_ with me before. Picard, you and Suzanne can come later." + +The thunder of the battle rolling toward the east still reached them, +but Lannes quickly threw a coat around Julie, gave her a cap and huge +glasses to put on, and exclaimed: + +"Now we go." + +"But I must first thank Mr. Scott himself for saving me," she said. + +She put her hand, small and warm, in his, American fashion, and the two +palms met in a strong clasp. + +"Good-bye, Mr. Scott," she said. + +"Good-bye, but not forever. I'm coming back to Paris." + +"And it's my hope, too, that it's not forever." + +She and her brother took their seats in the _Arrow_. Carstairs, Wharton +and the others gave it a push, and it soared up into the fresh blue of +the dawn. An ungloved hand, white and small, reached over the side and +waved farewell, a farewell which John felt was for him. + +To the east the battle still rolled, but John had forgotten its +existence. Higher and higher rose the _Arrow_, flying toward Paris, +until it diminished to a mere dot in the sky, and then was gone. + + +THE END + + + + +BY JOSEPH A. ALTSHELER + + +_The Civil War Series_ + +In this series of stories Mr. Altsheler covers the principal battles of +the Civil War. In four of the volumes Dick Mason, who fights for the +North, is the leading character, and in the others, his cousin, Harry +Kenton, who joins the Confederate forces, takes the principal part. + +The Guns of Bull Run + +Harry Kenton follows the lead of his father and joins the Southern +forces. His cousin, Dick Mason, the hero, fights with the North. + +The Guns of Shiloh + +Dick takes part in the battle of Mill Spring, is captured but escapes. +The story gives a vivid account of the first defeat of the South. + +The Scouts of Stonewall + +Harry and some friends become aides of Stonewall Jackson. They follow +him through the campaign in the Valley of Virginia. + +The Sword of Antietam + +After engaging in the Battle of Shiloh, Dick gets into three big fights. +Antietam is the big battle described, with McClellan always in the +foreground. + +The Star of Gettysburg + +In this book Harry and his friends take part in the battles of +Fredericksburg, The Wilderness and finally Gettysburg. General Lee is a +central figure. + +The Rock of Chickamauga + +This volume deals with the crisis of the Union during the siege of +Vicksburg and the Battle of Chickamauga. Dick takes an active part. + +The Shades of the Wilderness + +The story opens with Lee's retreat after Gettysburg. Harry is sent to +Richmond and becomes involved in a dangerous situation with a spy. + +The Tree of Appomattox + +This description of the Battle of Appomattox has been written from the +account of an eyewitness. Dick plays an important part. The volume +closes with the blue and the gray turning toward a new day. + + +These Are Appleton Books +D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, New York + + + + +BY JOSEPH A. ALTSHELER + + +_The Texan Series_ + +Three stories telling of the Texan struggle for independence and the +events culminating in the capture of the erratic Santa Anna. + +The Texan Star + +Ned Fulton, the hero, is a prisoner in the city of Mexico. He makes an +exciting escape and sees the capture of San Antonio. + +The Texan Scouts + +Ned Fulton and his friends are right in the midst of exciting events +that keep the reader continually on edge. The battle of the Alamo is the +climax of the story. + +The Texan Triumph + +The duel of skill and courage between Ned and Urrea, his young Mexican +enemy, furnishes pages of excitement. The battle of San Jacinto, which +secured Texan Independence, and the capture of Santa Anna by five Texans +is vividly described. + + +_The World War Series_ + +Mr. Altsheler, who was in Vienna the day war was declared on Servia, in +Munich when war was declared against Russia, and in England when the +British forces were mobilising, has given in three volumes the +impressions he gained at the places of action during the world crisis. + +The Guns of Europe + +A young American, unable to reach home, enlists with the Allies where he +sees active service from the beginning. The story closes with the fierce +fighting which preceded the retreat of the Germans from Paris. + +The Forest of Swords + +The hero finds himself in Paris with Phillip Lannes, his friend, and the +Germans only fifteen miles away. Finally the enemy is turned back at the +Marne, a battle in which John and Phillip are actively engaged. + +The Hosts of the Air + +The pretty young sister of Phillip is seized by the enemy and carried +into Austria. John resolves to get her back and his adventures make a +wonderfully exciting story. + + +These Are Appleton Books +D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, New York + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Forest of Swords, by Joseph A. Altsheler + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FOREST OF SWORDS *** + +***** This file should be named 15760-8.txt or 15760-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/5/7/6/15760/ + +Produced by Kentuckiana Digital Library, David Garcia, Jon King and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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Altsheler + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Forest of Swords + A Story of Paris and the Marne + +Author: Joseph A. Altsheler + +Release Date: May 3, 2005 [EBook #15760] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FOREST OF SWORDS *** + + + + +Produced by Kentuckiana Digital Library, David Garcia, Jon King and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net. + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + +<h1>THE FOREST OF SWORDS</h1> + +<p><br /><br /></p> + +<div class='ctr'> +<table border='0' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' summary=''> + <tr> + <td colspan='3' align='center' class='topleftright'><h3>BOOKS BY JOSEPH A. ALTSHELER</h3></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td colspan='3' align='center' class='leftright'><h4>THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR SERIES</h4></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class='left'><span style='margin-right: 2em; margin-left: 1em;'>The Hunters of the Hills</span></td> + <td> </td> + <td class='right'><span style='margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 1em;'>The Shadow of the North</span></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class='left'><span style='margin-right: 2em; margin-left: 1em;'>The Rulers of the Lakes</span></td> + <td> </td> + <td class='right'><span style='margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 1em;'>The Masters of the Peaks</span></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class='left'><span style='margin-right: 2em; margin-left: 1em;'>The Lords of the Wild</span></td> + <td> </td> + <td class='right'><span style='margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 1em;'>The Sun of Quebec</span></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td colspan='3' class='leftright'> </td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td colspan='3' align='center' class='leftright'><h4>THE YOUNG TRAILERS SERIES</h4></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class='left'><span style='margin-right: 2em; margin-left: 1em;'>The Young Trailers</span></td> + <td> </td> + <td class='right'><span style='margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 1em;'>The Free Rangers</span></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class='left'><span style='margin-right: 2em; margin-left: 1em;'>The Forest Runners</span></td> + <td> </td> + <td class='right'><span style='margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 1em;'>The Riflemen of the Ohio</span></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class='left'><span style='margin-right: 2em; margin-left: 1em;'>The Keepers of the Trail</span></td> + <td> </td> + <td class='right'><span style='margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 1em;'>The Scouts of the Valley</span></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class='left'><span style='margin-right: 2em; margin-left: 1em;'>The Eyes of the Woods</span></td> + <td> </td> + <td class='right'><span style='margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 1em;'>The Border Watch</span></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td colspan='3' class='leftright'> </td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td colspan='3' align='center' class='leftright'><h4>THE TEXAN SERIES</h4></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td colspan='3' align='center' class='leftright'>The Texan Star</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class='left'><span style='margin-right: 2em; margin-left: 1em;'>The Texan Scouts</span></td> + <td> </td> + <td class='right'><span style='margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 1em;'>The Texan Triumph</span></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td colspan='3' class='leftright'> </td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td colspan='3' align='center' class='leftright'><h4>THE CIVIL WAR SERIES</h4></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class='left'><span style='margin-right: 2em; margin-left: 1em;'>The Guns of Bull Run</span></td> + <td> </td> + <td class='right'><span style='margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 1em;'>The Star of Gettysburg</span></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class='left'><span style='margin-right: 2em; margin-left: 1em;'>The Guns of Shiloh</span></td> + <td> </td> + <td class='right'><span style='margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 1em;'>The Rock of Chickamauga</span></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class='left'><span style='margin-right: 2em; margin-left: 1em;'>The Scouts of Stonewall</span></td> + <td> </td> + <td class='right'><span style='margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 1em;'>The Shades of the Wilderness</span></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class='left'><span style='margin-right: 2em; margin-left: 1em;'>The Sword of Antietam</span></td> + <td> </td> + <td class='right'><span style='margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 1em;'>The Tree of Appomattox</span></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td colspan='3' class='leftright'> </td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td colspan='3' align='center' class='leftright'><h4>THE GREAT WEST SERIES</h4></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class='left'><span style='margin-right: 2em; margin-left: 1em;'>The Lost Hunters</span></td> + <td> </td> + <td class='right'><span style='margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 1em;'>The Great Sioux Trail</span></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td colspan='3' class='leftright'> </td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td colspan='3' align='center' class='leftright'><h4>THE WORLD WAR SERIES</h4></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td colspan='3' align='center' class='leftright'>The Guns of Europe</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class='left'><span style='margin-right: 2em; margin-left: 1em;'>The Forest of Swords</span></td> + <td> </td> + <td class='right'><span style='margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 1em;'>The Hosts of the Air</span></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td colspan='3' class='leftright'> </td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td colspan='3' align='center' class='leftright'><h4>BOOKS NOT IN SERIES</h4></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class='left'><span style='margin-right: 2em; margin-left: 1em;'>Apache Gold</span></td> + <td> </td> + <td class='right'><span style='margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 1em;'>A Soldier of Manhattan</span></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class='left'><span style='margin-right: 2em; margin-left: 1em;'>The Quest of the Four</span></td> + <td> </td> + <td class='right'><span style='margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 1em;'>The Sun of Saratoga</span></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class='left'><span style='margin-right: 2em; margin-left: 1em;'>The Last of the Chiefs</span></td> + <td> </td> + <td class='right'><span style='margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 1em;'>A Herald of the West</span></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class='left'><span style='margin-right: 2em; margin-left: 1em;'>In Circling Camps</span></td> + <td> </td> + <td class='right'><span style='margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 1em;'>The Wilderness Road</span></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class='left'><span style='margin-right: 2em; margin-left: 1em;'>The Last Rebel</span></td> + <td> </td> + <td class='right'><span style='margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 1em;'>My Captive</span></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td colspan='3' align='center' class='leftright'>The Candidate</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td colspan='3' class='leftright'><hr style="width: 100%; margin-top: 0em; margin-bottom: 0em;" /></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td colspan='3' align='center' class='leftright'><h4>D. APPLETON AND COMPANY</h4></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class='leftbottom'><span style='margin-right: 2em; margin-left: 1em;'>New York</span></td> + <td class='bottom'> </td> + <td align='right' class='rightbottom'><span style='margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 1em;'>London</span></td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<hr /> +<p class="figcenter"><a href="./images/front.jpg"><img src="./images/front_sm.jpg" alt="Frontispiece" title="Frontispiece" /></a></p> +<p class="figcenter">"He heard a shock near him and, ... saw a huddled mass of wreckage."</p> +<hr /> + +<h3>WORLD WAR SERIES</h3> +<p><br /></p> +<h1>THE FOREST<br /> +OF SWORDS</h1> + +<h2>A STORY OF PARIS<br /> +AND THE MARNE</h2> +<p><br /></p> +<h3>BY</h3> +<p><br /></p> +<h2>JOSEPH A. ALTSHELER</h2> +<h4>AUTHOR OF "THE GUNS OF EUROPE,"<br /> +"THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG," ETC.</h4> + +<p><br /><br /></p> +<h3>D. APPLETON AND COMPANY<br /> +NEW YORK AND LONDON<br /> +1928</h3> + +<h4>COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY<br /> +D. APPLETON AND COMPANY</h4> + +<h4>Printed in the United States of America</h4> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>FOREWORD</h2> + +<p>"The Forest of Swords," while an independent story, based upon the World +War, continues the fortunes of John Scott, Philip Lannes, and their +friends who have appeared already in "The Guns of Europe." As was stated +in the first volume, the author was in Austria and Germany for a month +after the war began, and then went to England. He saw the arrival of the +Emperor, Francis Joseph, in Vienna, the first striking event in the +gigantic struggle, and witnessed the mobilization of their armies by +three great nations.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> +<div class="ctr"> +<table border='0' cellpadding='2' cellspacing='2' summary=''> + <tr><td align='left'><a href='#CHAPTER_I'><b><span class="smcap">Chapter I.</span></b></a></td><td align='left'><a href='#CHAPTER_I'><b><span class="smcap">In Paris</span></b></a></td></tr> + <tr><td align='left'><a href='#CHAPTER_II'><b><span class="smcap">Chapter II.</span></b></a></td><td align='left'><a href='#CHAPTER_II'><b><span class="smcap">The Message</span></b></a></td></tr> + <tr><td align='left'><a href='#CHAPTER_III'><b><span class="smcap">Chapter III.</span></b></a></td><td align='left'><a href='#CHAPTER_III'><b><span class="smcap">In the French Camp</span></b></a></td></tr> + <tr><td align='left'><a href='#CHAPTER_IV'><b><span class="smcap">Chapter IV.</span></b></a></td><td align='left'><a href='#CHAPTER_IV'><b><span class="smcap">The Invisible Hand</span></b></a></td></tr> + <tr><td align='left'><a href='#CHAPTER_V'><b><span class="smcap">Chapter V.</span></b></a></td><td align='left'><a href='#CHAPTER_V'><b><span class="smcap">Seen from Above</span></b></a></td></tr> + <tr><td align='left'><a href='#CHAPTER_VI'><b><span class="smcap">Chapter VI.</span></b></a></td><td align='left'><a href='#CHAPTER_VI'><b><span class="smcap">In Hostile Hands</span></b></a></td></tr> + <tr><td align='left'><a href='#CHAPTER_VII'><b><span class="smcap">Chapter VII.</span></b></a></td><td align='left'><a href='#CHAPTER_VII'><b><span class="smcap">The Two Princes</span></b></a></td></tr> + <tr><td align='left'><a href='#CHAPTER_VIII'><b><span class="smcap">Chapter VIII.</span></b></a></td><td align='left'><a href='#CHAPTER_VIII'><b><span class="smcap">The Sport of Kings</span></b></a></td></tr> + <tr><td align='left'><a href='#CHAPTER_IX'><b><span class="smcap">Chapter IX.</span></b></a></td><td align='left'><a href='#CHAPTER_IX'><b><span class="smcap">The Puzzling Signal</span></b></a></td></tr> + <tr><td align='left'><a href='#CHAPTER_X'><b><span class="smcap">Chapter X.</span></b></a></td><td align='left'><a href='#CHAPTER_X'><b><span class="smcap">Old Friends</span></b></a></td></tr> + <tr><td align='left'><a href='#CHAPTER_XI'><b><span class="smcap">Chapter XI.</span></b></a></td><td align='left'><a href='#CHAPTER_XI'><b><span class="smcap">The Continuing Battle</span></b></a></td></tr> + <tr><td align='left'><a href='#CHAPTER_XII'><b><span class="smcap">Chapter XII.</span></b></a></td><td align='left'><a href='#CHAPTER_XII'><b><span class="smcap">Julie Lannes</span></b></a></td></tr> + <tr><td align='left'><a href='#CHAPTER_XIII'><b><span class="smcap">Chapter XIII.</span></b></a></td><td align='left'><a href='#CHAPTER_XIII'><b><span class="smcap">The Middle Ages</span></b></a></td></tr> + <tr><td align='left'><a href='#CHAPTER_XIV'><b><span class="smcap">Chapter XIV.</span></b></a></td><td align='left'><a href='#CHAPTER_XIV'><b><span class="smcap">A Promise Kept</span></b></a></td></tr> + <tr><td align='left'><a href='#CHAPTER_XV'><b><span class="smcap">Chapter XV.</span></b></a></td><td align='left'><a href='#CHAPTER_XV'><b><span class="smcap">The Rescue</span></b></a></td></tr> +</table> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + +<h1>THE<br /> +FOREST OF SWORDS</h1> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I" />CHAPTER I</h2> + +<h3>IN PARIS</h3> + + +<p>John Scott and Philip Lannes walked together down a great boulevard of +Paris. The young American's heart was filled with grief and anger. The +Frenchman felt the same grief, but mingled with it was a fierce, burning +passion, so deep and bitter that it took a much stronger word than anger +to describe it.</p> + +<p>Both had heard that morning the mutter of cannon on the horizon, and +they knew the German conquerors were advancing. They were always +advancing. Nothing had stopped them. The metal and masonry of the +defenses at Liège had crumbled before their huge guns like china +breaking under stone. The giant shells had scooped out the forts at +Maubeuge, Maubeuge the untakable, as if they had been mere eggshells, +and the mighty Teutonic host came on, almost without a check.</p> + +<p>John had read of the German march on Paris, nearly a half-century +before, how everything had been made complete by the genius of Bismarck +and von Moltke, how the ready had sprung upon and crushed the unready, +but the present swoop of the imperial eagle seemed far more vast and +terrible than the earlier rush could have been.</p> + +<p>A month and the legions were already before the City of Light. Men with +glasses could see from the top of the Eiffel Tower the gray ranks that +were to hem in devoted Paris once more, and the government had fled +already to Bordeaux. It seemed that everything was lost before the war +was fairly begun. The coming of the English army, far too small in +numbers, had availed nothing. It had been swept up with the others, +escaping from capture or destruction only by a hair, and was now driven +back with the French on the capital.</p> + +<p>John had witnessed two battles, and in neither had the Germans stopped +long. Disregarding their own losses they drove forward, immense, +overwhelming, triumphant. He felt yet their very physical weight, +pressing upon him, crushing him, giving him no time to breathe. The +German war machine was magnificent, invincible, and for the fourth time +in a century the Germans, the exulting Kaiser at their head, might enter +Paris.</p> + +<p>The Emperor himself might be nothing, mere sound and glitter, but back +of him was the greatest army that ever trod the planet, taught for half +a century to believe in the divine right of kings, and assured now that +might and right were the same.</p> + +<p>Every instinct in him revolted at the thought that Paris should be +trodden under foot once more by the conqueror. The great capital had +truly deserved its claim to be the city of light and leading, and if +Paris and France were lost the whole world would lose. He could never +forget the unpaid debt that his own America owed to France, and he felt +how closely interwoven the two republics were in their beliefs and +aspirations.</p> + +<p>"Why are you so silent?" asked Lannes, half angrily, although John knew +that the anger was not for him.</p> + +<p>"I've said as much as you have," he replied with an attempt at humor.</p> + +<p>"You notice the sunlight falling on it?" said Lannes, pointing to the +Arc de Triomphe, rising before them.</p> + +<p>"Yes, and I believe I know what you are thinking."</p> + +<p>"You are right. I wish he was here now."</p> + +<p>John gazed at the great arch which the sun was gilding with glory and he +shared with Lannes his wish that the mighty man who had built it to +commemorate his triumphs was back with France—for a while at least. He +was never able to make up his mind whether Napoleon was good or evil. +Perhaps he was a mixture of both, highly magnified, but now of all +times, with the German millions at the gates, he was needed most.</p> + +<p>"I think France could afford to take him back," he said, "and risk any +demands he might make or enforce."</p> + +<p>"John," said Lannes, "you've fought with us and suffered with us, and so +you're one of us. You understand what I felt this morning when on the +edge of Paris I heard the German guns. They say that we can fight on, +after our foes have taken the capital, and that the English will come in +greater force to help us. But if victorious Germans march once through +the Arc de Triomphe I shall feel that we can never again win back all +that we have lost."</p> + +<p>A note, low but deep and menacing, came from the far horizon. It might +be a German gun or it might be a French gun, but the effect was the +same. The threat was there. A shudder shook the frame of Lannes, but +John saw a sudden flame of sunlight shoot like a glittering lance from +the Arc de Triomphe.</p> + +<p>"A sign! a sign!" he exclaimed, his imaginative mind on fire in an +instant. "I saw a flash from the arch! It was the soul of the Great +Captain speaking! I tell you, Philip, the Republic is not yet lost! I've +read somewhere, and so have you, that the Romans sold at auction at a +high price the land on which Hannibal's victorious army was camped, when +it lay before Rome!"</p> + +<p>"It's so! And France has her glorious traditions, too! We won't give up +until we're beaten—and not then!"</p> + +<p>The gray eyes of Lannes flamed, and his figure seemed to swell. All the +wonderful French vitality was personified in him. He put his hand +affectionately upon the shoulder of his comrade.</p> + +<p>"It's odd, John," he said, "but you, a foreigner, have lighted the spark +anew in me."</p> + +<p>"Maybe it's because I <i>am</i> a foreigner, though, in reality, I'm now no +foreigner at all, as you've just said. I've become one of you."</p> + +<p>"It's true, John, and I won't forget it. I'm never going to give up hope +again. Maybe somebody will arrive to save us at the last. Whatever the +great one, whose greatest monument stands there, may have been, he loved +France, and his spirit may descend upon Frenchmen."</p> + +<p>"I believe it. He had the strength and courage created by a republic, +and you have them again, the product of another republic. Look at the +flying men, Lannes!"</p> + +<p>Lannes glanced up where the aeroplanes hovered thick over Paris, and +toward the horizon where the invisible German host with its huge guns +was advancing. The look of despair came into his eyes again, but it +rested there only a moment. He remembered his new courage and banished +it.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps I ought to be in the sky myself with the others," he said, "but +I'd only see what I don't like to see. The <i>Arrow</i> and I can't be of any +help now."</p> + +<p>"You brought me here in the <i>Arrow,</i> Lannes," said John, seeking to +assume a light tone. "Now what do you intend to do with me? As everybody +is leaving Paris you ought to get me out of it."</p> + +<p>"I hardly know what to do. There are no orders. I've lost touch with the +commander of our flying corps, but you're right in concluding that we +shouldn't remain in Paris. Now where are we to go?"</p> + +<p>"We'll make no mistake if we seek the battle front. You know I'm bound +to rejoin my company, the Strangers, if I can. I must report as soon as +possible to Captain Colton."</p> + +<p>"That's true, John, but I can't leave Paris until tomorrow. I may have +orders to carry, I must obtain supplies for the <i>Arrow,</i> and I wish to +visit once more my people on the other side of the Seine."</p> + +<p>"Suppose you go now, and I'll meet you this afternoon in the Place de +l'Opéra."</p> + +<p>"Good. Say three o'clock. The first to arrive will await the other +before the steps of the Opera House?"</p> + +<p>John nodded assent and Lannes hurried away. Young Scott followed his +figure with his eyes until it disappeared in the crowd. A back may be an +index to a man's strength of mind, and he saw that Lannes, head erect +and shoulders thrown back, was walking with a rapid and springy step. +Courage was obviously there.</p> + +<p>But John, despite his own strong heart, could not keep from feeling an +infinite sadness and pity, not for Lannes, but for all the three million +people who inhabited the City of Light, most of whom were fleeing now +before the advance of the victorious invader. He could put himself in +their place. France held his deepest sympathy. He felt that a great +nation, sedulously minding its own business, trampled upon and robbed +once before, was now about to be trampled upon and robbed again. He +could not subscribe to the doctrine, that might was right.</p> + +<p>He watched the fugitives a long time. They were crowding the railway +stations, and they were departing by motor, by cart and on foot. Many of +the poorer people, both men and women, carried packs on their backs. The +boulevards and the streets were filled with the retreating masses.</p> + +<p>It was an amazing and stupefying sight, the abandonment by its +inhabitants of a great city, a city in many ways the first in the world, +and it gave John a mighty shock. He had been there with his uncle and +Mr. Anson in the spring, and he had seen nothing but peace and +brightness. The sun had glittered then, as it glittered now over the Arc +de Triomphe, the gleaming dome of the Invalides and the golden waters of +the Seine. It was Paris, soft, beautiful and bright, the Paris that +wished no harm to anybody.</p> + +<p>But the people were going. He could see them going everywhere. The +cruel, ancient times when cities were destroyed or enslaved by the +conqueror had come back, and the great Paris that the world had known so +long might become lost forever.</p> + +<p>The stream of fugitives, rich and poor, mingled, poured on without +ceasing. He did not know where they were going. Most of them did not +know themselves. He saw a great motor, filled high with people and +goods, break down in the streets, and he watched them while they worked +desperately to restore the mechanism. And yet there was no panic. The +sound of voices was not high. The Republic was justifying itself once +more. Silent and somberly defiant, the inhabitants were leaving Paris +before the giant German guns could rain shells upon the unarmed.</p> + +<p>It was three or four hours until the time to meet Lannes, and drawn by +an overwhelming curiosity and anxiety he began the climb of the Butte +Montmartre. If observers on the Eiffel Tower could see the German forces +approaching, then with the powerful glasses he carried over his shoulder +he might discern them from the dome of the Basilica of the Sacred +Heart.</p> + +<p>As he made his way up the ascent through the crooked and narrow little +streets he saw many eyes, mostly black and quick, watching him. This by +night was old Paris, dark and dangerous, where the Apache dwelled, and +by day in a fleeing city, with none to restrain, he might be no less +ruthless.</p> + +<p>But John felt only friendliness for them all. He believed that common +danger would knit all Frenchmen together, and he nodded and smiled at +the watchers. More than one pretty Parisian, not of the upper classes, +smiled back at the American with the frank and open face.</p> + +<p>Before he reached the Basilica a little rat of a young man stepped +before him and asked:</p> + +<p>"Which way, Monsieur?"</p> + +<p>He was three or four years older than John, wearing uncommonly tight +fitting clothes of blue, a red cap with a tassel, and he was about five +feet four inches tall. But small as he was he seemed to be made of +steel, and he stood, poised on his little feet, ready to spring like a +leopard when he chose.</p> + +<p>The blue eyes of the tall American looked steadily into the black eyes +of the short Frenchman, and the black eyes looked back as steadily. John +was fast learning to read the hearts and minds of men through their +eyes, and what he saw in the dark depths pleased him. Here were cunning +and yet courage; impudence and yet truth; caprice and yet honor. Apache +or not, he decided to like him.</p> + +<p>"I'm going up into the lantern of the Basilica," he said, "to see if I +can see the Germans, who are my enemies as well as yours."</p> + +<p>"And will not Monsieur take me, too, and let me have look for look with +him through those glasses at the Germans, some of whom I'm going to +shoot?"</p> + +<p>John smiled.</p> + +<p>"If you're going out potting Germans," he said, "you'd better get +yourself into a uniform as soon as you can. They have no mercy on <i>franc +tireurs</i>."</p> + +<p>"I'll chance that. But you'll take me with you into the dome?"</p> + +<p>"What's your name?"</p> + +<p>"Pierre Louis Bougainville."</p> + +<p>"Bougainville! Bougainville! It sounds noble and also historical. I've +read of it, but I don't recall where."</p> + +<p>The little Frenchman drew himself up, and his black eyes glittered.</p> + +<p>"There is a legend among us that it was noble once," he said, "but we +don't know when. I feel within me the spirit to make it great again. +There was a time when the mighty Napoleon said that every soldier +carried a marshal's baton in his knapsack. Perhaps that time has come +again. And the great emperor was a little man like me."</p> + +<p>John began to laugh and then he stopped suddenly. Pierre Louis +Bougainville, so small and so insignificant, was not looking at him. He +was looking over and beyond him, dreaming perhaps of a glittering +future. The funny little red cap with the tassel might shelter a great +brain. Respect took the place of the wish to laugh.</p> + +<p>"Monsieur Bougainville," he said in his excellent French, "my name is +John Scott. I am from America, but I am serving in the allied +Franco-British army. My heart like yours beats for France."</p> + +<p>"Then, Monsieur Jean, you and I are brothers," said the little man, his +eyes still gleaming. "It may be that we shall fight side by side in the +hour of victory. But you will take me into the lantern will you not? +Father Pelletier does not know, as you do, that I'm going to be a great +man, and he will not admit me."</p> + +<p>"If I secure entrance you will, too. Come."</p> + +<p>They reached side by side the Basilique de Sacré-Coeur, which crowns the +summit of the Butte Montmartre, and bought tickets from the porter, +whose calm the proximity of untold Germans did not disturb. John saw the +little Apache make the sign of the cross and bear himself with dignity. +In some curious way Bougainville impressed him once more with a sense of +power. Perhaps there was a spark of genius under the red cap. He knew +from his reading that there was no rule about genius. It passed kings +by, and chose the child of a peasant in a hovel.</p> + +<p>"You're what they call an Apache, are you not?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Monsieur."</p> + +<p>"Well, for the present, that is until you win a greater name, I'm going +to call you Geronimo."</p> + +<p>"And why Zhay-ro-nee-mo, Monsieur?"</p> + +<p>"Because that was the name of a great Apache chief. According to our +white standards he was not all that a man should be. He had perhaps a +certain insensibility to the sufferings of others, but in the Apache +view that was not a fault. He was wholly great to them."</p> + +<p>"Very well then, Monsieur Scott, I shall be flattered to be called +Zhay-ro-nee-mo, until I win a name yet greater."</p> + +<p>"Where is the Father Pelletier, the priest, who you said would bar your +way unless I came with you?"</p> + +<p>"He is on the second platform where you look out over Paris before going +into the lantern. It may be that he has against me what you would call +the prejudice. I am young. Youth must have its day, and I have done some +small deeds in the quarter which perhaps do not please Father Pelletier, +a strict, a very strict man. But our country is in danger, and I am +willing to forgive and forget."</p> + +<p>He spoke with so much magnanimity that John was compelled to laugh. +Geronimo laughed, too, showing splendid white teeth. The understanding +between them was now perfect.</p> + +<p>"I must talk with Father Pelletier," said John. "Until you're a great +man, as you're going to be, Geronimo, I suppose I can be spokesman. +After that it will be your part to befriend me."</p> + +<p>On the second platform they found Father Pelletier, a tall young priest +with a fine but severe face, who looked with curiosity at John, and with +disapproval at the Apache.</p> + +<p>"You are Father Pelletier, I believe," said John with his disarming +smile. "These are unusual times, but I wish to go up into the lantern. I +am an American, though, as you can see by my uniform, I am a soldier of +France."</p> + +<p>"But your companion, sir? He has a bad reputation in the quarter. When +he should come to the church he does not, and now when he should not he +does."</p> + +<p>"That reputation of which you speak, Father Pelletier, will soon pass. +Another, better and greater will take its place. Our friend here, and +perhaps both of us will be proud to call him so some day, leaves soon to +fight for France."</p> + +<p>The priest looked again at Bougainville, and his face softened. The +little Apache met his glance with a firm and open gaze, and his figure +seemed to swell again, and to radiate strength. Perhaps the priest saw +in his eyes the same spark that John had noticed there.</p> + +<p>"It is a time when France needs all of her sons," he said, "and even +those who have not deserved well of her before may do great deeds for +her now. You can pass."</p> + +<p>Bougainville walked close to Father Pelletier, and John heard him say in +low tones:</p> + +<p>"I feel within me the power to achieve, and when you see me again you +will recognize it."</p> + +<p>The priest nodded and his friendly hand lay for a moment on the other's +shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Come on, Geronimo," said John cheerfully. "As I remember it's nearly a +hundred steps into the lantern, and that's quite a climb."</p> + +<p>"Not for youth like ours," exclaimed Bougainville, and he ran upward so +lightly that the American had some difficulty in following him. John was +impressed once more by his extraordinary strength and agility, despite +his smallness. He seemed to be a mass of highly wrought steel spring. +But unwilling to be beaten by anybody, John raced with him and the two +stood at the same time upon the utmost crest of the Basilique du +Sacré-Coeur.</p> + +<p>They paused a few moments for fresh breath and then John put the glasses +to his eye, sweeping them in a slow curve. Through the powerful lenses +he saw the vast circle of Paris, and all the long story of the past that +it called up. Two thousand years of history rolled beneath his feet, and +the spectacle was wholly magnificent.</p> + +<p>He beheld the great green valley with its hills, green, too, the line of +the Seine cutting the city apart like the flash of a sword blade, the +golden dome of the Hotel des Invalides, the grinning gargoyles of Notre +Dame, the arches and statues and fountains and the long green ribbons +that marked the boulevards.</p> + +<p>Although the city stood wholly in the sunlight a light haze formed on +the rim of the circling horizon. He now moved the glasses slowly over a +segment there and sought diligently for something. From so high a point +and with such strong aid one could see many miles. He was sure that he +would find what he sought and yet did not wish to see. Presently he +picked out intermittent flashes which he believed were made by sunlight +falling on steel. Then he drew a long and deep breath that was almost +like a sigh.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" asked Bougainville who had stood patiently by his side.</p> + +<p>"I fear it is the glitter of lances, my friend, lances carried by German +Uhlans. Will you look?"</p> + +<p>Bougainville held out his hands eagerly for the glasses, and then drew +them back a little. In his new dignity he would not show sudden emotion.</p> + +<p>"It will give me gladness to see," he said. "I do not fear the Prussian +lances."</p> + +<p>John handed him the glasses and he looked long and intently, at times +sweeping them slowly back and forth, but gazing chiefly at the point +under the horizon that had drawn his companion's attention.</p> + +<p>John meanwhile looked down at the city glittering in the sun, but from +which its people were fleeing, as if its last day had come. It still +seemed impossible that Europe should be wrapped in so great a war and +that the German host should be at the gates of Paris.</p> + +<p>His eyes turned back toward the point where he had seen the gleam of the +lances and he fancied now that he heard the far throb of the German +guns. The huge howitzers like the one Lannes and he had blown up might +soon be throwing shells a ton or more in weight from a range of a dozen +miles into the very heart of the French capital. An acute depression +seized him. He had strengthened the heart of Lannes, and now his own +heart needed strengthening. How was it possible to stop the German army +which had come so far and so fast that its Uhlans could already see +Paris? The unprepared French had been defeated already, and the slow +English, arriving to find France under the iron heel, must go back and +defend their own island.</p> + +<p>"The Germans are there. I have not a doubt of it, and I thank you, +Monsieur Scott, for the use of these," said Bougainville, handing the +glasses back to him.</p> + +<p>"Well, Geronimo," he said, "having seen, what do you say?"</p> + +<p>"The sight is unpleasant, but it is not hopeless. They call us decadent. +I read, Monsieur Scott, more than you think! Ah, it has been the +bitterness of death for Frenchmen to hear all the world say we are a +dying race, and it has been said so often that some of us ourselves had +begun to believe it! But it is not so! I tell you it is not so, and +we'll soon prove to the Germans who come that it isn't! I have looked +for a sign. I sought for it in all the skies through your glasses, but I +did not find it there. Yet I have found it."</p> + +<p>"Where?"</p> + +<p>"In my heart. Every beat tells me that this Paris of ours is not for the +Germans. We will yet turn them back!"</p> + +<p>He reminded John of Lannes in his dramatic intensity, real and not +affected, a true part of his nature. Its effect, too, upon the American +was powerful. He had given courage to Lannes, and now Bougainville, that +little Apache of the Butte Montmartre, was giving new strength to his +own weakening heart. Fresh life flowed back into his veins and he +remembered that he, too, had beheld a sign, the flash of light on the +Arc de Triomphe.</p> + +<p>"I think we have seen enough here, Geronimo," he said lightly, "and +we'll descend. I've a friend to meet later. Which way do you go from the +church?"</p> + +<p>"To the army. I shall be in a uniform tonight, and tomorrow maybe I +shall meet the Germans."</p> + +<p>John held out his hand and the Apache seized it in a firm clasp.</p> + +<p>"I believe in you, as I hope you believe in me," said young Scott. "I +belong to a company called the Strangers, made up chiefly of Americans +and English, and commanded by Captain Daniel Colton. If you're on the +battle line and hear of the Strangers there too I should like for you to +hunt me up if you can. I'd do the same for you, but I don't yet know to +what force you will belong."</p> + +<p>Bougainville promised and they walked down to the second platform, where +Father Pelletier was still standing.</p> + +<p>"What did you see?" he asked of John, unable to hide the eagerness in +his eyes.</p> + +<p>"Uhlans, Father Pelletier, and I fancied that I heard the echo of a +German forty-two centimeter. Would you care to use the glasses? The view +from this floor is almost as good as it is from the lantern."</p> + +<p>John distinctly saw the priest shudder.</p> + +<p>"No," he replied. "I could not bear it. I shall pray today that our +enemies may be confounded; tomorrow I shall throw off the gown of a +priest and put on the coat of a soldier."</p> + +<p>"Another sign," said John to himself, as they continued the descent. +"Even the priests will fight."</p> + +<p>When they were once more in the narrow streets of Montmartre, John said +farewell to Bougainville.</p> + +<p>"Geronimo," he said, "I expect to see you leading a victorious charge +directly into the heart of the German army."</p> + +<p>"If I can meet your hopes I will, Monsieur Scott," said the young +Frenchman gayly, "and now, <i>au revoir</i>, I depart for my uniform and +arms, which must be of the best."</p> + +<p>John smiled as he walked down the hill. His heart had warmed toward the +little Apache who might not be any Apache at all. Nevertheless the name +Geronimo seemed to suit him, and he meant to think of him by it until +his valor won him a better.</p> + +<p>He saw from the slopes the same endless stream of people leaving Paris. +They knew that the Germans were near, and report brought them yet +nearer. The tale of the monster guns had traveled fast, and the shells +might be falling among them at any moment. Aeroplanes dotted the skies, +but they paid little attention to them. They still thought of war under +the old conditions, and to the great mass of the people flying machines +were mere toys.</p> + +<p>But John knew better. Those journeys of his with Lannes through the +heavens and their battles in the air for their lives were unforgettable. +Stopping on the last slope of Montmartre he studied space with his +glasses. He was sure that he saw captive balloons on the horizon where +the German army lay, and one shape larger than the rest looked like a +Zeppelin, but he did not believe those monsters had come so far to the +south and west. They must have an available base.</p> + +<p>His heart suddenly increased its beat. He saw a darting figure and he +recognized the shape of the German Taube. Then something black shot +downward from it, and there was a crash in the streets of Paris, +followed by terrible cries.</p> + +<p>He knew what had happened. He caught another glimpse of the Taube +rushing away like a huge carnivorous bird that had already seized its +prey, and then he ran swiftly down the street. The bomb had burst in a +swarm of fugitives and a woman was killed. Several people were wounded, +and a panic had threatened, but the soldiers had restored order already +and ambulances soon took the wounded to hospitals.</p> + +<p>John went on, shocked to the core. It was a new kind of war. The flying +men might rain death from the air upon a helpless city, but their +victims were more likely to be women and children than armed men. For +the first time the clean blue sky became a sinister blanket from which +dropped destruction.</p> + +<p>The confusion created by the bomb soon disappeared. The multitude of +Parisians still poured from the city, and long lines of soldiers took +their place. John wondered what the French commanders would do. Surely +theirs was a desperate problem. Would they try to defend Paris, or would +they let it go rather than risk its destruction by bombardment? Yet its +fall was bound to be a terrible blow.</p> + +<p>Lannes was on the steps of the Opera House at the appointed time, +coming with a brisk manner and a cheerful face.</p> + +<p>"I want you to go with me to our house beyond the Seine," he said. "It +is a quaint old place hidden away, as so many happy homes are in this +city. You will find nobody there but my mother, my sister Julie, and a +faithful old servant, Antoine Picard, and his daughter, Suzanne."</p> + +<p>"But I will be a trespasser?"</p> + +<p>"Not at all. There will be a warm welcome for you. I have told them of +you, how you were my comrade in the air, and how you fought."</p> + +<p>"Pshaw, Lannes, it was you who did most of the fighting. You've given me +a reputation that I can't carry."</p> + +<p>"Never mind about the reputation. What have you been doing since I left +you this morning?"</p> + +<p>"I spent a part of the time in the lantern of the Basilica on +Montmartre, and I had with me a most interesting friend."</p> + +<p>Lannes looked at him curiously.</p> + +<p>"You did not speak of any friend in Paris at this time," he said.</p> + +<p>"I didn't because I never heard of him until a few hours ago. I made his +acquaintance while I was going up Montmartre, but I already consider +him, next to you, the best friend I have in France."</p> + +<p>"Acquaintanceship seems to grow rapidly with you, Monsieur Jean the +Scott."</p> + +<p>"It has, but you must remember that our own friendship was pretty +sudden. It developed in a few minutes of flight from soldiers at the +German border."</p> + +<p>"That is so, but it was soon sealed by great common dangers. Who is your +new friend, John?"</p> + +<p>"A little Apache named Pierre Louis Bougainville, whom I have nicknamed +Geronimo, after a famous Indian chief of my country. He has already gone +to fight for France, and, Philip, he made an extraordinary impression +upon me, although I don't know just why. He is short like Napoleon, he +has the same large and beautifully shaped head, and the same penetrating +eyes that seem able to look you through and through. Maybe it was a +spark of genius in him that impressed me."</p> + +<p>"It may be so," said Lannes thoughtfully. "It was said, and said truly +that the First Republic meant the open career to all the talents, and +the Third offers the same chance. One never can tell where military +genius is going to appear and God knows we need it now in whatever shape +or form it may come. Did you hear of the bomb?"</p> + +<p>"I saw it fall. But, Phil, I don't see the object in such attacks. They +may kill a few people, nearly always the unarmed, but that has no real +effect on a war."</p> + +<p>"They wish to spread terror, I suppose. Lend me your glasses, John."</p> + +<p>Lannes studied the heavens a long time, minutely examining every black +speck against the blue, and John stood beside him, waiting patiently. +Meanwhile the throng of fleeing people moved on as before, silent and +somber, even the children saying little. John was again stirred by the +deepest emotion of sympathy and pity. What a tremendous tragedy it would +be if New York were being abandoned thus to a victorious foe! Lannes +himself had seemed to take no notice of the flight, but John judged he +had made a powerful effort of the will to hide the grief and anger that +surely filled his heart.</p> + +<p>"I don't see anything in the air but our own machines," said Lannes, as +he returned the glasses. "It was evidently a dash by the Taube that +threw the bomb. But we've stayed here long enough. They're waiting for +us at home."</p> + +<p>He led the way through the multitude, relapsing into silence, but +casting a glance now and then at his own peculiar field, the heavens. +They reached the Place de la Concorde, and stopped there a moment or +two. Lannes looked sadly at the black drapery hanging from the stone +figure that typified the lost city of Strassburg, but John glanced up +the great sweep of the Place to the Arc de Triomphe, where he caught +again the glittering shaft of sunlight that he had accepted as a sign.</p> + +<p>"We may be looking upon all this for the last time," said Lannes, in a +voice of grief. "Oh, Paris, City of Light, City of the Heart! You may +not understand me, John, but I couldn't bear to come back to Paris +again, much as I love it, if it is to be despoiled and ruled by +Germans."</p> + +<p>"I do understand you, Philip," said John cheerfully, "but you mustn't +count a city yours until you've taken it. The Germans are near, but +they're not here. Now, lead on. It's not like you to despair!"</p> + +<p>Lannes shook himself, as if he had laid violent hands upon his own body, +and his face cleared.</p> + +<p>"That was the last time, John," he said. "I made that promise before, +but I keep it this time. You won't see me gloomy again. Henceforward +it's hope only. Now, we must hurry. My mother and Julie will be growing +anxious, for we are overdue."</p> + +<p>They crossed the Seine by one of the beautiful stone bridges and entered +a region of narrow and crooked streets, which John thought must be a +part of old Paris. In an American city it would necessarily have been a +quarter of the poor, but John knew that here wealth and distinction were +often hidden behind these modest doors.</p> + +<p>He began to feel very curious about Lannes' family, but he was careful +to ask no questions. He knew that the young Frenchman was showing great +trust and faith in him by taking him into his home. They stopped +presently before a door, and Lannes rang a bell. The door was opened +cautiously in a few moments, and a great head surmounted by thick, gray +hair was thrust out. A powerful neck and a pair of immense shoulders +followed the head. Sharp eyes under heavy lashes peered forth, but in an +instant, when the man saw who was before him, he threw open the door and +said:</p> + +<p>"Welcome, Monsieur."</p> + +<p>John had no doubt that this was the Antoine Picard of whom Lannes had +spoken, and he knew at the first glance that he beheld a real man. Many +people have the idea that all Frenchmen are little, but John knew +better.</p> + +<p>Antoine Picard was a giant, much over six feet, and with the limbs and +chest of a piano-mover. He was about sixty, but age evidently had made +no impression upon his strength. John judged from his fair complexion +that he was from Normandy. "Here," young Scott said to himself, "is one +of those devoted European family servants of whom I've heard so often."</p> + +<p>He regarded the man with interest, and Picard, in return, measured and +weighed him with a lightning glance.</p> + +<p>Lannes laughed.</p> + +<p>"It's all right, Antoine," he said. "He's the young man from that far +barbarian country called America, who escaped from Germany with me, only +he's no barbarian, but a highly civilized being who not only likes +France, but who fights for her. John, this is Antoine Picard, who rules +and protects this house."</p> + +<p>John held out his hand, American fashion, and it was engulfed in the +mighty grasp of the Norseman, as he always thought of him afterward.</p> + +<p>"Madame, your mother, and Mademoiselle, your sister, have been anxious," +said Picard.</p> + +<p>"We were delayed," said Lannes.</p> + +<p>They stepped into a narrow hall, and Picard shut the door behind them, +shooting into place a heavy bolt which sank into its socket with a click +like the closing of the entrance to a fortress. In truth, the whole +aspect of the house reminded John of a stronghold. The narrow hall was +floored with stone, the walls were stone and the light was dim. Lannes +divined John's thoughts.</p> + +<p>"You'll find it more cheerful, presently," he said. "As for us, we're +used to it, and we love it, although it's so old and cold and dark. It +goes back at least five centuries."</p> + +<p>"I suppose some king must have slept here once," said John. "In England +they point out every very old house as a place where a king passed the +night, and make reverence accordingly."</p> + +<p>Lannes laughed gayly.</p> + +<p>"No king ever slept here so far as I know," he said, "but the great +Marshal Lannes, whose name I am so proud to bear, was in this house more +than once, and to me, a staunch republican, that is greater than having +had a king for a tenant. The Marshal, as you may know, although he took +a title and served an Emperor, was always a republican and in the early +days of the empire often offended Napoleon by his frankness and brusque +truths. But enough of old things; we'll see my mother."</p> + +<p>He led the way up the steps, of solid stone, between walls thick enough +for a fortress, and knocked at a door. A deep, full voice responded +"Enter!" and pushing open the door Lannes went in, followed by John.</p> + +<p>It was a large room, with long, low windows, looking out over a sea of +roofs toward the dome of the Invalides and Napoleon's arch of triumph. A +tall woman rose from a chair, and saying "My son!" put her hands upon +Lannes shoulders and kissed him on the forehead. She was fair like her +son, and much less than fifty years of age. There was no stoop in her +shoulders and but little gray in her hair. Her eyes were anxious, but +John saw in them the Spartan determination that marked the women of +France.</p> + +<p>"My friend, John Scott, of whom I have already spoken to you, Madame my +mother," said Lannes.</p> + +<p>John bowed. He knew little of French customs, particularly in the heart +of a French family, and he was afraid to extend his hand, but she gave +him hers, and let it rest in his palm a moment.</p> + +<p>"Philip has told me much of you," she said in her deep, bell-like voice, +"and although I know little of your far America, I can believe the best +of it, if its sons are like you."</p> + +<p>John flushed at the compliment, which he knew to be so sincere.</p> + +<p>"Thank you, Madame," he said. "While my country can take no part in this +war, many of my countrymen will fight with you. France helped us once, +and some of us, at least, will help France now."</p> + +<p>She smiled gravely, and John knew that he was welcome in her house. +Lannes would see to that anyhow, but he wished to make a good impression +on his own account.</p> + +<p>"I know that Philip risks his life daily," she said. "He has chosen the +most dangerous of all paths, the air, but perhaps in that way he can +serve us most."</p> + +<p>She spoke with neither complaint nor reproach, merely as if she were +stating a fact, and her son added briefly:</p> + +<p>"You are right, mother. In the air I can work best for our people. Ah, +John, here is my sister, who is quite curious about the stranger from +across the sea."</p> + +<p>A young girl came into the room. She was tall and slender, not more than +seventeen, very fair, with blue eyes and hair of pure gold. John was +continually observing that while many of the French were dark and small, +in accordance with foreign opinion that made them all so, many more were +blonde and tall. Lannes' sister was scarcely more than a lovely child, +but his heart beat more quickly.</p> + +<p>Lannes kissed her on the forehead, just as he kissed his mother.</p> + +<p>"Julie," he said lightly and yet proudly, "this is the young American +hero of whom I was telling you, my comrade in arms, or rather in the +air, and adopted brother. Mr. John Scott, my sister, Mademoiselle Julie +Lannes."</p> + +<p>She made a shy curtsey and John bowed. It was the first time that he was +ever in the heart of an old French home, and he did not know the rules, +but he felt that he ought not to offer his hand. Young girls, he had +always heard, were kept in strict seclusion in France, but the great war +and the approach of the German army might make a difference. In any +event, he felt bold enough to talk to her a little, and she responded, a +beautiful color coming into her face.</p> + +<p>"Dinner is ready for our guest and you," said Madame Lannes, and she led +the way into another apartment, also with long, low windows, where the +table was set. The curtains were drawn from the windows, and John caught +through one of them a glimpse of the Seine, of marching troops in long +blue coats and red trousers, and of the great city, massing up beyond +like a wall.</p> + +<p>He felt that he had never before sat down to so strange a table. The +world without was shaking beneath the tread of the mightiest of all +wars, but within this room was peace and quiet. Madame was like a Roman +matron, and the young Julie, though shy, had ample dignity. John liked +Lannes' manner toward them both, his fine subordination to his mother +and his protective air toward his sister. He was glad to be there with +them, a welcome guest in the family.</p> + +<p>The dinner was served by a tall young woman. Picard's daughter Suzanne, +to whom Lannes had referred, and she served in silence and with +extraordinary dexterity one of the best dinners that he ever ate.</p> + +<p>As the dinner proceeded John admired the extraordinary composure of the +Lannes family. Surely a woman and a girl of only seventeen would feel +consternation at the knowledge that an overwhelming enemy was almost +within sight of the city they must love so much. Yet they did not refer +to it, until nearly the close of the dinner, and it was Madame who +introduced the subject.</p> + +<p>"I hear, Philip," she said, "that a bomb was thrown today from a German +aeroplane into the Place de l'Opéra, killing a woman and injuring +several other people."</p> + +<p>"It is true, mother."</p> + +<p>John glanced covertly at Julie, and saw her face pale. But she did not +tremble.</p> + +<p>"Is it true also that the German army is near?" asked Madame Lannes, +with just the faintest quiver in her voice.</p> + +<p>"Yes, mother. John, standing in the lantern of the Basilique du +Sacré-Coeur, saw through his glasses the flash of sunlight on the lances +of their Uhlans. A shell from one of their great guns could fall in the +suburbs of Paris."</p> + +<p>John's covert glance was now for Madame Lannes. How would the matron who +was cast in the antique mold of Rome take such news? But she veiled her +eyes a little with her long lashes, and he could not catch the +expression there.</p> + +<p>"I believe it is not generally known in Paris that the enemy is so very +near," said Philip, "and while I have not hesitated to tell you the full +truth, mother, I ask you and Julie not to speak of it to others."</p> + +<p>"Of course, Philip, we would add nothing to the general alarm, which is +great enough already, and with cause. But what do you wish us to do? +Shall we remain here, or go while it is yet time to our cousins, the +Menards, at Lyons?"</p> + +<p>Now it was the mother who, in this question of physical peril, was +showing deference to her son, the masculine head of the family. John +liked it. He remembered an old saying, and he felt it to be true, that +they did many things well in France.</p> + +<p>Lannes glanced at young Scott before replying.</p> + +<p>"Mother," he said, "the danger is great. I do not try to conceal it from +you. It was my intention this morning to see you and Julie safe on the +Lyons train, but John and I have beheld signs, not military, perhaps, +but of the soul, and we are firm in the belief that at the eleventh hour +we shall be saved. The German host will not enter Paris."</p> + +<p>Madame Lannes looked fixedly at John and he felt her gaze resting like a +weight upon his face. But he responded. His faith had merely grown +stronger with the hours.</p> + +<p>"I cannot tell why, Madame," he said, "but I believe as surely as I am +sitting here that the enemy will not enter the capital."</p> + +<p>Then she said decisively, "Julie and I remain in our own home in Paris."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II" />CHAPTER II</h2> + +<h3>THE MESSENGER</h3> + + +<p>There was little more talk. The dignified quiet of the Lannes family +remained unchanged, and John imitated it. If they could be so calm in +the face of overwhelming disaster it should be no effort for him to +remain unmoved. Yet he glanced often, though covertly, at Julie Lannes, +admiring her lovely color.</p> + +<p>When dinner was over they returned to the room in which Madame Lannes +had received them. The dark had come already, and Suzanne had lighted +four tall candles. There was neither gas nor electricity.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Scott will be our guest tonight, mother," said Lannes, "and +tomorrow he and I go together to the army."</p> + +<p>John raised his hand in protest. It had not been his intention when he +came to remain until morning, but Lannes would listen to no objection; +nor would his mother.</p> + +<p>"Since you fight for our country," she said, "you must let us give you +shelter for at least one night."</p> + +<p>He acquiesced, and they sat a little while, talking of the things +furthest from their hearts. Julie Lannes withdrew presently, and before +long her mother followed. Lannes went to the window, and looked out over +Paris, where the diminished lights twinkled. John stood at the other +window and saw the great blur of the capital. All sounds were fused into +one steady murmur, rather soothing, like the flowing of a river.</p> + +<p>He seemed to hear presently the distant thunder of German guns, but +reason told him it was only a trick of the imagination. Nerves keyed +high often created the illusion of reality.</p> + +<p>"What are you thinking about, Lannes?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Of my mother and sister. Only the French know the French. The family +tie is powerful with us."</p> + +<p>"I know that, Phil."</p> + +<p>"So you do. You're an adopted child of France. Madame Lannes is a woman +of great heart, John. I am proud to be her son. I have read of your +civil war. I have read how the mothers of your young soldiers suffered +and yet were brave. None can know how much Madame, my mother, has +suffered tonight, with the Germans at the gates of Paris, and yet she +has shown no sign of it."</p> + +<p>John was silent. He did not know what to say, but Lannes did not pursue +the subject, remaining a full five minutes at the window, and not +speaking again, until he turned away.</p> + +<p>"John," he said then, "let's go outside and take a look about the +quarter. It's important now to watch for everything."</p> + +<p>John was full willing. He recognized the truth of Lannes' words and he +wanted air and exercise also. A fortress was a fortress, whether one +called it a home or not, Lannes led the way and they descended to the +lower hall, where the gigantic porter was on watch.</p> + +<p>"My friend and I are going to take a look in the streets, Antoine," said +Lannes. "Guard the house well while we are gone."</p> + +<p>"I will," replied the man, "but will you tell me one thing, Monsieur +Philip? Do Madame Lannes and Mademoiselle Julie remain in Paris?"</p> + +<p>"They do, Antoine, and since I leave tomorrow it will be the duty of you +and Suzanne to protect them."</p> + +<p>"I am gratified, sir, that they do not leave the capital. I have never +known a Lannes to flee at the mere rumor of the enemy's coming."</p> + +<p>"And I hope you never will, Antoine. I think we'll be back in an hour."</p> + +<p>"I shall be here, sir."</p> + +<p>He unbolted the door and Lannes and John stepped out, the cool night air +pouring in a grateful flood upon their faces. Antoine fastened the door +behind them, and John again heard the massive bolt sink into its place.</p> + +<p>"The quarter is uncommonly quiet," said Lannes. "I suppose it has a +right to be after such a day."</p> + +<p>Then be looked up, scanning the heavens, after the manner that had +become natural to him, a flying man.</p> + +<p>"What do you see, Philip?" asked John.</p> + +<p>"A sky of dark blue, plenty of stars, but no aeroplanes, Taubes or other +machines of man's making."</p> + +<p>"I fancy that some of them are on the horizon, but too far away to be +seen by us."</p> + +<p>"Likely as not. The Germans are daring enough and we can expect more +bombs to be dropped on Paris. Our flying corps must organize to meet +theirs. I feel the call of the air, John."</p> + +<p>Young Scott laughed.</p> + +<p>"I believe the earth has ceased to be your natural element," he said. +"You're happiest when you're in the <i>Arrow</i> about a mile above our +planet."</p> + +<p>Lannes laughed also, and with appreciation. The friendship between the +two young men was very strong, and it had in it all the quality of +permanence. Their very unlikeness in character and temperament made them +all the better comrades. What one could not do the other could.</p> + +<p>As they walked along now they said but little. Each was striving to read +what he could in that great book, the streets of Paris. John believed +Lannes had not yet told him his whole mission. He knew that in their +short stay in Paris Philip had spent an hour in the office of the +military governor of the city, and his business must be of great +importance to require an hour from a man who carried such a fearful +weight of responsibility. But whatever Lannes' secret might be, it was +his own and he had no right to pry into it. If the time came for his +comrade to tell it he would do so.</p> + +<p>When they reached the Seine the city did not seem so quiet. They heard +the continuous sound of marching troops and people were still departing +through the streets toward the country or the provincial cities. The +flight went on by night as well as day, and John again felt the +overwhelming pity of it.</p> + +<p>He wondered what the French generals and their English allies would do? +Did they have any possible way of averting this terrible crisis? They +had met nothing but defeat, and the vast German army had crashed, +unchecked, through everything from the border almost to the suburbs of +Paris.</p> + +<p>They stood in the Place Valhubert at the entrance to the Pont +d'Austerlitz, and watched a regiment crossing the river, the long blue +coats and red trousers of the men outlined against the white body of the +bridge. The soldiers were short, they looked little to John, but they +were broad of chest and they marched splendidly with a powerful swinging +stride.</p> + +<p>"From the Midi," said Lannes. "Look how dark they are! France is called +a Latin nation, but I doubt whether the term is correct. These men of +the Midi though are the real Latins. We of northern France, I suspect, +are more Teutonic than anything else, but we are all knitted together in +one race, heart and soul, which are stronger ties than blood."</p> + +<p>"We are to go early in the morning, are we not, Philip?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, early. The <i>Arrow</i> is at the hangar, all primed and eager for a +flight, fearful of growing rusty from a long rest."</p> + +<p>"I believe you actually look upon your plane as a human being."</p> + +<p>"A human being, yes, and more. No human being could carry me above the +clouds. No human being could obey absolutely and without question the +simplest touch of my hand. The <i>Arrow</i> is not human, John, it is +superhuman. You have seen its exploits."</p> + +<p>The dark emitted a figure that advanced toward them, and took the shape +of a man with black hair, a short close beard and an intelligent face. +He approached John and Lannes and looked at them closely.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Scott!" he exclaimed, with eagerness, "I did not know what had +become of you. I was afraid you were lost in one of the battles!"</p> + +<p>"Why, it's Weber!" said John, "our comrade of the flight in the +automobile! And I was afraid that you too, were dead!"</p> + +<p>The two shook hands with great heartiness and Lannes joined in the +reunion. He too at once liked Weber, who always made the impression of +courage and quickness. He wore a new uniform, olive in color with dark +blue threads through it, and it became him, setting off his trim, +compact figure.</p> + +<p>"How did you get here, Mr. Weber?" asked John.</p> + +<p>"I scarcely know," he replied. "My duties are to a certain extent those +of a messenger, but I was caught in the last battle, wounded slightly, +and separated from the main French force. The little company which I had +formed tried to break through the German columns, but they were all +killed or captured except myself, and maybe two or three others. I hid +in a wood, slept a night there, and then reached Paris to see what is +going to happen. Ah, it is terrible! terrible! my comrades! The Germans +are advancing in five great armies, a million and a half strong, and no +troops were ever before equipped so magnificently."</p> + +<p>"Do you know positively that they have a million and a half?" asked +Lannes.</p> + +<p>"I did not count them," replied Weber, smiling a little, "but I have +heard from many certain sources that such are their numbers. I fear, +gentlemen, that Paris is doomed."</p> + +<p>"Scott and I don't think so," said Lannes firmly. "We've gained new +courage today."</p> + +<p>Weber was silent for a few moments. Then he said, giving Lannes his +title as an officer:</p> + +<p>"I've heard of you, Lieutenant Lannes. Who does not know the name of +France's most daring aviator? And doubtless you have information which +is unknown to me. It is altogether likely that one who pierces the air +like an eagle should bear messages between generals of the first rank."</p> + +<p>Lannes did not answer, but looked at Weber, who smiled.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps our trades are not so very different," said the Alsatian, "but +you shoot through clouds while I crawl on the ground. You have a great +advantage of me in method."</p> + +<p>Lannes smiled back. The little tribute was pleasing to the dramatic +instinct so strong in him.</p> + +<p>"You and I, Mr. Weber," he said, "know enough never to speak of what +we're going to do. Now, we'll bid you good night and wish you good luck. +I'd like to be a prophet, even for a day only, and tell what the morrow +would bring."</p> + +<p>"So do I," said Weber, "and I must hurry on my own errand. It may not +be of great importance, but is vital to me that I do it."</p> + +<p>He slid away in the darkness and both John and Lannes spoke well of him +as they returned to the house. Picard admitted them.</p> + +<p>"May I ask, sir, if there is any news that favors France?" he said to +Philip.</p> + +<p>"Not yet, my good Antoine, but it is surely coming."</p> + +<p>John heard the giant Frenchman smother a sigh, but he made no comment, +and walked softly with Lannes to the little room high up that had been +assigned to him. Here when he was alone with his candle he looked around +curiously.</p> + +<p>The room was quite simple, not containing much furniture, in truth, +nothing of any note save on the wall a fine picture of the great Marshal +Lannes, Napoleon's dauntless fighter, and stern republican, despite the +ducal title that he took. It was a good portrait, painted perhaps by +some great artist, and John holding up the candle, looked at it a long +time.</p> + +<p>He thought he could trace some likeness to Philip. Lannes' face was +always stern, in repose, far beyond his years, although when he became +animated it had all the sunniness of youth. But he noticed now that he +had the same tight lips of the Marshal, and the same unfaltering eyes.</p> + +<p>"Duke of Montebello!" said John to himself. "Well, you won that title +grandly, and while the younger Lannes may do as well, if the chance +comes to him, the new heroes of France will be neither dukes nor +princes."</p> + +<p>Then, after removing all the stiff pillows, inclines, foot pieces and +head pieces that make European beds so uncomfortable, he slipped between +the covers, and slid quickly into a long and soothing sleep, from which +he was awakened apparently about a minute later by Lannes himself, who +stood over him, dressed fully, tall and serious.</p> + +<p>"Why, I just got into bed!" exclaimed John.</p> + +<p>"You came in here a full seven hours ago. Open your window and you'll +see the dawn creeping over Paris."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, but you can open it yourself. I never fool with a European +window. I haven't time to master all the mechanism, inside, outside and +between, to say nothing of the various layers of curtains, full length, +half length and otherwise. Nothing that I can conceive of is better +fitted than the European window to keep out light and air."</p> + +<p>Lannes smiled.</p> + +<p>"I see that you're in fine feather this morning," he said, "I'll open it +for you."</p> + +<p>John jumped up and dressed quickly, while Lannes, with accustomed hand, +laid back shutters and curtains.</p> + +<p>"Now, shove up the window," exclaimed John as he wielded towel and +brush. "A little fresh air in a house won't hurt you; it won't hurt +anybody. We're a young people, we Americans, but we can teach you that. +Why, in the German hotels they'd seal up the smoking-rooms and lounges +in the evenings, and then boys would go around shooting clouds of +perfume against the ceilings. Ugh! I can taste now that awful mixture of +smoke, perfume and thrice-breathed air! Ah! that feels better! It's like +a breath from heaven!"</p> + +<p>"Ready now? We're going down to breakfast with my mother and sister."</p> + +<p>"Yes. How do I look in this uniform, Lannes?"</p> + +<p>"Very well. But, Oh, you Americans! we French are charged with vanity, +but you have it."</p> + +<p>John had thought little of his raiment until he came to the house of +Lannes, but now there was a difference. He gave the last touch to his +coat, and he and Philip went down together. Madame Lannes and Julie +received them. They were dressed very simply, Julie in white and Madame +Lannes in plain gray. Their good-morning to John was quiet, but he saw +that it came from the heart. They recognized in him the faithful comrade +in danger, of the son and brother, and he saw once more that French +family affection was very powerful.</p> + +<p>It was early, far earlier than the ordinary time for the European +breakfast, and he knew that it had been served so, because he and Lannes +were to depart. He sat facing a window, and he saw the dawn come over +Paris in a vast silver haze that soon turned to a cloud of gold. He +again stole glances at Julie Lannes. In all her beautiful fairness of +hair and complexion she was like one of the blonde American girls of his +own country.</p> + +<p>When breakfast was over and the two young men rose to go John said the +first farewell. He still did not know the French custom, but, bending +over suddenly, he kissed the still smooth and handsome hand of Madame +Lannes. As she flushed and looked pleased, he judged that he had made no +mistake. Then he touched lightly the hand of the young girl, and said:</p> + +<p>"Mademoiselle Julie, I hope to return soon to this house with your +brother."</p> + +<p>"May it be so," she said, in a voice that trembled, "and may you come +back to a Paris still French!"</p> + +<p>John bowed to them both and with tact and delicacy withdrew from the +room. He felt that there should be no witness of Philip's farewell to +his mother and sister, before going on a journey from which the chances +were that he would never return.</p> + +<p>He strolled down the hall, pretending to look at an old picture or two, +and in a few minutes Lannes came out and joined him. John saw tears in +his eyes, but his face was set and stern. Neither spoke until they +reached the front door, which the giant, Picard, opened for them.</p> + +<p>"If the worst should happen, Antoine," said Lannes, "and you must be the +judge of it when it comes, take them to Lyons, to our cousins the +Menards."</p> + +<p>"I answer with my life," said the man, shutting together his great +teeth, and John felt that it was well for the two women to have such a +guardian. Under impulse, he said:</p> + +<p>"I should like to shake the hand of a man who is worth two of most men."</p> + +<p>Whether the French often shake hands or not, his fingers were enclosed +in the mighty grasp of Picard, and he knew that he had a friend for +life. When they went out Lannes would not look back and was silent for a +long time. The day was warm and beautiful, and the stream of fugitives, +the sad procession, was still flowing from the city. Troops too were +moving, and it seemed to John that they passed in heavier masses than on +the day before.</p> + +<p>"I went out last night while you slept," said Lannes, when they were +nearly at the hangar, "and I will tell you that I bear a message to one +of our most important generals. I carry it in writing, and also in +memory in case I lose the written word. That is all I feel at liberty to +tell you, and in truth I know but little more. The message comes from +our leader to the commander of the army at Paris, who in turn orders me +to deliver it to the general whom we're going to seek. It directs him +with his whole force to move forward to a certain point and hold fast +there. Beyond that I know nothing. Its whole significance is hidden from +me. I feel that I can tell you this, John, as we're about to start upon +a journey which has a far better prospect of death than of life."</p> + +<p>"I'm not afraid," said John, and he told the truth. "I feel, Philip, +that great events are impending and that your dispatch or the effect of +it will be a part in some gigantic plan."</p> + +<p>"I feel that way, too. What an awful crisis! The Germans moved nearer in +the dark. I didn't sleep a minute last night. I couldn't. If the signs +that you and I saw are to be fulfilled they must be fulfilled soon, +because when a thing is done it's done, and when Paris falls it falls."</p> + +<p>"Well, here we are at the hangar, and the <i>Arrow</i> will make you feel +better. You're like the born horseman whose spirits return when he's on +the back of his best runner."</p> + +<p>"I suppose I am. The air is now my proper medium, and anyway, John, my +gallant Yankee, for a man like me the best tonic is always action, +action, and once more action."</p> + +<p>The <i>Arrow</i> was in beautiful condition, smooth, polished and fitted with +everything that was needed. They put on their flying clothes, drew down +their visors, stowed their automatics in handy pockets, and took their +seats in the aeroplane. Then, as he put his hand on the steering rudder +and the attendants gave the <i>Arrow</i> a mighty shove, the soul of Lannes +swelled within him.</p> + +<p>They rose slowly and then swiftly over Paris, and his troubles were left +behind him on the earth. Up, up they went, in a series of graceful +spirals, and although John, at first, felt the old uneasy feeling, it +soon departed. He too exulted in their mounting flight and the rush of +cold air.</p> + +<p>"Use your glasses, John," said Lannes, "and tell me what you can see."</p> + +<p>"Some captive balloons, five other planes, all our own, and on the +horizon, where the German army lies, several black specks too vague and +indefinite for me to make out what they are, although I've no doubt +they're German flyers."</p> + +<p>"I'd like to have a look at the Germans, but our way leads elsewhere. +What else do you see, John?"</p> + +<p>"I look downward and I see the most magnificent and glittering city in +the world."</p> + +<p>"And that's Paris, our glorious Paris, which you and I and a million +others are going to save. I suppose it's hope, John, that makes me feel +we'll do something. Did you know that the Germans dropped two more bombs +on the city last night? One, luckily, fell in the Seine. The other +struck near the Madeleine, close to a group of soldiers, killing two and +wounding four more."</p> + +<p>"Bombs from the air can't do any great damage to a city."</p> + +<p>"No, but they can spread alarm, and it's an insult, too. We feel as the +Germans would if we were dropping bombs on Berlin. I wish you'd keep +those glasses to your eyes all the time, John, and watch the skies. Let +me know at once, if you see anything suspicious."</p> + +<p>John, continually turning in his seat, swept the whole curve of the +world with the powerful glasses. Paris was now far below, a blur of +white and gray. Above, the heavens were of the silkiest blue, beautiful +in their infinite depths, with tiny clouds floating here and there like +whitecaps on an ocean.</p> + +<p>"What do you see now, John?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing but one of the most beautiful days that ever was. It's a fine +sun, that you've got over here, Philip. I can see through these glasses +that it's made out of pure reddish gold."</p> + +<p>"Never mind about that sun, John. America is a full partner in its +ownership and you're used to it. I've heard that you have more sunshine +than we do. Watch for our companions of the air, friend or foe."</p> + +<p>"I see them flying; over Paris, but none is going in our direction. How +far is our port of entry, Lannes?"</p> + +<p>"We should be there in two hours, if nothing happens. Do we still have +the course to ourselves or is anything coming our way now?"</p> + +<p>"No company at all, unless you'd call a machine about three miles off +and much lower down, a comrade."</p> + +<p>"What does it look like?"</p> + +<p>"A French aeroplane, much resembling the <i>Arrow</i>."</p> + +<p>"Is it following us?"</p> + +<p>"Not exactly. Yes, it is coming our way now, although it keeps much +lower! A scout, I dare say."</p> + +<p>Lannes was silent for a little while, his eyes fixed on his pathway +through the blue. Then he said:</p> + +<p>"What has become of that machine, John?"</p> + +<p>"It has risen a little, but it's on our private course, that is, if we +can claim the right of way all down to the ground."</p> + +<p>Lannes glanced backward and downward, as well as his position would +allow.</p> + +<p>"A French plane, yes," he said thoughtfully. "There can be no doubt of +it, but why should it follow us in this manner? You do think it's +following us, don't you, John?"</p> + +<p>"It begins to look like it, Phil. It's rising a little now, and is +directly in our wake."</p> + +<p>"Take a long look through those glasses of yours."</p> + +<p>John obeyed, and the following aeroplane at once increased in size +tenfold and came much nearer.</p> + +<p>"It's French. There cannot be any doubt of it," he said, "and only one +man is in it. As he's hidden by his flying-suit I can't tell anything +about him."</p> + +<p>"Watch him closely, John, and keep your hand on the butt of your +automatic. I don't like that fellow's actions. Still, he may be a +Frenchman on an errand like ours. We've no right to think we're the only +people carrying important messages today."</p> + +<p>"He's gaining pretty fast. Although he keeps below us, it looks as if he +wanted to communicate with us."</p> + +<p>The second aeroplane suddenly shot forward and upward at a much greater +rate of speed. John, still watching through his glasses, saw the man +release the steering rudder for an instant, snatch a rifle from the +floor of his plane, and fire directly at Lannes.</p> + +<p>John uttered a shout of anger, and in action, too, he was as quick as a +flash. His automatic was out at once and he rained bullets upon the +treacherous machine. It was hard to take aim, firing from one flying +target, at another, but he saw the man flinch, turn suddenly, and then +go rocketing away at a sharp angle.</p> + +<p>Blazing with wrath John watched him, now far out of range, and then +reloaded his automatic.</p> + +<p>"Did you get him, John?" asked Lannes.</p> + +<p>"I know one bullet found him, because I saw him shiver and shrink, but +it couldn't have been mortal, as he was able to fly away."</p> + +<p>"I'm glad that you at least hit him, because he hit me."</p> + +<p>"What!" exclaimed John. Then he looked at his comrade and saw to his +intense horror that black blood was flowing slowly down a face deadly +pale.</p> + +<p>"His bullet went through my cap and then through my head," said Lannes. +"Oh, not through my skull, or I wouldn't be talking to you now. I think +it glanced off the bone, as I know it's gone out on the other side. But +I'm losing much blood, John, and I seem to be growing numb."</p> + +<p>His voice trailed off in weakness and the <i>Arrow</i> began to move in an +eccentric manner. John saw that Lannes' hand on the rudder was uncertain +and that he had been hard hit. He was aghast, first for his friend, to +whom he had become so strongly attached, and then for the <i>Arrow</i>, their +mission and himself. Lannes would soon become unconscious and he, no +flying man at all, would be left high in air with a terrible weight of +responsibility.</p> + +<p>"We must change seats," said Lannes, struggling against the dimness that +was coming over his eyes and the weakness permeating his whole body. "Be +careful, Oh, be careful as you can, and then, in your American language, +a lot more. Slowly! Slowly! Yes, I can move alone. Drag yourself over +me, and I can slide under you. Careful! Careful!"</p> + +<p>The <i>Arrow</i> fluttered like a wounded bird, dropping, darting upward, and +careering to one side. John was sick to his soul, both physically and +mentally. His head became giddy and the wind roared in his ears, but the +exchange of seats was at last, successfully accomplished.</p> + +<p>"Now," said Lannes, "you're a close observer. Remember all that you've +seen me do with the plane. Resolve to yourself that you do know how to +fly the <i>Arrow</i>. Fear nothing and fly straight for our destination. +Don't bother about the bleeding of my wound. My thick hair and thick cap +acting together as a heavy bandage will stop it. Now, John, our fate +rests with you."</p> + +<p>The last words were almost inaudible, and John from the corner of his +eye saw his comrade's head droop. He knew that Lannes had become +unconscious and now, appalling though the situation was, he rose to the +crisis.</p> + +<p>He knew the immensity of their danger. A sudden movement of the rudder +and the aeroplane might be wrecked. And in such a position the nerves of +a novice were subject at any time to a jerk. They might be assailed by +another treacherous machine, the dangers, in truth, were uncountable, +but he was upborne by a tremendous desire to carry the word and to save +Lannes and himself.</p> + +<p>In the face of intense resolve all obstacles became as nothing and his +hand steadied on the rudder. He knew that when it came to the air he was +no Lannes and never could be. The solid earth, no matter how much it +rolled around the sun or around itself, was his favorite field of +action, but he felt that he must make one flight, when he carried with +him perhaps the fate of a nation.</p> + +<p>The <i>Arrow</i> was still rocking from side to side and dipping and jumping. +Slowly he steadied it, handling the rudder as if it were a loaded +weapon, and gradually his heart began to pound with triumph. It was no +such flying as the hand of Lannes drew from the <i>Arrow</i>, but to John it +seemed splendid for a first trial. He let the machine drop a little +until it was only six or seven hundred yards above the earth, and took +wary glances from side to side. He feared another pursuer, but the air +seemed clear.</p> + +<p>Lannes had sunk a little further forward. John saw that the +bleeding from his head had ceased. There was a dark stain down either +cheek, but it was drying there, and as Lannes had foreseen, his hair and +the cap had acted as a bandage, at last checking the flow effectively. +His breathing was heavy and jerky, but John believed that he would +revive before long. It was not possible that one so vital as Lannes, so +eager for great action, could die thus.</p> + +<p>Now he looked ahead. Their landmarks as Lannes had told him before the +fight, were to be a high hill, a low hill, and a small stream flowing +between. Just behind it they would find a great French army marching +northward and their errand would be over. He did not yet see the hills, +but he was sure that he was still in the pathway of the air.</p> + +<p>He had left Paris far behind, but when he looked down he saw a beautiful +country, a fertile land upon which man had worked for two thousand +years, too beautiful to be trodden to pieces by armies. He saw the +cultivated fields, varying in color like a checker board, and the neat +villages with trees about them. Here and there the spire of a church +rose high above everything. Churches and wars were so numerous in +Europe!</p> + +<p>John checked the speed of the <i>Arrow</i>. He was afraid, despite all his +high resolve, to fly fast, and then he must not go beyond the army for +which he was looking. He dropped a little lower as he was passing over a +wood, and then he heard the crack of rifles beneath him. Bullets whizzed +and sang past his ears and he took one fearful glance downward.</p> + +<p>He saw men, spiked helmets on their heads, galloping among the trees, +and he knew that they were a daring band of Uhlans, actually scouting +inside the French lines. They were shooting at the <i>Arrow</i> and firing +fast.</p> + +<p>He attempted to rise so suddenly that the plane gave a violent jerk and +quivered in every fiber. He thought for a moment they were going to +fall, and the sickening sensation at his heart was overpowering. But the +trusty <i>Arrow</i> ceased quivering, and then rose swiftly at an angle not +too great.</p> + +<p>Bullets still whizzed around the plane, and one glanced off its polished +side, but John's first nervous jerkiness in handling the machine had +probably saved him. The target had been so high in air, and of such a +shifting nature that the Uhlans had little chance to hit it.</p> + +<p>He was now beyond the range of any rifle, and he drew a long breath of +relief that was like a deep sigh. Then he took a single downward glance, +and caught a fleeting glimpse of the Uhlans galloping away. Doubtless +they were making all speed back to their own army.</p> + +<p>He flew on for a minute or two, searching the horizon eagerly, and at +last, he saw a tall hill, a low hill and a flash of water between. He +felt so much joy that he uttered a cry, and an echo of it came from a +point almost by his side.</p> + +<p>"Did I hear firing, John?"</p> + +<p>It was Lannes' voice, feeble, but showing all the signs of returning +strength, and again John uttered a joyous shout.</p> + +<p>"You did," he replied. "It was Uhlans in a grove. I was flying low and +their bullets whistled around us. But the <i>Arrow</i> has taken no harm. I +see, too, the hills and the stream which are our landmarks. We're about +to arrive, Philip, with our message, but there's been treachery +somewhere. I wish I knew who was in that French plane."</p> + +<p>"So do I, John. It certainly came out of Paris. In my opinion it meant +to destroy us and keep our message from reaching the one for whom it was +intended. Who could it have been and how could he have known!"</p> + +<p>"Feeling better now, aren't you, Phil?"</p> + +<p>"A lot better. My head aches tremendously, but the dimness has gone from +before my eyes, and I'm able to think, in a poor and feeble way, +perhaps, but I'm not exactly a dumb animal. Where are the hills?"</p> + +<p>John pointed.</p> + +<p>"I can see them," said Lannes exultantly. "Since they did no harm I'm +glad the Uhlans fired at the <i>Arrow</i>. Their shots aroused me from stupor +and as we're to reach the army I want to be in possession of my five +senses when I get there."</p> + +<p>John understood perfectly.</p> + +<p>"It's your message and you deliver it," he said.</p> + +<p>Lannes' strength continued to increase, and his mind cleared rapidly. +His head ached frightfully, but he could think with all his usual +swiftness and precision. He sat erect in his seat.</p> + +<p>"Pass me your glasses, John," he said.</p> + +<p>"Now I see the troops," he said, after a long look. "Frenchmen, +Frenchmen, Frenchmen, infantry in thousands and scores of thousands, big +guns in scores and hundreds, cuirassiers, hussars, cannoneers! Ah! It's +a sight to kindle a dead heart back to life! John, this is one of the +great wheels in the mighty machine that is to move forward! Here come +two aeroplanes, scouts sent forward to see who and what we are."</p> + +<p>"You are sure they contain genuine Frenchmen? Remember the fellow who +shot you."</p> + +<p>"Frenchmen, good and true. I can see them for myself."</p> + +<p>He moved his hand, and in a few moments John heard hissing and purring +near, as if great birds were flying to meet him. The outlines of the +hovering planes showed by his side, and Lannes called in a loud voice to +shrouded and visored men.</p> + +<p>"Philip Lannes and his comrade, John Scott, with a message from Paris +to the commander!" he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>He was his old self again, erect, intense, dramatic. He evidently +expected the name Philip Lannes to be known well to them, and it was, as +a cheer followed high in air.</p> + +<p>"Now, John," said Lannes, "Be careful! Your hardest task is before you, +to land. But I've noticed that with you the harder the task the better +you do it. Make for that wide green space to the left of the stream and +come down as slowly and gently as you can. Just slide down."</p> + +<p>John had a fleeting glimpse of thousands of faces looking upward, but he +held a true course for the grassy area, and with a multitude looking on +his nerve was never steadier. Amid great cheering the <i>Arrow</i> came +safely to rest at her appointed place. John and Lannes stepped forth, as +an elderly man in a quiet uniform came forward to meet them.</p> + +<p>Lannes, holding himself stiffly erect, drew a paper from his pocket and +extended it to the general.</p> + +<p>"A letter, sir, from the commander-in-chief of all our armies," he said, +saluting proudly.</p> + +<p>As the general took the letter, Lannes' knees bent beneath him, and he +sank down on his face.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III" />CHAPTER III</h2> + +<h3>IN THE FRENCH CAMP</h3> + + +<p>John rushed forward and grasped his comrade. The sympathetic hands of +others seized him also, and they raised him to his feet, while an +officer gave him stimulant out of a flask, John meanwhile telling who +his comrade was. Lannes' eyes opened and he flushed through the tan of +his face.</p> + +<p>"Pardon," he said, "it was a momentary weakness. I am ashamed of myself, +but I shall not faint again."</p> + +<p>"You've been shot," said the officer, looking at his sanguinary cap and +face.</p> + +<p>"So I have, but I ask your pardon for it. I won't let it occur again."</p> + +<p>Lannes was now standing stiffly erect, and his eyes shone with pride, as +the general, a tall, elderly man, rapidly read the letter that Philip +had delivered with his own hand. The officer who had spoken of his wound +looked at him with approval.</p> + +<p>"I've heard of you, Philip Lannes," he said, "you're the greatest flying +man in the world."</p> + +<p>Lannes' eyes flashed now.</p> + +<p>"You do me too much honor," he said, "but it was not I who brought our +aeroplane here. It was my American friend, John Scott, now standing +beside me, who beat off an attack upon us and who then, although he had +had no practical experience in flying, guided the machine to this spot. +Born an American, he is one of us and France already owes him much."</p> + +<p>John raised his hand in protest, but he saw that Lannes was enjoying +himself. His dramatic instinct was finding full expression. He had not +only achieved a great triumph, but his best friend had an important +share in it. There was honor for both, and his generous soul rejoiced.</p> + +<p>Both John and Lannes stood at attention until the general had read the +letter not once but twice and thrice. Then he took off his glasses, +rubbed them thoughtfully a moment or two, replaced them and looked +keenly at the two. He was a quiet man and he made no gestures, but John +met his gaze serenely, read his eyes and saw the tremendous weight of +responsibility back of them.</p> + +<p>"You have done well, you two, perhaps far better than you know," said +the general, "and now, since you are wounded, Philip Lannes, you must +have attention. De Rougemont, take care of them."</p> + +<p>De Rougemont, a captain, was the man to whom they had been talking, and +he gladly received the charge. He was a fine, well built officer, under +thirty, and it was obvious that he already took a deep interest in the +two young aviators. Noticing Lannes' anxious glances toward his precious +machine, he promptly detailed two men to take care of the <i>Arrow</i> and +then he led John and Lannes toward the group of tents.</p> + +<p>"First I'll get a surgeon for you," he said to the Frenchman, "and after +that there's food for you both."</p> + +<p>"I hope you'll tell the surgeon to be careful how he takes off my cap," +said Lannes, "because it's fastened to my head now by my own dried +blood."</p> + +<p>"Trust me for that," said de Rougemont. "I'll bring one of our best +men."</p> + +<p>Then, unable to suppress his curiosity any longer, he added:</p> + +<p>"I suppose the message you brought was one of life or death for France."</p> + +<p>"I think so," said Lannes, "but I know little of its nature, myself."</p> + +<p>"I would not ask you to say any more. I know that you cannot speak of +it. But you can tell me this. Are the Germans before Paris?"</p> + +<p>"As nearly as I could tell, their vanguard was within fifteen miles of +the capital."</p> + +<p>"Then if we strike at all we must strike quickly. I think we're going to +strike."</p> + +<p>Lannes was silent, and they entered the tent, where blankets were spread +for him. A surgeon, young and skillful, came promptly, carefully removed +the cap and bound up his head. John stood by and handed the surgeon the +bandages.</p> + +<p>"You're not much hurt," he said to Lannes as he finished. "Your chief +injury was shock, and that has passed. I can keep down the fever and +you'll be ready for work very soon. The high powered bullet makes a +small and clean wound. It tears scarcely at all. Nor will your beauty be +spoiled in the slightest, young sir. Both orifices are under the full +thickness of your hair."</p> + +<p>"I'm grateful for all your assurances," said Lannes, his old indomitable +smile appearing in his eyes, "but you'll have to cure me fast, faster +than you ever cured anybody before, because I'm a flying man, and I fly +again tomorrow."</p> + +<p>"Not tomorrow. In two or three days, perhaps—"</p> + +<p>"Yes, tomorrow, I tell you! Nothing can keep me from it! This army will +march tonight! I know it! and do you think such a wound as this can keep +me here, when the fate of Europe is being decided? I'd rise from these +blankets and go with the army even if I knew that it would make me fall +dead the next day!"</p> + +<p>He spoke with such fierce energy that the surgeon who at first sternly +forbade, looked doubtful and then acquiescent.</p> + +<p>"Go, then," he said, "if you can. The fact that we have so many heroes +may save us."</p> + +<p>He left John alone in the tent with Lannes. The Frenchman regarded his +comrade with a cool, assured gaze.</p> + +<p>"John," he said, "I shall be up in the <i>Arrow</i> tomorrow. I'm not nervous +and excited now, and I'll not cause any fever in my wound. Somebody will +come in five minutes with food. I shall eat a good supper, fall quietly +to sleep, sleep soundly until night, then rise, refreshed and strong, +and go about the work for which I'm best fitted. My mind shall rule over +my body."</p> + +<p>"I see you're what we would call at home a Christian Scientist, and in +your case when a mind like yours is brought to bear there's something in +it."</p> + +<p>The food appeared within the prescribed time, and both ate heartily. +John watched Lannes. He knew that he would suffer agonies of +mortification if he were not able to share in the great movement which +so obviously was about to take place, and, as he looked, he felt a +growing admiration for Philip's immense power of self-control.</p> + +<p>Mind had truly taken command of body. Lannes ate slowly and with evident +relish. From without came many noises of a great army, but he refused to +be disturbed or excited by them. He spoke lightly of his life before the +war, and of a little country home that the Lannes family had in +Normandy.</p> + +<p>"We own the two places, that and the home in the city," he said. "The +house in Normandy is small, but it's beautiful, hidden by flower gardens +and orchards, with a tiny river just back of the last orchard. Julie has +spent most of her life there. She and my mother would go there now, but +it's safer at Lyons or in the Midi. A wonderful girl, Julie! I hope, +John, that you'll come for a long stay with us after the war, among the +Normandy orchards and roses."</p> + +<p>"I hope so," said John. He was dreaming a little then, and he saw young +Julie sitting at the table with them back in Paris. Truly, her golden +hair was the purest gold he had ever seen, and there was no other blue +like the blue of her blue eyes.</p> + +<p>"Now, John," said Lannes, "I'll resume my place on the blankets and in +ten minutes I'll be asleep."</p> + +<p>He lay down, closed his eyes and three minutes short of the appointed +time slept soundly. John gazed at him for a moment in wonder and +admiration. The triumph of will over body had been complete. He touched +Lannes' head. It was normally cool. Either the surgeon's skill had been +great or the very strength of his resolve had been so immense that he +had kept nerves and blood too quiet for fever to rise.</p> + +<p>John left the tent, feeling for the time a personal detachment from +everything. He had no position in this army, and no orders had been +given to him by anybody. But he knew that he was among friends, and +while he stood looking about in uncertainty Captain de Rougemont +appeared.</p> + +<p>"How is young Lannes?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Sleeping and free from fever. He will move with the army, or rather he +will be hovering over it in his aeroplane. I never before saw such +extraordinary power of will."</p> + +<p>"He's a wonderful fellow. Of course, most of us have heard of him +through his marvelous flying exploits, but it's the first time that I've +ever seen him. What are you going to do?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know. I seem to be left high and dry for the present, at least. +My company is with one of the armies, but where that army is now is more +than I can tell."</p> + +<p>"Nor do I know either. We're all in the dark here, but any young strong +man can certainly get a chance to fight in this war. I'm on the staff of +General Vaugirard, a brigade commander, and he needs active young +officers. You speak good French, and the fact that you came with Lannes +will be a great recommendation, I'll provide you with a horse and all +else necessary."</p> + +<p>John thanked him with great sincerity. The offer was in truth most +welcome. He knew that Lannes would willingly take him in the <i>Arrow</i>, +but he felt that he would be in the way there and, as he had said to his +friend, the rolling earth rather than the air around it was his true +field of action. His first enrollment in the French army had been +hurried and without due forms, but war had made it good.</p> + +<p>"I'll not come back for you until afternoon," said de Rougemont, +"because we're already making preparations to advance, and I shall have +much to do meanwhile. You can watch over Lannes and see that he's not +interrupted in his sleep. He'll need it."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I have reason to know that he did not sleep at all last night, and +he must be in a state of complete exhaustion. But, just as he predicted, +he'll rise, his old self again."</p> + +<p>Captain de Rougemont hurried away, and John was left alone in the midst +of a great army. He stood before Lannes' tent, which was in the midst of +a grassy and rather elevated opening, and he heard once more the +infinite sounds made by two hundred thousand armed men, blending into +one vast, fused note.</p> + +<p>The army, too, was moving, or getting ready to move. Batteries of the +splendid French artillery passed before him, squadrons of horsemen +galloped by, and regiments of infantry followed. It all seemed confused, +aimless to the eye, but John knew that nevertheless it was proceeding +with order and method, directed by a master mind.</p> + +<p>Often trumpets sounded and the motion of the troops seemed to quicken. +Now he beheld men from the lands of the sun, the short, dark, fierce +soldiers of the Midi, youths of Marseilles and youths of the first Roman +province, whose native language was Provencal and not French. He +remembered the men of the famous battalion who had marched from +Marseilles to Paris singing Rouget de Lisle's famous song, and giving it +their name, while they tore down an ancient kingdom. Doubtless, spirits +no less ardent and fearless than theirs were here now.</p> + +<p>He saw the Arabs in turbans and flowing robes, and black soldiers from +Senegal, and seeing these men from far African deserts he knew that +France was rallying her strength for a supreme effort. The German +Empire, with the flush of unbroken victory in war after war, could +command the complete devotion of its sons, but the French Republic, +without such triumphs as yet, could do as well. John felt an immense +pride because he, too, was republican to the core, and often there was a +lot in a name.</p> + +<p>It was about noon now, and the sun was shining with dazzling brilliancy. +The tall hill and the low hill were clothed in deep green, and the +waters of the little river that ran between, sparkled in the light. The +air was crisp with a cool wind that blew from the west, and John felt +that the omens were good for the great mysterious movement which he +believed to be at hand.</p> + +<p>He looked into the tent and saw that Lannes was sleeping soundly, with a +good color in his face. A powerful constitution aided by a strong will +had done its work and he was sure that on the morrow Lannes would again +be the most daring French scout of the air.</p> + +<p>John found the waiting hard work. There was so much movement and action +that he wanted to be a part of it. He had thrown in his lot with this +army and he wanted to share its work at once. Yet much time passed, and +de Rougemont did not return. The evidences that the great French army +was marching to the point designated in the note brought by Lannes +multiplied. From the crest of the hill he already saw large bodies of +troops marching forward steadily, their long blue coats flapping +awkwardly about their legs. He wondered once more why they wore such an +inharmonious and conspicuous uniform as blue frock coats and baggy red +trousers.</p> + +<p>He heard presently the martial sounds of the Marseillaise, and the +regiment singing it passed very close to him. The men were nearly all +short, dark, and very young. But the spring and fire with which they +marched were magnificent. As they thundered out the grand old tune their +feet seemed scarcely to touch the earth, and fierce eyes glowed in dark +faces.</p> + +<p>John, with a start, recognized one, a petty officer, a sergeant it +seemed, who marched beside the line. He was the most eager of them all, +and his face was tense and wrapt. It was Geronimo, the little Apache, in +whom the spark of patriotism had lit the fire of genius. His call had +come and it had drawn him from a half savage life into one of glorious +deeds for his country.</p> + +<p>"He'll be a general if he isn't killed first," murmured John, with +absolute conviction.</p> + +<p>Geronimo, at that moment, looked his way and recognized him. His hand +flew to his head in a military salute, which John returned in kind, and +his eyes plainly showed pleasure at sight of this new friend whom he had +made in a few minutes on the Butte Montmartre.</p> + +<p>"We meet again," he said, "and before the week is out it will be victory +or death."</p> + +<p>"I think so, too," said John.</p> + +<p>"I know it," said Geronimo, and, saluting once more, he marched on with +his regiment. John saw them pass across the valley and join the great +mass of troops that filled the whole northern horizon. About an hour +later a cheerful voice called to him, and he beheld Lannes standing in +the door of the tent, his head well bandaged, but his eyes clear and +strong and the natural color in his face.</p> + +<p>"What has happened, John?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"You've slept six or seven hours."</p> + +<p>"And while I slept, the army, as I can see, has begun its march +according to the order we brought. I'm sorry I had to miss any of it, +but I was bound to sleep."</p> + +<p>"You're a marvel."</p> + +<p>"No marvel at all. I'm merely one of a million Frenchmen molded on the +same model. An army can't move fast and tonight the <i>Arrow</i> and I will +be hovering over its front. There's your old place for you in the +plane."</p> + +<p>"I'd only be in your way, Philip. But can't you wait until tomorrow? +Don't rush yourself while you've got a new wound."</p> + +<p>"The wound is nothing. I'm bound to go tonight with the <i>Arrow</i>. But +what are you going to do if you don't go with me?"</p> + +<p>"A new friend whom I've made while you slept has found a place for me +with him, on the staff of General Vaugirard, a brigade commander. I +shall serve there until I'm able to rejoin the Strangers."</p> + +<p>"General Vaugirard! I've seen him. An able man, and a most noticeable +figure. You've fared well."</p> + +<p>"I hope so. Here comes Captain de Rougemont."</p> + +<p>The captain showed much pleasure at seeing Lannes up and apparently +well.</p> + +<p>"What! Has our king of the air revived so soon!" he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"The dead themselves would rise when we're about to strike for the life +of France," said Lannes, his dramatic quality again coming to the front.</p> + +<p>"Well spoken," said de Rougemont, the color flushing into his face.</p> + +<p>"I return to my aeroplane within two hours," said Lannes. "I hold a +commission from our government which allows me to operate somewhat as a +free lance, but, of course, I shall conform for the present to the +wishes of the man who commands the flying corps of this army. Meanwhile, +I leave with you my young Yankee friend here, John Scott. For some +strange reason I've conceived for him a strong brotherly affection. +Kindly see that he doesn't get killed unless it's necessary for our +country, and this, I think, is a long enough speech for me to make now."</p> + +<p>"I'll do my best for him," said de Rougemont earnestly. "I've come for +you, Scott."</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, Philip," said John, extending his hand.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, John," said Lannes, "and do as I tell you. Don't get yourself +killed unless it's absolutely necessary."</p> + +<p>Usually so stoical, his voice showed emotion, and he turned away after +the strong pressure of the two hands. John and de Rougemont walked down +the valley, where they joined General Vaugirard and the rest of his +staff.</p> + +<p>As soon as John saw the general he knew what Lannes meant by his phrase +"a noticeable figure." General Vaugirard was a man of about sixty, so +enormously fat that he must have weighed three hundred pounds. His face +was covered with thick white beard, out of which looked small, sharp red +eyes. He reminded John of a great white bear. The little red eyes bored +him through for an instant, and then their owner said briefly:</p> + +<p>"De Rougemont has vouched for you. Stay with him. An orderly has your +horse."</p> + +<p>A French soldier held for him a horse bearing all the proper equipment, +and John, saluting the general, sprang into the saddle. He was a good +horseman, and now he felt thoroughly sure of himself. If it came to the +worst, and he was unseated, the earth was not far away, but if he were +thrown out of the <i>Arrow</i> he would have a long and terrible time in +falling.</p> + +<p>General Vaugirard had not yet mounted, but stood beside a huge black +horse, fit to carry such a weight. He was listening and looking with the +deepest attention and his staff was silent around him. John saw from +their manner that these men liked and respected their immense general.</p> + +<p>More trumpets sounded, much nearer now, and a messenger galloped up, +handing a note to General Vaugirard, who glanced at it hastily, uttered +a deep Ah! of relief and joy and thrust it into his pocket.</p> + +<p>Then saying to his staff, "Gentlemen, we march at once," he put one hand +on his horse's shoulder, and, to John's immense surprise, leaped as +lightly into the saddle as if he had been a riding master. He settled +himself easily into his seat, spoke a word to his staff, and then he +rode with his regiments toward that great mass of men on the horizon who +were steadily marching forward.</p> + +<p>John kept by the side of de Rougemont. There were brief introductions to +some of the young officers nearest him, and he felt an air of +friendliness about him. As de Rougemont told them he had already given +ample proof of his devotion to the cause, and he was accepted promptly +as one of them.</p> + +<p>John was now conscious how strongly he had projected himself into the +life of the French. He was an American for generations back and his +blood by descent was British. He had been among the Germans and he liked +them personally, he had served already with the English, and their point +of view was more nearly like the American than any other. But he was +here with the French and he felt for them the deepest sympathy of all. +He was conscious of a tie like that of blood brotherhood.</p> + +<p>He knew it was due to the old and yet unpaid help France had given to +his own country, and above all to the conviction that France, minding +her own business, had been set upon by a greater power, with intent to +crush and destroy. France was attacked by a dragon, and the old similes +of mythology floated through his mind, but, oftenest, that of Andromeda +chained to the rock. And the figure that typified France always had the +golden hair and dark blue eyes of slim, young Julie Lannes.</p> + +<p>They advanced several hours almost in silence, as far as talk was +concerned, but two hundred thousand men marching made a deep and steady +murmur. General Vaugirard kept well in front of his staff, riding, +despite his immense bulk, like a Comanche, and occasionally putting his +glasses to those fiery little red eyes. At length he turned and beckoned +to John, who promptly drew up to his side.</p> + +<p>"You speak good French?" he said in his native tongue.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," replied John promptly.</p> + +<p>"I understand that you came with the flying man, Lannes, who brought the +message responsible for this march, and that it is not the only time +you've done good service in our cause?"</p> + +<p>John bowed modestly.</p> + +<p>"Did you see any German troops on the way?"</p> + +<p>"Only a band of Uhlans."</p> + +<p>"A mere scouting party. It occurred to me that you might have seen +masses of troops belonging to the foe, indicating perhaps what is +awaiting us at the end of our march."</p> + +<p>"I know nothing, sir. The Uhlans were all the foes we saw from the air, +save the man who shot Lannes."</p> + +<p>"I believe you. You belong to the youngest of the great nations. Your +people have not yet learned to say with the accents of truth the thing +that is not. I am sixty years old, and yet I have the curiosity to know +where I am going and what I am expected to do when I get there. Behold +how I, an old man, speak so frankly to you, so young."</p> + +<p>"When I saw your excellency leap into the saddle you did not seem to me +to be more than twenty."</p> + +<p>John called him "your excellency" because he thought that in the absence +of precise knowledge of what was fitting the term was as good as +another.</p> + +<p>A smile twinkled in the eyes of General Vaugirard. Evidently he was +pleased.</p> + +<p>"That is flattery, flattery, young man," he said, "but it pleases me. +Since I've drawn from you all you know, which is but little, you may +fall back with your comrades. But keep near; I fancy I shall have much +for you to do before long. Meanwhile, we march on, in ignorance of what +is awaiting us. Ah, well, such is life!"</p> + +<p>He seemed to John a strange compound of age and youth, a mixture of the +philosopher and the soldier. That he was a real leader John could no +longer doubt. He saw the little red eyes watching everything, and he +noticed that the regiments of Vaugirard had no superiors in trimness and +spirit.</p> + +<p>They marched until sundown and stopped in some woods clear of +undergrowth, like most of those in Europe. The camp kitchens went to +work at once, and they received good food and coffee. As far as John +could see men were at rest, but he could not tell whether the whole army +was doing likewise. It spread out much further to both right and left +than his eyes could reach.</p> + +<p>The members of the staff tethered their horses in the grove, and after +supper stood together and talked, while the fat general paced back and +forth, his brow wrinkled in deep thought.</p> + +<p>"Good old Papa Vaugirard is studying how to make the best of us," said +de Rougemont. "We're all his children. They say that he knows nearly ten +thousand men under his command by face if not by name, and we trust him +as no other brigade commander in the army is trusted by his troops. He's +thinking hard now, and General Vaugirard does not think for nothing. As +soon as he arrives at what seems to him a solution of his problem he +will begin to whistle. Then he will interrupt his whistling by saying: +'Ah, well, such is life.'"</p> + +<p>"I hope he'll begin to whistle soon," said John, "because his brow is +wrinkling terribly."</p> + +<p>He watched the huge general with a sort of fascinated gaze. Seen now in +the twilight, Vaugirard's very bulk was impressive. He was immense, +strong, primeval. He walked back and forth over a line about thirty feet +long, and the deep wrinkles remained on his brow. Every member of his +staff was asking how long it would last.</p> + +<p>A sound, mellow and soft, but penetrating, suddenly arose. General +Vaugirard was whistling, and John's heart gave a jump of joy. He did not +in the least doubt de Rougemont's assertion that an answer to the +problem had been found.</p> + +<p>General Vaugirard whistled to himself softly and happily. Then he said +twice, and in very clear tones: "Ah, well, such is life!" He began to +whistle again, stopped in a moment or two and called to de Rougemont, +with whom he talked a while.</p> + +<p>"We're to march once more in a half-hour," said de Rougemont, when he +returned to John and his comrades. "It must be a great converging +movement in which time is worth everything. At least, General Vaugirard +thinks so, and he has a plan to get us into the very front of the +action."</p> + +<p>"I hope so," said John. "I'm not anxious to get killed, but I'd rather +be in the battle than wait. I wonder if I'll meet anywhere on the front +that company to which I belong, the Strangers."</p> + +<p>"I think I've heard of them," said de Rougemont, "a body of Americans +and Englishmen, volunteers in the French service, commanded by Captain +Daniel Colton."</p> + +<p>"Right you are, and I've two particular friends in that company—I +suppose they've rejoined it—Wharton, an American, and Carstairs, an +Englishman. We went through a lot of dangers together before we reached +the British army near Mons, and I'd like to see them again."</p> + +<p>"Maybe you will, but here comes an extraordinary procession."</p> + +<p>They heard many puffing sounds, uniting in one grand puffing chorus, and +saw advancing down a white road toward them a long, ghostly train, as if +a vast troop of extinct monsters had returned to earth and were marching +this way. But John knew very well that it was a train of automobiles and +raising the glasses that he now always carried he saw that they were +empty except for the chauffeurs.</p> + +<p>General Vaugirard began to whistle his mellowest and most musical tune, +stopping only at times to mutter a few words under his breath. John +surmised that he was expressing deep satisfaction, and that he had been +waiting for the motor train. War was now fought under new conditions. +The Germans had thousands and scores of thousands of motors, and perhaps +the French were provided almost as well.</p> + +<p>"I fancy," said de Rougemont, who was also watching the arrival of the +machines, "that we'll leave our horses now and travel by motor."</p> + +<p>De Rougemont's supposition was correct. The line of automobiles began to +mass in front, many rows deep, and all the chauffeurs, their great +goggles shining through the darkness, were bent over their wheels ready +to be off at once with their armed freight. It filled John with elation, +and he saw the same spirit shining in the eyes of the young French +officers.</p> + +<p>General Vaugirard began to puff like one of the machines. He threw out +his great chest, pursed up his mouth and emitted his breath in little +gusts between his lips, "Very good! Very good, my children!" he said, +"Oil and electricity will carry us now, and we go forward, not +backward!"</p> + +<p>True to de Rougemont's prediction, the horses were given to orderlies, +and the staff and a great portion of the troops were taken into the +cars. General Vaugirard and several of the older officers occupied a +huge machine, and just behind him came de Rougemont, John and a +half-dozen young lieutenants and captains in another. Before them +stretched a great white road. Far overhead hovered many aeroplanes. John +had no doubt that the <i>Arrow</i> was among them, or rather was the farthest +one forward. Lannes' eager soul, wound or no wound, would keep him in +front.</p> + +<p>They now moved rapidly, and John's spirits continued to rise. There was +something wonderful in this swift march on wheels in the moonlight. As +far back as he could see the machines came in a stream, and to the left +and right he saw them proceeding on other roads also. All the country +was strange to John. He could not remember having seen it from the +aeroplane, and he was sure that the army, instead of going to Paris, was +bound for some point where it would come in instant contact with the +German forces.</p> + +<p>"Do you know the road?" he asked of de Rougemont.</p> + +<p>"Not at all. I'm from the Gironde country. I've been in Paris, but I +know little of the region about it. A good way to reach the front, is it +not, Mr. Scott?"</p> + +<p>"Fine. I fancy that we're hurried forward to make a link in a chain, or +at least to stop a gap."</p> + +<p>"And those large birds overhead are scouting for us."</p> + +<p>"Look! One of them is dropping down. I dare say it's making a report to +some general higher in rank than ours."</p> + +<p>He pointed with a long forefinger, and John watched the aeroplane come +down in its slanting course like a falling star. It was a beautiful +night, a light blue sky, with a fine moon and hosts of clear stars. One +could see far, and soon after the plane descended John saw it rise again +from the same spot, ascend high in air, and shoot off toward the east.</p> + +<p>"That may have been Lannes," he said.</p> + +<p>"Likely as not," said de Rougemont.</p> + +<p>John now observed General Vaugirard, who sat erect in the front of his +automobile, with a pair of glasses, relatively as huge as himself, to +his eyes. Occasionally he would purse his lips, and John knew that his +favorite expression was coming forth. To the young American's +imaginative mind his broad back expressed rigidity and strength.</p> + +<p>The great murmuring sound, the blended advance of so many men, made John +sleepy by-and-by. In spite of himself his heavy eyelids drooped, and +although he strove manfully against it, sleep took him. When he awoke he +heard the same deep murmur, like the roll of the sea, and saw the army +still advancing. It was yet night, though fine and clear, and there +before him was the broad, powerful back of the general. Vaugirard was +still using the glasses and John judged that he had not slept at all. +But in his own machine everybody was asleep except the man at the wheel.</p> + +<p>The country had grown somewhat hillier, but its characteristics were the +same, fertile, cultivated fields, a small wood here and there, clear +brooks, and church spires shining in the dusk. Both horse and foot +advanced across the fields, but the roads were occupied by the motors, +which John judged were carrying at least twenty thousand men and maybe +forty thousand.</p> + +<p>He was not sleepy now, and he watched the vast panorama wheel past. He +knew without looking at his watch that the night was nearly over, +because he could already smell the dawn. The wind was freshening a bit, +and he heard its rustle in the leaves of a wood as they pushed through +it.</p> + +<p>Then came a hum and a whir, and a long line of men on motor cycles at +the edge of the road crept up and then passed them. One checked his +speed enough to run by the side of John's car, and the rider, raising +his head a little, gazed intently at the young American. His cap closed +over his face like a hood, but the man knew him.</p> + +<p>"Fortune puts us on the same road again, Mr. Scott," he said.</p> + +<p>"I don't believe I know you," said John, although there was a familiar +note in the voice.</p> + +<p>"And yet you've met me several times, and under exciting conditions. It +seems to me that we're always pursuing similar things, or we wouldn't be +together on the same road so often. You're acute enough. Don't you know +me now?"</p> + +<p>"I think I do. You're Fernand Weber, the Alsatian."</p> + +<p>"And so I am. I knew your memory would not fail you. It's a great +movement that we've begun, Mr. Scott. France will be saved or destroyed +within the next few days."</p> + +<p>"I think so."</p> + +<p>"You've deserted your friend, Philip Lannes, the finest of our airmen."</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, I haven't. He's deserted me. I couldn't afford to be a burden +on his aeroplane at such a time as this."</p> + +<p>"I suppose not. I saw an aeroplane come down to earth a little while +ago, and then rise again. I'm sure it was his machine, the <i>Arrow</i>."</p> + +<p>"So am I."</p> + +<p>"Here's where he naturally would be. Good-bye, Mr. Scott, and good luck +to you. I must go on with my company."</p> + +<p>"Good-bye and good luck," repeated John, as the Alsatian shot forward. +He liked Weber, who had a most pleasing manner, and he was glad to have +seen him once more.</p> + +<p>"Who was that?" asked de Rougemont, waking from his sleep and catching +the last words of farewell.</p> + +<p>"An Alsatian, named Fernand Weber, who has risked his life more than +once for France. He belongs to the motor-cycle corps that's just +passing."</p> + +<p>"May he and his comrades soon find the enemy, because here is the day."</p> + +<p>The leaves and grass rippled before the breeze and over the eastern +hills the dawn broke.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV" />CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<h3>THE INVISIBLE HAND</h3> + + +<p>It was a brilliant morning sun, deepening the green of the pleasant +land, lighting up villages and glinting off church steeples. In a field +a little distance to their right John saw two peasants at work already, +bent over, their eyes upon the ground, apparently as indifferent to the +troops as the troops were to them.</p> + +<p>It was very early, but the sun was rising fast, unfolding a splendid +panorama. The French army with its blues and reds was more spectacular +than the German, and hence afforded a more conspicuous target. John was +sure that if the war went on the French would discard these vivid +uniforms and betake themselves to gray or khaki. He saw clearly that the +day of gorgeous raiment for the soldier had passed.</p> + +<p>The great puffing sound of primeval monsters which had blended into one +rather harmonious note ceased, as if by signal, and the innumerable +motors stopped. As far as John could see the army stretched to left and +right over roads, hills and fields, but in the fields behind them the +silent peasants went on with their work—in fields which the Republic +had made their own.</p> + +<p>"I think we take breakfast here," said Rougemont. "War is what one of +your famous American generals said it was, but for the present, at +least, we are marching <i>de luxe</i>. Here comes one of those glorious +camp-kitchens."</p> + +<p>An enormous motor vehicle, equipped with all the paraphernalia of a +kitchen, stopped near them, and men, trim and neatly dressed, served hot +food and steaming coffee. General Vaugirard had alighted also, and John +noticed that his step was much more springy and alert than that of some +officers half his age. His breath came in great gusts, and the small +portion of his face not covered by thick beard was ruddy and glowing +with health. He drank several cups of coffee with startling rapidity, +draining each at a breath, and between times he whistled softly a +pleasing little refrain.</p> + +<p>The march must be going well. Undoubtedly General Vaugirard had received +satisfactory messages in the night, while his young American aide, and +other Frenchmen as young, slept.</p> + +<p>"Well, my children," he said, rubbing his hands after his last cup of +coffee had gone to its fate, "the day dawns and behold the sun of France +is rising. It's not the sun of Austerlitz, but a modest republican sun +that can grow and grow. Behold we are at the appointed place, set forth +in the message that came to us from the commander-in-chief through +Paris, and then by way of the air! And, look, my children, the bird +from the blue descends once more among us!"</p> + +<p>There were flying machines of many kinds in the air, but John promptly +picked out one which seemed to be coming with the flight of an eagle out +of its uppermost heights. He seemed to know its slim, lithe shape, and +the rapidity and decision of its approach. His heart thrilled, as it had +thrilled when he saw the <i>Arrow</i> coming for the first time on that spur +of the Alps near Salzburg.</p> + +<p>"It's for me," said General Vaugirard, as he looked upward. "This flying +demon, this man without fear, was told to report directly to me, and he +conies at the appointed hour."</p> + +<p>Something of the mystery that belongs to the gulf of the infinite was +reflected in the general's eyes. He, too, felt that man's flight in the +heavens yet had in it a touch of the supernatural. Lannes' plane had +seemed to shoot from white clouds, out of unknown spaces, and the +general ceased to whistle or breathe gustily. His chest rose and fell +more violently than usual, but the breath came softly.</p> + +<p>The plane descended rapidly and settled down on the grass very near +them. Lannes saluted and presented a note to General Vaugirard, who +started and then expelled the breath from his lungs in two or three +prodigious puffs.</p> + +<p>"Good, my son, good!" he exclaimed, patting Lannes repeatedly on the +shoulder; "and now a cup of coffee for you at once! Hurry with it, some +of you idle children! Can't you see that he needs it!"</p> + +<p>John was first with the coffee, which Lannes drank eagerly, although it +was steaming hot. John saw that he needed it very much indeed, as he was +white and shaky. He noticed, too, that there were spots of blood on +Lannes' left sleeve.</p> + +<p>"What is it, Philip?" he whispered. "You've been attacked again?"</p> + +<p>"Aye, truly. My movements seem to be observed by some mysterious eye. A +shot was fired at me, and again it came from a French plane. That was +all I could see. We were in a bank of mist at the time, and I just +caught a glimpse of the plane itself. The man was a mere shapeless +figure to me. I had no time to fight him, because I was due here with +another message which made vengeance upon him at that time a matter of +little moment."</p> + +<p>He flecked the red drops off his sleeve, and added:</p> + +<p>"It was but a scratch. My weary look comes from a long and hard flight +and not from the mysterious bullet. I'm to rest here an hour, which will +be sufficient to restore me, and then I'm off again."</p> + +<p>"Is there any rule against your telling me what you've seen, Philip?"</p> + +<p>De Rougemont and several other officers had approached, drawn by their +curiosity, and interest in Lannes.</p> + +<p>"None at all," he replied in a tone all could hear, "but I'm able to +speak in general terms only. I can't give details, because I don't know +'em. The Germans are not many miles ahead. They're in hundreds of +thousands, and I hear that this is only one of a half-dozen armies."</p> + +<p>"And our own force?" said de Rougemont eagerly.</p> + +<p>Lannes' chest expanded. The dramatic impulse was strong upon him again.</p> + +<p>"There is another army on our right, and another on our left," he +replied, "and although I don't know surely, I think there are others +still further on the line. The English are somewhere with us, too."</p> + +<p>John felt his face tingle as the blood rose in it. He had left a Paris +apparently lost. Within a day almost a tremendous transformation had +occurred. A mighty but invisible intellect, to which he was yet scarcely +able to attach a name, had been at work. The French armies, the beaten +and the unbeaten, had become bound together like huge links in a chain, +and the same invisible and all but nameless mind was drawing the chain +forward with gigantic force.</p> + +<p>"A million Frenchmen must be advancing," he heard Lannes saying, and +then he came out of his vision. General Vaugirard bustled up and gave +orders to de Rougemont, who said presently to John:</p> + +<p>"Can you ride a motor cycle?"</p> + +<p>"I've had some experience, and I'm willing to make it more."</p> + +<p>"Good. In this army, staff officers will no longer have horses shot +under them. We're to take orders on motor cycles. They've been sent +ahead for us, and here's yours waiting for you."</p> + +<p>The cycles were leaning against trees, and the members of the staff took +their places beside them. General Vaugirard walked a little distance up +the road, climbed into an automobile and, standing up, looked a long +time through his glasses. Lannes, who had been resting on the grass, +approached the general and John saw him take a note from him. Then +Lannes went away to the <i>Arrow</i> and sailed off into the heavens. Many +other planes were flying over the French army and far off in front John +saw through his own glasses a fleet of them which he knew must be +German.</p> + +<p>Then he heard a sound, faint but deep, which came rolling like an echo, +and he recognized it as the distant note of a big gun. He quivered a +little, as he leaned against his motor cycle, but quickly stiffened +again to attention. The faint rolling sound came again from their right +and then many times. John, using his glasses, saw nothing there, and the +giant general, still standing up in the car and also using his glasses, +saw nothing there either.</p> + +<p>Yet the same quiver that affected John had gone through this whole army +of two hundred thousand men, one of the huge links in the French chain. +There was none among them who did not know that the far note was the +herald of battle, not a mere battle of armies, but of nations face to +face.</p> + +<p>General Vaugirard did not show any excitement. He leaped lightly from +the car, and then began to pace up and down slowly, as if he were +awaiting orders. The men moved restlessly on the meadows, looking like a +vast sea of varied colors, as the sun glimmered on the red and blue of +their uniforms.</p> + +<p>But no order came for them to advance. John thought that perhaps they +were saved to be driven as a wedge into the German center and whispered +his belief to de Rougemont, who agreed with him.</p> + +<p>"They are opening on the left, too," said the Frenchman. "Can't you hear +the growling of the guns there?"</p> + +<p>John listened and soon he separated the note from other sounds. Beyond a +doubt the battle had now begun on both flanks, though at distant points. +He wondered where the English force was, though he had an idea that it +was on the left then. Yet he was already thoroughly at home with the +staff of General Vaugirard.</p> + +<p>The growling on either side of them seemed soon to come a little closer, +but John knew nevertheless that it was many miles away.</p> + +<p>"Not an enemy in sight, not even a trace of smoke," said de Rougemont to +him. "We seem to be a great army here, merely resting in the fields, and +yet we know that a huge battle is going on."</p> + +<p>"And that's about all we do know," said John. "What has impressed me in +this war is the fact that high officers even know so little. When cannon +throw shells ten or twelve miles, eyesight doesn't get much chance."</p> + +<p>A wait for a full half-hour followed, a period of intense anxiety for +all in the group, and for the whole army too. John used his glasses +freely, and often he saw the French soldiers moving about in a restless +manner, until they were checked by their officers. But most of them were +lying down, their blue coats and red trousers making a vast and vivid +blur against the green of the grass.</p> + +<p>All the while the sound of the cannon grew, but, despite the power of +his glasses, John could not see a sign of war. Only that roaring sound +came to tell him that battle, vast, gigantic, on a scale the world had +never seen before, was joined, and the volume of the cannon fire, beyond +a doubt, was growing. It pulsed heavily, and either he or his fancy +noticed a steady jarring motion. A faint acrid taint crept into the air +and he felt it in his nose and throat. He coughed now and then, and he +observed that men around him coughed also. But, on the whole, the army +was singularly still, the soldiers straining eye or ear to see something +or hear more of the titanic struggle that was raging on either side of +them.</p> + +<p>John again searched the horizon eagerly with his glasses, but it showed +only green hills and bits of wood, bare of human activity. The French +aeroplanes still hovered, but not in front of General Vaugirard. They +were off to right and left, where the wings of the nations had closed in +combat. He was ceasing to think of the foes as armies, but as nations in +battle line. Here stood not a French army, but France, and there stood +not a German army, but Germany.</p> + +<p>As he looked toward the left he picked out a narrow road, running +between hedges, and showing but a strip of white even through the +glasses. He saw something coming along this road. It was far away when +he first noticed it, but it was coming with great speed, and he was soon +able to tell that it was a man on a motor cycle. His pulse leaped +again. He felt instinctively that the rider was for them and that he +bore something of great import. The figure, man and cycle, molded into +one, sped along the narrow road which led to the base of the hill on +which General Vaugirard and his staff stood.</p> + +<p>The huge general saw the approaching figure too, and he began to whistle +melodiously like the note of a piccolo, with the vast thunder of the +guns accompanying him as an orchestra. John knew that the cyclist was a +messenger, and that he was eagerly expected. An order of some kind was +at hand! All the members of the staff had the same conviction.</p> + +<p>The cyclist stopped at the bottom of the hill, leaped from the machine +and ran to General Vaugirard, to whom he handed a note. The general read +it, expelled his breath in a mighty gust, and turning to his staff, +said:</p> + +<p>"My children, our time has come. The whole central army of which we are +a part will advance. It will perhaps be known before night whether +France is to remain a great nation or become the vassal of Germany. My +children, if France ever had need for you to fight with all your hearts +and souls, that need is here today."</p> + +<p>His manner was simple and majestic, and his words touched the mind and +feeling of every one who heard them. John was moved as much as if he had +been a Frenchman too. He felt a profound sympathy for this devoted +France, which had suffered so much, to which his own country still owed +that great debt, and which had a right to her own soil, fertilized with +so many centuries of labor.</p> + +<p>General Vaugirard, resting a pad on his knee, wrote rapid notes which he +gave to the members of his staff in turn to be delivered. John's was to +a Parisian regiment lying in a field, and expanding body and mind into +instant action, he leaped upon the cycle and sped away. It was often +hard for him now to separate fact from fancy. His imagination, vivid at +all times, painted new pictures while such a tremendous drama passed +before him.</p> + +<p>Yet he knew afterward that the sound of the battle did increase in +volume as he flew over the short distance to the regiment. Both east and +west were shaking with the tremendous concussion. One crash he heard +distinctly above the others and he believed it was that of a forty-two +centimeter.</p> + +<p>He reached the field, his cycle spun between the eager soldiers, and as +he leaped off in the presence of the colonel he fairly thrust the note +into his hand, exclaiming at the same time in his zeal, "It's an order +to advance! The whole Army of the Center is about to attack."</p> + +<p>He called it the Army of the Center at a guess, but names did not matter +now. The colonel glanced at the note, waved his sword above his head and +cried in a loud voice:</p> + +<p>"My lads, up and forward!"</p> + +<p>The regiment arose with a roar of cheering and began to advance across +the fields. John caught a glimpse of a petty officer, short and small, +but as compact and fierce as a panther, driving on men who needed no +driving. "Geronimo is going to make good," he said to himself. "He'll do +or die today."</p> + +<p>As he raced back for new orders, if need be, he knew now that fact not +fancy told him the battle was growing. The earth shook not only on right +and left but in front also. A hasty look through the glasses showed +little tongues of fire licking up on the horizon before them and he knew +that they came from the monster cannon of the Germans who were surely +advancing, while the French were advancing also to meet them.</p> + +<p>General Vaugirard sprang into his automobile, taking only two of his +senior officers with him, while the rest followed on their motor cycles. +As far as John could see on either side the vast rows of French swept +across hills and fields. There was little shouting now and no sound of +bands, but presently a shout arose behind them: "Way for the artillery!"</p> + +<p>Then he heard cries, the rumble of wheels and the rapid beat of hoofs. +With an instinctive shudder, lest he be ground to pieces, he pulled from +the road, and saw the motor of General Vaugirard turn out also. Then the +great French batteries thundered past to seek positions soon in the +fields behind low hills. He saw them a little later unlimbering and +making ready.</p> + +<p>The French advance changed from a walk to a trot. John saw the Parisian +regiment, not far away, but at the very front and he knew that among all +those ardent souls there was none more ardent than that of the little +Apache, Bougainville. Meanwhile, Vaugirard in his motor kept to the +road and the staff on their motor cycles followed closely.</p> + +<p>On both flanks the thunder of massed cannon was deepening, and now John, +who used his glasses occasionally, was able to see wisps and tendrils of +smoke on the eastern and northern horizons. The tremor in the air was +strong and continuous. It played incessantly upon the drums of his ears, +and he found that he could not hear the words of the other aides so well +as before. But there was no succession of crashes. The sound was more +like the roaring of a distant storm.</p> + +<p>They advanced another mile, two hundred thousand men, afire with zeal, a +whole vast army moved forward as the other French armies were by the +hidden hand which they could not see, of which they knew nothing, but +the touch of which they could feel.</p> + +<p>John heard a whizzing sound, he caught a glimpse of a dark object, +rushing forward at frightful velocity, and then he and his wheel reeled +beneath the force of a tremendous explosion. The shell coming from an +invisible point, miles away, had burst some distance on his right, +scattering death and wounds over a wide radius. But Vaugirard's brigades +did not stop for one instant. They cheered loudly, closed up the gap in +their line, and went on steadily as before. Some one began to sing the +Marseillaise, and in an instant the song, like fire in dry grass, spread +along a vast front. John had often wished that he could have heard the +armies of the French Revolution singing their tremendous battle hymn as +they marched to victory, and now he heard it on a scale far more +gigantic than in the days of the First French Republic.</p> + +<p>The vast chorus rolled for miles and for all he knew other armies, far +to right and left, might be singing it, too. The immense volume of the +song drowned out everything, even that tremor in the air, caused by the +big guns. John's heart beat so hard that it caused actual physical pain +in his side, and presently, although he was unconscious of it, he was +thundering out the verses with the others.</p> + +<p>He was riding by the side of de Rougemont, and he stopped singing long +enough to shout, at the top of his voice:</p> + +<p>"No enemy in sight yet?"</p> + +<p>"No," de Rougemont shouted back, "but he doesn't need to be. The German +guns have our range."</p> + +<p>From a line on the distant horizon, from positions behind hills, the +German shells were falling fast, cutting down men by hundreds, tearing +great holes in the earth, and filling the air with an awful shrieking +and hissing. It was all the more terrible because the deadly missiles +seemed to come from nowhere. It was like a mortal hail rained out of +heaven. John had not yet seen a German, nothing but those tongues of +fire licking up on the horizon, and some little whitish clouds of smoke, +lifting themselves slowly above the trees, yet the thunder was no longer +a rumble. It had a deep and angry note, whose burden was death.</p> + +<p>They must maintain their steady march directly toward the mouths of +those guns. John comprehended in those awful moments that the task of +the French was terrible, almost superhuman. If their nation was to live +they must hurl back a victorious foe, practically numberless, armed and +equipped with everything that a great race in a half-century of supreme +thought and effort could prepare for war. It was spirit and patriotism +against the monstrous machine of fire and steel, and he trembled lest +the machine could overcome anything in the world.</p> + +<p>He was about to shout again to de Rougemont, but his words were lost in +the rending crash of the French artillery. Their batteries were posted +on both sides of him, and they, too, had found the range. All along the +front hundreds of guns were opening and John hastily thrust portions +that he tore from his handkerchief into his ear, lest he be deafened +forever.</p> + +<p>The sight, at first magnificent, now became appalling. The shells came +in showers and the French ranks were torn and mangled. Companies existed +and then they were not. The explosions were like the crash of +thunderbolts, but through it all the French continued to advance. Those +whose knees grew weak beneath them were upborne and carried forward by +the press of their comrades. The French gunners, too, were making +prodigious efforts but with cannon of such long range neither side could +see what its batteries were accomplishing. John was sure, though, that +the great French artillery must be giving as good as it received.</p> + +<p>He was conscious that General Vaugirard was still going forward along +the long white road, sweeping his glasses from left to right and from +right to left in a continuous semi-circle, apparently undisturbed, +apparently now without human emotion. He was no figure of romance, but +he was a man, cool and powerful, ready to die with all his men, if death +for them was needed.</p> + +<p>Still the invisible hand swept them on, the hand that a million men in +action could not see, but which every one of the million, in his own +way, felt. The crash of the guns on both sides had become fused together +into one roar, so steady and continued so long that the sound seemed +almost normal. Voices could now be heard under it and John spoke to de +Rougemont.</p> + +<p>"Can you make anything of it?" he asked. "Do we win or do we lose?"</p> + +<p>"It's too early yet to tell anything. The cannon only are speaking, but +you'll note that our army is advancing."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I see it. Before I've only beheld it in retreat before +overwhelming numbers. This is different."</p> + +<p>General Vaugirard beckoned to his aides, and again sent them out with +messages. John's note was to the commander of a battery of field guns +telling him to move further forward. He started at once through the +fields on his motor cycle, but he could not go fast now. The ground had +been cut deep by artillery and cavalry and torn by shells and he had to +pick his way, while the shower of steel, sent by men who were firing by +mathematics, swept over and about him.</p> + +<p>Shivers seized him more than once, as shrapnel and pieces of shell flew +by. Now and then he covered his eyes with one hand to shut out the +horror of dead and torn men lying on either side of his path, but in +spite of the shells, in spite of the deadly nausea that assailed him at +times, he went on. The rush of air from a shell threw him once from his +motor cycle, but as he fell on soft clodded earth he was not hurt, and, +springing quickly back on his wheel, he reached the battery.</p> + +<p>The order was welcome to the commander of the guns, who was anxious to +go closer, and, limbering up, he advanced as rapidly as weapons of such +great weight could be dragged across the fields. John followed, that he +might report the result. They were now facing toward the east and the +whole horizon there was a blaze of fire. The shells were coming thicker +and thicker, and the air was filled with the screaming of the shrapnel.</p> + +<p>The commander of the battery, a short, powerful Frenchman, was as cool +as ice, and John drew coolness from him. One can get used to almost +anything, and his nervous tremors were passing. Despite the terrible +fire of the German artillery the French army was still advancing. Many +thousands had fallen already before the shells and shrapnel of the +invisible foe, but there had been no check.</p> + +<p>The cannon crossed a brook, and, unlimbering, again opened a tremendous +fire. To one side and on a hill here, a man whom the commander watched +closely was signaling. John knew that he was directing the aim of the +battery and the French, like the Germans, were killing by mathematics.</p> + +<p>He rode his cycle to the crest of a little elevation behind the battery +and with his newfound coolness began to use his glasses again. Despite +the thin, whitish smoke, he saw men on the horizon, mere manikins moving +back and forth, apparently without meaning, but men nevertheless. He +caught, too, the outline of giant tubes, the huge guns that were sending +the ceaseless rain of death upon the French.</p> + +<p>He also saw signs of hurry and confusion among those manikins, and he +knew that the French shells were striking them. He rode down to the +commander and told him. The swart Frenchman grinned.</p> + +<p>"My children are biting," he said, glancing affectionately at his guns. +"They're brave lads, and their teeth are long and sharp."</p> + +<p>He looked at his signal man, and the guns let loose again with a force +that sent the air rushing away in violent waves. Batteries farther on +were firing also with great rapidity. In most of these the gunners were +directed by field telephones strung hastily, but the one near John still +depended upon signal men. It was composed of eight five-inch guns, and +John believed that its fire was most accurate and deadly.</p> + +<p>Using his glasses again, he saw that the disturbance among those +manikins was increasing. They were running here and there, and many +seemed to vanish suddenly—he knew that they were blown away by the +shells. To the right of the great French battery some lighter field guns +were advancing. One drawn by eight horses had not yet unlimbered, and he +saw a shell strike squarely upon it. In the following explosion pieces +of steel whizzed by him and when the smoke cleared away the gun, the +gunners and the horses were all gone. The monster shell had blown +everything to pieces. The other guns hurried on, took up their positions +and began to fire. John shuddered violently, but in a moment or two, he, +too, forgot the little tragedy in the far more gigantic one that was +being played before him.</p> + +<p>He rode back to General Vaugirard and told him that his order had been +obeyed. The general nodded, but did not take his glasses from the +horizon, where a long gray line was beginning to appear against the +green of the earth. "It goes well so far," John heard him say in the +under note which was audible beneath the thunder of the battle.</p> + +<p>In a quarter of an hour the great batteries limbered up again, and once +more the French army went forward, the troops to lie down and wait +again, while the artillery worked with ferocious energy. It was yet a +battle of big guns, at least in the center. The armies were not near +enough to each other for rifles; in truth not near enough yet to be +seen. John, even with his glasses, could only discern the gray line +advancing, he could make little of its form or order or of what it was +trying to do.</p> + +<p>But a light wind was now bringing smoke from one flank where the battle +was far heavier than in the center, and the concussion of the artillery +at that point became so frightful that the air seemed to come in waves +of the utmost violence and to beat upon the drum of the ear with the +force of a hammer. Owing to the wind John could not hear the battle on +the other flank so well, but he believed that it was being fought there +with equal fury and determination.</p> + +<p>He was watching with such intentness that he did not hear the sweep of +an aeroplane behind him, but he did see Lannes run to General +Vaugirard's car and give him a note.</p> + +<p>While the general read and pondered, Lannes turned toward the wheel on +which John sat. Although he tried to preserve calm, John knew that he +was tremendously excited. He had taken off his heavy glasses and his +wonderful gray eyes were flashing. It was obvious to his friend, who now +knew him so well, that he was moved by some tremendous emotion.</p> + +<p>John rode up by the side of Lannes and said:</p> + +<p>"What have you seen, Philip? You can tell a little at least, can't you?"</p> + +<p>"More than a little! A lot! The <i>Arrow</i> and I have looked over a great +area, John! Miles and miles and yet more miles! and wherever we went we +gazed down upon armies locked in battle, and beyond that were other +armies locked in battle, too! The nations meet in wrath! You can't see +it here, nor from anywhere on the earth! It's only in the air high +overhead that one can get even a partial view of its immensity! The +English army is off there on the flank, a full thirty miles away, and +you're not likely to see it today!"</p> + +<p>He would have said more, but General Vaugirard beckoned to him, gave him +a note which he had written hastily, and in a few more minutes Lannes +was flitting like a swallow through the heavens. Then General +Vaugirard's car moved forward and brigade after brigade of the French +army resumed its advance also.</p> + +<p>John felt that the great German machine had been met by a French machine +as great. Perhaps the master mind that thrills through an organism of +steel no less than one of human flesh was on the French side. He did not +know. The invisible hand thrusting forward the French armies was still +invisible to him. Yet he felt with the certainty of conviction that the +eye and the brain of one man were achieving a marvel. In some mysterious +manner the French defense had become an offense. The Republican troops +were now attacking and the Imperial troops were seeking to hold fast.</p> + +<p>He seemed to comprehend it all in an instant, and a mighty joy surged +over him. De Rougemont saw his glistening eye and he asked curiously:</p> + +<p>"What is it that you are feeling so strongly, Mr. Scott?"</p> + +<p>"The thrill of the advance! The unknown plan, whatever it is, is +working! Your nation is about to be saved! I feel it! I know it!"</p> + +<p>De Rougemont gazed at him, and then the light leaped into his own eyes.</p> + +<p>"A prophet! A prophet!" he cried. "Inspired youth speaks!"</p> + +<p>A great crisis may call into being a great impulse, and de Rougemont's +words were at once accepted as truth by all the young aides. Words of +fire, words vital with life had gone forth, predicting their triumph, +and as they rode among the troops carrying orders they communicated +their burning zeal to the men who were already eager for closer battle.</p> + +<p>The storm of missiles from the cannon was increasing rapidly. John now +distinctly saw the huge German masses, not advancing but standing firm +to receive the French attack, their front a vast line of belching guns. +He knew that they would soon be within the area of rifle fire and he +knew with equal truth that it would take the valor of immense numbers, +wielded by the supreme skill of leaders to drive back the Germans.</p> + +<p>The guns, some drawn by horses and others by motors, were moving forward +with them. When the horses were swept away by a shell, men seized the +guns and dragged them. Then they stopped again, took new positions and +renewed the rain of death on the German army.</p> + +<p>They began to hear a whistle and hiss that they knew. It was that of the +bullets, and along the vast front they were coming in millions. But the +French were using their rifles, too, and at intervals the deep +thundering chant of the Marseillaise swept through their ranks. In spite +of shell, shrapnel and bullets, in spite of everything, the French army +in the center was advancing and John believed that the armies on the +other parts of the line were advancing, too.</p> + +<p>The bullets struck around them, and then among them. One aide fell from +his cycle, and lay dead in the road, two more were wounded, but two +hundred thousand men, their artillery blazing death over their heads, +went on straight at the mouths of a thousand cannon.</p> + +<p>Companies and regiments were swept away, but there was no check. Nor did +the other French armies, the huge links in the chain, stop. A feeling of +victory had swept along the whole gigantic battle front. They were +fighting for Paris, for their country, for the soil which they tended, +alive, and in which they slept, dead, and just at the moment when +everything seemed to have been lost they were saving all. The heroic age +of France had come again, and the Third Republic was justifying the +First.</p> + +<p>The battle deepened and thickened to an extraordinary degree, as the +space between the two fronts narrowed. John for the first time saw the +German troops without the aid of glasses. They were mere outlines +against a fiery horizon, reddened by the mouths of so many belching +cannon, but they seemed to him to stand there like a wall.</p> + +<p>Another giant shell burst near them, and two more members of the staff +fell from their cycles, dead before they touched the ground. That +convulsive shudder seized John again, but the crash of tremendous events +was so rapid that fear and horror alike passed in an instant. A piece of +the same shell struck General Vaugirard's car and put it out of action +at once. But the general leaped lightly to the ground, then swung his +immense bulk across one of the riderless motor cycles and advanced with +the surviving members of his staff. Imperturbable, he still swept the +field with his glasses. Two aides were now sent to the right with +messages, and a third, John himself, was despatched to the left on a +similar errand.</p> + +<p>It was John's duty to tell a regiment to bear in further to the left and +close up a vacant spot in the line. He wheeled his cycle into a field, +and then passed between rows of grapevines. The regiment, its ranks much +thinned, was now about a hundred yards away, but shell and bullets alike +were sweeping the distance between.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, he rode on, his wheel bumping over the rough ground, until +he heard a rushing sound, and then blank darkness enveloped him. He fell +one way, and the motor cycle fell another.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V" />CHAPTER V</h2> + +<h3>SEEN FROM ABOVE</h3> + + +<p>John's period of unconsciousness was brief. The sweep of air from a +gigantic shell, passing close, had taken his senses for a minute or two, +but he leaped to his feet to find his motor cycle broken and puffing out +its last breath, and himself among the dead and wounded in the wake of +the army which was advancing rapidly. The turmoil was so vast, and so +much dust and burned gunpowder was floating about that he was not able +to tell where the valiant Vaugirard with the remainder of his staff +marched. In front of him a regiment, cut up terribly, was advancing at a +swift pace, and acting under the impulse of the moment he ran forward to +join them.</p> + +<p>When he overtook the regiment he saw that it had neither colonel, nor +captains nor any other officers of high degree. A little man, scarcely +more than a youth, his head bare, his eyes snapping fire, one hand +holding aloft a red cap on the point of a sword, had taken command and +was urging the soldiers on with every fierce shout that he knew. The +men were responding. Command seemed natural to him. Here was a born +leader in battle. John knew him, and he knew that his own prophecy had +been fulfilled.</p> + +<p>"Geronimo!" he gasped.</p> + +<p>But young Bougainville did not see him. He was still shouting to the men +whom he now led so well. The point of the sword, doubtless taken from +the hand of some fallen officer, had pierced the red cap which was +slowly sinking down the blade, but he did not notice it.</p> + +<p>John looked again for his commander, but not seeing him, and knowing how +futile it was now to seek him in all the fiery crush, he resolved to +stay with the young Apache.</p> + +<p>"Geronimo," he cried, and it was the last time he called him by that +name, "I go with you!"</p> + +<p>In all the excitement of the moment young Bougainville recognized him +and something droll flashed in his eyes.</p> + +<p>"Did I boast too much?" he shouted.</p> + +<p>"You didn't!" John shouted back.</p> + +<p>"Come on then! A big crowd of Germans is just over this hill, and we +must smash 'em!"</p> + +<p>John kept by his side, but Bougainville, still waving his sword, while +the red cap sank lower and lower on the blade, addressed his men in +terms of encouragement and affection.</p> + +<p>"Forward, my children!" he shouted. "Men, without fear, let us be the +first to make the enemy feel our bayonets! Look, a regiment on the right +is ahead of you, and another also on the left leads you! Faster! +Faster, my children!"</p> + +<p>An angle of the German line was thrust forward at this point where a +hill afforded a strong position. Bullets were coming from it in showers, +but the Bougainville regiment broke into a run, passed ahead of the +others and rushed straight at the hill.</p> + +<p>It was the first time that men had come face to face in the battle and +now John saw the French fury, the enthusiasm and fire that Napoleon had +capitalized and cultivated so sedulously. Shouting fiercely, they flung +themselves upon the Germans and by sheer impact drove them back. They +cleared the hill in a few moments, triumphantly seized four cannon and +then, still shouting, swept on.</p> + +<p>John found himself shouting with the others. This was victory, the first +real taste of it, and it was sweet to the lips. But the regiment was +halted presently, lest it get too far forward and be cut off, and a +general striding over to Bougainville uttered words of approval that +John could not hear amid the terrific din of so many men in battle—a +million, a million and a half or more, he never knew.</p> + +<p>They stood there panting, while the French line along a front of maybe +fifty miles crept on and on. The French machine with the British wheels +and springs coöperating, was working beautifully now. It was a match and +more for their enemy. The Germans, witnessing the fire and dash of the +French and feeling their tremendous impact, began to take alarm. It had +not seemed possible to them in those last triumphant days that they +could fail, but now Paris was receding farther and farther from their +grasp.</p> + +<p>John recovered a certain degree of coolness. The fire of the foe was +turned away from them for the present, and, finding that the glasses +thrown over his shoulder, had not been injured by his fall, he examined +the battle front as he stood by the side of Bougainville. The country +was fairly open here and along a range of miles the cannon in hundreds +and hundreds were pouring forth destruction. Yet the line, save where +the angle had been crushed by the rush of Bougainville's regiment, stood +fast, and John shuddered at thought of the frightful slaughter, needed +to drive it back, if it could be driven back at all.</p> + +<p>Then he glanced at the fields across which they had come. For two or +three miles they were sprinkled with the fallen, the red and blue of the +French uniform showing vividly against the green grass. But there was +little time for looking that way and again he turned his glasses in +front. The regiment had taken cover behind a low ridge, and six rapid +firers were sending a fierce hail on the German lines. But the men under +orders from Bougainville, withheld the fire of their rifles for the +present.</p> + +<p>Bougainville himself stood up as became a leader of men, and lowered his +sword for the first time. The cap had sunk all the way down the blade +and picking it off he put it back on his head. He had obtained glasses +also, probably from some fallen officer, and he walked back and forth +seeking a weak spot in the enemy's line, into which he could charge with +his men.</p> + +<p>John admired him. His was no frenzied rage, but a courage, measured and +stern. The springs of power hidden in him had been touched and he stood +forth, a born leader.</p> + +<p>"How does it happen," said John, "that you're in command?"</p> + +<p>"Our officers were all in front," replied Bougainville, "when our +regiment was swept by many shells. When they ceased bursting upon us and +among us the officers were no longer there. The regiment was about to +break. I could not bear to see that, and seizing the sword, I hoisted my +cap upon it. The rest, perhaps, you saw. The men seem to trust me."</p> + +<p>"They do," said John, with emphasis.</p> + +<p>Bougainville, for the time at least, was certainly the leader of the +regiment. It was an incident that John believed possible only in his own +country, or France, and he remembered once more the famous old saying of +Napoleon that every French peasant carried a marshal's baton in his +knapsack.</p> + +<p>Now he recalled, too, that Napoleon had fought some of his greatest +defensive battles in the region they faced. Doubtless the mighty emperor +and his marshals had trod the very soil on which Bougainville and he now +stood. Surely the French must know it, and surely it would give them +superhuman courage for battle.</p> + +<p>"I belong to the command of General Vaugirard," he said to Bougainville. +"I'm serving on his staff, but I was knocked off my motor cycle by the +rush of air from a shell. The cycle was ruined and I was unconscious +for a moment or two. When I revived, my general and his command were +gone."</p> + +<p>"You'd better stay with me a while," said Bougainville. "We're going to +advance again soon. When night comes, if you're still alive, then you +can look for General Vaugirard. The fire of the artillery is increasing. +How the earth shakes!"</p> + +<p>"So it does. I wish I knew what was happening."</p> + +<p>"There comes one of those men in the air. He is going to drop down by +us. Maybe you can learn something from him."</p> + +<p>John felt a sudden wild hope that it was Lannes, but his luck did not +hold good enough for it. The plane was of another shape than the +<i>Arrow</i>, and, when it descended to the ground, a man older than Lannes +stepped out upon the grass. He glanced around as if he were looking for +some general of division for whom he had an order, and John, unable to +restrain himself, rushed to him and exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"News! News! For Heaven's sake, give us news! Surely you've seen from +above!"</p> + +<p>The man smiled and John knew that a bearer of bad news would not smile.</p> + +<p>"I'm the friend and comrade of Philip Lannes," continued John, feeling +that all the flying men of France knew the name of Lannes, and that it +would be a password to this man's good graces.</p> + +<p>"I know him well," said the air scout. "Who of our craft does not? My +own name is Caumartin, and I have flown with Lannes more than once in +the great meets at Rheims. In answer to your question I'm able to tell +you that on the wings the soldiers of France are advancing. A wedge has +been thrust between the German armies and the one nearest Paris is +retreating, lest it be cut off."</p> + +<p>Bougainville heard the words, and he ran among the men, telling them. A +fierce shout arose and John himself quivered with feeling. It was +better, far better than he had hoped. He realized now that his courage +before had been the courage of despair. Lannes and he, as a last resort, +had put faith in signs and omens, because there was nothing else to bear +them up.</p> + +<p>"Is it true? Is it true beyond doubt! You've really seen it with your +own eyes?" he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>Caumartin smiled again. His were deep eyes, and the smile that came from +them was reassuring.</p> + +<p>"I saw it myself," he replied. "At the point nearest Paris the gray +masses are withdrawing. I looked directly down upon them. And now, can +you tell me where I can find General Vaugirard?"</p> + +<p>"I wish I could. I'm on his staff, but I've lost him. He's somewhere to +the northward."</p> + +<p>"Then I'll find him."</p> + +<p>Caumartin resumed his place in his machine. John looked longingly at the +aeroplane. He would gladly have gone with Caumartin, but feeling that he +would be only a burden at such a time, he would not suggest it. +Nevertheless he called to the aviator:</p> + +<p>"If you see Philip Lannes in the heavens tell him that his friend John +Scott is here behind a low ridge crested with trees!"</p> + +<p>Caumartin nodded, and as some of the soldiers gave his plane a push he +soared swiftly away in search of General Vaugirard. John watched him a +moment or two and then turned his attention back to the German army in +front of them.</p> + +<p>The thudding of the heavy guns to their left had become so violent that +it affected his nerves. The waves of air beat upon his ears like +storm-driven rollers, and he was glad when Bougainville's regiment moved +forward again. The Germans seemed to have withdrawn some of their force +in the center, and, for a little while, the regiment with which John now +marched was not under fire.</p> + +<p>They heard reserves now coming up behind them, more trains of motor +cars, bearing fresh troops, and batteries of field guns advancing as +fast as they could. Men were busy also stringing telephone wires, and, +presently, they passed a battery of guns of the largest caliber, the +fire of which was directed entirely by telephone. Some distance beyond +it the regiment stopped again. The huge shells were passing over their +heads toward the German lines, and John believed that he could hear and +count every one of them.</p> + +<p>The remains of the regiment now lay down in a dip, as they did not know +anything to do, except to wait for the remainder of the French line to +advance.</p> + +<p>Something struck near them presently and exploded with a crash. Steel +splinters flew, but as they were prone only one man was injured.</p> + +<p>"They're reaching us again with their shell fire," said John.</p> + +<p>"Not at all," said Bougainville. "Look up."</p> + +<p>John saw high in the heavens several black specks, which he knew at +once were aeroplanes. Since the bomb had been dropped from one of them +it was obvious that they were German flyers, and missiles of a like +nature might be expected from the same source. Involuntarily he crouched +close to the ground, and tried to press himself into it. He knew that +such an effort would afford him no protection, but the body sought it +nevertheless. All around him the young French soldiers too were clinging +to Mother Earth. Only Bougainville stood erect.</p> + +<p>John had felt less apprehension under the artillery fire and in the +charge than he did now. He was helpless here when death fell like hail +from the skies, and he quivered in every muscle as he waited. A crash +came again, but the bomb had struck farther away, then a third, and a +fourth, each farther and farther in its turn, and Bougainville suddenly +uttered a shout that was full of vengeance and exultation.</p> + +<p>John looked up. The group of black specks was still in the sky, but +another group was hovering near, and clapping his glasses to his eyes he +saw flashes of light passing between them.</p> + +<p>"You're right, Bougainville! you're right!" he cried, although +Bougainville had not said a word. "The French flyers have come and +there's a fight in the air!"</p> + +<p>He forgot all about the battle on earth, while he watched the combat in +the heavens. Yet it was an affair of only a few moments. The Germans +evidently feeling that they were too far away from their base, soon +retreated. One of their machines turned over on its side and fell like a +shot through space.</p> + +<p>John shuddered, took the glasses down, and, by impulse, closed his eyes. +He heard a shock near him, and, opening his eyes again, saw a huddled +mass of wreckage, from which a foot encased in a broad German shoe +protruded. The ribs of the plane were driven deep into the earth and he +looked away. But a hum and swish suddenly came once more, and a sleek +and graceful aeroplane, which he knew to be the <i>Arrow</i>, sank to the +earth close to him. Lannes, smiling and triumphant, stepped forth and +John hailed him eagerly.</p> + +<p>"I met Caumartin in an aerial road," said Lannes, in his best dramatic +manner, "and he described this place, at which you were waiting. As it +was directly on my way I concluded to come by for you. I was delayed by +a skirmish overhead which you may have seen."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I saw it, or at least part of it."</p> + +<p>"I came in at the end only. The Taubes were too presuming. They came +over into our air, but we repelled the attack, and one, as I can see +here, will never come again. I found General Vaugirard, although he is +now two or three miles to your right, and when I deliver a message that +he has given me I return. But I take you with me now."</p> + +<p>John was overjoyed, but he would part from Bougainville with regret.</p> + +<p>"Philip," he said, "here is Pierre Louis Bougainville, whom I met that +day on Montmartre. All the officers of this regiment have been killed +and by grace of courage and intuition he now leads it better than it was +ever led before."</p> + +<p>Lannes extended his hand. Bougainville's met it, and the two closed in +the clasp of those who knew, each, that the other was a man. Then a drum +began to beat, and Bougainville, waving his sword aloft, led his +regiment forward again with a rush. But the <i>Arrow</i>, with a hard push +from the last of the soldiers, was already rising, Lannes at the +steering rudder and John in his old place.</p> + +<p>"You can find your cap and coat in the locker," said Lannes without +looking back, and John put them on quickly. His joy and eagerness were +not due to flight from the field of battle, because the heavens +themselves were not safe, but because he could look down upon this field +on which the nations struggled and, to some extent, behold and measure +it with his own eyes.</p> + +<p>The <i>Arrow</i> rose slowly, and John leaned back luxuriously in his seat. +He had a singular feeling that he had come back home again. The sharp, +acrid odor that assailed eye and nostril departed and the atmosphere +grew rapidly purer. The rolling waves of air from the concussion of the +guns became much less violent, and soon ceased entirely. All the smoke +floated below him, while above the heavens were a shining blue, +unsullied by the dust and flame of the conflict.</p> + +<p>"Do you go far, Philip?" John asked.</p> + +<p>"Forty miles. I could cover the distance quickly in the <i>Arrow</i>, but on +such a day as this I can't be sure of finding at once the man for whom +I'm looking. Besides, we may meet German planes. You've your automatic +with you?"</p> + +<p>"I'm never without it. I'm ready to help if they come at us. I've been +through so much today that I've become blunted to fear."</p> + +<p>"I don't think we'll meet an enemy, but we must be armed and watchful."</p> + +<p>John had not yet looked down, but he knew that the <i>Arrow</i> was rising +high. The thunder of the battle died so fast that it became a mere +murmur, and the air was thin, pure and cold. When he felt that the +<i>Arrow</i> had reached its zenith he put the glasses to his eyes and looked +over.</p> + +<p>He saw a world spouting fire. Along a tremendous line curved and broken, +thousands of cannon great and small were flashing, and for miles and +miles a continuous coil of whitish smoke marked where the riflemen were +at work. Near the center of the line he saw a vast mass of men advancing +and he spoke of it to Lannes.</p> + +<p>"I've seen it already," said the Frenchman. "That's where a great force +of ours is cutting in between the German armies. It's the movement that +has saved France, and the mind that planned it was worth a million men +to us today."</p> + +<p>"I can well believe it. Now I see running between the hills a shining +ribbon which I take to be a river."</p> + +<p>"That's the Marne. If we can, we'll drive the Germans back across it. +Search the skies that way and see if you can find any of the Taubes."</p> + +<p>"I see some black specks which I take to be the German planes, but they +don't grow."</p> + +<p>"Which indicates that they're not coming any nearer. They've had enough +of us for the present and it's to their interest too to keep over their +own army now. What do you see beneath us?"</p> + +<p>"A great multitude of troops, French, as I can discern the uniform, and +by Jove, Lannes, I can trace far beyond the towers and spires of Paris!"</p> + +<p>"I knew you could. It marks how near the Germans have come to the +capital, but they'll come no nearer. The great days of the French have +returned, and we'll surely drive them upon the Marne."</p> + +<p>"Suppose we fly a little lower, Lannes. Then we can get a better view of +the field as we go along."</p> + +<p>"I'll do as you say, John. I rose so high, because I thought attack here +was less possible, but as no enemy is in sight we'll drop down."</p> + +<p>The <i>Arrow</i> sank gradually, and now both could get a splendid view of a +spectacle, such as no man had ever beheld until that day. The sounds of +battle were still unheard, but they clearly saw the fire of the cannon, +the rapid-firers, and the rifles. It was like a red streak running in +curves and zigzags across fifty or maybe a hundred miles of country.</p> + +<p>"We continue to cut in," said Lannes. "You can see how our armies off +there are marching into that great open space between the Germans. +Unless the extreme German army hastens it will be separated entirely +from the rest. Oh, what a day! What a glorious, magnificent day! A day +unlike any other in the world's story! Our heads in the dust in the +morning and high in the air by night!"</p> + +<p>"But we haven't won yet?"</p> + +<p>"No, but we are winning enough to know that we will win."</p> + +<p>"How many men do you think are engaged in that battle below?"</p> + +<p>"Along all its windings two millions, maybe, or at least a million and a +half anyhow. Perhaps nobody will ever know."</p> + +<p>Then they relapsed into silence for a little while. The <i>Arrow</i> flew +fast and the motor drummed steadily in their ears. Lannes let the +aeroplane sink a little lower, and John became conscious of a new sound, +akin nevertheless to the throb of the motor. It was the concussion of +the battle. The topmost and weakest waves of air hurled off in circles +by countless cannon and rifles were reaching them. But they had been +softened so much by distance that the sound was not unpleasant, and the +<i>Arrow</i> rocked gently as if touched by a light wind.</p> + +<p>John never ceased to watch with his glasses, and in a few minutes he +announced that men in gray were below.</p> + +<p>"I expected that," said Lannes. "This battle line, as you know, is far +from straight, and, in order to reach our destination in the quickest +time possible, we must pass over a portion of the German army, an +extended corner or angle as it were. What are they doing there, John?"</p> + +<p>"Firing about fifty cannon as fast as they can. Back of the cannon is a +great huddle of motors and of large automobile trucks, loaded, I should +say, with ammunition."</p> + +<p>"You're quite sure of what you say?" asked Lannes, after a silence of a +moment or two.</p> + +<p>"Absolutely sure. I fancy that it's an ammunition depot."</p> + +<p>"Then, John, you and I must take a risk. We are to deliver a message, +but we can't let go an opportunity like this. You recall how you threw +the bombs on the forty-two centimeter. I have more bombs here in the +<i>Arrow</i>—I never fly now without 'em—little fellows, but tremendously +powerful. I shall dip and when we're directly over the ammunition depot +drop the bombs squarely into the middle of it."</p> + +<p>"I'm ready," said John, feeling alternate thrills of eagerness and +horror, "but Philip, don't you go so near that if the depot blows up it +will blow us up too."</p> + +<p>"Never fear," said Lannes, laughing, not with amusement but with +excitement, "I've no more wish to be scattered through the firmament +than you have. Besides, we've that message to deliver. Do you think the +Germans have noticed us?"</p> + +<p>"No, a lot of smoke from their cannon fire has gathered above them and +perhaps it veils us. Besides, their whole attention must be absorbed by +the French army, and I don't think it likely that they're looking up."</p> + +<p>"But they're bound to see us soon. We have one great advantage, however. +The target is much larger than the forty-two centimeter was, and there +are no Taubes or dirigibles here to drive us off. Ready now, John, and +when I touch the bottom of my loop you throw the bombs. Here they are!"</p> + +<p>Four bombs were pushed to John's side and they lay ready to his grasp. +Then as the <i>Arrow</i> began its downward curve, he laid his glasses aside +and watched. The most advanced German batteries were placed in a pit, +into which a telephone wire ran. Evidently these guns, like the French, +were fired by order from some distant point. John longed to hurl a bomb +at the pit, but the chances were ten to one that he would miss it, and +he held to the ammunition depot, spread over a full acre, as his target.</p> + +<p>Now the Germans saw them. He knew it, as many of them looked up, and +some began to fire at the <i>Arrow</i>, but the aeroplane was too high and +swift for their bullets.</p> + +<p>"Now!" said Lannes in sudden, sharp tones.</p> + +<p>The aeroplane dipped with sickening velocity, but John steadied himself, +and watching his chance he threw four bombs so fast that the fourth had +left his hands before the first touched the ground. An awful, rending +explosion followed, and for a minute the <i>Arrow</i> rocked violently, as if +in a hurricane. Then, as the waves of air decreased in violence, it +darted upward on an even keel.</p> + +<p>John saw far below a vast scene of wreckage, amid which lay many dead or +wounded men. Motors were blown to pieces and cannon dismounted.</p> + +<p>"Score heavily for us," said Lannes. "I scarcely hoped for such a goodly +blow as this while we were on our way!"</p> + +<p>John would not look down again. Despite the value of the deed, he +shuddered and he was glad when the <i>Arrow</i> in its swift flight had left +the area of devastation far behind.</p> + +<p>"We're flying over the French now," he said. "So I expected," said +Lannes. "Can you see a hill crested with a low farm house?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied John, after looking a little while. "It's straight ahead. +The house is partly hidden by trees."</p> + +<p>"Then that's the place. You wouldn't think we'd come nearly fifty miles, +would you, John?"</p> + +<p>"Fifty miles! It feels more like a thousand!"</p> + +<p>Lannes laughed, this time with satisfaction, not excitement.</p> + +<p>"You'll find there the general to whom we reported first," he said, "and +he'll be glad to see us! I can't tell you how glad he will be. His joy +will be far beyond our personal deserts. It will have little to do with +the fact that you, John Scott, and I, Philip Lannes, have come back to +him."</p> + +<p>The circling <i>Arrow</i> came down in a meadow just behind the house, and +officers rushed forward to meet it. Lannes and John, stepping out, left +it in charge of two of the younger men. Then, proudly waving the others +aside, they walked to the low stone farmhouse, in front of which the +elderly, spectacled general was standing. He looked at Lannes +inquiringly, but the young Frenchman, without a word, handed him a note.</p> + +<p>John watched the general read, and he saw the transformation of the +man's face. Doubting, anxious, worn, it was illumined suddenly. In a +voice that trembled he said to the senior officers who clustered about +him:</p> + +<p>"We're advancing in the center, and on the other flank. Already we've +driven a huge wedge between the German armies, and Paris, nay, France +herself, is saved!"</p> + +<p>The officers, mostly old men, did not cheer, but John had never before +witnessed such relief expressed on human faces. It seemed to him that +they had choked up, and could not speak. The commander held the note in +a shaking hand and presently he turned to Lannes.</p> + +<p>"Your fortune has been great. It's not often that one has a chance to +bear such a message as this."</p> + +<p>"My pride is so high I can't describe it," said Lannes in a dramatic but +sincere tone.</p> + +<p>"Go in the house and an orderly will give food and wine to you and your +comrade. In a half hour, perhaps, I may have another message for you."</p> + +<p>Both John and Lannes needed rest and food, and they obeyed gladly. The +strain upon the two was far greater than they had realized at the time, +and for a few moments they were threatened with collapse which very +strong efforts of the will prevented. They were conscious, too, as they +stood upon the ground, of a quivering, shaking motion. They were +assailed once more by the violent waves of air coming from the +concussion of cannon and rifles past counting. The thin, whitish film +which was a compound of dust and burned gunpowder assailed them again +and lay, bitter, in their mouths and nostrils.</p> + +<p>"The earth shakes too much," said Lannes in a droll tone. "I think we'd +better go back into the unchanging ether, where a man can be sure of +himself."</p> + +<p>"I'm seasick," said John; "who wouldn't be, with ten thousand cannon, +more or less, and a million or two of rifles shaking the planet? I'm +going into the house as fast as I can."</p> + +<p>It was a building, centuries old, of gray crumbling stone, with large, +low rooms, and, to John's amazement, the peasant who inhabited it and +his family were present. The farmer and his wife, both strong and dark, +were about forty, and there were four children, the oldest a girl of +about thirteen. What fear they may have felt in the morning was gone +now, and, as they knew that the French army was advancing, a joy, +reserved but none the less deep, had taken its place.</p> + +<p>John and Lannes sat down at a small table covered with a neat white +cloth, and Madame, walking quickly and lightly, served them with bread, +cold meat and light red wine. The smaller children hovered in the +background and looked curiously at the young foreigner who wore the +French uniform.</p> + +<p>"May I ask your name, Madame?" John asked politely.</p> + +<p>"Poiret," she said. "My man is Jules Poiret, and this farm has been in +his family since the great revolution. You and your comrade came from +the air, as I saw, and you can tell us, can you not, whether the Poiret +farm is to become German or remain French? The enemy has been pushed +back today, but will he come so near to Paris again? Tell me truly, on +your soul, Monsieur!"</p> + +<p>"I don't believe the Germans will ever again be so near to Paris," +replied John with sincerity. "My friend, who is the great Philip Lannes, +the flying man, and I, have looked down upon a battle line fifty, maybe +a hundred miles long, and nearly everywhere the Germans are retreating."</p> + +<p>She bent her head a little as she poured the coffee for them, but not +enough to hide the glitter in her eye. "Perhaps the good God intervened +at the last moment, as Father Hansard promised he would," she said +calmly. "At any rate, the Germans are gone. I gathered as much from +chance words of the generals—never before have so many generals +gathered under the Poiret roof, and it will never happen again—but I +wished to hear it from one who had seen with his own eyes."</p> + +<p>"We saw them withdrawing, Madame, with these two pairs of eyes of ours," +said Lannes.</p> + +<p>"And then Poiret can go back to his work with the vines. Whether it is +war or peace, men must eat and drink, Monsieur."</p> + +<p>"But certainly, Madame, and women too." "It is so. I trust that soon the +Germans will be driven back much faster. The house quivers all the time. +It is old and already several pieces of plaster have fallen."</p> + +<p>Her anxiety was obvious. With the Germans driven back she thought now of +the Poiret homestead. John, in the new strength that had come to him +from food and drink, had forgotten for the moment that ceaseless quiver +of the earth. He held the little bottle aloft and poured a thin stream +of wine into his glass. The red thread swayed gently from side to side.</p> + +<p>"You speak truly, Madame," he said. "The rocking goes on, but I'm sure +that the concussion of the guns will be too far away tonight for you to +feel it."</p> + +<p>They offered her gold for the food and wine, but after one longing +glance she steadfastly refused it.</p> + +<p>"Since you have come across the sea to fight for us," she said to John, +"how could I take your money?"</p> + +<p>Lannes and John returned to the bit of grass in front of the house, +where the elderly general and other generals were still standing and +using their glasses.</p> + +<p>"You are refreshed?" said the general to Lannes.</p> + +<p>"Refreshed and ready to take your orders wherever you wish them to go."</p> + +<p>John stepped aside, while the general talked briefly and in a low tone +to his comrade. He looked upon himself merely as a passenger, or a sort +of help to Lannes, and he would not pry into military secrets. But when +the two rose again in the <i>Arrow</i>, the general and all his suite waved +their caps to them. Beyond a doubt, Lannes had done magnificent work +that day, and John was glad for his friend's sake.</p> + +<p>The <i>Arrow</i> ascended at a sharp angle, and then hovered for a little +while in curves and spirals. John saw the generals below, but they were +no longer watching the aeroplane. Their glasses were turned once more to +the battle front.</p> + +<p>"Ultimately we're to reach the commander of the central army, if we +can," said Lannes, "but meanwhile we're to bend in toward the German +lines, in search of your immediate chief, General Vaugirard, who is one +of the staunchest and most daring fighters in the whole French Army. If +we find him at all it's likely that we'll find him farther forward than +any other general."</p> + +<p>"But not any farther than my friend of Montmartre, Bougainville. There's +a remarkable fellow. I saw his military talent the first time I met him. +Or I should better say I felt it rather than saw it. And he was making +good in a wonderful manner today."</p> + +<p>"I believe with you, John, that he's a genius. But if we find General +Vaugirard and then finish our errand we must hasten. It will be night in +two hours."</p> + +<p>He increased the speed of the aeroplane and they flew eastward, +searching all the hills and woods for the command of General Vaugirard.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI" />CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<h3>IN HOSTILE HANDS</h3> + + +<p>The task that lay before the two young men was one of great difficulty. +The battle line was shifting continually, although the Germans were +being pressed steadily back toward the east and north, but among so many +generals it would be hard to find the particular one to whom they were +bearing orders. The commander of the central army was of high +importance, but the fact did not bring him at once before the eye.</p> + +<p>They were to see General Vaugirard, too, but it was possible that he had +fallen. John, though, could not look upon it as a probability. The +general was so big, so vital, that he must be living, and he felt the +same way about Bougainville. It was incredible that fate itself should +snuff out in a day that spark of fire.</p> + +<p>Lannes, uncertain of his course, bore in again toward the German lines, +and dropped as low as he could, compatible with safety from any kind of +shot. John meanwhile scanned every hill and valley wood and field with +his powerful glasses, and he was unable to see any diminution in the +fury of the struggle. The cannon thundered, with all their might, along +a line of scores of miles; rapid firers sent a deadly hail upon the +opposing lines; rifles flashed by the hundred thousand, and here and +there masses of troops closed with the bayonet.</p> + +<p>Seen from a height the battle was stripped of some of its horrors, but +all its magnitude remained to awe those who looked down upon it. From +the high, cold air John could not see pain and wounds, only the swaying +back and forth of the battle lines. All the time he searched attentively +for men who did not wear the red and blue of France, and at last he +said:</p> + +<p>"I've failed to find any sign of the British army."</p> + +<p>"They're farther to the left," replied Lannes. "I caught a glimpse of +their khaki lines this morning. Their regular troops are great fighters, +as our Napoleon himself admitted more than once, and they've never done +better than they're doing today. When I saw them they were advancing."</p> + +<p>"I'm glad of that. It's curious how I feel about the English, Philip. +They've got such a conceit that they irritate me terribly at times, yet +I don't want to see them beaten by any other Europeans. That's our +American privilege."</p> + +<p>"A family feeling, perhaps," said Lannes, laughing, "but we French and +English have been compelled to be allies, and after fighting each other +for a thousand years we're now the best of friends. I think, John, we'll +have to go down and procure information from somebody about our +general. Otherwise we'll never find him."</p> + +<p>"We must be near the center of our army, and that's where he's likely to +be. Suppose we descend in the field a little to the east of us."</p> + +<p>Lannes looked down, and, pronouncing the place suitable, began to drop +in a series of spirals until they rested in a small field that had been +devoted to the growth of vegetables. Here John at once felt the shaking +of the earth, and tasted the bitter odor again. But woods on either side +of them hid the sight of troops, although the sound of the battle was as +great and violent as ever.</p> + +<p>"We seem to have landed on a desert island," said Lannes.</p> + +<p>"So we do," said John. "Evidently there is nobody here to tell us where +we can find our dear and long lost general. I'll go down to the edge of +the nearest wood and see if any of our skirmishers are there."</p> + +<p>"All right, John, but hurry back. I'll hold the <i>Arrow</i> ready for +instant flight, as we can't afford to linger here."</p> + +<p>John ran toward the wood, but before he reached the first trees he +turned back with a shout of alarm. He had caught a glimpse of horses, +helmets and the glittering heads of lances. Moreover, the Uhlans were +coming directly toward him.</p> + +<p>In that moment of danger the young American showed the best that was in +him. Forgetful of self and remembering the importance of Lannes' +mission, he shouted:</p> + +<p>"The Uhlans are upon us, Philip! I can't escape, but you must! Go! Go +at once!"</p> + +<p>Lannes gave one startled glance, and he understood in a flash. He too +knew the vital nature of his errand, but his instant decision gave a +wrench to his whole being. He saw the Uhlans breaking through the woods +and John before them. He was standing beside the <i>Arrow</i>, and giving the +machine a sharp push he sprang in and rose at a sharp angle.</p> + +<p>"Up! Up, Philip!" John continued to cry, until the cold edge of a lance +lay against his throat and a brusque voice bade him to surrender.</p> + +<p>"All right, I yield," said John, "but kindly take your lance away. It's +so sharp and cold it makes me feel uncomfortable."</p> + +<p>As he spoke he continued to look upward. The <i>Arrow</i> was soaring higher +and higher, and the Uhlans were firing at it, but they were not able to +hit such a fleeting target. In another minute it was out of range.</p> + +<p>John felt the cold steel come away from his throat, and satisfied that +Lannes with his precious message was safe, he looked at his captors. +They were about thirty in number, Prussian Uhlans.</p> + +<p>"Well," said John to the one who seemed to be their leader, "what do you +want with me?"</p> + +<p>"To hold you prisoner," replied the man, in excellent English—John was +always surprised at the number of people on the continent who spoke +English—"and to ask you why we find an American here in French +uniform."</p> + +<p>The man who spoke was young, blond, ruddy, and his tone was rather +humorous. John had been too much in Germany to hate Germans. He liked +most of them personally, but for many of their ideas, ideas which he +considered deadly to the world, he had an intense dislike.</p> + +<p>"You find me here because I didn't have time to get away," he replied, +"and I'm in a French uniform because it's my fighting suit."</p> + +<p>The young officer smiled. John rather liked him, and he saw, too, that +he was no older than himself.</p> + +<p>"It's lucky for you that you're in some kind of a uniform," the German +said, "or I should have you shot immediately. But I'm sorry we didn't +take the man in the aeroplane instead of you."</p> + +<p>John looked up again. The <i>Arrow</i> had become small in the distant blue. +A whimsical impulse seized him.</p> + +<p>"You've a right to be sorry," he said. "That was the greatest flying man +in the world, and all day he has carried messages, heavy with the fate +of nations. If you had taken him a few moments ago you might have saved +the German army from defeat today. But your chance has gone. If you were +to see him again you would not know him and his plane from others of +their kind."</p> + +<p>The officer's eyes dilated at first. Then he smiled again and stroked +his young mustache.</p> + +<p>"It may be true, as you say," he replied, "but meanwhile I'll have to +take you to my chief, Captain von Boehlen."</p> + +<p>John's heart sank a little when he heard the name von Boehlen. Fortune, +he thought, had played him a hard trick by bringing him face to face +with the man who had least cause to like him. But he would not show it.</p> + +<p>"Very well," he said; "which way?"</p> + +<p>"Straight before you," said the officer. "I'd give you a mount, but it +isn't far. Remember as you walk that we're just behind you, and don't +try to run away. You'd have no chance on earth. My own name is Arnheim, +Wilhelm von Arnheim."</p> + +<p>"And mine's John Scott," said John, as he walked straight ahead.</p> + +<p>They passed through a wood and into another field, where a large body of +Prussian cavalry was waiting. A tall man, built heavily, stood beside a +horse, watching a distant corner of the battle through glasses. John +knew that uncompromising figure at once. It was von Boehlen.</p> + +<p>"A prisoner, Captain," said von Arnheim, saluting respectfully.</p> + +<p>Von Boehlen turned slowly, and a malicious light leaped in his eyes when +he saw John on foot before him, and wholly in his power.</p> + +<p>"And so," he said, "it's young Scott of the hotel in Dresden and of the +wireless station, and you've come straight into my hands!"</p> + +<p>The whimsical humor which sometimes seized John when he was in the most +dangerous situation took hold of him again. It was not humor exactly, +but it was the innate desire to make the best of a bad situation.</p> + +<p>"I'm in your hands," he replied, "but I didn't walk willingly into 'em. +Your lieutenant, von Arnheim here, and his men brought me on the points +of their lances. I'm quite willing to go away again."</p> + +<p>Von Boehlen recognized the spirit in the reply and the malice departed +from his own eyes. Yet he asked sternly:</p> + +<p>"Why do you put on a French uniform and meddle in a quarrel not your +own?"</p> + +<p>"I've made it my own. I take the chances of war."</p> + +<p>"To the rear with him, and put him with the other prisoners," said von +Boehlen to von Arnheim, and the young Prussian and two Uhlans escorted +him to the edge of the field where twenty or thirty French prisoners sat +on the ground.</p> + +<p>"I take it," said von Arnheim, "that you and our captain have met +before."</p> + +<p>"Yes, and the last time it was under circumstances that did not endear +me to him."</p> + +<p>"If it was in war it will not be to your harm. Captain von Boehlen is a +stern but just man, and his conduct is strictly according to our +military code. You will stay here with the other prisoners under guard. +I hope to see you again."</p> + +<p>With these polite words the young officer rode back to his chief, and +John's heart warmed to him because of his kindness. Then he sat down on +the grass and looked at those who were prisoners with him. Most of them +were wounded, but none seemed despondent. All were lying down, some +propped on their elbows, and they were watching and listening with the +closest attention. A half-dozen Germans, rifle in hand, stood near by.</p> + +<p>John took his place on the grass by the side of a fair, slim young man +who carried his left arm in a bandage.</p> + +<p>"Englishman?" said the young man.</p> + +<p>"No, American."</p> + +<p>"But you have been fighting for us, as your uniform shows. What +command?"</p> + +<p>"General Vaugirard's, but I became separated from it earlier in the +day."</p> + +<p>"I've heard of him. Great, fat man, as cool as ice and as brave as a +lion. A good general to serve under. My own name is Fleury, Albert +Fleury. I was wounded and taken early this morning, and the others and I +have been herded here ever since by the Germans. They will not tell us a +word, but I notice they have not advanced."</p> + +<p>"The German army is retreating everywhere. For this day, at least, we're +victorious. Somebody has made a great plan and has carried it through. +The cavalry of the invader came within sight of Paris this morning, but +they won't be able to see it tomorrow morning. Whisper it to the others. +We'll take the good news quietly. We won't let the guards see that we +know."</p> + +<p>The news was circulated in low tones and every one of the wounded forgot +his wound. They spoke among themselves, but all the while the thunder of +the hundred-mile battle went on with unremitting ferocity. John put his +ear to the ground now, and the earth quivered incessantly like a ship +shaken at sea by its machinery.</p> + +<p>The day was now waning fast and he looked at the mass of Uhlans who +stood arrayed in the open space, as if they were awaiting an order. +Lieutenant von Arnheim rode back and ordered the guards to march on with +them.</p> + +<p>There was none too severely wounded to walk and they proceeded in a file +through the fields, Uhlans on all sides, but the great mass behind them, +where their commander, von Boehlen, himself rode.</p> + +<p>The night was almost at hand. Twilight was already coming over the +eastern hills, and one of the most momentous days in the story of man +was drawing to a close. People often do not know the magnitude of an +event until it has passed long since and shows in perspective, but John +felt to the full the result of the event, just as the old Greeks must +have known at once what Salamis or Platæa meant to them. The hosts of +the world's greatest military empire were turned back, and he had all +the certainty of conviction that they would be driven farther on the +next day.</p> + +<p>The little band of prisoners who walked while their Prussian captors +rode, were animated by feelings like those of John. It was the captured +who exulted and the captors who were depressed, though neither expressed +it in words, and the twilight was too deep now for faces to show either +joy or sorrow.</p> + +<p>John and Fleury walked side by side. They were near the same age. Fleury +was an Alpinist from the high mountain region of Savoy and he had +arrived so recently in the main theater of conflict that he knew little +of what had been passing. He and John talked in whispers and they spoke +encouraging words to each other. Fleury listened in wonder to John's +account of his flights with Lannes.</p> + +<p>"It is marvelous to have looked down upon a battle a hundred miles +long," he said. "Have you any idea where these Uhlans intend to take +us?"</p> + +<p>"I haven't. Doubtless they don't know themselves. The night is here now, +and I imagine they'll stop somewhere soon."</p> + +<p>The twilight died in the west as well as the east, and darkness came +over the field of gigantic strife. But the earth continued to quiver +with the thunder of artillery, and John felt the waves of air pulsing in +his ears. Now and then searchlights burned in a white blaze across the +hills. Fields, trees and houses would stand out for a moment, and then +be gone absolutely.</p> + +<p>John's vivid imagination turned the whole into a storm at night. The +artillery was the thunder and the flare of the searchlights was the +lightning. His mind created, for a little while, the illusion that the +combat had passed out of the hands of man and that nature was at work. +He and Fleury ceased to talk and he walked on, thinking little of his +destination. He had no sense of weariness, nor of any physical need at +all.</p> + +<p>Von Arnheim rode up by his side and said:</p> + +<p>"You'll not have to walk much further, Mr. Scott. A camp of ours is just +beyond a brook, not more than a few hundred yards away, and the +prisoners will stay there for the night. I'm sorry to find you among +the French fighting against us. We Germans expected American sympathy. +There is so much German blood in the United States."</p> + +<p>"But, as I told Captain von Boehlen, we're a republic, and we're +democrats. In many of the big ideas there's a gulf between us and +Germany so wide that it can never be bridged. This war has made clear +the enormous difference."</p> + +<p>Von Arnheim sighed.</p> + +<p>"And yet, as a people, we like each other personally," he said.</p> + +<p>"That's so, but as nations we diverge absolutely."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps, I can't dispute it. But here is our camp. You'll be treated +well. We Germans are not barbarians, as our enemies allege."</p> + +<p>John saw fires burning in an ancient wood, through which a clear brook +ran. The ground was carpeted with bodies, which at first he thought were +those of dead men. But they were merely sleepers. German troops in +thousands had dropped in their tracks. It was scarcely sleep, but +something deeper, a stupor of exhaustion so utter, both mental and +physical, that it was like the effect of anesthesia. They lay in every +imaginable position, and they stretched away through the forest in +scores of thousands.</p> + +<p>John and Fleury saw their own place at once. Several hundred men in +French uniforms were lying or sitting on the ground in a great group +near the forest. A few slept, but the others, as well as John could see +by the light of the fires, were wide awake.</p> + +<p>The sight of the brook gave John a burning thirst, and making a sign to +the German guard, who nodded, he knelt and drank. He did not care +whether the water was pure or not, most likely it was not, with armies +treading their way across it, but as it cut through the dust and grime +of his mouth and throat he felt as if a new and more vigorous life were +flowing into his veins. After drinking once, twice, and thrice, he sat +down on the bank with Fleury, but in a minute or two young von Arnheim +came for him.</p> + +<p>"Our commander wishes to talk with you," he said.</p> + +<p>"I'm honored," said John, "but conversation is not one of my strong +points."</p> + +<p>"The general will make the conversation," said von Arnheim, smiling. "It +will be your duty, as he sees it, to answer questions."</p> + +<p>John's liking for von Arnheim grew. He had seldom seen a finer young +man. He was frank and open in manner, and bright blue eyes shone in a +face that bore every sign of honesty. Official enemies he and von +Arnheim were, but real enemies they never could be.</p> + +<p>He divined that he would be subjected to a cross-examination, but he had +no objection. Moreover, he wanted to see a German general of high +degree. Von Arnheim led the way through the woods to a little glade, in +which about a dozen officers stood. One of them, the oldest man present, +who was obviously in command, stood nearest the fire, holding his helmet +in his hand.</p> + +<p>The general was past sixty, of medium height, but extremely broad and +muscular. His head, bald save for a fringe of white hair, had been +reddened by the sun, and his face, with its deep heavy lines and his +corded neck, was red, too. He showed age but not weakness. His eyes, +small, red and uncommonly keen, gazed from under a white bushy thatch. +He looked like a fierce old dragon to John.</p> + +<p>"The American prisoner, sir," said von Arnheim in English to the +general.</p> + +<p>The old man concentrated the stare of his small red eyes upon John for +many long seconds. The young American felt the weight and power of that +gaze. He knew too instinctively that the man before him was a great +fighter, a true representative of the German military caste and system. +He longed to turn his own eyes away, but he resolutely held them steady. +He would not be looked down, not even by an old Prussian general to whom +the fate of a hundred thousand was nothing.</p> + +<p>"Very well, Your Highness, you may stand aside," said the general in a +deep harsh voice.</p> + +<p>Out of the corner of his eye John saw that the man who stood aside was +von Arnheim. "Your Highness!" Then this young lieutenant must be a +prince. If so, some princes were likable. Wharton and Carstairs and he +had outwitted a prince once, but it could not be von Arnheim. He turned +his full gaze back to the general, who continued in his deep gruff +voice, speaking perfect English:</p> + +<p>"I understand that you are an American and your name is John Scott."</p> + +<p>"And duly enrolled and uniformed in the French service," said John, +"You can't shoot me as a <i>franc tireur</i>."</p> + +<p>"We could shoot you for anything, if we wished, but such is not our +purpose. I have heard from a captain of Uhlans, Rudolf von Boehlen, a +most able and valuable officer, that you are brave and alert."</p> + +<p>"I thank Captain von Boehlen for his compliment. I did not expect it +from him."</p> + +<p>"Ah, he bears you no malice. We Germans are large enough to admire skill +and courage in others. He has spoken of the affair of the wireless. It +cost us much, but it belongs to the past. We will achieve what we wish."</p> + +<p>John was silent. He believed that these preliminaries on the part of the +old general were intended to create an atmosphere, a belief in his mind +that German power was invincible.</p> + +<p>"We have withdrawn a portion of our force today," continued the general, +"in order to rectify our line. Our army had advanced too far. Tomorrow +we resume our march on Paris."</p> + +<p>John felt that it was an extraordinary statement for an old man, one of +such high rank, the commander of perhaps a quarter of a million +soldiers, to be making to him, a young American, but he held his peace, +awaiting what lay behind it all.</p> + +<p>"Now you are a captive," continued the general, "you will be sent to a +prison, and you will be held there until the end of the war. You will +necessarily suffer much. We cannot help it. Yet you might be sent to +your own country. Americans and Germans are not enemies. I know from +Captain von Boehlen who took you that you have been in an aeroplane with +a Frenchman. Some account of what you saw from space might help your +departure for America."</p> + +<p>And so that was it! Now the prisoner's eye steadily confronted that of +the old general.</p> + +<p>"Your Highness," he said, as he thought that the old man might be a +prince as well as a general, "you have read the history of the great +civil war in my country, have you not?"</p> + +<p>"It was a part of my military duty to study it. It was a long and +desperate struggle with many great battles, but what has it to do with +the present?"</p> + +<p>"Did you ever hear of any traitor on either side, North or South, in +that struggle?"</p> + +<p>The deep red veins in the old general's face stood out, but he gave no +other sign.</p> + +<p>"You prefer, then," he said, "to become a charge upon our German +hospitality. But I can say that your refusal will not make terms harder +for you. Lieutenant von Arnheim, take him back to the other prisoners."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, sir," said John, and he gave the military salute. He could +understand the old man's point of view, rough and gruff though he was, +and he was not lacking in a certain respect for him. The general +punctiliously returned the salute.</p> + +<p>"You've made a good impression," said von Arnheim, as they walked away +together.</p> + +<p>"I gather," said John, "from a reference by the general, that you're a +prince."</p> + +<p>Von Arnheim looked embarrassed.</p> + +<p>"In a way I am," he admitted, "but ours is a mediatized house. Perhaps +it doesn't count for much. Still, if it hadn't been for this war I might +have gone to your country and married an heiress."</p> + +<p>His eyes were twinkling. Here, John thought was a fine fellow beyond +question.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you can come after the war and marry one," he said. "Personally +I hope you'll have the chance."</p> + +<p>"Thanks," said von Arnheim, a bit wistfully, "but I'm afraid now it will +be a long time, if ever. I need not seek to conceal from you that we +were turned back today. You know it already."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I know it," said John, speaking without any trace of exultation, +"and I'm willing to tell you that it was one of the results I saw from +the aeroplane. Can I ask what you intend to do with the prisoners you +have here, including myself?"</p> + +<p>"I do not know. You are to sleep where you are tonight. Your bed, the +earth, will be as good as ours, and perhaps in the morning we'll find an +answer to your question."</p> + +<p>Von Arnheim bade him a pleasant good night and turned to duties +elsewhere. John watched him as he strode away, a fine, straight young +figure. He had found him a most likable man, and he was bound to admit +that there was much in the German character to admire. But for the +present it was—in his view—a Germany misled.</p> + +<p>The prisoners numbered perhaps six hundred, and at least half of them +were wounded. John soon learned that the hurt usually suffered in +stoical silence. It was so in the great American civil war, and it was +true now in the great European war.</p> + +<p>Rough food was brought to them by German guards, and those who were able +drank at the brook. Water was served to the severely wounded by their +comrades in tin cups given to them by the Germans, and then all but a +few lay on the grass and sought sleep.</p> + +<p>John and his new friend, Fleury, were among those who yet sat up and +listened to the sounds of battle still in progress, although it was far +in the night. It was an average night of late summer or early autumn, +cool, fairly bright, and with but little wind. But the dull, moaning +sound made by the distant cannonade came from both sides of them, and +the earth yet quivered, though but faintly. Now and then, the +searchlights gleamed against the background of darkness, but John felt +that the combat must soon stop, at least until the next day. The German +army in which he was a prisoner had ceased already, but other German +armies along the vast line fought on, failing day, by the light which +man himself had devised.</p> + +<p>Fleury was intelligent and educated. Although it was bitter to him to be +a prisoner at such a time, he had some comprehension of what had +occurred, and he knew that John had been in a position to see far more +than he. He asked the young American many questions about his flight in +the air, and about Philip Lannes, of whom he had heard.</p> + +<p>"It was wonderful," he said, "to look down on a battle a hundred miles +long."</p> + +<p>"We didn't see all of it," said John, "but we saw it in many places, and +we don't know that it was a hundred miles long, but it must have been +that or near it."</p> + +<p>"And the greatest day for France in her history! What mighty +calculations must have been made and what tremendous marchings and +combats must have been carried out to achieve such a result."</p> + +<p>"One of the decisive battles of history, like Platæa, or the Metaurus or +Gettysburg. There go the Uhlans with Captain von Boehlen at their head. +Now I wonder what they mean to do!"</p> + +<p>A thousand men, splendidly mounted and armed, rode through the forest. +The moonlight fell on von Boehlen's face and showed it set and grim. +John felt that he was bound to recognize in him a stern and resolute +man, carrying out his own conceptions of duty. Nor had von Boehlen been +discourteous to him, although he might have felt cause for much +resentment. The Prussian glanced at him as he passed, but said nothing. +Soon he and his horsemen passed out of sight in the dusk.</p> + +<p>John, wondering how late it might be, suddenly remembered that he had a +watch and found it was eleven o'clock.</p> + +<p>"An hour of midnight," he said to Fleury.</p> + +<p>Most all the French stretched upon the ground were now in deep slumber, +wounded and unwounded alike. The sounds of cannon fire were sinking +away, but they did not die wholly. The faint thunder of the distant +guns never ceased to come. But the campfire, where he knew the German +generals slept or planned, went out, and darkness trailed its length +over all this land which by night had become a wilderness.</p> + +<p>John was able to trace dimly the sleeping figures of Germans in the +dusk, sunk down upon the ground and buried in the sleep or stupor of +exhaustion. As they lay near him so they lay in the same way in hundreds +of thousands along the vast line. Men and horses, strained to their last +nerve and muscle, were too tired to move. It seemed as if more than a +million men lay dead in the fields and woods of Northeastern France.</p> + +<p>John, who had been wide awake, suddenly dropped on the ground where the +others were stretched. He collapsed all in a moment, as if every drop of +blood had been drained suddenly from his body. Keyed high throughout the +day, his whole system now gave way before the accumulated impact of +events so tremendous. The silence save for the distant moaning that +succeeded the roar of a million men or more in battle was like a +powerful drug, and he slept like one dead, never moving hand or foot.</p> + +<p>He was roused shortly before morning by some one who shook him gently +but persistently, and at last he sat up, looking around in the dim light +for the person who had dragged him back from peace to a battle-mad +world. He saw an unkempt, bearded man in a French uniform, one sleeve +stained with blood, and he recognized Weber, the Alsatian.</p> + +<p>"Why, Weber!" he exclaimed, "they've got you, too! This is bad! They +may consider you, an Alsatian, a traitor, and execute you at once!"</p> + +<p>Weber smiled in rather melancholy fashion, and said in a low tone:</p> + +<p>"It's bad enough to be captured, but I won't be shot Nobody here knows +that I'm an Alsatian, and consequently they will think I'm a Frenchman. +If you call me anything, call me Fernand, which is my first name, but +which they will take for the last."</p> + +<p>"All right, Fernand. I'll practice on it now, so I'll make no slip. How +did you happen to be taken?"</p> + +<p>"I was in a motor car, a part of a train of about a hundred cars. There +were seven in it besides myself. We were ordered to cross a field and +join a line of advancing infantry. When we were in the middle of the +field a masked German battery of rapid-firers opened on us at short +range. It was an awful experience, like a stroke of lightning, and I +don't think that more than a dozen of us escaped with our lives. I was +wounded in the arm and taken before I could get out of the field. I was +brought here with some other prisoners and I have been sleeping on the +ground just beyond that hillock. I awoke early, and, walking the little +distance our guards allow, I happened to recognize your figure lying +here. I was sorry and yet glad to see you, sorry that you were a +prisoner, and glad to find at least one whom I knew, a friend."</p> + +<p>John gave Weber's hand a strong grasp.</p> + +<p>"I can say the same about you," he said warmly. "We're both prisoners, +but yesterday was a magnificent day for France and democracy."</p> + +<p>"It was, and now it's to be seen what today will be."</p> + +<p>"I hope and believe it will be no less magnificent."</p> + +<p>"I learned that you were taken just after you alighted from an +aeroplane, and that a man with you escaped in the plane. At least, I +presume it was you, as I heard the Germans talking of such a person and +I knew of your great friendship for Philip Lannes. Lannes, of course was +the one who escaped."</p> + +<p>"A good surmise, Fernand. It was no less a man than he."</p> + +<p>Weber's eyes sparkled.</p> + +<p>"I was sure of it," he said. "A wonderful fellow, that Lannes, perhaps +the most skillful and important bearer of dispatches that France has. +But he will not forget you, Mr. Scott. He knows, of course, where you +were taken, and doubtless from points high in the air he has traced the +course of this German army. He will find time to come for you. He will +surely do so. He has a feeling for you like that of a brother, and his +skill in the air gives him a wonderful advantage. In all the history of +the world there have never before been any scouts like the aeroplanes."</p> + +<p>"That's true, and that, I think, is their chief use."</p> + +<p>Impulse made John look up. The skies were fast beginning to brighten +with the first light in the east, and large objects would be visible +there. But he saw nothing against the blue save two or three captive +balloons which floated not far above the trees inside the German lines. +He longed for a sight of the <i>Arrow</i>. He believed that he would know its +shape even high in the heavens, but they were speckless.</p> + +<p>The Alsatian, whose eyes followed his, shook his head.</p> + +<p>"He is not there, Mr. Scott," he said, "and you will not see him today, +but I have a conviction that he will come, by night doubtless."</p> + +<p>John lowered his eyes and his feeling of disappointment passed. It had +been foolish of him to hope so soon, but it was only a momentary +impulse, Lannes could not seek him now, and even if he were to come +there would be no chance of rescue until circumstances changed.</p> + +<p>"Doubtless you and he were embarked on a long errand when you were +taken," said Weber.</p> + +<p>"We were carrying a message to the commander of one of the French +armies, but I don't know the name of the commander, I don't know which +army it is, and I don't know where it is."</p> + +<p>Weber laughed.</p> + +<p>"But Lannes knew all of those things," he said. "Oh, he's a close one! +He wouldn't trust such secrets not even to his brother-in-arms."</p> + +<p>"Nor should he do so. I'd rather he'd never tell them to me unless he +thought it necessary."</p> + +<p>"I agree with you exactly, Mr. Scott. Hark! Did you hear it? The battle +swells afresh, and it's not yet full day!"</p> + +<p>The roaring had not ceased, but out of the west rose a sound, louder +yet, deep, rolling and heavy with menace. It was the discharge of a +great gun and it came from a point several miles away.</p> + +<p>"We don't know who fired that," said Weber, "It may be French, English +or German, but it's my opinion that we'll hear its like in our forest +all day long, just as we did yesterday. However, it shall not keep me +from bathing my face in this brook."</p> + +<p>"Nor me either," said John.</p> + +<p>The cold water refreshed and invigorated him, and as he stooped over the +brook, he heard other cannon. They seemed to him fairly to spring into +action, and, in a few moments, the whole earth was roaring again with +the huge volume of their fire.</p> + +<p>Other prisoners, wounded and unwounded, awakened by the cannon, strolled +down to the brook and dipped into its waters.</p> + +<p>"I'd better slip back to my place beyond the hillock," said Weber. +"We're in two lots, we prisoners, and I belong in the other lot. I don't +think our guards have noticed our presence here, and it will be safer +for me to return. But it's likely that we'll all be gathered into one +body soon, and I'll help you watch for Lannes."</p> + +<p>"I'll be glad of your help," said John sincerely. "We must escape. In +all the confusion of so huge a battle there ought to be a chance."</p> + +<p>Weber slipped away in the crowd now hurrying down to the stream, and in +a few moments John was joined by Fleury, whose attention was centered on +the sounds of the distant battle. He deemed it best to say nothing to +him of Weber, who did not wish to be known as an Alsatian. Fleury's +heavy sleep had made him strong and fresh again, but he was in a fury at +his helplessness.</p> + +<p>"To think of our being tied here at such a time," he said. "France and +England are pushing the battle again! I know it, and we're helpless, +mere prisoners!"</p> + +<p>"Still," said John, "while we can't fight we may see things worth +seeing. Perhaps it's not altogether our loss to be inside the German +army on such a day."</p> + +<p>Fleury could not reconcile himself to such a view, but he sought to make +the best of it, and he was cheered, too, by the vast increase in the +volume of the cannon fire. Before the full day had crossed from east to +west the great guns were thundering again along the long battle line. +But in their immediate vicinity there was no action. All the German +troops here seemed to be resting on their arms. No Uhlans were visible +and John judged that the detachment under von Boehlen, having gone forth +chiefly for scouting purposes, had not yet returned.</p> + +<p>They received bread, sausage and coffee for breakfast from one of the +huge kitchen automobiles, and nearly all ate with a good appetite. Their +German captors did not treat them badly, but John, watching both +officers and men, did not see any elation. He had no doubt that the +officers were stunned by the terrible surprise of the day before, and as +for the men, they would know nothing. He had seen early that the Germans +were splendid troops, disciplined, brave and ingenious, but the habit of +blind obedience would blind them also to the fact that fortune had +turned her face away from them.</p> + +<p>He wished that his friend von Arnheim—friend he regarded him—would +appear and tell him something about the battle, but his wish did not +come true for an hour and meanwhile the whole heavens resounded with the +roar of the battle, while distant flashes from the guns could be seen on +either flank.</p> + +<p>The young German, glasses in hand, evidently seeking a good view, walked +to the crest of the hillock behind which Weber had disappeared. John +presumed enough on their brief friendship to call to him.</p> + +<p>"Do you see anything of interest?" he asked.</p> + +<p>Von Arnheim nodded quickly.</p> + +<p>"I see the distant fringe of a battle," he replied amiably, "but it's +too early in the morning for me to pass my judgment upon it."</p> + +<p>"Nevertheless you can look for a day of most desperate struggle!"</p> + +<p>Von Arnheim nodded very gravely.</p> + +<p>"Men by tens of thousands will fall before night," he said.</p> + +<p>As if to confirm his words, the roar of the battle took a sudden and +mighty increase, like a convulsion.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII" />CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<h3>THE TWO PRINCES</h3> + + +<p>John sat with the other prisoners for more than two hours listening to +the thunder of the great battle or rather series of battles which were +afterwards classified under the general head the Battle of the Marne. He +was not a soldier, merely a civilian serving as a soldier, but he had +learned already to interpret many of the signs of combat. There was an +atmospheric feeling that registered on a sensitive mind the difference +between victory and defeat, and he was firm in the belief that as +yesterday had gone today was going. Certainly this great German army +which he believed to be in the center was not advancing, and something +of a character most menacing was happening to the wings of the German +force. He read it in the serious, preoccupied faces of the officers who +passed near. There was not a smile on the face of the youngest of them +all, but deepest anxiety was written alike on young and old.</p> + +<p>John and Fleury sat together at the edge of the brook, and for a while +forgot their chagrin at not being on the battle line. The battle itself +which they could not see, but which they could hear, absorbed them so +thoroughly that they had no time to think of regrets.</p> + +<p>John had thought that man's violence, his energy in destruction on the +first day could not be equalled, but it seemed to him now that the +second day surpassed the first. The cannon fire was distant, yet the +waves of air beat heavily upon them, and the earth shook without +ceasing. Wisps of smoke floated toward them and the air was tainted +again with the acrid smell of burned gunpowder.</p> + +<p>"You're a mountaineer, Fleury, you told me," said Scott, "and you should +be able to judge how sound travels through gorges. I suppose you yodel, +of course?"</p> + +<p>"Yodel, what's that?"</p> + +<p>"To make a long singing cry on a peak which is supposed to reach to +somebody on another peak who sends back the same kind of a singing cry. +We have a general impression in America that European mountaineers don't +do much but stand in fancy costumes on crests and ridges and yodel to +one another."</p> + +<p>"It may have been so once," said the young Savoyard, "but this is a bad +year for yodeling. The voice of the cannon carries so far that the voice +of man doesn't amount to much. But what sound did you want me to +interpret?"</p> + +<p>"That of the cannon. Does its volume move eastward or westward? I should +think it's much like your mountain storms and you know how they travel +among the ridges."</p> + +<p>"The comparison is just, but I can't yet tell any shifting of the +artillery fire. The wind brings the sound toward us, and if there's any +great advance or retreat I should be able to detect it. I should say +that as far as the second day is concerned nothing decisive has happened +yet."</p> + +<p>"Do you know this country?"</p> + +<p>"A little. My regiment marched through here about three weeks ago and we +made two camps not far from this spot. This is the wood of Sénouart, and +the brook here runs down to the river Marne."</p> + +<p>"And we're not far from that river. Then we've pressed back the Germans +farther than I thought. It's strange that the German army here does not +move."</p> + +<p>"It's waiting, and I fancy it doesn't know what to do. I've an idea that +our victory yesterday was greater than the French and British have +realized, but which the Germans, of course, understand. Why do they +leave us here, almost neglected, and why do their officers walk about, +looking so doubtful and anxious? I've heard that the Germans were +approaching Paris with five armies. It may be that we've cut off at +least one of those armies and that it's in mortal danger."</p> + +<p>"It may be so. But have you thought, Fleury, of the extraordinary +difference between this morning and yesterday morning?"</p> + +<p>"I have. In conditions they're worlds apart. Hark! Listen now, Scott, my +friend!"</p> + +<p>He lay on the grass and put his ear to the ground, just as John had +often done. Listening intently for at least two minutes, he announced +with conviction that the cannonade was moving eastward.</p> + +<p>"Which means that the Germans are withdrawing again?" said John.</p> + +<p>"Undoubtedly," said Fleury, his face glowing.</p> + +<p>They listened a quarter of an hour longer, and John himself was then +able to tell that the battle line was shifting. The Germans elsewhere +must have fallen back several miles, but the army about him did not yet +move. He caught a glimpse of the burly general walking back and forth in +the forest, his hands clasped behind him, and a frown on his broad, +fighting face. He would walk occasionally to a little telephone station, +improvised under the trees—John could see the wires stretching away +through the forest—and listen long and attentively. But when he put +down the receiver the same moody look was invariably on his face, and +John was convinced as much by his expression as by the sound of the guns +that affairs were not going well with the Germans.</p> + +<p>Another long hour passed and the sun moved on toward noon, but a German +army of perhaps a quarter of a million men lay idle in the forest of +Sénouart, as John now called the whole region.</p> + +<p>Presently the general walked down the line and John lost sight of him. +But Weber reappeared, coming from the other side of the hillock, and +John was glad to see him, since Fleury had gone back to attend to a +wounded friend.</p> + +<p>"There doesn't seem to be as much action here as I expected," said +Weber, cheerfully, sitting down on the grass beside young Scott.</p> + +<p>"But they're shaking the world there! and there!" said John, nodding to +right and to left.</p> + +<p>"So they are. This is a most extraordinary reversal, Mr. Scott, and I +can't conceive how it was brought about. Some mysterious mind has made +and carried through a plan that was superbly Napoleonic. I'd give much +to know how it was done."</p> + +<p>John shook his head.</p> + +<p>"I know nothing of it," he said.</p> + +<p>"But doubtless your friend Lannes does. What a wonderful thing it is to +carry through the heavens the dispatches which may move forward a +million armed men."</p> + +<p>"I don't know anything about Lannes' dispatches."</p> + +<p>"Nor do I, but I can make a close guess, just as you can. He's surely +hovering over the battle field today, and as I said last night he +certainly has some idea where you are, and sooner or later will come for +you."</p> + +<p>John looked up, but again the heavens were bare and clear. Then he +looked down and saw walking near them a heavy, middle-aged, bearded man +to whom all the German officers paid great deference. The man's manner +was haughty and overbearing, and John understood at once that in the +monarchical sense he was a personage.</p> + +<p>"Do you know the big fellow there?" he said to Weber. "Have you heard +anyone speak of him?"</p> + +<p>"I saw him this morning, and one of the guards told us who he is. That +is Prince Karl of Auersperg. The house of Auersperg is one of the +oldest in Germany, much older than the Emperor's family, the +Hohenzollerns. I don't suppose the world contains any royal blood more +ancient than that of Prince Karl."</p> + +<p>"Evidently he feels that it's so. I'm getting used to princes, but our +heavy friend there must be something of a specialist in the princely +line. I should judge from his manner that he is not only the oldest man +on earth, speaking in terms of blood, but the owner of the earth as +well."</p> + +<p>"The Auerspergs have an immense pride."</p> + +<p>"I can see it, but a lot of pride fell before Paris yesterday, and a lot +more is falling among these hills and forests today. There seems to be a +lot of difference between princes, the Arnheims and the Auerspergs, for +instance."</p> + +<p>Then a sudden thought struck John. It had the vaguest sort of basis, but +it came home to him with all the power of conviction.</p> + +<p>"I wonder if Prince Karl of Auersperg once owned a magnificent armored +automobile," he said.</p> + +<p>Weber looked puzzled, and then his eyes lightened.</p> + +<p>"Ah, I know what you mean!" he exclaimed. "The one in which we took that +flight with Carstairs the Englishman and Wharton the American. It +belonged to a prince, without doubt, yes. But no, it couldn't have been +Prince Karl of Auersperg who owned the machine."</p> + +<p>"I'm not so sure. I've an intuition that it is he. Besides, he looks +like just the kind of prince from whom I'd like to take his best +automobile, also everything else good that he might happen to have. I +shall feel much disappointed if this proves not to be our prince."</p> + +<p>"You Americans are such democrats."</p> + +<p>"I don't go so far as to say a man is necessarily bad because of his +high rank, but as I reminded you a little while ago, there are princes +and princes. The ancient house of Auersperg as it walks up and down, +indicating its conviction of its own superiority to everything else on +earth, does not please me."</p> + +<p>"The Uhlans are coming back!" exclaimed Weber in tones of excitement.</p> + +<p>"And that's von Boehlen at their head! I'd know his figure as far as I +could see it! And they've had a brush, too! Look at the empty saddles +and the wounded men! As sure as we live they've run into the French +cavalry and then they've run out again!"</p> + +<p>The Uhlans were returning at a gallop, and the German officers of high +rank were crowding forward to meet them. It was obvious to every one +that they had received a terrible handling, but John knew that von +Boehlen was not a man to come at a panicky gallop. Some powerful motive +must send him so fast.</p> + +<p>He saw the Prussian captain spring from his horse and rush to a little +group composed of the general, the prince and several others of high +rank who had drawn closely together at his coming.</p> + +<p>Von Boehlen was wounded slightly, but he stood erect as he saluted the +commander and talked with him briefly and rapidly. John's busy and +imaginative mind was at work at once with surmises, and he settled upon +one which he was sure must be the truth. The French advance in the +center was coming, and this German army also must soon go into action.</p> + +<p>He was confirmed in his belief by a hurried order to the guards to go +eastward with the prisoners. As the captives, the wounded and the +unwounded, marched off through the forest of Sénouart they heard at a +distance, but behind them, the opening of a huge artillery fire. It was +so tremendous that they could feel the shaking of the earth as they +walked, and despite the hurrying of their guards they stopped at the +crest of a low ridge to look back.</p> + +<p>They gazed across a wide valley toward high green hills, along which +they saw rapid and many flashes. John longed now for the glasses which +had been taken from him when he was captured, but he was quite sure that +the flashes were made by French guns. From a point perhaps a mile in +front of the prisoners masked German batteries were replying. Fleury +with his extraordinary power of judging sound was able to locate these +guns with some degree of approximation.</p> + +<p>"Look! the aeroplanes!" said John, pointing toward the hills which he +now called to himself the French line.</p> + +<p>Numerous dark shapes, forty or fifty at least, appeared in the sky and +hovered over the western edge of the wide, shallow basin. John was sure +that they were the French scouts of the blue, appearing almost in line +like troops on the ground, and his heart gave a great throb. No doubt +could be left now, that this German army was being attacked in force +and with the greatest violence. It followed then that the entire German +line was being assailed, and that the French victory was continuing its +advance. The Republic had rallied grandly and was hurling back the +Empire in the most magnificent manner.</p> + +<p>All those emotions of joy and exultation that he had felt the day before +returned with increased force. In daily contact he liked Germans as well +as Frenchmen, but he thought that no punishment could ever be adequate +for the gigantic crimes of kings. Napoleon himself had been the champion +of democracy and freedom, until he became an emperor and his head +swelled so much with success that he thought of God and himself +together, just as the Kaiser was now thinking. It was a curious +inversion that the French who were fighting then to dominate Europe were +fighting now to prevent such a domination. But it was now a great French +republican nation remade and reinvigorated, as any one could see.</p> + +<p>The guards hurried them on again. Another mile and they stopped once +more on the crest of a low hill, where it seemed that they would remain +some time, as the Germans were too busy with a vast battle to think much +about a few prisoners. It was evident that the whole army was engaged. +The old general, the other generals, the princes and perhaps dukes and +barons too, were in the thick of it. John's heart was filled with an +intense hatred of the very name of royalty. Kings and princes could be +good men personally, but as he saw its work upon the huge battle fields +of Europe he felt that the institution itself was the curse of the +earth.</p> + +<p>"We shall win again today," said Fleury, rousing him from his +absorption. "Look across the fields, Scott, my friend, and see how those +great masses of infantry charging our army have been repulsed."</p> + +<p>It was a far look, and at the distance the German brigades seemed to be +blended together, but the great gray mass was coming back slowly. He +forgot all about himself and his own fate in his desire to see every act +of the gigantic drama as it passed before him. He took no thought of +escape at present, nor did Fleury, who stood beside him. The fire of the +guns great and small had now blended into the usual steady thunder, +beneath which human voices could be heard.</p> + +<p>"We don't have the forty-two centimeters, nor the great siege guns," +said Fleury, "but the French field artillery is the best in the world. +It's undoubtedly holding back the German hosts and covering the French +advance."</p> + +<p>"That's my opinion, too," said John. "I saw its wonderful work in the +retreat toward Paris. I think it saved the early French armies from +destruction."</p> + +<p>The German army was made of stern material. Having planted its feet here +it refused to be driven back. Its cannon was a line of flaming +volcanoes, its cavalry charged again and again into the face of death, +and its infantry perished in masses, but the stern old general spared +nothing. Passing up and down the lines, listening at the telephone and +receiving the reports of air scouts and land scouts, he always hurled +in fresh troops at the critical points and Fritz and Karl and Wilhelm +and August, sober and honest men, went forward willingly, sometimes +singing and sometimes in silence, to die for a false and outworn system. +John as a prisoner had a better view than he would have had if with the +French army. In a country open now he could see a full mile to right and +left, where the German hosts marched again and again to attack, and +while the French troops were too far away for his eyes he beheld the +continuous flare of their fire, like a broad red ribbon across the whole +western horizon.</p> + +<p>The passing of time was nothing to him. He forgot all about it in his +absorption. But the sun climbed on, afternoon came, and still the battle +at this point raged, the French unable to drive the Germans farther and +the Germans unable to stop the French attacks. John roused himself and +endeavored to dissociate the thunder on their flanks from that in front, +and, after long listening, he was able to make the separation, or at +least he thought so. He knew now that the struggle there was no less +fierce than the one before him.</p> + +<p>The Kaiser himself must be present with one or the other of these +armies, and a man who had talked for more than twenty years of his +divine right, his shining armor, his invincible sword and his mailed +fist must be raging with the bitterness of death to find that he was +only a mortal like other mortals, and that simple French republicans +were defeating the War Lord, his Grand Army and the host of kings, +princes, dukes, barons, high-born, very high-born, and all the other +relics of medievalism. Dipped to the heel and beyond in the fountain of +democracy, John could not keep from feeling a fierce joy as he saw with +his own eyes the Germans fighting in the utmost desperation, not to take +Paris and destroy France, but to save themselves from destruction.</p> + +<p>The afternoon, slow and bright, save for the battle, dragged on. Scott +and Fleury kept together. Weber appeared once more and spoke rather +despondently. He believed that the Germans would hold fast, and might +even resume the offensive toward Paris again, but Fleury shook his head.</p> + +<p>"Today is like yesterday," he said.</p> + +<p>"How can you tell?" asked Weber.</p> + +<p>"Because the fire on both flanks is slowly moving eastward, that is, the +Germans there are yielding ground. My ears, trained to note such things, +tell me so. My friend, I am not mistaken."</p> + +<p>He spoke gravely, without exultation, but John took fresh hope from his +words. Toward night the fire in their front died somewhat, and after +sunset it sank lower, but they still heard a prodigious volume of firing +on both flanks. John remembered then that they had eaten nothing since +morning, but when some of the prisoners who spoke German requested food +it was served to them.</p> + +<p>Night came over what seemed to be a drawn battle at this point, and +after eating his brief supper John saw the automobiles and stretchers +bringing in the wounded. They passed him in thousands and thousands, +hurt in every conceivable manner. At first he could scarcely bear to +look at them, but it was astonishing how soon one hardened to such +sights.</p> + +<p>The wounded were being carried to improvised hospitals in the rear, but +so far as John knew the dead were left on the field. The Germans with +their usual thorough system worked rapidly and smoothly, but he noticed +that the fires were but very few. There was but little light in the wood +of Sénouart or the hills beyond, and there was little, too, on the +ridges that marked the French position.</p> + +<p>John kept near the edges of the space allotted to the prisoners, hoping +that he might again see von Arnheim. He had discovered early that the +Germans were unusually kind to Americans, and the fact that he had been +taken fighting against them did not prevent them from showing generous +treatment. The officer in charge of the guard even wanted to talk to him +about the war and prove to him how jealousy had caused the other nations +to set upon Germany. But John evaded him and continued to look for the +young prince who was serving as a mere lieutenant.</p> + +<p>It was about an hour after dark when he caught his first glimpse of von +Arnheim, and he was really glad to see that he was not wounded.</p> + +<p>"I've come to tell you, Mr. Scott," said von Arnheim, "that all of you +must march at once. You will cross the Marne, and then pass as prisoners +into Germany. You will be well treated there and I think you can +probably secure your release on condition that you return to your own +country and take no further part in the war."</p> + +<p>John shook his head.</p> + +<p>"I don't expect any harshness from the Germans," he said, "but I'm in +this war to stay, if the bullets and shells will let me. I warn you now +that I'm going to escape."</p> + +<p>Von Arnheim laughed pleasantly.</p> + +<p>"It's fair of you to give us warning of your intentions," he said, "but +I don't think you'll have much chance. You must get ready to start at +once."</p> + +<p>"I take it," said John, "that our departure means the departure of the +German army also."</p> + +<p>Von Arnheim opened his mouth to speak, but he closed it again suddenly.</p> + +<p>"It's only a deduction of mine," said John.</p> + +<p>Von Arnheim nodded in farewell and hurried away.</p> + +<p>"Now I'm sure," said John to Fleury a few minutes later, "that this army +is going to withdraw."</p> + +<p>"I think so too," said Fleury. "I can yet hear the fire of the cannon on +either flank and it has certainly moved to the east. In my opinion, my +friend, both German wings have been defeated, and this central army is +compelled to fall back because it's left without supports. But we'll +soon see. They can't hide from us the evidences of retreat."</p> + +<p>The prisoners now marched in a long file in the moonlight across the +fields, and John soon recognized the proof that Fleury was right. The +German army was retreating. There were innumerable dull, rumbling +sounds, made by the cannon and motors of all kinds passing along the +roads, and at times also he heard the heavy tramp of scores of +thousands marching in a direction that did not lead to Paris.</p> + +<p>John began to think now of Lannes. Would he come? Was Weber right when +he credited to him a knowledge near to omniscience? How was it possible +for him to pick out a friend in all that huge morass of battle! And yet +he had a wonderful, almost an unreasoning faith in Philip, and, as +always when he thought of him, he looked up at the heavens.</p> + +<p>It was an average night, one in which large objects should be visible in +the skies, and he saw several aeroplanes almost over their heads, while +the rattle of a dirigible came from a point further toward the east.</p> + +<p>The aeroplane was bound to be German, but as John looked he saw a sleek +shape darting high over them all and flying eastward. Intuition, or +perhaps it was something in the motion and shape of the machine, made +him believe it was the <i>Arrow.</i> It must be the <i>Arrow!</i> And Lannes must +be in it! High over the army and high over the German planes it darted +forward like a swallow and disappeared in a cloud of white mist. His +hair lifted a little, and a thrill ran down his spine.</p> + +<p>He still looked up as he walked along, and there was the sleek shape +again! It had come back out of the white mist, and was circling over the +German planes, flying with the speed and certainty of an eagle. He saw +three of the German machines whirl about and begin to mount as if they +would examine the stranger. But the solitary plane began to rise again +in a series of dazzling circles. Up, up it went, as if it would +penetrate the last and thinnest layer of air, until it reached the dark +and empty void beyond.</p> + +<p>The <i>Arrow</i>—he was sure it could be no other—was quickly lost in the +infinite heights, and then the German planes were lost, too, but they +soon came back, although the <i>Arrow</i> did not. It had probably returned +to some point over the French line or had gone eastward beyond the +Germans.</p> + +<p>John felt that he had again seen a sign. He remembered how he and Lannes +had drawn hope from omens when they were looking at the Arc de Triomphe, +and a similar hope sprang up now. Weber was right! Lannes would come to +his rescue. Some thought or impulse yet unknown would guide him.</p> + +<p>Light clouds now drifted up from the southwest, and all the aeroplanes +were hidden, but the heavy murmur of the marching army went on. The +puffing and clashing of innumerable automobiles came from the roads +also, though John soon ceased to pay attention to them. As the hours +passed, he felt an increased weariness. He had sat still almost the +whole day, but the strain of the watching and waiting had been as great +as that of the walking now was. He wondered if the guards would ever let +them stop.</p> + +<p>They waded another brook, passed through another wood and then they were +ordered to halt. The guards announced that they could sleep, as they +would go no farther that night. The men did not lie down. They fell, and +each lay where he fell, and in whatever position he had assumed when +falling.</p> + +<p>John was conscious of hearing the order, of striking the grass full +length, and he knew nothing more until the next morning when he was +aroused by Fleury. He saw a whitish dawn with much mist floating over +the fields, and he believed that a large river, probably the Marne, must +be near.</p> + +<p>As far as he could see the ground was covered with German soldiers. They +too had dropped at the command to stop, and had gone to sleep as they +were falling. The majority of them still slept.</p> + +<p>"What is it, Fleury? Why did you wake me up?" asked John.</p> + +<p>"The river Marne is close by, and I'm sure that the Germans are going to +retreat across it. I had an idea that possibly we might escape while +there's so much mist. They can't watch us very closely while they have +so much else to do, and doubtless they would care but little if some of +us did escape."</p> + +<p>"We'll certainly look for the chance. Can you see any sign of the French +pursuit?"</p> + +<p>"Not yet, but our people will surely follow. They're still at it already +on the flanks!"</p> + +<p>The distant thunder of cannon came from both right and left.</p> + +<p>"A third day of fighting is at hand," said Fleury.</p> + +<p>"And it will be followed by a fourth."</p> + +<p>"And a fifth."</p> + +<p>"But we shall continue to drive the enemy away."</p> + +<p>Both spoke with the utmost confidence. Having seen their armies +victorious for two days they had no doubt they would win again. All that +morning they listened to the sounds of combat, although they saw much +less than on the day before. The prisoners were in a little wood, where +they lay down at times, and then, restless and anxious, would stand on +tiptoe again, seeking to see at least a corner of the battle.</p> + +<p>John and Fleury were standing near noon at the edge of the wood, when a +small body of Uhlans halted close by. Being not more than fifty in +number, John judged that they were scouts, and the foaming mouths of +their horses showing that they had been ridden hard, confirmed him in +the opinion. They were only fifty or sixty yards from him, and although +they were motionless for some time, their eager faces showed that they +were waiting for some movement.</p> + +<p>It was pure chance, but John happened to be looking at a rather large +man who sat his horse easily, his gloved hand resting on his thigh. He +saw distinctly that his face was very ruddy and covered with beads of +perspiration. Then man and horse together fell to the ground as if +struck by a bolt of lightning. The man did not move at all, but the +horse kicked for a few moments and lay still.</p> + +<p>There was a shout of mingled amazement and horror from the other Uhlans, +and it found its echo in John's own mind. He saw one of the men look up, +and he looked up also. A dark shape hovered overhead. Something small +and black, and then another and another fell from it and shot downward +into the group of Uhlans. A second man was hurled from his horse and lay +still upon the ground. Again John felt that thrill of horror and +amazement.</p> + +<p>"What is it? What is it?" he cried.</p> + +<p>"I think it's the steel arrow," said Fleury, pressing a little further +forward and standing on tiptoe. "As well as I can see, the first passed +entirely through the head of the man and then broke the backbone of the +horse beneath him."</p> + +<p>John saw one of the Uhlans, who had dismounted, holding up a short, +heavy steel weapon, a dart rather than an arrow, its weight adjusted so +that it was sure to fall point downward. Coming from such a height John +did not wonder that it had pierced both horse and rider, and as he +looked another, falling near the Uhlan, struck deep into the earth.</p> + +<p>"There goes the aeroplane that did it," said John to Fleury, pointing +upward.</p> + +<p>It hovered a minute or two longer and flew swiftly back toward the +French lines, pursued vainly a portion of the distance by the German +Taubes.</p> + +<p>"A new weapon of death," said Fleury. "The fighters move in the air, +under the water, on the earth, everywhere."</p> + +<p>"The Uhlans are off again," said John. "Whatever their duty was the +steel arrows have sent them on it in a hurry."</p> + +<p>"And we're about to move too. See, these batteries are limbering up +preparatory to a withdrawal."</p> + +<p>Inside of fifteen minutes they were again marching eastward, though +slowly and with the roar of battle going on as fiercely behind them as +ever. John heard again from some of the talk of the guards that the +Germans had five armies along their whole line, but whether the one with +which he was now a prisoner was falling back with its whole force he +had no way of knowing. Both he and Fleury were sure the prisoners +themselves would soon cross the Marne, and that large detachments of the +enemy would go with them.</p> + +<p>Thoughts of escape returned. Crossing a river in battle was a perilous +operation, entailing much confusion, and the chance might come at the +Marne. They could see too that the Germans were now being pressed +harder. The French shells were coming faster and with more deadly +precision. Now and then they exploded among the masses of German +infantry, and once or twice they struck close to the captives.</p> + +<p>"It would be a pity to be killed by our own people," said Fleury.</p> + +<p>"And at such a time as this," said John. "Do you know, Fleury, that my +greatest fear about getting killed is that then I wouldn't know how this +war is going to end?"</p> + +<p>"I feel that way myself sometimes. Look, there's the Marne! See its +waters shining! It's the mark of the first great stage in the German +retreat."</p> + +<p>"I wonder how we're going to cross. I suppose the bridges will be +crowded with artillery and men. It might pay the Germans just to let us +go."</p> + +<p>"They won't do that. There's nothing in their rules about liberating +prisoners, and they wouldn't hear of such a thing, anyhow, trouble or no +trouble."</p> + +<p>"I see some boats, and I fancy we'll cross on them. I wonder if we +couldn't make what we call in my country a get-away, while we're waiting +for the embarkation."</p> + +<p>"If our gunners become much more accurate our get-away, as you call it, +will be into the next life."</p> + +<p>Two huge shells had burst near, and, although none of the flying metal +struck them, their faces were stung by fine dirt. When John brushed the +dust out of his eyes he saw that he was right in his surmise about the +crossing in boats, but wrong about probable delays in embarkation. The +German machine even in retreat worked with neatness and dispatch. There +were three boats, and the first relay of prisoners, including John and +Fleury, was hurried into them. A bridge farther down the stream rumbled +heavily as the artillery crossed on it. But the French force was coming +closer and closer. A shell struck in the river sixty or eighty feet from +them and the water rose in a cataract. Some of the prisoners had been +put at the oars and they, like the Germans, showed eagerness to reach +the other side. John noted the landing, a narrow entrance between thick +clumps of willows, and he confessed to himself that he too would feel +better when they were on the farther bank.</p> + +<p>The Marne is not a wide river, and a few powerful pulls at the oars sent +them near to the landing. But at that moment a shell whistled through +the air, plunged into the water and exploded practically beneath the +boat.</p> + +<p>John was hurled upward in a gush of foam and water, and then, when he +dropped back, the Marne received him in its bosom.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII" />CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<h3>THE SPORT OF KINGS</h3> + + +<p>John Scott, who was suffering from his second immersion in a French +river, came up with mouth, eyes and nose full of water. The stream +around him was crowded with men swimming or with those who had reached +water shallow enough to permit of wading. As well as he could see, the +shell had done no damage besides giving them a huge bath, of which every +one stood in much need.</p> + +<p>But he had a keen and active mind and it never worked quicker than it +did now. He had thought his chance for escape might come in the +confusion of a hurried crossing, and here it was. He dived and swam down +the stream toward the willows that lined the bank. When he could hold +his breath no longer he came up in one of the thickest clumps. The water +reached to his waist there, and standing on the bottom in all the +density of willows and bushes he was hidden thoroughly from all except +watchful searchers. And who would miss him at such a time, and who, if +missing, would take the trouble to look for him while the French cannon +were thundering upon them and a perilous crossing was to be made?</p> + +<p>It was all so ridiculously easy. He knew that he had nothing to do but +stand close while the men pulled themselves out of the river and the +remaining boats made their passage. For further protection he moved into +water deep enough to reach to his neck, while he still retained the +cover of the willows and bushes. Here he watched the German troops pass +over, and listened to the heavy cannonade. He soon noted that the +Germans, after crossing, were taking up strong positions on the other +side. He could tell it from the tremendous artillery fire that came from +their side of the Marne.</p> + +<p>John now found that his position, while safe from observation, was far +from comfortable. The chill of the water began to creep into his bones +and more shells struck unpleasantly near. Another fell into the river +and he was blinded for a moment by the violent showers of foam and +spray. He began to feel uneasy. If the German and French armies were +going to fight each other from the opposing sides of the Marne he would +be held there indefinitely, either to be killed by a shell or bullet or +to drown from cramp.</p> + +<p>But time passed and he saw no chance of leaving his watery lair. The +chill went further into his bones. He was lonesome too. He longed for +the companionship of Fleury, and he wondered what had become of him. He +sincerely hoped that he too had reached a covert and that they should +meet again.</p> + +<p>No rumbling came from the bridge below, and, glancing down the stream, +John saw that it was empty. There must be many other bridges over the +Marne, but he believed that the German armies had now crossed it, and +would devote their energy to a new attack. He was squarely between the +lines and he did not see any chance to escape until darkness.</p> + +<p>He looked up and saw a bright sun and blue skies. Night was distant, and +so far as he was concerned it might be a year away. If two armies were +firing shells directly at a man they must hit him in an hour or two, and +if not, a polar stream such as the Marne had now become would certainly +freeze him to death. He had no idea French rivers could be so cold. The +Marne must be fed by a whole flock of glaciers.</p> + +<p>His teeth began to chatter violently, and then he took stern hold of +himself. He felt that he was allowing his imagination to run away with +him, and he rebuked John Scott sternly and often for such foolishness. +He tried to get some warmth into his veins by jumping up and down in the +water, but it was of little avail. Yet he stood it another hour. Then he +made one more long and critical examination of the ground.</p> + +<p>Shells were now screaming high overhead, but nobody was in sight. He +judged that it was now an artillery battle, with the foes perhaps three +or four miles apart, and, leaving the willows, he crept out upon the +bank. It was the side held by the Germans, but he knew that if he +attempted to swim the river to the other bank he would be taken with +cramps and would drown.</p> + +<p>There was a little patch of long grass about ten yards from the river, +and, crawling to it, he lay down. The grass rose a foot high on either +side of him, but the sun, bright and hot, shone directly down upon his +face and body. It felt wonderfully good after that long submersion in +the Marne. Removing all his heavy wet clothing, he wrung the water out +of it as much as he could, and lay back in a state of nature, for both +himself and his clothing to dry. Meanwhile, in order to avoid cold, he +stretched and tensed his muscles for a quarter of an hour before he lay +still again.</p> + +<p>A wonderful warmth and restfulness flowed back into his veins. He had +feared chills and a serious illness, but he knew now that they would not +come. Youth, wiry and seasoned by hard campaigning, would quickly +recover, but knowing that, for the present, he could neither go forward +nor backward, he luxuriated in the grass, while the sun sucked the damp +out of his clothing.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the battle was raging over his head and he scarcely noticed +it. The shells whistled and shrieked incessantly, but, midway between +the contending lines, he felt that they were no longer likely to drop +near. So he relaxed, and a dreamy feeling crept over him. He could hear +the murmur of insects in the grass, and he reflected that the smaller +one was, the safer one was. A shell was not likely to take any notice of +a gnat.</p> + +<p>He felt of his clothing. It was not dry yet and he would wait a little +longer. Anyhow, what was the use of hurrying? He turned over on his +side and continued to luxuriate in the long grass.</p> + +<p>The warmth and dryness had sent the blood pulsing in a strong flood +through his veins once more, and the mental rebound came too. Although +he lay immediately between two gigantic armies which were sending +showers of metal at each other along a line of many miles, he considered +his escape sure and the thought of personal danger disappeared. If one +only had something to eat! It is curious how the normal instincts and +wants of man assert themselves even under the most dangerous conditions. +He began to think of the good German brown bread and the hot sausage +that he had devoured, and the hot coffee that he had drunk. One could +eat the food of an enemy without compunction.</p> + +<p>But it was folly to move, even to seek dinner or supper, while the +shells were flying in such quantities over his head. As he turned once +more and lay on his back he caught glimpses as of swift shadows passing +high above, and the whistling and screaming of shells and shrapnel was +continuous. It was true that a missile might fall short and find him in +the grass, but he considered the possibility remote and it did not give +him a tremor. As he was sure now that he would suffer no bodily ill from +his long bath in the Marne he might remain in the grass until night and +then creep away. Blessed night! It was the kindly veil for all +fugitives, and no one ever awaited it with more eagerness than John +Scott.</p> + +<p>The sun was now well beyond the zenith, and its golden darts came +indirectly. His clothing was thoroughly dry at last, and he put it on +again. Clad anew he was tempted to seek escape at once, but the sound of +a footstep caused him to lie down in the shelter of the grass again.</p> + +<p>His ear was now against the earth and the footsteps were much more +distinct. He was sure that they were made by a horse, and he believed +that a Uhlan was riding near. He remembered how long and sharp their +lances were, and he was grateful that the grass was so thick and tall. +He longed for the automatic revolver that had been such a trusty friend, +but the Germans had taken it long since, and he was wholly unarmed.</p> + +<p>He was afraid to raise his head high enough to see the horseman, lest he +be seen, but the footsteps, as if fate had a grudge against him, were +coming nearer. His blood grew hot in a kind of rebellion against chance, +or the power that directed the universe. It was really a grim joke that, +after having escaped so much, a mere wandering scout of a Uhlan should +pick him up, so to speak, on the point of his lance.</p> + +<p>He pressed hard against the earth. He would have pressed himself into it +if he could, and imagination, the deceiver, made him think that he was +doing so. The temptation to raise his head above the grass and look +became more violent, but will held him firm and he still lay flat.</p> + +<p>Then he noticed that the hoofbeats wandered about in an irregular, +aimless fashion. Not even a scout hunting a good position for +observation would ride in such a way, and becoming more daring he +raised his head slowly, until he could peep over the grass stems. He saw +a horse, fifteen or twenty feet from him, but without rider, bridle or +saddle. It was a black horse of gigantic build like a Percheron, with +feet as large as a half-bushel measure, and a huge rough mane.</p> + +<p>The horse saw John and gazed at him out of great, mild, limpid eyes. The +young American thought he beheld fright there and the desire for +companionship. The animal, probably belonging to some farmer who had +fled before the armies, had wandered into the battle area, seeking the +human friends to whom he was so used, and nothing living was more +harmless than he. He reminded John in some ways of those stalwart and +honest peasants who were so ruthlessly made into cannon food by the +gigantic and infinitely more dangerous Tammany that rules the seventy +million Germans.</p> + +<p>The horse walked nearer and the look in his eyes became so full of +terror and the need of man's support that for the time he stood as a +human being in John's imagination.</p> + +<p>"Poor old horse!" he called, "I'm sorry for you, but your case is no +worse than mine. Here we both are, wishing harm to nobody, but with a +million men shooting over our backs."</p> + +<p>The horse, emboldened by the friendly voice, came nearer and nuzzled at +the human friend whom he had found so opportunely, and who, although so +much smaller than himself, was, as he knew, so much more powerful. This +human comrade would show him what to do and protect him from all harm. +But John took alarm. He too found pleasure in having a comrade, even if +it were only a horse, but the animal would probably attract the +attention of scouts or skirmishers. He tried to shoo him away, but for a +long time the horse would not move. At last he pulled a heavy bunch of +grass, wadded it together and threw it in his face.</p> + +<p>The horse, staring at him reproachfully, turned and walked away. John's +lively fancy saw a tear in the huge, luminous eye, and his conscience +smote him hard.</p> + +<p>"I had to do it, Marne, old fellow," he called. "You're so big and you +stick up so high that you arouse attention, and that's just what I don't +want."</p> + +<p>He had decided to call the horse Marne, after the river near by, and he +noticed that he did not go far. The animal, reassured by John's friendly +after-word, began to crop the grass about twenty feet away. He had a +human friend after all, one on whom he could rely. Man did not want to +be bothered by him just then, but that was the way of man, and he did +not mind, since the grass was so plentiful and good. He would be there, +close at hand, when he was needed.</p> + +<p>John was really moved by the interlude. The loneliness, and then the +friendliness of the horse appealed to him. He too needed a comrade, and +here he was. He forgot, for a time, the moaning of the shells over his +head, and began to think again about his escape. So thinking, the horse +came once more into his mind. He showed every sign of grazing there +until dark came. Then why not ride away on him? It was true that a +horse was larger and made more noise than a fugitive man slipping +through the grass, but there were times when strength and speed, +especially speed, counted for a lot.</p> + +<p>The last hours of the afternoon waned, trailing their slow length, +minute by minute, and throughout that time the roar of the battle was as +steady as the fall of Niagara. It even came to the point that John paid +little attention to it, but the sport of kings, in which thousands of +men were ground up, they knew not why, went merrily on. None of the +shells struck near John, and with infinite joy he saw the coming of the +long shadows betokening the twilight. The horse, still grazing near by, +raised his head more than once and looked at him, as if it were time to +go. As the sun sank and the dusk grew John stood up. He saw that the +night was going to be dark and he was thankful. The Marne was merely a +silver streak in the shadow, and in the wood near by the trees were +fusing into a single clump of darkness.</p> + +<p>He stood erect, stretching his muscles and feeling that it was glorious +to be a man with his head in the air, instead of a creature that +grovelled on the ground. Then he walked over to the horse and patted him +on the shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Marne, old boy," he said, "I think it's about time for you and me to +go."</p> + +<p>The horse rubbed his great head against John's arm, signifying that he +was ready to obey any command his new master might give him. John knew +from his build that he was a draught horse, but there were times in +which one could not choose a particular horse for a particular need.</p> + +<p>"Marne, old fellow," he said, stroking the animal's mane, "you're not to +be a menial cart horse tonight. I am an Arabian genie and I hereby turn +you into a light, smooth, beautifully built automobile for one passenger +only, and I'm that passenger."</p> + +<p>Holding fast to the thick mane he sprang upon the horse's back, and +urged him down the stream, keeping close to the water where there was +shelter among the willows and bushes. He had no definite idea in his +head, but he felt that if he kept on going he must arrive somewhere. He +was afraid to make the horse swim the river in an effort to reach the +French army. Appearing on the surface of the water he felt that he would +almost certainly be seen and some good rifleman or other would be sure +to pick him off.</p> + +<p>He concluded at last that if no German troops came in sight he would let +the horse take him where he would. Marne must have a home and a master +somewhere and habit would send him to them. So he ceased to push at his +neck and try to direct him, and the horse continued a slow and peaceful +progress down the stream in the shadow of small trees. The night was +darker than those just before it, and the dampness of the air indicated +possible flurries of rain. Cannon still rumbled on the horizon like the +thunder of a summer night.</p> + +<p>While trusting to the horse to lead him to some destination, John kept a +wary watch, with eyes now growing used to the darkness. If German +troops appeared and speed to escape were lacking, he would jump from +Marne's back and hunt a new covert. But he saw nobody. The evidences of +man's work were present continually in the cannonade, but man himself +was absent.</p> + +<p>The horse went on with ponderous and sure tread. Evidently he had +wandered far under the influence of the firing, but it was equally +evident that his certain instinct was guiding him back again. He crossed +a brook flowing down into the Marne, passed through a wheat field, and +entered a little valley, where grew a number of oaks, clear of +undergrowth.</p> + +<p>When he saw what was lying under the oaks he pulled hard at the rough +mane, until the horse stopped. He had distinctly made out the figures of +men, stretched upon the ground, apparently asleep, and sure to be +Germans. He stared hard at them, but the horse snorted and tried to pull +away. The action of the animal rather than his own eyesight made him +reckon aright.</p> + +<p>A horse would not be afraid of living men, and, slipping from the back +of Marne, John approached cautiously. A few rays of wan moonlight +filtered through the trees, and when he had come close he shuddered over +and over again. About a dozen men lay on the ground and all were stone +dead. The torn earth and their own torn figures showed that a shell had +burst among them. Doubtless it had been an infantry patrol, and the +survivors had hurried away.</p> + +<p>John, still shuddering, was about to turn back to his horse, when he +remembered that he needed much and that in war one must not be too +scrupulous. Force of will made him return to the group and he sought for +what he wanted. Evidently the firing had been hot there and the rest of +the patrol had not lingered in their flight.</p> + +<p>He took from one man a pair of blankets. He could have had his choice of +two or three good rifles, but he passed them by in favor of a large +automatic pistol which would not be in the way. This had been carried by +a young man whom he took to be an officer, and he also found on him many +cartridges for the pistol. Then he searched their knapsacks for food, +finding plenty of bread and sausage and filling with it one knapsack +which he put over his shoulder.</p> + +<p>He returned hastily to his horse, guided him around the fatal spot, and +when he was some distance on the other side dismounted and ate as only a +half-starved man can eat. Water was obtained from a convenient brook and +carefully storing the remainder of the food in the knapsack he remounted +the horse.</p> + +<p>"Now go on, my good and gallant beast," he said, "and I feel sure that +your journey is nearly at an end. A draught horse like you, bulky and +slow, would not wander any great distance."</p> + +<p>The horse himself immediately justified his prediction by raising his +head, neighing and advancing at a swifter pace. John saw, standing among +some trees, a low and small house, built of stone and evidently very +old, its humble nature indicating that it belonged to a peasant. Behind +it was a tiny vineyard, and there was a stable and another outhouse.</p> + +<p>"Well, Marne, my lad, here's your home, beyond a doubt," said John. But +no answer came to the neigh. The house remained silent and dark. It +confirmed John's first belief that the horse belonged to some peasant +who had fled with his family from the armies. He stroked the animal's +neck, and felt real pity for him, as if he had been a child abandoned.</p> + +<p>"I know that while I'm a friend I'm almost a stranger to you, but come, +we'll examine things," he said.</p> + +<p>He sprang off the horse, and drew his automatic. The possession of the +pistol gave him an immense amount of courage and confidence, but he did +not anticipate any trouble at the house as he was sure that it was +abandoned.</p> + +<p>He pushed open the door and saw a dark inside. Staring a little he made +out a plainly furnished room, from which all the lighter articles had +been taken. There was a hearth, but with no fire on it, and John decided +that he would sleep in the house. It was in a lonely place, but he would +take the risk.</p> + +<p>The horse had already gone to the stable and was pushing the door with +his nose. John let him in, and found some oat straw which he gave him. +Then he left him munching in content, and as he departed he struck him a +resounding blow of friendliness on the flank.</p> + +<p>"Good old Marne," he said, "you're certainly one of the best friends +I've found in Europe. In fact, you're about the only living being I've +associated with that doesn't want to kill somebody."</p> + +<p>He entered the house and closed the door. In addition to the +sitting-room there was a bedroom and a kitchen, all bearing the signs of +recent occupancy. He found a small petroleum lamp, but he concluded not +to light it. Instead he sat on a wooden bench in the main room beside a +small window, ate a little more from the knapsack, and watched a while +lest friend or enemy should come.</p> + +<p>It had grown somewhat darker and the clouds were driving across the sky. +The wind was rising and the threatened flurries of rain came, beating +against the cottage. John was devoutly glad that he had found the little +house. Having spent many hours immersed to his neck in a river he felt +that he had had enough water for one day. Moreover, his escape, his snug +shelter and the abundance of food at hand, gave him an extraordinary +sense of ease and rest. He noticed that in the darkness and rain one +might pass within fifty feet of the cottage without seeing it.</p> + +<p>The wind increased and moaned among the oaks that grew around the house, +but above the moaning the sounds of battle, the distant thunder of the +artillery yet came. The sport of kings was going merrily on. Neither +night nor storm stopped it and men were still being ground by thousands +into cannon food. But John had now a feeling of detachment. Three days +of continuous battle had dulled his senses. They might fight on as they +pleased. It did not concern him, for tonight at least. He was going to +look out for himself.</p> + +<p>He fastened the door securely, but, as he left the window open, +currents of fresh cool air poured into the room. He was now fully +revived in both mind and body, and he took present ease and comfort, +thinking but little of the future. The flurries of rain melted into a +steady pour. The cold deepened, and as he wrapped the two blankets +around him his sense of comfort increased. Lightning flared at +infrequent intervals and now and then real thunder mingled with that of +the artillery.</p> + +<p>He felt that he might have been back at home. It was like some snug +little place in the high hills of Pennsylvania or New York. Like many +other Americans, he often felt surprise that Europe should be so much +like America. The trees and the grass and the rivers were just the same. +Nothing was different but the ancient buildings. He knew now that +history and a long literature merely created the illusion of difference.</p> + +<p>He wondered why the artillery fire did not die, with the wind sweeping +such gusts of rain before it. Then he remembered that the sound of so +many great cannon could travel a long distance, and there might be no +rain at the points from which the firing came. The cottage might stand +in a long narrow valley up which the clouds would travel.</p> + +<p>Not feeling sleepy yet he decided to have another look about the house. +A search revealed a small box of matches near the lamp on the shelf. +Then he closed the window in order to shut in the flame, and, lighting +the lamp, pursued his investigation.</p> + +<p>He found in the kitchen a jar of honey that he had overlooked, and he +resolved to use a part of it for breakfast. Europeans did not seem able +to live without jam or honey in the mornings, and he would follow the +custom. Not much was left in the other rooms, besides some old articles +of clothing, including two or three blue blouses of the kind worn by +French peasants or workmen, but on one of the walls he saw an excellent +engraving of the young Napoleon, conqueror of Italy.</p> + +<p>It showed him, horseback, on a high road looking down upon troops in +battle, Castiglione or Rivoli, perhaps, his face thin and gaunt, his +hair long and cut squarely across his forehead, the eyes deep, burning +and unfathomable. It was so thoroughly alive that he believed it must be +a reproduction of some great painting. He stood a long time, fascinated +by this picture of the young republican general who rose like a meteor +over Europe and who changed the world.</p> + +<p>John, like nearly all young men, viewed the Napoleonic cycle with a +certain awe and wonder. A student, he had considered Napoleon the great +democratic champion and mainly in the right as far as Austerlitz. Then +swollen ambition had ruined everything and, in his opinion, another +swollen ambition, though for far less cause, was now bringing equal +disaster upon Europe. A belief in one's infallibility might come from +achievement or birth, but only the former could win any respect from +thinking men.</p> + +<p>It seemed to John presently that the deep, inscrutable eyes were gazing +at him, and he felt a quivering at the roots of his hair. It was young +Bonaparte, the republican general, and not Napoleon, the emperor, who +was looking into his heart.</p> + +<p>"Well," said John, in a sort of defiance, "if you had stuck to your +early principles we wouldn't have all this now. First Consul you might +have been, but you shouldn't have gone any further."</p> + +<p>He turned away with a sigh of regret that so great a warrior and +statesman, in the end, should have misused his energies.</p> + +<p>He returned to the room below, blew out the lamp and opened the window +again. The cool fresh air once more poured into the room, and he took +long deep breaths of it. It was still raining, though lightly, and the +pattering of the drops on the leaves made a pleasant sound. The thunder +and the lightning had ceased, though not the far rumble of artillery. +John knew that the sport of kings was still going on under the +searchlights, and all his intense horror of the murderous monarchies +returned. He was not sleepy yet, and he listened a long time. The sound +seemed to come from both sides of him, and he felt that the abandoned +cottage among the trees was merely a little oasis in the sea of war.</p> + +<p>The rain ceased and he concluded to scout about the house to see if any +one was near, or if any farm animals besides the horse had been left. +But Marne was alone. There was not even a fowl of any kind. He concluded +that the horse had probably wandered away before the peasant left, as so +valuable an animal would not have been abandoned otherwise.</p> + +<p>His scouting—he was learning to be very cautious—took him some +distance from the house and he came to a narrow road, but smooth and +hard, a road which troops were almost sure to use, while such great +movements were going on. He waited behind a hedge a little while, and +then he heard the hum of motors.</p> + +<p>He had grown familiar with the throbbing, grinding sound made by many +military automobiles on the march, but he waited calmly, merely +loosening his automatic for the sake of precaution. He felt sure that +while he stood behind a hedge he would never be seen on a dark night by +men traveling in haste. The automobiles came quickly into view and in +those in front he saw elderly men in uniforms of high rank. Nearly all +the German generals seemed to him to be old men who for forty or fifty +years had studied nothing but how to conquer, men too old and hardened +to think much of the rights of others or ever to give way to generous +emotions.</p> + +<p>He also saw sitting erect in one of the motors the man for whom he had +felt at first sight an invincible repulsion. Prince Karl of Auersperg. +Young von Arnheim had represented the good prince to him, but here was +the medieval type, the believer in divine right, and in his own +superiority, decreed even before birth. John noted in the moonlight his +air of ownership, his insolent eyes and his heavy, arrogant face. He +hoped that the present war would sweep away all such as Auersperg.</p> + +<p>He watched nearly an hour while the automobiles, cyclists, a column of +infantry, and then several batteries of heavy guns drawn by motors, +passed. He judged that the Germans were executing a change of front +somewhere, and that the Franco-British forces were still pressing hard. +The far thunder of the guns had not ceased for an instant, although it +must be nearly midnight. He wished he knew what this movement on the +part of the Germans meant, but, even if he had known, he had no way of +reaching his own army, and he turned back to the cottage.</p> + +<p>Having fastened the door securely again he spread the blankets on the +bench by the window and lay down to sleep. The tension was gone from his +nerves now, and he felt that he could fall asleep at once, but he did +not. A shift in the wind brought the sound of the artillery more +plainly. His imagination again came into vivid play. He believed that +the bench beneath him, the whole cottage, in fact, was quivering before +the waves of the air, set in such violent motion by so many great guns.</p> + +<p>It annoyed him intensely. He felt a sort of personal anger against +everybody. It was past midnight of the third day and it was time for the +killing to stop. At least they might rest until morning, and give his +nerves a chance. He moved restlessly on the bench a half hour or more, +but at last he sank gradually to sleep. As his eyes closed the thunder +of the cannonade was as loud and steady as ever. He slept, but the +murderous sport of kings went on.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX" />CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<h3>THE PUZZLING SIGNAL</h3> + + +<p>When John awoke a bright sun was shining in at the window, bringing with +it the distant mutter of cannon, a small fire was burning on the hearth +on the opposite side of the room, a man was bending over the coals, and +the pleasant odor of boiling coffee came to his nostrils. He sat up in +amazement and looked at the man who, not turning around, went on +placidly with his work of preparing breakfast. But he recognized the +figure.</p> + +<p>"Weber!" he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"None other!" said the Alsatian, facing about, and showing a cheery +countenance. "I was in the boat just behind you when your own was +demolished by the shell. In all the spray and foam and confusion I saw +my chance, and dropping overboard from ours I floated with the stream. I +had an idea that you might escape, and since you must come down the +river between the two armies I also, for the same reasons, chose the +same path. I came upon this cottage several hours ago, picked the +fastenings of the door and to my astonishment and delight found you, my +friend, unharmed, but sound asleep upon the bench there. I slept a while +in the corner, then I undertook to make breakfast with provisions and +utensils that I found in the forest. Ah, it was easy enough last night +to find almost anything one wished. The fields and forest were full of +dead men."</p> + +<p>"I provided myself in the same way, but I'm delighted to see you. I was +never before in my life so lonely. How chance seems to throw us together +so often!"</p> + +<p>"And we've both profited by it. The coffee is boiling now, Mr. Scott. +I've a good German coffee pot and two cups that I took from the fallen. +God rest their souls, they'll need them no more, while we do."</p> + +<p>"The battle goes on," said John, listening a moment at the window.</p> + +<p>"Somewhere on the hundred mile line it has continued without a break of +an instant, and it may go on this way for a week or a month. Ah, it's a +fearful war, Mr. Scott, and we've seen only the beginning! But drink the +coffee now, while it's hot. And I've warmed too, some of the cold food +from the knapsacks. German sausage is good at any time."</p> + +<p>"And just now it's heavenly. I'm glad we have such a plentiful supply of +sausage and bread, even if we did have to take it from the dead. I want +to tell you again how pleasant it is to see you here."</p> + +<p>"I feel that way too. We're like comrades united. Now if we only had +your English friend Carstairs, your American friend Wharton, and Lannes +we'd be quite a family group."</p> + +<p>"I fancy that we'll see Lannes before we do Carstairs and Wharton."</p> + +<p>"I think so too. He'll certainly be hovering today somewhere over the +ground between the two armies—either to observe the Germans or more +likely to carry messages between the French generals. I tell you, Mr. +Scott, that Philip Lannes is perhaps the most wonderful young man in +Europe. In addition to his extraordinary ability in the air he has +courage, coolness, perception and quickness almost without equal. +There's something Napoleonic about him."</p> + +<p>"You know he's descended from the family of the famous Marshal, Lannes, +not from Lannes himself, but from a close relative, and the blood's the +same. They say that blood will tell, and don't you think that the spirit +of the great Lannes may have reappeared in Philip?"</p> + +<p>"It's altogether likely."</p> + +<p>"I've been thinking a lot about Napoleon. There's a wonderful picture of +him as a young republican general in a room here. Perhaps it's the +conditions around us, but at times I am sure the heroic days of the +First Republic have returned to France. The spirit that animated Hoche +and Marceau and Kleber and Bonaparte, before he became spoiled, seems to +have descended upon the French. And there were Murat, Lannes and +Lefebvre, and Berthier and the others. Think of that wonderful crowd of +boys leading the republican armies to victories over all the kings! It +seems to me the most marvelous thing in the history of war, since the +Greeks turned back the Persians."</p> + +<p>Weber refilled his coffee cup, drank a portion of it, and said:</p> + +<p>"I have thought of it, Mr. Scott, I have thought of it more than once. +It may be that the Gallic fury has been aroused. It has seemed so to me +since the German armies were turned back from Paris. The French have +burned more gunpowder than any other nation in Europe, and they're a +fighting race. It would appear now that the Terrible Year, 1870, was +merely an aggregation of mistakes, and did not represent either the +wisdom or natural genius of the nation."</p> + +<p>"That is, the French were then far below normal, as we would say, but +have now returned to their best, and that the two Kaisers made the +mistake of thinking the French in their lowest form were the French in +their usual form?"</p> + +<p>"It may be so," said Weber, thoughtfully. "Nations reckon their strength +in peace, but only war itself discloses the fact. Evidently tremendous +miscalculations have been made by somebody."</p> + +<p>"By somebody? By whom? That's why I'm against the Kaisers and all the +secret business of the military monarchies. War made over night by a +dozen men! a third of the world's population plunged into battle! and +the rest drawn into the suffering some way or other! I don't like a lot +of your European ways."</p> + +<p>Weber shook his head.</p> + +<p>"We've inherited kings," he said. "But how did you find this place?"</p> + +<p>"Accident. Stumbled on it, and mighty grateful I was, too. It kept me +warm and dry after standing so long in the Marne I thought I was bound +to turn into a fish. Isolated little place, but the Germans have been +passing near. Before sleeping last night, I went out scouting and as I +stood behind a hedge I saw a lot of them. I recognized in a motor the +Very High Born, his High Mightiness, the owner of the earth, the Prince +of Auersperg."</p> + +<p>Weber took another drink of coffee.</p> + +<p>"An able man and one of our most bitter enemies," he said. "A foe of +democracy everywhere. I think he was to have been made governor of +Paris, and then Paris would have known that it had a governor. I've seen +him in Alsace, and I've heard a lot about him."</p> + +<p>"But all that's off now. I fancy that the next governor of Paris, if it +should have a governor, will be a Frenchman. But the day is advancing, +Weber; what do you think we ought to do?"</p> + +<p>"I've been thinking of your friend Lannes. I've an idea that he'll come +for you, if he finds an interval in his duties."</p> + +<p>"But how could he possibly find me? Why, it's the old needle in the +haystack business."</p> + +<p>"He couldn't unless we made some sort of signal."</p> + +<p>"There's no signal that I can make."</p> + +<p>"But there's one that I can. Look, Mr. Scott."</p> + +<p>He unbuttoned his long French coat, and took from his breast a roll of +red, white and blue. He opened it and disclosed a French flag about four +feet long.</p> + +<p>"If that were put in a conspicuous place," he said, "an aviator with +glasses could see it a long way, and he would come to find out what it +meant."</p> + +<p>"The top of a tree is the place for it!" exclaimed John. "Now if you +only had around here a real tree, or two, in place of what we call +saplings in my country, we might do some fine signaling with the flag."</p> + +<p>"We'll try it, but I think we should go a considerable distance from the +cottage. If Germans instead of French should come then we'd have a +better chance of escaping among the hedges and vineyards."</p> + +<p>John agreed with him and they quickly made ready, each taking his +automatic and knapsack, and leaving the fire to die of itself on the +hearth.</p> + +<p>"I'm telling that cottage good-bye with regret," said John, as they +walked away. "I spent some normal and peaceful hours there last night +and it's a neat little place. I hope its owners will be able to come +back to it. As soon as I open the stable door, in order that the horse +may go where he will, I'll be ready."</p> + +<p>He gave the big animal a friendly pat as he left and Marne gazed after +him with envious sorrowful eyes.</p> + +<p>They walked a full mile, keeping close to the Marne, where the trees and +bushes were thickest, and listened meanwhile to the fourth day's +swelling roar of the battle. Its long continuance had made it even more +depressing and terrifying than in its earlier stages. To John's mind, at +least, it took on the form of a cataclysm, of some huge paroxysm of the +earth. He ate to it, he slept to it, he woke to it, and now he was +walking to it. The illusion was deepened by the fact that no human being +save Weber was visible to him. The country between the two monstrous +battle lines was silent and deserted.</p> + +<p>"Apparently," said Weber, "we're in no danger of human interference as +we walk here."</p> + +<p>"Not unless a shell coming from a point fifteen miles or so beyond the +hills should drop on us, or we should be pierced by an arrow from one of +our Frenchmen in the clouds. But so far as I can see there's nothing +above us, although I can make out one or two aeroplanes far toward the +east."</p> + +<p>"The air is heavy and cloudy and that's against them, but they'll be out +before long. You'll see. I think, Mr. Scott, that we'll find a good tree +in that little grove of beeches there."</p> + +<p>"The tall one in the center. Yes, that'll suit us."</p> + +<p>They inspected the tree and then made a long circuit about it, finding +nobody near. John, full of zeal and enthusiasm, volunteered to climb the +tree and fasten the flag to its topmost stem, and Weber, after some +claims on his own behalf, agreed. John was a good climber, alert, agile +and full of strength, and he went up the trunk like an expert. It was an +uncommonly tall tree for France, much more than a sapling, and when he +reached the last bough that would support him he found that he could see +over all the other trees and some of the low hills. At a little distance +ran the Marne, a silver sheet, and he thought he could discern faint +puffs of smoke on the hills beyond. No human being was in sight, but +although high in the tree he could still feel the vibrations of the air +beneath the throb of so many great guns. Several aeroplanes hovered at +points far distant, and he knew that others would be on the long battle +line.</p> + +<p>Reaching as high as he could he tied the flag with a piece of twine that +Weber had given him—the Alsation seemed to have provided for +everything—and then watched it as it unfolded and fluttered in the +light breeze. He felt a certain pride, as he had done his part of the +task well. The flag waved above the green leaves and any watcher of the +skies could see it.</p> + +<p>"How does it show?" he called to Weber.</p> + +<p>"Well, indeed. You'd better climb down now. If the Germans come from the +air they'll get you there, and if they come on land they'll have you in +the tree. You'll be caught between air and earth."</p> + +<p>"That being the case I'll come down at once," said John, and he +descended the tree rapidly. At Weber's advice they withdrew to a cluster +of vines growing near, where they would be well hidden, since their +signal was as likely to draw enemies as friends.</p> + +<p>"I think Lannes will surely see that flag," said Weber.</p> + +<p>"Why do you have such great confidence in his coming?" asked John.</p> + +<p>"He inspires confidence, when you see him, and there's his reputation. +I've an idea that he'll be carrying dispatches between the two wings of +the French army, dispatches of vast importance, since the different +French forces have to cooperate now along a line of four or five score +miles. Of course the telephone and the telegraph are at work, too, but +the value of the aeroplane as a scout and dispatch bearer cannot be over +estimated."</p> + +<p>"One is coming now," said John, "and I think it has been attracted by +our flag. I take it to be German."</p> + +<p>"Then we'd better keep very close. Still, there's little chance of our +being seen here, and the aviators, even if they suspect a presence, +can't afford to descend, leave their planes and search for anybody."</p> + +<p>"I agree with you there. One can remain here in comparative safety and +watch the results of our signal. That machine is coming fast and I'm +quite sure it's German."</p> + +<p>"An armored machine with two men and a light rapid fire gun in it. +Beyond a doubt it will circle about our tree."</p> + +<p>The plane was very near now, and assuredly it was German. John could +discern the Teutonic cast of their countenances, as the two men in it +leaned over and looked at the flag. They dropped lower and lower and +then flew in circles about the tree. John, despite his anxiety and +suspense, could not fail to notice the humorous phase of it. The plane +certainly could not effect a landing in the boughs, and if it descended +to the ground in order that one of their number might get out, climb the +tree and capture the flag, they would incur the danger of a sudden swoop +from French machines. Besides, the flag would be of no value to them, +unless they knew who put it there and why.</p> + +<p>"The Germans, of course, see that it's a French flag," he said to +Weber. "I wonder what they're going to do."</p> + +<p>"I think they'll have to leave it," said Weber, "because I can now see +other aeroplanes to the west, aeroplanes which may be French, and they +dare not linger too long."</p> + +<p>"And our little flag may make a big disturbance in the heavens."</p> + +<p>"So it seems."</p> + +<p>The German plane made circle after circle around the tree, finally drew +off to some distance, and then, as it wavered back and forth, its +machine gun began to spit fire. Little boughs and leaves cut from the +tree fell to the ground, but the flag, untouched, fluttered defiantly in +the light breeze.</p> + +<p>"They're trying to shoot it down," said John, "and with such an unsteady +gun platform they've missed every time."</p> + +<p>"I doubt whether they'll continue firing," said Weber. "An aeroplane +doesn't carry any great amount of ammunition and they can't afford to +waste much."</p> + +<p>"They're through now," said John. "See, they're flying away toward the +east, and unless my imagination deceives me, their machine actually +looks crestfallen, while our flag is snapping away in the wind, haughty +and defiant."</p> + +<p>"A vivid fancy yours, Mr. Scott, but it's easy to imagine that German +machine looking cheap, because that's just the way the men on board it +must feel. Suppose we sit down here and take our ease. No flying man +can see through those vines over our heads, and we can watch in safety. +We're sure to draw other scouts of the air, while for us it's an +interesting and comparatively safe experience."</p> + +<p>"Our flag is certainly an attraction," said John, making himself +comfortable on the ground. "There's a bird of passage now, coming down +from the north as swift as a swallow."</p> + +<p>"It's a little monoplane," said Weber, "and it certainly resembles a +swallow, as it comes like a flash toward this tree. I thought at first +it might be Lannes in the <i>Arrow,</i> but the plane is too small, and it's +of German make."</p> + +<p>"I fancy it won't linger long. This is not a healthy bit of space for +lone fellows in monoplanes."</p> + +<p>The little plane slackened its speed, as it approached the tree, and +then sailed by it at a moderate rate. When it was opposite the flag a +spurt of flame came from the pistol of the man in it, and John actually +laughed.</p> + +<p>"That was sheer spite," he said. "Did he think he could shoot our flag +away with a single bullet from a pistol when a machine gun has just +failed? That's right, turn about and make off as fast as you can, you +poor little mono!"</p> + +<p>The monoplane also curved around the tree, but did not make a series of +circles. Instead, when its prow was turned northward it darted off again +in that direction, going even more swiftly than it had come, as if the +aviator were ashamed of himself and wished to get away as soon as +possible from the scene of his disgrace. Away and away it flew, +dwindling to a black speck and then to nothing.</p> + +<p>John's shoulders shook, and Weber, looking at him, was forced to smile +too.</p> + +<p>"Well, it was funny," he said. "Our flag is certainly making a stir in +the heavens."</p> + +<p>"I wonder what will come next," said John. "It's like bait drawing birds +of prey."</p> + +<p>The heavens were now beautifully clear, a vault of blue velvet, against +which anything would show. Far away the cannon groaned and thundered, +and the waves of air pulsed heavily, but John noticed neither now. His +whole attention was centered upon the flag, and what it might call from +the air.</p> + +<p>"In such a brilliant atmosphere we can certainly see our visitors from +afar," he said.</p> + +<p>"So we can," said Weber, "and lo! another appears out of the east!"</p> + +<p>The dark speck showed on the horizon and grew fast, coming apparently +straight in their direction. John did not believe it had seen their flag +at first, owing to the great distance, but was either a messenger or a +scout. As it soon began to descend from its great height in the air, +although still preserving a straight course for the tree, he felt sure +that the flag had now come into its view. It grew very fast in size and +was outlined with startling clearness against the burning blue of the +sky.</p> + +<p>The approaching machine consisted of two planes alike in shape and size, +superimposed and about six feet apart, the whole with a stabilizing tail +about ten feet long and six feet broad. John saw as it approached that +the aviator sat before the motor and screw, but that the elevating and +steering rudders were placed in front of him. There were three men +besides the aviator in the machine.</p> + +<p>"A biplane," said John.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Weber, "I recognize the type of the machine. It's originally +a French model."</p> + +<p>"But in this case, undoubtedly a German imitation. They've seen our +flag, because I can make out one of the men with glasses to his eyes. +They hover about as if in uncertainty. No wonder they can't make up +their minds, because there's the tricolor floating from the top of that +tall tree, and not a thing in the world to explain why it's in such a +place. A man with a rifle is about to take a shot at it. Bang! There it +goes! But I can't see that the bullet has damaged our flag. Look, how it +whips about and snaps defiance! Now, all the men except the aviator +himself have out glasses and are studying the phenomenon of our signal. +They come above the tree, and I think they're going to make a swoop +around the grove near the ground. Lie close, Weber! As I found out once +before, a thick forest is the best defense against aeroplanes. They +can't get through the screen of boughs."</p> + +<p>They heard a whirring and drumming, and the biplane not more than fifty +feet above the earth made several circles about the little wood. John +saw the men in it very clearly. He could even discern the German cast of +countenance where all except the one at the wheel that controlled the +two rudders had thrown back their hoods and taken off their glasses. +The three carried rifles which they held ready for use, in case they +detected an enemy.</p> + +<p>Whirling around like a vast primeval bird of prey the biplane began to +rise, as if disappointed of a victim, and winding upward was soon above +the trees. Then John heard the rapid crackle of rifles.</p> + +<p>"Shooting at our flag again!" he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>But the whizz of a bullet that buried itself in the earth near him told +him better.</p> + +<p>"It isn't possible that they've seen us!" he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"No," said Weber, "they're merely peppering the woods and vines in the +hope that they'll hit a concealed enemy, if such there should be."</p> + +<p>"That being the case," said John, "I'm going to make my body as small as +possible, and push myself into the ground if I can."</p> + +<p>He lay very close, but the rifle fire quickly passed to other portions +of the wood, and then died away entirely. John straightened himself out +and saw the biplane becoming smaller, as it flew off in the direction +whence it had come.</p> + +<p>"I hope you'll come to no good," he said, shaking his fist at the +disappearing plane. "You've scared me half to death with your shots, and +I hope that both your rudders will get out of gear and stay out of gear! +I hope that the wheel controlling them will be smashed up! I hope that +the top plane will crash into the bottom one! I hope that a French shell +will shoot your tail off! And I hope that you'll tumble to the earth and +lie there, nothing but a heap of rotting wood and rusty old metal!"</p> + +<p>"Well done, Mr. Scott!" said Weber. "That was quite a curse, but I think +it will take something more solid to disable the biplane."</p> + +<p>"I think so too, but I've relieved my feelings, and after a man has done +so he can work a lot better. What are we to look for now, Weber? We +don't seem to have success in attracting anything but Germans. If Lannes +is coming at all, as you think he will, he'll get a pretty late ticket +of admission to our reserved section of the air."</p> + +<p>"You must remember that the sky above us is a pretty large place, and at +any rate we're a drawing power. We're always pulling something out of +the ether."</p> + +<p>"And our biggest catch is coming now! Look, Weber, look I If that isn't +one of Herr Zeppelin's railroad trains of the air then I'll eat it when +it gets here!"</p> + +<p>"You're right, Mr. Scott. There the monster comes. It can't be anything +but a Zeppelin! They must have one of their big sheds not far east of +us."</p> + +<p>"We'll hear its rattling soon. Like the others it will surely see our +flag and make for it. But if they take a notion to shoot up the wood, as +the men on that biplane did, we'd better hunt holes. A Zeppelin can +carry a lot of soldiers."</p> + +<p>The Zeppelin was not moving fast. It had none of the quick graceful +movements of the aeroplanes, but came on slowly like some huge monster +of the air, looking about for prey. It turned southeast for a moment or +two, then some one on board saw the flag and coming back it lumbered +toward the tree.</p> + +<p>"Ugly things," said John. "Lannes and I blew up one once, and I wish I +had the same chance against that fellow up there. But they're in the +same puzzled state that the other fellows were. Men on both platforms +are examining the flag through glasses, and the flag doesn't give a rap +for them. It's standing out in the wind, now, straight and stiff. It +seems to know that old Noah's ark can't make it out."</p> + +<p>The huge Zeppelin drew its length along the grove, coming as close to +the trees as it dared, then passed above, and after some circling +lumbered away to the south.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, old Mr. Curiosity," exclaimed John. "You weren't invited +here, and I don't care whether you ever come again. Besides, you're +nothing but a big bluff, anyway. There's our flag, still standing +straight out in the wind, so you can see every stripe on it, and yet you +haven't, despite your visit, the remotest idea why it was put there!"</p> + +<p>Weber smiled.</p> + +<p>"They've all gone away as ignorant as they were when they came," he +said, "but we must be due for a French visitor or two. After so long a +run of Germans we should have Frenchmen soon."</p> + +<p>"I begin to believe with you that Lannes will arrive some time or other. +He flies fast and far and in time he must see our signal."</p> + +<p>"I've never doubted it. Meanwhile I think I'll take a little luncheon, +and I'd advise you to do the same. We haven't had such a bad time here, +saving those random rifle shots from the biplane."</p> + +<p>"Not at all. It's like watching a play, and you certainly have a clear +field for observation, when you look up at the heavens. The stage is +always in full view."</p> + +<p>John was feeling uncommonly good. Their concealment while they watched +the scouts and messengers from the skies coming to see the meaning of +the flag had been easy and restful. Much of his long and painful tension +had relaxed. The hum of distant artillery was in his ears as ever, like +a moaning of the wind, but he was growing so used to it that he would +now have noticed its absence rather than its presence. So he ate his +share of bread and sausage with a good appetite, meanwhile keeping a +watchful eye upon the heavens which burned in the same brilliant blue.</p> + +<p>It was now about noon. The rain the night before had given fresh tints +to the green of grass and foliage. The whole earth, indifferent to the +puny millions that struggled on its vast bosom, seemed refreshed and +revitalized. A modest little bird in brown plumage perched on a bough +near them, and, indifferent too, to war, poured forth a brilliant volume +of song.</p> + +<p>"Happy little fellow," John said. "Nothing to do but eat and sleep and +sing."</p> + +<p>"Unless he's snapped up by some bigger bird," said Weber, "but having +been an hour without callers we're now about to have a new one. And as +this comes from the west it's likely to be French."</p> + +<p>John felt excitement, and stood up. Yes, there was the machine coming +out of the blue haze in the west, soaring beautifully and fast. It was +very high, but his eye, trained now, saw that it was descending +gradually. He felt an intense hope that it was Lannes, but he soon knew +that it was not lie. The approaching machine could not possibly be the +<i>Arrow.</i></p> + +<p>"It's a Bleriot monoplane," said Weber. "I can tell the type almost as +far as I can see it. It's much like a gigantic bird, with powerful +parchment wings mounted upon a strong body. The wings as you see now +present a concave surface to the earth. They always do that. The flyer +sits between the two wings and has in front of him the lever with which +he controls the whole affair."</p> + +<p>"You seem to know a good deal about flying machines, Weber."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, I've observed them a lot. I've always been curious about them +and I've attended the great flying meets at Rheims, but personally I'm a +coward about heights. I study the types of these wonderful machines, but +I don't go up in 'em. That's a little fellow coming now and he's seen +the flag."</p> + +<p>"There's only one man in the plane, but as he's undoubtedly French what +do you think we ought to do? He can't carry us away with him in the +machine, it's too small. Do you think we should signal him to come to +the ground and have a talk?"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps we'd better let him pass, Mr. Scott. We have no real +information to give. He might suspect that we are Germans and a lot of +time would be lost maneuvering. Suppose we remain in hiding, and say +nothing until Lannes himself appears."</p> + +<p>"You still feel sure that he will come?"</p> + +<p>"It's a conviction."</p> + +<p>"Same way with me, and I agree with you that we'd better let our friend +in the Bleriot go by. He's descending fast now. The plane certainly does +look like a bird. Reminds me somewhat of a German Taube, though this +machine is much smaller."</p> + +<p>"The pilot will take only a look or two at the flag. Then, if we don't +hail him, he'll sail swiftly back to the west."</p> + +<p>"For good reasons too. The air here is chiefly in the German sphere of +influence, and if I were in his place I'd take to my heels too at a +single glance."</p> + +<p>"That's what he's doing now. He's flying past the flag just as one of +the Germans did. He leans over to take a look at it, can't make out what +it means, glances back apprehensively toward the German quarter of the +heavens, and now he's sliding like a streak through the blue for French +air."</p> + +<p>"So near and yet so far! A friend in the air just over our heads, and we +had to let him go. Well, he couldn't have done us any good."</p> + +<p>"No, he couldn't, and he's gone back so fast that he's out of sight +already, but another and different inhabitant of the air is coming out +of the south. See, the shape off there, Mr. Scott. Wait until it comes +nearer, and I think I can tell you what it is. Now it's made out the +flag and is steering for it."</p> + +<p>"What class of plane is it, Weber? Can you tell that yet?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. It's an Esnault-Pelterie, an invention of a young Frenchman. It's +a monoplane with flexible, warped wings. It's made of steel tubes, +welded together, and it has two wheels, one behind the other for contact +with the ground."</p> + +<p>"I noticed something queer in its appearance. It's the wheels. I don't +call this machine any great beauty, but it seems to cut the air well. I +suppose we'd better treat it as we did the Bleriot—let it go as it +came, none the worse and none the wiser?"</p> + +<p>"I think so. But we have no other choice! That flyer is a suspicious +fellow and he isn't taking any chances. He's come fairly close to the +flag, and now he's sheering off at an angle."</p> + +<p>"I don't blame him. He probably has something more important to do than +to unravel the meaning of a flag in a tree top."</p> + +<p>"Nor I either. But whatever comes we'll wait for Lannes, always for +Lannes. The heavens here, Mr. Scott, are peopled with strange birds, but +of all the lot there is one particular bird for which we are looking."</p> + +<p>"Right again. My eyes have grown a little weary of watching the skies. +For a long stare, blue isn't as soft and easy a sight as green, and I +think I'll look at the grass and leaves for a little while."</p> + +<p>"Then while you rest I'll keep an outlook and when I'm tired you can +relieve me."</p> + +<p>"Good enough."</p> + +<p>John lay down in the grass and rested his body while he eased his worn +eyes. Weber commented now and then on the new birds in the heavens, +aeroplanes of all kinds, but they kept their distance.</p> + +<p>"The air over us is not held now by either French or Germans," said +Weber, "and I imagine that only the more daring make incursions into it. +Perhaps, too, they are kept busy elsewhere, because, as my ears +distinctly tell me, the battle is increasing in volume."</p> + +<p>"I noticed the swelling fire when I lay down here," said John. "It seems +a strange thing, but for a while I had forgotten all about the battle."</p> + +<p>Presently Weber took his eyes from the heavens, moved about and looked +uneasy.</p> + +<p>"If I'm not mistaken," he said, "I caught a glimpse of steel down the +river. I think it was a lance head glittering in the sun, and Uhlans may +be near."</p> + +<p>"How far away do you think it was."</p> + +<p>"A half-mile or more. I must take a look in that direction. I'm a good +scout, Mr. Scott, and I'll see what's up. Watch here will you, until I +come back? It may be some time."</p> + +<p>"All right, but don't get yourself captured, Weber. I'd be mighty +lonesome without you."</p> + +<p>"Don't fear for me. Of course, as I told you, I'll be gone for some +time, and if I may suggest, Mr. Scott, I wouldn't move from among the +vines."</p> + +<p>"Catch me doing it! I'll say here in my green bower and as my eyes are +back in form I'll watch the heavens."</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, then, for a while."</p> + +<p>Weber slipped away. His tread was so light that he vanished, as if he +had melted into air.</p> + +<p>"That man would certainly have made a good scout in our old Indian +days," thought John, and with the thought came the conviction that Weber +was too clever to let himself be caught. Then he turned his attention +back to the heavens.</p> + +<p>They were now well on into the afternoon, and the sun was at the zenith. +A haze of gold shimmered against the vast blue vault. A wind perfumed +with grass and green leaves, brought also the ceaseless roar of the +guns, and now and then the bitter taste of burned gunpowder. The faint +trembling of the earth, or rather of the air just above it, went on, and +John, turning about in his little bower, surveyed the heavens from all +quarters.</p> + +<p>He saw shapes, faint, dark and floating on every horizon, but none of +them came near until a full half-hour had elapsed. Then one shot out of +the west, sailed toward the northeast, but curving suddenly, came back +in the direction of the tree. As the shape grew larger and more defined +John's heart began to throb. He had seen many aeroplanes that day, and +most of them had been swift and graceful, but none was as swift and +graceful as the one that was now coming.</p> + +<p>It was a machine, beautiful in shape, and as lithe and fast as the +darting swallow. There could be none other like it in the heavens, and +his heart throbbed harder. Intuition, perhaps, was back of knowledge and +he never for a moment doubted that it was he for whom they had looked so +long.</p> + +<p>The aeroplane seemed fairly to shoot out of space. First its outlines +became visible, and then the man at the rudder. He came straight toward +the tree, dropped low and circled about it, while John rushed from the +vines and cried as loud as he could:</p> + +<p>"Lannes! Lannes, it's me! John Scott! I've been waiting for you!"</p> + +<p>The <i>Arrow</i> dropped further, barely touched the earth, and Lannes, +leaning over, shouted to John in tones, tense and sharp with command:</p> + +<p>"Give the plane a shove with all your might, and jump in. For God's sake +don't linger, man! Jump!"</p> + +<p>The impulse communicated by Lannes was so powerful that before he knew +what he was doing John pushed the <i>Arrow</i> violently and sprang into the +extra seat, just as it was leaving the earth.</p> + +<p>Lannes gave the rudder a strong twist and the aeroplane shot up like a +mounting bird. John got back his breath and presence of mind.</p> + +<p>"Wait, Philip! Wait!" he cried. "We're leaving behind our friend Weber! +He's down there, somewhere by the river!"</p> + +<p>Lannes made no reply. The <i>Arrow</i> continued its rise, sharp and swift, +and John heard a crackling sound below. Little missiles, steel and +deadly, shot by them. One passed so close to his face that his breath +went again. When he recovered it once more the <i>Arrow,</i> its inmates, +unharmed, was far above the range of rifles, flying in a circle.</p> + +<p>"Look down, John," said Lannes.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X" />CHAPTER X</h2> + +<h3>OLD FRIENDS</h3> + + +<p>John, obeying Lannes' command, glanced down, as one looks over the side +of a ship toward the sea, and he saw many horsemen galloping across the +field. He recognized at once the Uhlans, and, for all he knew; they +might be von Boehlen's own command.</p> + +<p>"Hand me your glasses, will you?" he said.</p> + +<p>When Lannes passed them to him he looked long and well, but he did not +see any sign of a prisoner among the Prussians. He also searched the +woods and other fields near by, but they were empty. The whole Prussian +force was gathered beneath them. John breathed a deep sigh of relief.</p> + +<p>"It's evident that Weber has escaped," he said. "Doubtless this was the +very troop of Uhlans of which the Alsatian had caught a glimpse. He is +clever and swift and I've no doubt he found a covert."</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry we had to leave him," said Lannes, "but there was no other +choice. I came to the tree to examine the flag, and being above I saw +the Uhlans nearby before you did. Then I heard your shout and dropped +down. But as I knew the Uhlans were coming for us I made you jump almost +before you knew it, and we got away by a hair. The <i>Arrow</i> was struck +twice, but the bullets glanced off its polished sides. There are two +slight scars, but I can have them removed."</p> + +<p>John laughed.</p> + +<p>"Philip," he said, "I believe you love the <i>Arrow</i> as a fellow loves his +best girl."</p> + +<p>"Well spoken, Monsieur Jean the Scott, and the <i>Arrow</i> never fails me. +And so you've been with Weber?"</p> + +<p>"It's a long tale. I was in a boat crossing the Marne. It was sunk by +one of the French shells, and I escaped. I reached the deserted cottage +of a peasant, and Weber, who was wandering around, happened to come +there, too. We've been trying to escape today, and we put that flag up +in the tree as a sort of signal, while we hid among the vines below, +until you should come, as he believed you would. He was right, but he +was unlucky enough to be absent when you arrived." "Maybe it couldn't +have happened in a better way. The <i>Arrow</i> can carry only two, and I +don't know what we'd have done with him. He's a clever fellow and he'll +make his way back to the army."</p> + +<p>"I hope so, in fact I feel so. But, Philip, it's glorious to be with you +again, and to be up here, where the bullets can't reach you."</p> + +<p>"That is, so long as the German flyers don't come near enough to take +shots at us."</p> + +<p>"I don't see any in sight, and meanwhile I intend to be comfortable. +Good old <i>Arrow!</i> The best little rescuer in the world! Lannes, I +believe it's a large part of your business to fly about over fields of +battle and rescue me."</p> + +<p>"You certainly give me plenty of opportunities," laughed Lannes.</p> + +<p>"What's been happening? I fancy that a lot of water has flowed under the +bridges of the Marne since I left you."</p> + +<p>"We continue to gain," replied Lannes, with quiet satisfaction. "We +press the German armies back everywhere. Our supreme chief is a silent +man, but he has delivered a master stroke. We've emerged from the very +gulf of defeat and despair to the heights of victory. We're not only +driving the Germans across the Marne, but we're driving them further. +Moreover, their armies are cut apart, and one is fighting for its +existence, just as the French and English were fighting for theirs in +that terrible retreat from Mons and Charleroi."</p> + +<p>"It's glorious, but we mustn't be too sanguine, Lannes. The powers that +overcome the German and Austro-Hungarian Empires will not forget for a +hundred years that they had a war."</p> + +<p>"You're not telling me any news, Monsieur Jean the Scott. I've been in +Germany often, and like you I've seen what they have and what they are. +We're only beginning."</p> + +<p>"Where are you going now, Philip?"</p> + +<p>"Toward the end of our line. I've some dispatches for the commander of +the British force. Your friends, Carstairs and Wharton, are there, and +you may see them. But I understand that the Strangers are to remain with +the French, so you, Carstairs and Wharton will have to consider +yourselves Frenchmen and stay under our banner."</p> + +<p>"That's all right. I hope we'll be under the command of General +Vaugirard. Do you know anything of him?"</p> + +<p>"Not today, but he was alive yesterday. Take the glasses now, John, will +you, and be my eyes as you have been before. One needs to watch the +heavens all the time."</p> + +<p>John took Lannes' powerful glasses, and objects invisible before leaped +into view.</p> + +<p>"I see two or three rivers, a dozen villages, and troops," he said. "The +troops are to the west, and although they are this side of the Marne, I +should judge that they are ours."</p> + +<p>"Ours undoubtedly," said Lannes, glancing the way John's glasses +pointed. "Not less than a hundred thousand of our men have crossed the +Marne at that point, and more will soon be coming. It's a part of the +great wedge thrust forward by our chief. But keep your eye on the air, +John. What do you see there?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing that's near. In the east I barely catch seven or eight black +dots that I take to be German aeroplanes, but they seem to be content +with hovering over their own lines. They don't approach."</p> + +<p>"Doubtless they don't, because they're beginning to watch the air over +the Marne as a danger zone. That pretty little signal of yours may have +scared them."</p> + +<p>Lannes laughed. It was evident that he was in a most excellent humor.</p> + +<p>"All right, have your fun," said John, showing his own teeth in a smile. +"If our flag didn't frighten away the German army it at least achieved +what we wanted, that is, it brought you. The whole episode would be +perfect if it were not for the fact that we lost sight of Weber."</p> + +<p>"I tell you again not to worry about him. That man has shown uncommon +ability to take care of himself."</p> + +<p>"All right. I'll let him go for the present. Hello, here we are crossing +the Marne again, and without getting our feet wet."</p> + +<p>"We're a good half mile above it, but we'll cross it once more soon. I'm +following the shortest road to the British army and that takes us over a +loop of the river."</p> + +<p>"Yes, here we are recrossing, and now we're coming to a region of +chequered fields, green and brown and yellow. I always like these varied +colors of the French country. It's a beautiful land down there, Philip."</p> + +<p>"So it is, but see if it isn't defaced by sixty or seventy thousand +sunburnt men in khaki, the khaki often stained with blood. The men, too, +should be tired to death, but you can't tell that from this height."</p> + +<p>"The British army you mean? Yes, by all that's glorious, I see them, or +at least a part of them! I see thousands of men lying down in the +fields as if they were dead."</p> + +<p>"They're not dead, though. They just drop in their tracks and sleep in +any position."</p> + +<p>"I saw the Germans doing that, too. I suppose we'll land soon, Philip, +won't we? They've sighted us and a plane is coming forward to meet us."</p> + +<p>"We'll make for the meadow over there just beyond the little stream. I +think I can discern the general's marquee, and I must deliver my message +as soon as possible. Wave to that fellow that we're friends."</p> + +<p>An English aeroplane was now very near them and John, leaning over, made +gestures of amity. Although the aviator's head was almost completely +enshrouded in a hood, he discerned a typically British face.</p> + +<p>"Kings of the air, with dispatches for your general!" John cried. He +knew that the man would not hear him, but he was so exultant that he +wanted to say something, to shout to him, or in the slang of his own +land, to let off steam.</p> + +<p>But while the English aviator could not understand the words the +gestures were clear to him, and he waved a hand in friendly fashion. +Then, wheeling in a fine circle, he came back by their side as an +escort.</p> + +<p>The <i>Arrow</i>, like a bird, folding its wings, sank gracefully into the +meadow, and Lannes, hastily jumping out, asked John to look after the +aeroplane. Then he rushed toward a group of officers, among whom he +recognized the chief of the army.</p> + +<p>John himself disembarked stiffly, and stretched his limbs, while several +young Englishmen looked at him curiously. He had learned long since how +to deal with Englishmen, that is to take no notice of them until they +made their presence known, and then to acquiesce slowly and reluctantly +in their existence. So, he took short steps back and forth on the grass, +flexing and tensing his muscles, as abstractedly as if he were alone on +a desert island.</p> + +<p>"I say," said a handsome fair young man at last, "would you mind telling +us, old chap, where you come from?"</p> + +<p>John continued to stretch his muscles and took several long and deep +breaths. After the delay he turned to the fair young man and said:</p> + +<p>"Beg pardon, but did you speak to me?"</p> + +<p>The Englishman flushed a little and pulled at his yellow mustache. An +older man said:</p> + +<p>"Don't press His Highness, Lord James. Don't you see that he's an +American and therefore privileged?"</p> + +<p>"I'm privileged," said John, "because I was with you fellows from +Belgium to Paris, and since then I've been away saving you from the +Germans."</p> + +<p>Lord James laughed. He had a fine face and all embarrassment disappeared +from it.</p> + +<p>"We want to be friends," he said. "Shake hands."</p> + +<p>John shook. He also shook the hand of the older man and several others. +Then he explained who he was, and told who had come with him, none less +than the famous young French aviator, Philip Lannes.</p> + +<p>"Lannes," said Mr. Yellow Mustache, who, John soon learned, was Lord +James Ivor. "Why, we've all heard of him. He's come to the chief with +messages a half-dozen times since this battle began, and I judge from +the way he rushed to him just now that he has another, that can't be +delayed."</p> + +<p>"I think so, too," said John, "although I don't know anything about it +myself. He's a close-mouthed fellow. But do any of you happen to have +heard of an Englishman, Carstairs, and an American, Wharton, who belong +to a company called the Strangers in the French army, but who must be at +present with you—that is, if they're alive?"</p> + +<p>John's voice dropped a little, as he added the last words, but Lord +James Ivor walked to the brow of a low hill, called to somebody beyond, +and then walked back.</p> + +<p>"It's a happy chance that I can tell you what you want to know," he +said. "Those two men have been serving in my own company, and they're +both alive and well. But they were lying on the grass there, dead to the +world, that is, sleeping, as if they were two of the original seven +sleepers."</p> + +<p>Two figures appeared on the brow of the hill, gazed at first in a +puzzled manner at John and then, uttering shouts of welcome, rushed +toward him. Carstairs seized him by one hand and Wharton by the other.</p> + +<p>"Not killed, I see," said Carstairs.</p> + +<p>"Nor is he going to be killed," said Wharton.</p> + +<p>"Now, where have you been?" asked Carstairs.</p> + +<p>"Yes, where have you been?" asked Wharton.</p> + +<p>"I've been taking a couple of pleasure trips with my friend, Lannes," +replied John. "Between trips I was a prisoner of the Germans, and I've +seen a lot of the great battle. Has the British army suffered much?"</p> + +<p>A shade flitted over the face of Carstairs as he replied:</p> + +<p>"We haven't been shot up so much since Waterloo. It's been appalling. +For days and nights we've been fighting and marching. Whenever we +stopped even for a moment we fell on the ground and were asleep before +we touched it. Half the fellows I knew have been killed. I think as long +as I live I'll hear the drumming of those guns in my ears, and, confound +'em, I still hear 'em in reality now. If you turn your attention to it +you can hear the confounded business quite plainly! But what I do know, +Scott, is that we've been winning! I don't know where I am and I haven't +a clear idea of what I've been doing all the time, but as sure as we're +in France the victory is ours."</p> + +<p>"But won by the French chiefly" John could not keep from saying.</p> + +<p>"Quite true. Our own army is not large, but it has done as much per +man."</p> + +<p>"And the moral support," added John. "The French have felt the presence +of a friend, a friend, too, who in six months will be ten times as +strong as he is now."</p> + +<p>"Where is Lannes?" asked Wharton.</p> + +<p>"He's got your job, Wharton," replied John with a smile. "He's Envoy +Extraordinary and Bearer of Messages concerning Life and Death between +the armies. As soon as he landed he went directly to the British +commander, and they're now conferring in a tent. That will never happen +to you. You will never be closeted with the leader of a great army."</p> + +<p>"I don't know. I may not be able to fly like the Frenchman, but he can't +handle the wireless as I can, and he isn't the chain-lightning chauffeur +that Carstairs is. Please to remember those facts."</p> + +<p>"I do. But here comes Lannes, the man of mystery."</p> + +<p>Lannes seemed preoccupied, but he greeted Carstairs and Wharton warmly.</p> + +<p>"I'm about to take another flight," he said. "No, thank you so much, but +I've time neither to eat nor to drink. I must fly at once, though it's +to be a short flight. Take care of my friend, Monsieur Jean the Scott, +while I'm gone, won't you? Don't let him wander into German hands again, +because I won't have time to go for him once more."</p> + +<p>"We won't!" said Carstairs and Wharton with one voice. "Having got him +back we're going to keep him."</p> + +<p>Lannes smiling sprang into the <i>Arrow</i>. The willing young Englishmen +gave it a mighty push, and rising into the blue afternoon sky he sailed +away toward the south.</p> + +<p>"He'll be back all right," said Carstairs. "I've come to the conclusion +that nothing can ever catch that fellow. He's a wonder, he is. One of +the most difficult jobs I have, Scott, is to give the French all the +credit that's due 'em. I've been trained, as all other Englishmen were, +to consider 'em pretty poor stuff that we've licked regularly for a +thousand years, and here we suddenly find 'em heroes and +brothers-in-arms. It's all the fault of the writers. Was it Shakespeare +who said: 'Methinks that five Frenchmen on one pair of English legs did +walk?'"</p> + +<p>"No," said Lord James Ivor, "It was the other way around. 'Methinks that +one Englishman on five pairs of French legs did walk.'"</p> + +<p>"I'm not so sure about the number, either," interjected Wharton. "Are +you positive it was five?"</p> + +<p>"Whatever it was," said Carstairs, "the Frenchman was slandered, and by +our own great bard, too. But come and take something with us, if Lord +James, our immediate chief, is willing."</p> + +<p>"He's willing, and he'll go with you," said Lord James Ivor. "I need a +bite myself and in war like this a man can't afford to neglect food and +drink, when the chance is offered."</p> + +<p>"The habits of you Europeans are strong," said John, whose spirits were +still exuberant. "If you didn't have to stop now and then to work or to +fight you'd eat all the time. One meal would merge into another, making +a beautiful, savory chain linked together. I know the Englishman's +heaven perfectly well. It's made of lakes of ale, beer, porter and +Scotch highballs, surrounded by high banks of cheese, mutton and roast +beef."</p> + +<p>"There could be worse heavens," said Carstairs, "and if it should happen +that way it wouldn't be long before you Yankees would be trying to break +out of your heaven and into ours. But here's a taste of it now, the +cheese, for instance, and the beer, although it's in bottles."</p> + +<p>A spry Tommy Atkins served them, and John, thankful at heart, ate and +drank with the best of them. And while they ate the pulsing waves of air +from the battle beat upon their ears. It seemed to these young men to +have been beating that way for weeks.</p> + +<p>"Lannes will be back soon," said John to Carstairs and Wharton, "and +he'll tear you away from your friends here. You think, Carstairs, that +you're an Englishman, and you're convinced, Wharton, that you're an +American, but you're both wrong. You're Frenchmen, and you're going back +to the French army, where you belong. Then Captain Daniel Colton of the +Strangers will want to know from you why you haven't returned sooner."</p> + +<p>"But how are we to go?" said Carstairs.</p> + +<p>"And where are we to go?" said Wharton.</p> + +<p>"I'd go in a minute," added Carstairs, "if the German army would let +me."</p> + +<p>"So would I," said Wharton, "but the Germans fight so hard that we can't +get away."</p> + +<p>"Lannes will attend to all those matters," said John. "I'll rest until +he comes, if I have the chance. Is that your artillery firing?"</p> + +<p>"It's our big guns out in front," said Lord James Ivor. "Jove, but what +work they've done! A lot of our guns have been smashed, one half of our +gunners maybe have been smashed with 'em, but they've never flinched. +They covered our retreat from Belgium, and they've been the heralds of +our advance here on the Marne! Listen to 'em! How they talk!"</p> + +<p>The heavy crash of guns far in front and the thunder of the German guns +replying came back to their ears. It was a louder note in the general +and ceaseless murmur of the battle, but the young men paid it only a +passing moment of attention. Carstairs presently added as an +afterthought:</p> + +<p>"Unless Lannes returns soon I don't think we'll hear from him. That +blaze of the guns in front of us indicates close fighting again, and +we'll probably be ordered forward soon."</p> + +<p>"I don't think so," said Lord James Ivor. "Our guns and the German guns +will talk together for quite a while before the infantry advance. You +can spend a good two hours with us yet, and still have time to depart +for the French army."</p> + +<p>It was evident that Lord James Ivor knew what he was talking about, +since, as far as John could see, the khaki army lay outspread on the +turf. These men were too much exhausted and too much dulled to danger to +stir merely because the cannon were blazing. It took the sharp orders of +their officers to move them. Shells from the German guns began to fall +along the fringe of the troops, but thousands slept heavily on.</p> + +<p>John, after disposing of the excellent rations offered to him, sat down +on the grass with Wharton, Carstairs and Lord James Ivor. The sun was +now waning, but the western sky was full of gold, and the yellow rays +slanting across the hills and fields made them vivid with light. Lord +James handed his glasses to John with the remark:</p> + +<p>"Would you like to take a look there toward the east, Scott?"</p> + +<p>John with the help of the glasses discerned the English batteries in +action. He saw the men working about them, the muzzles pointing upward, +and then the flash. Some of the guns were completely hidden in foliage, +and he could detect their presence only by the heavy detonations coming +from such points. Yet, like many of the English soldiers about him, +John's mind did not respond to so much battle. He looked at the flashes, +and he listened to the reports without emotion. His senses had become +dulled by it, and registered no impressions.</p> + +<p>"We've masked our batteries as much as possible," said Lord James. "The +Germans are great fellows at hiding their big guns. They use every clump +of wood, hay stacks, stray stacks and anything else, behind which you +could put a piece of artillery. They trained harder before the war, but +we'll soon be able to match 'em."</p> + +<p>While Lord James was talking, John turned the glasses to the south and +watched the sky. He had observed two black dots, both of which grew fast +into the shape of aeroplanes. One, he knew, was the <i>Arrow</i>. He had +learned to recognize the plane at a vast distance. It was something in +the shape or a trick of motion perhaps, almost like that of a human +being, with which he had become familiar and which he could not mistake. +The other plane, by the side of Lannes' machine, bothered him. It was +much larger than the <i>Arrow</i>, but they seemed to be on terms of perfect +friendship, each the consort of the other.</p> + +<p>"Lannes is coming," announced John. "He's four or five miles to the +south and he's about a quarter of a mile up, but he has company. Will +you have a look, Lord James?"</p> + +<p>Lord James Ivor, taking back his own glasses, studied the two +approaching planes.</p> + +<p>"The small one looks like your friend's plane," he said, "and the other, +although much bigger, has only one man in it too. But they fly along +like twins. We'll soon know all about them because they're coming +straight to us. They're descending now into this field."</p> + +<p>The <i>Arrow</i> slanted gently to the earth and the larger machine descended +near by. Lannes stepped out of one, and an older man, whom John +recognized as the aviator Caumartin, alighted from the other.</p> + +<p>"My friends," said Lannes, cheerily, "here we are again. You see I've +brought with me a friend, Monsieur Caumartin, a brave man, and a great +aviator."</p> + +<p>He paused to introduce Caumartin to Wharton and the Englishmen, and then +went on:</p> + +<p>"This flying machine in which our friend Caumartin comes is not so swift +and so graceful as the <i>Arrow</i>—few aeroplanes are—but it is strong and +it has the capacity. It is what you might call an excursion steamer of +the air. It can take several people and our good Caumartin has come in +it for Lieutenant Wharton and Lieutenant Carstairs. So! he has an order +for them written by the brave Captain Colton of the Strangers. Produce +the order, Monsieur Caumartin."</p> + +<p>The aviator took a note from a pocket in his jacket and handed it to +Lord James Ivor, who announced that it was in truth such an order.</p> + +<p>"You're to be delivered to the Strangers F.O.B.," said John.</p> + +<p>"What's F.O.B.?" exclaimed Carstairs.</p> + +<p>"It's a shipping term of my country," replied John. "It means Free on +Board, and you'll arrive among the Strangers without charge."</p> + +<p>"But," said Carstairs, looking dubiously at the big, ugly machine, +"automobiles are my specialty!"</p> + +<p>"And the wireless is mine!" said Wharton in the same doubting tone.</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's easy," said John lightly. "Easiest thing in the world. You +have nothing to do but sit still and look calm and wise. If you're +attacked by a Zeppelin, throw bombs—no doubt Caumartin has them on +board—but if a flock of Taubes assail you use your automatics. I +congratulate you both on making your first flight under such auspices, +with two armies of a million men each, more or less, looking at you, and +with the chance to dodge the shells from four or five thousand cannon."</p> + +<p>"Your trouble, Scott, is talking too much," said Wharton, "because you +went up in the air when you had no other way to go, you think you're a +bird."</p> + +<p>"So I am at times," laughed John. "A bird without the feathers. Come +now, brace up! Remember that the solid earth is always below you, a long +way below, perhaps, but it's there, and Friend Caumartin is bound to +deliver you soon to your rightful master, Captain Daniel Colton, who +will talk to you like an affectionate but stern parent."</p> + +<p>"For Heaven's sake, let's start and get away from this wild Yankee," +said Carstairs.</p> + +<p>"But you won't get away from me," rejoined John. "Lannes and I in the +<i>Arrow</i> will watch over you all the way, and, if we can, rescue you, +should your plane break down."</p> + +<p>Caumartin supplied Wharton and Carstairs with suitable coats and caps, +and they took their places unflinchingly in the big plane. Their hearts +may have been beating hard, but they would not let their hands tremble.</p> + +<p>"I suppose the <i>Omnibus</i> starts first, Philip, doesn't it?" asked John.</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied Lannes, smiling, "and we can overtake it. <i>Omnibus</i> is a +good name for it. We'll call it that. It looks awkward, John, but it's +one of the safest machines built."</p> + +<p>Plenty of willing hands gave the <i>Omnibus</i> a lift and then did a like +service for the <i>Arrow</i>. As they rose, aviators and passengers alike +waved a farewell to Lord James Ivor, and he and the Englishmen about him +waved back. But the thousands lying on the grass slept heavily on, while +the cannon on their utmost fringe thundered and crashed and the German +cannon crashed and thundered, replying.</p> + +<p>The <i>Arrow</i> kept close to the <i>Omnibus</i>, so close that John could see +the white faces of Wharton and Carstairs and their hands clenching the +sides. But he remembered his own original experience, and he was not +disposed to jest at them now.</p> + +<p>"They're air-sick—as I was," he said to Lannes. "Call to them to look +westward at the troops," said Lannes. "Great portions of the French and +English armies are now visible, and such a sight will make them forget +their natural apprehensions."</p> + +<p>Lannes was right. When they beheld the magnificent panorama spread out +for them the color came back into the faces of Carstairs and Wharton, +and their clenched fingers relaxed. The spectacle was indeed grand and +gorgeous as they looked up at the sky, down at the earth, and at the +line where they met. The sun was now low, but mighty terraces of red and +gold rose in the west, making it a blaze of varied colors. In the east +the terraces were silver and silver gray, and the light there was +softer. The green earth beneath was mottled with the red and silver and +gold from the skies.</p> + +<p>The German army was yet invisible beyond the hills, although the cannon +were flashing there, but to the west they saw vast masses of infantry, +some stationary, while others moved slowly forward. Looking upon this +wonderful sight, Wharton and Carstairs forgot that they were high in the +air. Their hearts beat fast, and their eyes became brilliant with +enthusiasm. They waved hands at the <i>Arrow</i> which flew near like a +guiding friend.</p> + +<p>"Wonderful, isn't it?" shouted John.</p> + +<p>"I never expect to see its like again," Carstairs shouted back, and +then, lest he should not be true to his faith, he added:</p> + +<p>"But I won't desert the automobile. It's my best friend."</p> + +<p>"British obstinacy!" shouted John.</p> + +<p>Carstairs shouted back something, but the planes were now too far apart +for him to hear. John saw that the <i>Omnibus</i>, despite her awkward look, +was flying well and he also saw through Lannes' glasses four aeroplanes +bearing up from the east. He did not say much until he had examined them +well and had concluded that they were Taubes.</p> + +<p>"Lannes," he said, "German machines are trespassing on our air, and +unless I'm mistaken they're making for us."</p> + +<p>"It's likely. Just under the locker there you'll find a rifle, and a +belt of cartridges. It's a good weapon, and if the pinch comes you'll +have to use it. Are your friends good shots?"</p> + +<p>"I think they are, and I know they're as brave as lions."</p> + +<p>"Then they'll have a chance to show it. The <i>Omnibus</i> carries several +rifles and an abundance of ammunition. She might be called a cargo boat, +as there's a lot of room on her. I'm going to bear in close, and you +tell Caumartin and the others of the danger."</p> + +<p>The <i>Arrow</i> swerved, came near to the <i>Omnibus</i>, and John shouted the +warning. Carstairs and Wharton instantly seized rifles and he saw them +lay two others loaded at their feet. With the prospect of a battle for +life air-sickness disappeared.</p> + +<p>"You can rely on them, Philip," said John as the <i>Arrow</i> bore away a +little, "but I don't like the looks of one of those German machines."</p> + +<p>"What's odd about it?"</p> + +<p>"It's bigger than the others. Ah, now I see! It carries a machine gun."</p> + +<p>"That's bad. It can send a hail of metal at us. It's lucky that +aeroplanes are such unstable gun-platforms. When platforms and targets +are alike swerving it's hard to hit anything. We're going to rise and +dive, and rise and dive and swerve and swerve, John, so be ready. I'll +signal to Caumartin to do the same, and maybe the machine gun won't get +us."</p> + +<p>John was quite sure that the <i>Arrow</i> could escape by immediate flight, +but he knew that Lannes would never desert the <i>Omnibus</i>, and its +passengers, and he felt the same way. The subject was not even mentioned +by either.</p> + +<p>The German machines, approaching rapidly, spread out like a fan, the +heavier one with the machine gun in the center. John could see the man +at the rapid firer, but he did not yet open with it. The <i>Arrow</i> and the +<i>Omnibus</i> were wavering like feathers in a storm and closer range was +needed. John sat with his own rifle across his knee and then looked at +Wharton in the <i>Omnibus</i> scarcely a hundred yards away. The figure of +Wharton was tense and rigid. His rifle was raised and his eyes never +left the man at the machine gun.</p> + +<p>"I forgot to tell you, Philip," said John, "that Wharton is a great +sharpshooter. It's natural to him, and I don't believe the shifting +platform will interfere with his aim."</p> + +<p>"Then I hope that he never has done better sharp-shooting than he will +do today. Ah, there goes the machine gun!"</p> + +<p>There was a rapid rat-a-tat, not so clear and distinct as it would have +been at the same distance on ground, and a stream of bullets poured from +the machine gun. But they passed between the <i>Arrow</i> and the <i>Omnibus</i>, +and only cut the unoffending air. Meanwhile Wharton was watching. A +wrath, cold but consuming, had taken hold of him. The fact that he was +high above the earth, perched in a swaying unstable seat was forgotten. +He had eyes and thought only for the murderous machine gun and the man +who worked it. An instinctive marksman, he and his rifle were now as +one, and of all the birds of prey in the air at that moment Wharton was +the most dangerous.</p> + +<p>The machine gun was silent for a minute. The riflemen in the Taubes on +the wings of the attacking force fired a few shots, but all of them went +wild. John, tense and silent, sat with his own rifle raised, but half of +the time he watched Wharton.</p> + +<p>The two forces came a little nearer. Again the machine gun poured forth +its stream of bullets. Two glanced off the sides of the <i>Omnibus</i>, and +then John saw Wharton's rifle leap to his shoulder. The movement and the +flash of the weapon were so near together that be seemed to take no aim. +Yet his bullet sped true. The man at the machine gun, who was standing +in a stooped position, threw up his hands, fell backward and out of the +plane. A thrill of horror shot through John, and he shut his eyes a +moment to keep from seeing that falling body.</p> + +<p>"What has happened?" asked Lannes, who had not looked around.</p> + +<p>"Wharton has shot the man at the machine gun clean out of the aeroplane. +He must be falling yet."</p> + +<p>"Ghastly, but necessary. Has anybody taken the slain man's place?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, another has sprung to the gun! But he's gone! Wharton has shot him +too! He's fallen on the floor of the car, and he lies quite still."</p> + +<p>"Your friend is indeed a sharpshooter. How many men are left in the +plane?"</p> + +<p>"Only one! No, good God, there's none! Wharton has shot the third man +also, and now the machine goes whirling and falling through space!"</p> + +<p>"I said that friend of yours must be a sharpshooter," said Lannes, in a +tone of awe, "but he must be more! He must be the king of all riflemen. +It's evident that the <i>Omnibus</i> knows how to defend herself. I'll swing +in a little, and you can take a shot or two."</p> + +<p>John fired once, without hitting anything but the air, which made no +complaint, but the battle was over. Horrified by the fate that had +overtaken their comrades and seeing help for their enemy at hand the +Taubes withdrew.</p> + +<p>The <i>Arrow</i> and the <i>Omnibus</i> flew on toward the French lines, whence +other machines were coming to meet them.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI" />CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<h3>THE CONTINUING BATTLE</h3> + + +<p>The <i>Arrow</i> bore in toward the <i>Omnibus</i>. Wharton had put his rifle +aside and was staring downward as if he would see the wreck that he had +made. Lannes called to him loudly:</p> + +<p>"You've saved us all!"</p> + +<p>Wharton looked rather white, but he shouted back:</p> + +<p>"I had no other choice."</p> + +<p>The French aeroplanes were around them now, their motors drumming +steadily and the aviators shouting congratulations to Lannes and +Caumartin, whom they knew well. It was a friendly group, full of pride +and exultation, and the <i>Arrow</i> and the <i>Omnibus</i> had a triumphant +escort. Soon they were directly over the French, and then they began +their descent. As usual, when they reached the army they made it amid +cheers, and the first man who greeted John was short and young but with +a face of pride.</p> + +<p>"You have come back to us out of the air, Monsieur Scott," he said, "and +I salute you."</p> + +<p>It was Pierre Louis Bougainville, made a colonel already for +extraordinary, almost unprecedented, valor and ability in so young a +man. John recognized his rank by his uniform, and he acknowledged it +gladly.</p> + +<p>"It's true, I have come back, Colonel Bougainville," he said, "and right +glad I am to come. I see that your country has had no cause to complain +of you in the last week."</p> + +<p>"Nor of hundreds of thousands of Frenchmen," said Bougainville. "Your +company, the Strangers, is close at hand, and here is your captain now."</p> + +<p>Captain Daniel Colton, thin and ascetic, walked forward. John gave him +his best salute and said:</p> + +<p>"Captain Colton, I beg to report to you for duty."</p> + +<p>A light smile passed swiftly over Cotton's face.</p> + +<p>"You're a little late, Lieutenant Scott," he said.</p> + +<p>"I know it, sir, but I've brought Lieutenant Carstairs and Lieutenant +Wharton with me. There have been obstacles which prevented our speedy +return. We've done our best."</p> + +<p>"I can well believe it. You left on horseback, and you return by air. +But I'm most heartily glad to see all three of you again. I feared that +you were dead."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, sir," said John. "But we don't mean to die."</p> + +<p>"Nevertheless," said Captain Colton, gravely, "death has been all about +us for days and nights. Many of the Strangers are gone. You will find +the living lying in the little valley just beyond us, and you can resume +your duties."</p> + +<p>Lannes, after a word or two, left them, and Caumartin took the +<i>Omnibus</i> to another part of the field. Lannes' importance was +continually growing in John's eyes, nor was it the effect of +imagination. He saw that under the new conditions of warfare the ability +of the young Frenchman to carry messages between generals separated +widely could not be overrated. He might depart that very night on +another flight.</p> + +<p>"May I ask, sir," he said to Captain Colton, "to what command or +division the Strangers are now attached?"</p> + +<p>"To that of General Vaugirard, a very able man."</p> + +<p>"I'm glad to hear it, sir. I know him. I was with him before I was taken +by the Germans."</p> + +<p>"It seems that you're about to have a general reunion," said Carstairs +to young Scott, as they walked away.</p> + +<p>"I am, and I'm mighty happy over it. I'll admit that I was rather glad +to see you, you blooming Britisher."</p> + +<p>About one-third of the Strangers were gone forever, and the rest, except +the higher officers, were prostrate in the glade. White, worn and +motionless they lay in the same stupor that John had seen overtake the +German troops. Some were flat upon their backs, with arms outstretched, +looking like crosses, others lay on their faces, and others were curled +up on their sides. Few were over twenty-five. Nearly all had mothers in +America or Great Britain.</p> + +<p>While they slept the guns yet grumbled at many points. The sound on the +horizon had gone on so long now that it seemed normal to John. He knew +that it would continue so throughout the night, and maybe for many more +days and nights. Unless it came near and made him a direct personal +menace he would pay no attention to it.</p> + +<p>It was growing late. Night was spreading once more over the vast battle +field, stretching over thirty leagues maybe. The common soldier knew +nothing, majors and colonels knew little more, but the silent man whose +invisible hand had swept the gigantic German army back from Paris knew +much. While the fire of the artillery continued under the searchlights +the exhausted infantry sank down. Then the telephones began to talk over +a vast stretch of space, dazzling white lights made signals, the +sputtering wireless sent messages in the air, and the flying machines +shot through the heavens. Commanders talked to one another in many ways +now, and they would talk all through the night.</p> + +<p>John and his comrades ate supper, while most of the Strangers slept +around them. Those who were awake recognized them, shook hands and said +a few words. They were a taciturn lot. After supper Carstairs and +Wharton dropped upon the grass and were soon sound asleep. Scott was +inclined to be wakeful and he walked along the edge of the glade, +looking anxiously at the sleeping forms.</p> + +<p>He saw the loom of a fire just beyond the ridge and going to the crest +to look at it he beheld outlined before it a gigantic figure that he +recognized at once. It was General Vaugirard, and John would have been +glad to speak to him, but he hesitated to approach a general. While he +stood doubting a hand fell upon his shoulder and a glad voice said in +his ear:</p> + +<p>"And our young American has come back! Ah, my friend, let me shake your +hand!"</p> + +<p>It was Captain de Rougemont, trim, erect and without a wound. John +gladly let him shake. Then in reply to de Rougemont's eager questions he +told briefly of all that had happened since they parted.</p> + +<p>"The general has asked twice if we had any news of you," said de +Rougemont. "He does not forget. A great mind in a vast body."</p> + +<p>"Could I speak to him?"</p> + +<p>"Of a certainty, my friend; come."</p> + +<p>They advanced toward the fire. General Vaugirard was walking up and +down, his hands clasped behind his back, and whistling softly. His huge +figure looked yet more huge outlined against the flames. He heard the +tread of the two young men and looking up recognized John instantly.</p> + +<p>"Risen from the dead!" he exclaimed with warmth, clasping the young +man's hand in his own gigantic palm. "I had despaired of ever seeing you +again! There are so many more gallant lads whom I will certainly never +see! Ah, well, such is life! The roll of our brave young dead is long, +very long!"</p> + +<p>He reclasped his hands behind his back and walking up and down began to +whistle again softly. His emotion over the holocaust had passed, and +once more he was the general planning for victory. But he stopped +presently and said to John:</p> + +<p>"The Strangers, to whom you belong, have come under my command. You are +one of my children now. I have my eye on all of you. You are brave lads. +Go and seek rest with them while you can. You may not have another +chance in a month. We have driven the German, but he will turn, and then +we may fight weeks, months, no one knows how long. Ah, well, such is +life!"</p> + +<p>John saluted respectfully, and withdrew to the little open glade in +which the Strangers were lying, sleeping a great sleep. Captain Colton +himself, wrapped in a blanket, was now a-slumber under a tree, and +Wharton and Carstairs near by, stretched on their sides, were deep in +slumber too. Fires were burning on the long line, but they were not +numerous, and in the distance they seemed mere pin points. At times bars +of intense white light, like flashes of lightning, would sweep along the +front, showing that the searchlights of either army still provided +illumination for the fighting. The note of the artillery came like a +distant and smothered groan, but it did not cease, and it would not +cease, since the searchlights would show it a way all through the night.</p> + +<p>John sat down, looked at the faint flashes on the far horizon and +listened to that moaning which grew in volume as one paid close +attention to it. Europe or a great part of it had gone mad. He was +filled once more with wrath against kings and all their doings as he +looked upon the murderous aftermath of feudalism, the most gigantic of +all wars, made in a few hours by a few men sitting around a table. Then +he laughed at himself. What was he! A mere feather in a cyclone! +Certainly he had been blown about like one!</p> + +<p>His nervous imagination now passed quickly and throwing himself upon the +ground he slept like those around him. All the Strangers were awakened +at early dawn by the signal of a trumpet, and when John opened his eyes +he found the air still quivering beneath the throb of the guns. As he +had foreseen they had never ceased in the darkness, and he could not +remember how many days and nights now they had been raining steel upon +human beings.</p> + +<p>He was refreshed and strengthened by a night of good sleep, but his mind +was as sensitive as ever. In the morning no less bitterly than at night +he raged against the folly and ambition of the kings. But the others +paid no attention to the cannon. They were light of heart and easy of +tongue. They chaffed one another in the cool dawn, and cried to the +cooks for breakfast, which was soon brought to them, hot and plentiful.</p> + +<p>"I suppose it's forward again," said Carstairs between drinks of coffee.</p> + +<p>"I fancy you're right," said Wharton. "Since we've been put in the +brigade of that giant of a general, Vaugirard, we're always going +forward. He seems to have an uncommon love of fighting for a fat man."</p> + +<p>"It's an illusion," said John, "that a fat man is more peaceful than a +thin one."</p> + +<p>"How are you going to prove it?" asked Wharton.</p> + +<p>"Look at Napoleon. When he was thin he was a great fighter, and when he +became stout he was just as great a fighter as ever. Fat didn't take +away his belligerency."</p> + +<p>"I hear that the whole German army has been driven across the Marne," +said Carstairs, "and that the force we hoped to cut off has either +escaped or is about to escape. If that's so they won't retreat much +further. The pride of the Germans is too great, and their army is too +powerful for them to yield much more ground to us."</p> + +<p>"I think you're right, or about as near right as an Englishman can be, +Carstairs," said John. "What must be the feelings of the Emperor and the +kings and the princes and the grand dukes and the dukes and the martial +professors to know that the German army has been turned back from Paris, +just when the City of Light seemed ready to fall into their hands?"</p> + +<p>"Pretty bitter, I think," said Carstairs, "but it's not pleasant to have +the capital of a country fall into the hands of hostile armies. I don't +read of such things with delight. It wouldn't give me any such +overwhelming joy for us to march into Berlin. To beat the Germans is +enough."</p> + +<p>Another trumpet blew and the Strangers rose for battle again with an +invisible enemy. All the officers, like the men, were on foot, their +horses having been killed in the earlier fighting, and they advanced +slowly across the stubble of a wheat field. The morning was still cool, +although the sun was bright, and the air was full of vigor. The rumbling +of the artillery grew with the day, but the Strangers said little. +Battle had ceased to be a novelty. They would fight somewhere and with +somebody, but they would wait patiently and without curiosity until the +time came.</p> + +<p>"I suppose Lannes didn't come back," said Carstairs. "I haven't heard +anyone speak of seeing him this morning."</p> + +<p>"He may have returned before we awoke," said John. "The <i>Arrow</i> flies +very fast. Like as not he delivered his message, whatever it was, and +was off again with another in a few minutes. He may be sixty or eighty +miles from here now."</p> + +<p>"Odd fellow that Lannes," said Carstairs. "Do you know anything about +his people, Scott?"</p> + +<p>"Not much except that he has a mother and sister. I spent a night with +them at their house in Paris. I've heard that French family ties are +strong, but they seemed to look upon him as the weak would regard a +great champion, a knight, in their own phrase, without fear and without +reproach."</p> + +<p>"That speaks well for him."</p> + +<p>John's mind traveled back to that modest house across the Seine. It had +done so often during all the days and nights of fighting, and he thought +of Julie Lannes in her simple white dress, Julie with the golden hair +and the bluest of blue eyes. She had not seemed at all foreign to him. +In her simplicity and openness she was like one of the young girls of +his own country. French custom might have compelled a difference at +other times, but war was a great leveler of manners. She and her mother +must have suffered agonies of suspense, when the guns were thundering +almost within hearing of Paris, suspense for Philip, suspense for their +country, and suspense in a less degree for themselves. Maybe Lannes had +gone back once in the <i>Arrow</i> to show them that he was safe, and to tell +them that, for the time at least, the great German invasion had been +rolled back.</p> + +<p>"A penny for your dream!" said Carstairs.</p> + +<p>"Not for a penny, nor for a pound, nor for anything else," said John. +"This dream of mine had something brilliant and beautiful and pure at +the very core of it, and I'm not selling."</p> + +<p>Carstairs looked curiously at him, and a light smile played across his +face. But the smile was sympathetic.</p> + +<p>"I'll wager you that with two guesses I can tell the nature of your +dream," he said.</p> + +<p>John shook his head, and he, too, smiled.</p> + +<p>"As we say at home," he said, "you may guess right the very first time, +but I won't tell you whether you're right or wrong."</p> + +<p>"I take only one guess. That coruscating core of your dream was a girl."</p> + +<p>"I told you I wouldn't say whether you were right or wrong."</p> + +<p>"Is she blonde or dark?"</p> + +<p>"I repeat that I'm answering no questions."</p> + +<p>"Does she live in one of your Northern or one of your Southern States?"</p> + +<p>John smiled.</p> + +<p>"I suppose you haven't heard from her in a long time, as mail from +across the water isn't coming with much regularity to this battle +field."</p> + +<p>John smiled again.</p> + +<p>"And now I'll conclude," said Carstairs, speaking very seriously. "If +it is a girl, and I know it is, I hope that she'll smile when she thinks +of you, as you've been smiling when you think of her. I hope, too, that +you'll go through this war without getting killed, although the chances +are three or four to one against it, and go back home and win her."</p> + +<p>John smiled once more and was silent, but when Carstairs held out his +hand he could not keep from shaking it. Then Paris, the modest house +beyond the Seine, and the girl within it, floated away like an illusion, +driven from thought in an instant by a giant shell that struck within a +few hundred yards of them, exploding with a terrible crash and filling +the air with deadly bits of flying shell.</p> + +<p>There was such a whistling in his ears that John thought at first he had +been hit, but when he shook himself a little he found he was unhurt, and +his heart resumed its normal beat. Other shells coming out of space +began to strike, but none so near, and the Strangers went calmly on. On +their right was a Paris regiment made up mostly of short, but +thick-chested men, all very dark. Its numbers were only one-third what +they had been a week before, and its colonel was Pierre Louis +Bougainville, late Apache, late of the Butte Montmartre. All the +colonels, majors and captains of this regiment had been killed and he +now led it, earning his promotion by the divine right of genius. He, at +least, could look into his knapsack and see there the shadow of a +marshal's baton, a shadow that might grow more material.</p> + +<p>John watched him and he wondered at this transformation of a rat of +Montmartre into a man. And yet there had been many such transformations +in the French Revolution. What had happened once could always happen +again. Napoleon himself had been the son of a poor little lawyer in a +distant and half-savage island, not even French in blood, but an Italian +and an alien.</p> + +<p>Crash! Another shell burst near, and told him to quit thinking of old +times and attend to the business before him. The past had nothing more +mighty than the present. The speed of the Strangers was increased a +little, and the French regiments on either side kept pace with them. +More shells fell. They came, shrieking through the air like hideous +birds of remote ages. Some passed entirely over the advancing troops, +but one fell among the French on John's right, and the column opening +out, passed shudderingly around the spot where death had struck.</p> + +<p>Two or three of the Strangers were blown away presently. It seemed to +John's horrified eyes that one of them entirely vanished in minute +fragments. He knew now what annihilation meant.</p> + +<p>The heavy French field guns behind them were firing over their heads, +but there was still nothing in front, merely the low green hills and not +even a flash of flame nor a puff of smoke. The whistling death came out +of space.</p> + +<p>The French went on, a wide shallow valley opened out before them, and +they descended by the easy slope into it. Here the German shells and +shrapnel ceased to fall among them, but, as the heavy thunder +continued, John knew the guns had merely turned aside their fire for +other points on the French line. Carstairs by his side gave an immense +sigh of relief.</p> + +<p>"I can never get used to the horrible roaring and groaning of those +shells," he said. "If I get killed I'd like it to be done without the +thing that does it shrieking and gloating over me."</p> + +<p>They were well in the valley now, and John noticed that along its right +ran a dense wood, fresh and green despite the lateness of the season. +But as he looked he heard the shrill snarling of many trumpets, and, for +a moment or two, his heart stood still, as a vast body of German cavalry +burst from the screen of the wood and rushed down upon them.</p> + +<p>It was not often in this war that cavalry had a great chance, but here +it had come. The ambush was complete. The German signals, either from +the sky or the hills, had told when the French were in the valley, and +then the German guns had turned aside their fire for the very good +reason that they did not wish to send shells among their own men.</p> + +<p>John's feeling was one of horrified surprise. The German cavalry +extending across a mile of front seemed countless. Imagination in that +terrific moment magnified them into millions. He saw the foaming mouths, +the white teeth and the flashing eyes of the horses, and then the tense +faces and eyes of their riders. Lances and sabers were held aloft, and +the earth thundered with the tread of the mounted legions.</p> + +<p>"Good God!" cried Wharton.</p> + +<p>"Wheel, men, wheel!" shouted Captain Colton.</p> + +<p>As they turned to face the rushing tide of steel, the regiment of +Bougainville whirled on their flank and then Bougainville was almost at +his side. He saw fire leap from the little man's eye. He saw him shout +commands, rapid incisive, and correct and he saw clearly that if this +were Napoleon's day that marshal's baton in the knapsack would indeed +become a reality.</p> + +<p>The Paris regiment, kneeling, was the first to fire, and the next +instant flame burst from the rifles of the Strangers. It was not a +moment too soon. It seemed to many of the young Americans and Englishmen +that they had been ridden down already, but sheet after sheet of bullets +fired by men, fighting for their lives, formed a wall of death.</p> + +<p>The Uhlans, the hussars and the cuirassiers reeled back in the very +moment of triumph. Horses with their riders crashed to the ground, and +others, mad with terror, rushed wildly through the French ranks.</p> + +<p>John, Carstairs and Wharton snatched up rifles, all three, and began to +fire with the men as fast as they could. A vast turmoil, frightful in +its fury, followed. The German cavalry reeled back, but it did not +retreat. The shrill clamor of many trumpets came again, and once more +the horsemen charged. The sheet of death blazed in their faces again, +and then the French met them with bayonet.</p> + +<p>The Strangers had closed in to meet the shock. John felt rather than saw +Carstairs and Wharton on either side of him, and the three of them were +firing cartridge after cartridge into the light whitish smoke that hung +between them and the charging horsemen. He was devoutly thankful that +the Paris regiment was immediately on their right, and that it was led +by such a man as Bougainville. General Vaugirard, he knew, was farther +to their left, and now he began to hear the rapid firers, pouring a rain +of death upon the cavalry.</p> + +<p>"We win! we win!" cried Carstairs. "If they couldn't beat us down in the +first rush they can't beat us down at all!"</p> + +<p>Carstairs was right. The French had broken into no panic, and, when, +infantry standing firm, pour forth the incessant and deadly stream of +death, that modern arms make possible, no cavalry can live before them. +Yet the Germans charged again and again into the hurricane of fire and +steel. The tumult of the battle face to face became terrific.</p> + +<p>John could no longer hear the words of his comrades. He saw dimly +through the whitish smoke in front, but he continued to fire. Once he +leaped aside to let a wounded and riderless horse gallop past, and +thrice he sprang over the bodies of the dead.</p> + +<p>The infantry were advancing now, driving the cavalry before them, and +the French were able to bring their lighter field guns into action. John +heard the rapid crashes, and he saw the line of cavalry drawing back. +He, too, was shouting with triumph, although nobody heard him. But all +the Strangers were filled with fiery zeal. Without orders they rushed +forward, driving the horsemen yet further. John saw through the whitish +mist a fierce face and a powerful arm swinging aloft a saber.</p> + +<p>He recognized von Boehlen and von Boehlen recognized him. Shouting, the +Prussian urged his horse at him and struck him with the saber. John, +under impulse, dropped to his knees, and the heavy blade whistled above +him. But something else struck him on the head and he fell senseless to +the earth.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII" />CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<h3>JULIE LANNES</h3> + + +<p>John Scott came slowly out of the darkness and hovered for a while +between dusk and light. It was not an unpleasant world in which he +lingered. It seemed full of rest and peace. His mind and body were +relaxed, and there was no urgent call for him to march and to fight. The +insistent drumming of the great guns which could play upon the nervous +system until it was wholly out of tune was gone. The only sound he heard +was that of a voice, a fresh young voice, singing a French song in a +tone low and soft. He had always liked these little love songs of the +kind that were sung in a subdued way. They were pathetic and pure as a +rose leaf.</p> + +<p>He might have opened his eyes and looked for the singer, but he did not. +The twilight region between sleep and consciousness was too pleasant. He +had no responsibilities, nothing to do. He had a dim memory that he had +belonged to an army, that it was his business to try to kill some one, +and to try to keep from getting killed, but all that was gone now. He +could lie there, without pain of body or anxiety of mind, and let vague +but bright visions pass through his soul.</p> + +<p>His eyes still closed, he listened to the voice. It was very low, +scarcely more than a murmur, yet it was thrillingly sweet. It might not +be a human voice, after all, just the distant note of a bird in the +forest, or the murmur of a brave little stream, or a summer wind among +green leaves.</p> + +<p>He moved a little and became conscious that he was not going back into +that winter region of dusk. His soul instead was steadily moving toward +the light. The beat of his heart grew normal, and then memory in a full +tide rushed upon him. He saw the great cavalry battle with all its red +turmoil, the savage swing of von Boehlen's saber and himself drifting +out into the darkness.</p> + +<p>He opened his eyes, the battle vanished, and he saw himself lying upon a +low, wooden platform. His head rested upon a small pillow, a blanket was +under him, and another above him. Turning slowly he saw other men +wrapped in blankets like himself on the platform in a row that stretched +far to right and left. Above was a low roof, but both sides of the +structure were open.</p> + +<p>He understood it all in a moment. He had come back to a world of battle +and wounds, and he was one of the wounded. But he listened for the soft, +musical note which he believed now, in his imaginative state, had drawn +him from the mid-region between life and death.</p> + +<p>The stalwart figure of a woman in a somber dress with a red cross sewed +upon it passed between him and the light, but he knew that it was not +she who had been singing. He closed his eyes in disappointment, but +reopened them. A man wearing a white jacket and radiating an atmosphere +of drugs now walked before him. He must be a surgeon. At home, surgeons +wore white jackets. Beyond doubt he was one and maybe he was going to +stop at John's cot to treat some terrible wound of which he was not yet +conscious. He shivered a little, but the man passed on, and his heart +beat its relief.</p> + +<p>Then a soldier took his place in the bar of light. He was a short, thick +man in a ridiculous, long blue coat, and equally ridiculous, baggy, red +trousers. An obscure cap was cocked in an obscure manner over his ears, +and his face was covered with a beard, black, thick and untrimmed. He +carried a rifle over his shoulder and nobody could mistake him for +anything but a Frenchman. Then he was not a prisoner again, but was in +French hands. That, at least, was a consolation.</p> + +<p>It was amusing to lie there and see the people, one by one, pass between +him and the light. He could easily imagine that he was an inspection +officer and that they walked by under orders from him. Two more women in +those somber dresses with the red crosses embroidered upon them, were +silhouetted for a moment against the glow and then were gone. Then a man +with his arm in a sling and his face very pale walked slowly by. A +wounded soldier! There must be many, very many of them!</p> + +<p>The musical murmur ceased and he was growing weary. He closed his eyes +and then he opened them again because he felt for a moment on his face a +fragrant breath, fleeting and very light. He looked up into the eyes of +Julie Lannes. They were blue, very blue, but with infinite wistful +depths in them, and he noticed that her golden hair had faint touches of +the sun in it. It was a crown of glory. He remembered that he had seen +something like it in the best pictures of the old masters.</p> + +<p>"Mademoiselle Julie!" he said.</p> + +<p>"You have come back," she said gently. "We have been anxious about you. +Philip has been to see you three times."</p> + +<p>He noticed that she, too, wore the somber dress with the red cross, and +he began to comprehend.</p> + +<p>"A nurse," he said. "Why, you are too young for such work!"</p> + +<p>"But I am strong, and the wounded are so many, hundreds of thousands, +they say. Is it not a time for the women of France to help as much as +they can?"</p> + +<p>"I suppose so. I've heard that in our civil war the women passed over +the battle fields, seeking the wounded and nursed them afterward. But +you didn't come here alone, did you, Mademoiselle Julie?"</p> + +<p>"Antoine Picard—you remember him—and his daughter Suzanne, are with +me. My mother would have come too, but she is ill. She will come later."</p> + +<p>"How long have I been here?"</p> + +<p>"Four days."</p> + +<p>John thought a little. Many and mighty events had happened in four days +before he was wounded and many and mighty events may have occurred +since.</p> + +<p>"Would you mind telling me where we are, Mademoiselle Julie?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"I do not know exactly myself, but we are somewhere near the river, +Aisne. The German army has turned and is fortifying against us. When the +wind blows this way you can hear the rumble of the guns. Ah, there it is +now, Mr. Scott!"</p> + +<p>John distinctly heard that low, sinister menace, coming from the east, +and he knew what it was. Why should he not? He had listened to it for +days and days. It was easy enough now to tell the thunder of the +artillery from real thunder. He was quite sure that it had never ceased +while he was unconscious. It had been going on so long now, as steady as +the flowing of a river.</p> + +<p>"I've been asking you a lot of questions, Mademoiselle Julie, but I want +to ask you one more."</p> + +<p>"What is it, Mr. Scott?"</p> + +<p>"What happened to me?"</p> + +<p>"They say that you were knocked down by a horse, and that when you were +falling his knee struck your head. There was a concussion but the +surgeon says that when you come out of it you will recover very fast."</p> + +<p>"Is the man who says it a good surgeon, one upon whom a fellow can rely, +one of the very best surgeons that ever worked on a hurt head?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Mr. Scott. But why do you ask such a question? Is it your odd +American way?"</p> + +<p>"Not at all. Mademoiselle Julie. I merely wanted to satisfy myself. He +knows that I'm not likely to be insane or weak-minded or anything of the +kind, because I got in the way of that horse's knee?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, Mr. Scott, there is not the least danger in the world. Your +mind will be as sound as your body. Don't trouble yourself."</p> + +<p>She laughed and now John knew that it was she whom he had heard singing +the chansonette in that low murmuring tone. What was that little song? +Well, it did not matter about the words. The music was that of a soft +breeze from the south blowing among roses. John's imaginings were +growing poetical. Perhaps there were yet some lingering effects from the +concussion.</p> + +<p>"Here is the surgeon now," said Mademoiselle Julie. "He will take a look +at you and he will be glad to find that what he has predicted has come +true."</p> + +<p>It was the man in the white jacket, and with that wonderful tangle of +black whiskers, like a patch cut out of a scrub forest.</p> + +<p>"Well, my young Yankee," he said, "I see that you've come around. You've +raised an interesting question in my mind. Since a cavalry horse wasn't +able to break it, is the American skull thicker than the skulls of other +people?"</p> + +<p>"A lot of you Europeans don't seem to think we're civilized."</p> + +<p>"But when you fight for us we do. Isn't that so, Mademoiselle Lannes?"</p> + +<p>"I think it is."</p> + +<p>"War is a curious thing. While it drives people apart it also brings +them together. We learn in battle, and its aftermath, that we're very +much alike. And now, my young Yankee, I'll be here again in two hours to +change that bandage for the last time. I'll be through with you then, +and in another day you can go forward to meet the German shells."</p> + +<p>"I prefer to run against a horse's knee," said John with spirit.</p> + +<p>Surgeon Lucien Delorme laughed heartily.</p> + +<p>"I'm confirmed in my opinion that you won't need me after another change +of bandages," he said. "We've a couple of hundred thousand cases much +worse than yours to tend, and Mademoiselle Lannes will look after you +today. She has watched over you, I understand, because you're a friend +of her brother, the great flying man, Philip Lannes."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said John, "that's it, of course."</p> + +<p>Julie herself said nothing.</p> + +<p>Surgeon Delorme passed through the bar of brilliant light and +disappeared, his place being taken by a gigantic figure with grizzled +hair, and the stern face of the thoughtful peasant, the same Antoine +Picard who had been left as a guardian over the little house beyond the +Seine. John closed his eyes, that is nearly, and caught the glance that +the big man gave to Julie. It was protecting and fatherly, and he knew +that Antoine would answer for her at any time with his life. It was one +remnant of feudalism to which he did not object. He opened his eyes wide +and said:</p> + +<p>"Well, my good Picard, perhaps you thought you were going to look at a +dead American, but you are not. Behold me!"</p> + +<p>He sat up and doubled up his arm to show his muscle and power. Picard +smiled and offered to shake hands in the American fashion. He seemed +genuinely glad that John had returned to the real world, and John +ascribed it to Picard's knowledge that he was Lannes' friend.</p> + +<p>Julie said some words to Picard, and with a little <i>au revoir</i> to John, +went away. John watched her until she was out of sight. He realized +again that young French girls were kept secluded from the world, immured +almost. But the world had changed. Since a few men met around a table +six or seven weeks before and sent a few dispatches a revolution had +come. Old customs, old ideas and old barriers were going fast, and might +be going faster. War, the leveler, was prodigiously at work.</p> + +<p>These were tremendous things, but he had himself to think about too, and +personality can often outweigh the universe. Julie was gone, taking a +lot of the light with her, but Picard was still there, and while he was +grizzled and stern he was a friend.</p> + +<p>John sat up quite straight and Picard did not try to keep him from it.</p> + +<p>"Picard," he said, "you see me, don't you?"</p> + +<p>"I do, sir, with these two good eyes of mine, as good as those in the +head of any young man, and fifty is behind me."</p> + +<p>"That's because you're not intellectual, Picard, but we'll return to our +lamb chops. I am here, I, a soldier of France, though an American—for +which I am grateful—laid four days upon my back by a wound. And was +that wound inflicted by a shell, shrapnel, bomb, lance, saber, bullet or +any of the other noble weapons of warfare? No, sir, it was done by a +horse, and not by a kick, either, he jostled me with his knee when he +wasn't looking. Would you call that an honorable wound?"</p> + +<p>"All wounds received in the service of one's country or adopted country +are honorable, sir."</p> + +<p>"You give me comfort, Picard. But spread the story that I was not hit by +a horse's knee but by a piece of shell, a very large and wicked piece of +shell. I want it to get into the histories that way. The greatest of +Frenchmen, though he was an Italian, said that history was a fable +agreed upon, and you and I want to make an agreement about myself and a +shell."</p> + +<p>"I don't understand you at all, sir."</p> + +<p>"Well, never mind. Tell me how long Mademoiselle Julie is going to stay +here. I'm a great friend of her brother, Lieutenant Philip Lannes. Oh, +we're such wonderful friends! And we've been through such terrible +dangers together!"</p> + +<p>"Then, perhaps it's Lieutenant Lannes and not his sister, Mademoiselle +Julie, that you wish to inquire about."</p> + +<p>"Don't be ironical, Picard. I was merely digressing, which I admit is +wrong, as you're apt to distract the attention of your hearer from the +real subject. We'll return to Mademoiselle Julie. Do you think she's +going to remain here long?"</p> + +<p>"I would tell you if I could, sir, but no one knows. I think it depends +upon many circumstances. The young lady is most brave, as becomes one of +her blood, and the changes in France are great. All of us who may not +fight can serve otherwise."</p> + +<p>"Why is it that you're not fighting, Picard?"</p> + +<p>The great peasant flung up his arms angrily.</p> + +<p>"Because I am beyond the age. Because I am too old, they said. Think of +it! I, Antoine Picard, could take two of these little officers and crush +them to death at once in my arms! There is not in all this army a man +who could walk farther than I can! There is not one who could lift the +wheel of a cannon out of the mud more quickly than I can, and they would +not take me! What do a few years mean?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing in your case, Antoine, but they'll take you, later on. Never +fear. Before this war is over every country in it will need all the men +it can get, whether old or young."</p> + +<p>"I fear that it is so," said the gigantic peasant, a shadow crossing his +stern face, "but, sir, one thing is decided. France, the France of the +Revolution, the France that belongs to its people, will not fall."</p> + +<p>John looked at him with a new interest. Here was a peasant, but a +thinking peasant, and there were millions like him in France. They were +not really peasants in the old sense of the word, but workingmen with a +stake in the country, and the mind and courage to defend it. It might be +possible to beat the army of a nation, but not a nation in arms.</p> + +<p>"No, Picard," said John, "France will not fall."</p> + +<p>"And that being settled, sir," said Picard, with grim humor, "I think +you'd better lie down again. You've talked a lot for a man who has been +unconscious four days."</p> + +<p>"You're right, my good Picard, as I've no doubt you usually are. Was I +troublesome, much, when I was out in the dark?"</p> + +<p>"But little, sir. I've lifted much heavier men, and that Dr. Delorme is +strong himself, not afraid, either, to use the knife. Ah, sir, you +should have seen how beautifully he worked right under the fire of the +German guns! Psst! if need be he'd have taken a leg off you in five +minutes, as neatly as if he had been in a hospital in Paris!"</p> + +<p>John felt apprehensively for his legs. Both were there, and in good +condition.</p> + +<p>"If that man ever comes near me with the intention of cutting off one of +my legs I'll shoot him, good fellow and good doctor though he may be," +he said. "Help me up a little higher, will you, Picard? I want to see +what kind of a place we're in."</p> + +<p>Picard built up a little pyramid of saddles and knapsacks behind him and +John drew himself up with his back against them. The rows and rows of +wounded stretched as far as he could see, and there was a powerful odor +of drugs. Around him was a forest, of the kind with which he had become +familiar in Europe, that is, of small trees, free from underbrush. He +saw some distance away soldiers walking up and down and beyond them the +vague outline of an earthwork.</p> + +<p>"What place is this, anyway, Picard?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"It has no name, sir. It's a hospital. It was built in the forest in a +day. More than five thousand wounded lie here. The army itself is +further on. You were found and brought in by some young officers of that +most singular company composed of Americans and English who are always +quarreling among one another, but who unite and fight like demons +against anybody else."</p> + +<p>"A dollar to a cent it was Wharton and Carstairs who brought me here," +said John, smiling to himself.</p> + +<p>"What does Monsieur say?"</p> + +<p>"Merely commenting on some absent friends of mine. But this isn't a bad +place, Picard."</p> + +<p>The shed was of immense length and breadth and just beyond it were some +small buildings, evidently of hasty construction. John inferred that +they were for the nurses and doctors, and he wondered which one +sheltered Julie Lannes. The forest seemed to be largely of young pines, +and the breeze that blew through it was fresh and wholesome. As he +breathed it young Scott felt that he was inhaling new life and strength. +But the wind also brought upon its edge that far faint murmur which he +knew was the throbbing of the great guns, miles and miles away.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps, Monsieur had better lie down again now and sleep awhile," said +Picard insinuatingly.</p> + +<p>"Sleep! I need sleep! Why, Picard, by your own account I've just +awakened from a sleep four days and four nights long."</p> + +<p>"But, sir, that was not sleep. It was the stupor of unconsciousness. +Now your sleep will be easy and natural."</p> + +<p>"Very well," said John, who had really begun to feel a little weary, +"I'll go to sleep, since, in a way, you order it, but if Mademoiselle +Julie Lannes should happen to pass my cot again, will you kindly wake me +up?"</p> + +<p>"If possible, sir," said Picard, the faintest smile passing over his +iron features, and forced to be content with that reply, John soon slept +again. Julie passed by him twice, but Picard did not awaken him, nor +try. The first time she was alone. Trained and educated like most young +French girls, she had seen little of the world until she was projected +into the very heart of it by an immense and appalling war. But its +effect upon her had been like that upon John. Old manners and customs +crumbled away, an era vanished, and a new one with new ideas came to +take its place. She shuddered often at what she had seen in this great +hospital in the woods, but she was glad that she had come. French +courage was as strong in the hearts of women as in the hearts of men, +and the brusque but good Dr. Delorme had said that she learned fast. She +had more courage, yes, and more skill, than many nurses older and +stronger than she, and there was the stalwart Suzanne, who worked with +her.</p> + +<p>She was alone the first time and she stopped by John's cot, where he +slept so peacefully. He was undeniably handsome, this young American who +had come to their house in Paris with Philip. And her brother, that +wonderful man of the air, who was almost a demi-god to her, had spoken +so well of him, had praised so much his skill, his courage, and his +honesty. And he had received his wound fighting so gallantly for France, +her country. Her beautiful color deepened a little as she walked away.</p> + +<p>John awoke again in the afternoon, and the first sound he heard was that +same far rumble of the guns, now apparently a part of nature, but he did +not linger in any twilight land between dark and light. All the mists of +sleep cleared away at once and he sat up, healthy, strong and hungry. +Demanding food from an orderly he received it, and when he had eaten it +he asked for Surgeon Delorme.</p> + +<p>The surgeon did not come for a half hour and then he demanded brusquely +what John wanted.</p> + +<p>"None of your drugs," replied happy young Scott, "but my uniform and my +arms. I don't know your procedure here, but I want you to certify to the +whole world that I'm entirely well and ready to return to the ranks."</p> + +<p>Surgeon Delorme critically examined the bandage which he had changed +that morning, and then felt of John's head at various points.</p> + +<p>"A fine strong skull," he said, smiling, "and quite undamaged. When this +war is over I shall go to America and make an exhaustive study of the +Yankee skull. Has bone, through the influence of climate or of more +plentiful food, acquired a more tenacious quality there than it has +here? It is a most interesting and complicated question."</p> + +<p>"But it's solution will have to be deferred, my good Monsieur Delorme, +and so you'd better quit thumping my head so hard. Give me that +certificate, because if you don't I'll get up and go without it. Don't +you hear those guns out there, doctor? Why, they're calling to me all +the time. They tell me, strong and well, again, to come at once and join +my comrades of the Strangers, who are fighting the enemy."</p> + +<p>"You shall go in the morning," said Surgeon Delorme, putting his broad +hand upon young Scott's head. "The effects of the concussion will have +vanished then."</p> + +<p>"But I want to get up now and put on my uniform; can't I?"</p> + +<p>"I know no reason why you shouldn't. There's a huge fellow named Picard +around here who has been watching over you, and who has your uniform. +I'll call him."</p> + +<p>When John was dressed he walked with Picard into the edge of the forest. +His first steps were wavering, and his head swam a little, but in a few +minutes the dizziness disappeared and his walk became steady and +elastic. He was his old self again, strong in every fiber. He would +certainly be with the Strangers the next morning.</p> + +<p>Many more of the wounded, thousands of them, were lying or sitting on +the short grass in the forest. They were the less seriously hurt, and +they were cheerful. Some of them sang.</p> + +<p>"They'll be going back to the army fast," said Picard. "Unless they're +torn by shrapnel nearly all the wounded get well again and quickly. The +bullet with the great power is merciful. It goes through so fast that it +does not tear either flesh or bone. If you're healthy, if your blood is +good, psst! you're well again in a week."</p> + +<p>"Do you know if Lieutenant Lannes is expected here?" asked John.</p> + +<p>"I heard from Mademoiselle Julie that he would come at set of sun. He +has been on another perilous errand. Ah, his is a strange and terrible +life, sir. Up there in the sky, a half mile, maybe a mile, above the +earth. All the dangers of the earth and those, too, of the air to fight! +Nothing above you and nothing below you. It's a new world in which +Monsieur Philip Lannes moves, but I would not go in it with him, not for +all the treasures of the Louvre!"</p> + +<p>He looked up at the calm and benevolent blue sky and shuddered.</p> + +<p>John laughed.</p> + +<p>"Some of us feel that way," he said. "Many men as brave as any that ever +lived can't bear to look down from a height. But sunset is approaching, +my gallant Picard, and Lannes should soon be here."</p> + +<p>The rays of the sun fell in showers of red gold where they stood, but a +narrow band of gray under the eastern horizon showed that twilight was +not far away. The two stood side by side staring up at the heavens, +where they felt with absolute certainty the black dot would appear at +the appointed time. It was a singular tribute to the courage and +character of Lannes that all who knew him had implicit faith in his +promises, not alone in his honesty of purpose, but in his ability to +carry it out in the face of difficulty and danger. The band of gray in +the east broadened, but they still watched with the utmost faith.</p> + +<p>"I see something to the eastward," said John, "or is it merely a shadow +in the sky?"</p> + +<p>"I don't think it's a shadow. It must be one of those terrible machines, +and perhaps it's that of our brave Monsieur Philip."</p> + +<p>"You're right, Picard, it's no shadow, nor is it a bit of black cloud. +It's an aeroplane, flying very fast. The skies over Europe hold many +aeroplanes these days, but I know all the tricks of the <i>Arrow</i>, all its +pretty little ways, its manner of curving, looping and dropping, and I +should say that the <i>Arrow</i>, Philip Lannes aboard, is coming."</p> + +<p>"I pray, sir, that you are right. I always hold my breath until he is on +the ground again."</p> + +<p>"Then you'll have to make a record in holding breath, my brave Picard. +He is still far, very far, from us, and it will be a good ten minutes +before he arrives."</p> + +<p>But John knew beyond a doubt, after a little more watching, that it was +really the <i>Arrow</i>, and with eager eyes he watched the gallant little +machine as it descended in many a graceful loop and spiral to the earth. +They hurried forward to meet it, and Lannes, bright-eyed and trim, +sprang out, greeting John with a welcome cry.</p> + +<p>"Up again," he exclaimed, "and, as I see with these two eyes of mine, +as well as ever! And you too, my brave Picard, here to meet me!"</p> + +<p>He hastened away with a report, but came back to them in a few minutes.</p> + +<p>"Now," he said, "We'll go and see my sister."</p> + +<p>John was not at all unwilling.</p> + +<p>They found her in one of the new houses of pine boards, and the faithful +and stalwart Suzanne was with her. It was the plainest of plain places, +inhabited by at least twenty other Red Cross nurses, and John stood on +one side until the first greeting of brother and sister was over. Then +Lannes, by a word and a gesture, included him in what was practically a +family group, although he was conscious that the stalwart Suzanne was +watching him with a wary eye.</p> + +<p>"Julie and Suzanne," said Lannes, "are going tomorrow with other nurses +to the little town of Ménouville, where also many wounded lie. They are +less well supplied with doctors and nurses than we are here. Dr. Delorme +goes also with a small detachment as escort. I have asked that you, +Monsieur Jean the Scott, be sent with them. Our brave Picard goes too. +Ménouville is about eight miles from here, and it's not much out of the +way to the front. So you will not be kept long from your Strangers, +John."</p> + +<p>"I go willingly," said John, "and I'm glad, Philip, that you've seen fit +to consider me worth while as a part of the escort."</p> + +<p>He spoke quietly, but his glance wandered to Julie Lannes. It may have +been a chance, but hers turned toward him at the same time, and the +eyes, the blue and the gray, met. Again the girl's brilliant color +deepened a little, and she looked quickly away. Only the watchful and +grim Suzanne saw.</p> + +<p>"Do you have to go away at once, Philip?" asked Julie.</p> + +<p>"In one hour, my sister. There is not much rest for the <i>Arrow</i> and me +these days, but they are such days as happen perhaps only once in a +thousand years, and one must do his best to be worthy. I'm not +preaching, little sister, don't think that, but I must answer to every +call."</p> + +<p>The twilight had spread from east to west. The heavy shadows in the east +promised a dark night, but out of the shadows, as always, came that +sullen mutter of the ruthless guns. Julie shivered a little, and glanced +at the dim sky.</p> + +<p>"Must you go up there in the cold dark?" she said. "It's like leaving +the world. It's dangerous enough in the day, but you have a bright sky +then. In the night it's terrible!"</p> + +<p>"Don't you fear for me, little sister," said Lannes. "Why, I like the +night for some reasons. You can slip by your enemies in the dark, and if +you're flying low the cannon don't have half the chance at you. Besides, +I've the air over these regions all mapped and graded now. I know all +the roads and paths, the meeting places of the clouds, points suitable +for ambush, aerial fields, meadows and forests. Oh, it's home up there! +Don't you worry, and do you write, too, to Madame, my mother, in Paris, +that I'm perfectly safe."</p> + +<p>Lannes kissed her and went away abruptly. John was sure that an attempt +to hide emotion caused his brusque departure.</p> + +<p>"Believe everything he tells you, Mademoiselle Julie," he said. "I've +come to the conclusion that nothing can ever trap your brother. Besides +courage and skill he has luck. The stars always shine for him."</p> + +<p>"They're not shining tonight," said Picard, looking up at the dusky sky.</p> + +<p>"But I believe, Mr. Scott, that you are right," said Julie.</p> + +<p>"He'll certainly come to us at Ménouville tomorrow night," said John, +speaking in English—all the conversation hitherto had been in French, +"and I think we'll have a pleasant ride through the forest in the +morning, Miss Lannes. You'll let me call you Miss Lannes, once or twice, +in my language, won't you? I like to hear the sound of it."</p> + +<p>"I've no objection, Mr. Scott," she replied also in English. She did not +blush, but looked directly at him with bright eyes. John was conscious +of something cool and strong. She was very young, she was French, and +she had lived a sheltered life, but he realized once more that human +beings are the same everywhere and that war, the leveler, had broken +down all barriers.</p> + +<p>"I've not heard who is to be our commander, Miss Lannes," he continued +in English, "but I'll be here early in the morning. May I wish you happy +dreams and a pleasant awakening, as they say at home?"</p> + +<p>"But you have two homes now, France and America."</p> + +<p>"That's so, and I'm beginning to love one as much as the other. Any +way, to the re-seeing, Miss Lannes, which I believe is equivalent to <i>au +revoir</i>."</p> + +<p>He made a very fine bow, one that would have done credit to a trained +old courtier, and withdrew. The fierce and watchful eyes of Suzanne +followed him.</p> + +<p>John was up at dawn, as strong and well as he had ever been in his life. +As he was putting on his uniform an orderly arrived with a note from +Lieutenant Hector Legaré, telling him to report at once for duty with a +party that was going to Ménouville.</p> + +<p>The start was made quickly. John found that the women with surgical +supplies were traveling in carts. The soldiers, about twenty in number, +walked. John and the doctor walked with them. All the automobiles were +in use carrying troops to the front, but the carts were strong and +comfortable and John did not mind. It ought to be a pleasant trip.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII" />CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<h3>THE MIDDLE AGES</h3> + + +<p>The little party moved away without attracting notice. In a time of such +prodigious movement the going or coming of a few individuals was a +matter of no concern. The hood that Julie Lannes had drawn over her hair +and face, and her plain brown dress might have been those of a nun. She +too passed before unseeing eyes.</p> + +<p>Lieutenant Legaré was a neutral person, arousing no interest in John who +walked by the side of the gigantic Picard, the stalwart Suzanne being in +one of the carts beside Julie. The faint throbbing of the guns, now a +distinct part of nature, came to them from a line many miles away, but +John took no notice of it. He had returned to the world among pleasant +people, and this was one of the finest mornings in early autumn that he +had ever seen.</p> + +<p>The country was much more heavily forested than usual. At points, the +woods turned into what John would almost have called a real forest. Then +they could not see very far ahead or to either side, but the road was +good and the carts moved forward, though not at a pace too great for the +walkers.</p> + +<p>Picard carried a rifle over his shoulders, and John had secured an +automatic. All the soldiers were well armed. John felt a singular +lightness of heart, and, despite the forbidding glare of Suzanne, who +was in the last cart, he spoke to Julie.</p> + +<p>"It's too fine a morning for battle," he said in English. "Let's pretend +that we're a company of troubadours, minnesingers, jongleurs, acrobats +and what not, going from one great castle to another."</p> + +<p>"I suppose Antoine there is the chief acrobat?"</p> + +<p>"He might do a flip-flap, but if he did the earth would shake."</p> + +<p>"Then you are the chief troubadour. Where is your harp or viol, Sir +Knight of the Tuneful Road?"</p> + +<p>"I'm merely imagining character, not action. I haven't a harp or a viol, +and if I had them I couldn't play on either."</p> + +<p>"Do you think it right to talk In English to the strange young American, +Mademoiselle? Would Madame your mother approve?" said Suzanne in a +fierce whisper.</p> + +<p>"It is sometimes necessary in war, Suzanne, to talk where one would not +do so in peace," replied Julie gravely, and then she said to John again +in English:</p> + +<p>"We cannot carry out the pretense, Mr. Scott. The tuneful or merry folk +of the Middle Ages did not travel with arms. They had no enemies, and +they were welcome everywhere. Nor did they travel as we do to the +accompaniment of war. The sound of the guns grows louder."</p> + +<p>"So it does," said John, bending an ear—he had forgotten that a battle +was raging somewhere, "but we're behind the French lines and it cannot +touch us."</p> + +<p>"It was a wonderful victory. Our soldiers are the bravest in the world +are they not, Mr. Scott?"</p> + +<p>John smiled. They were still talking English. He liked to hear her +piquant pronunciation of it, and he surmised too that the bravest of +hearts beat in the bosom of this young girl whom war had suddenly made a +woman. How could the sister of such a man as Lannes be otherwise than +brave? The sober brown dress, and the hood equally sober, failed to hide +her youthful beauty. The strands of hair escaping from the hood showed +pure gold in the sunshine, and in the same sunshine the blue of her eyes +seemed deeper than ever.</p> + +<p>John was often impressed by the weakness of generalities, and one of +them was the fact that so many of the French were so fair, and so many +of the English so dark. He did not remember the origin of the Lannes +family, but he was sure that through her mother's line, at least, she +must be largely of Norman blood.</p> + +<p>"What are you thinking of so gravely, Mr. Scott?" she asked, still in +English, to the deep dissatisfaction of Suzanne, who never relaxed her +grim glare.</p> + +<p>"I don't know. Perhaps it was the contrast of our peaceful journey to +what is going on twelve or fifteen miles away."</p> + +<p>"It is beautiful here!" she said.</p> + +<p>Truly it was. The road, smooth and white, ran along the slopes of hills, +crested with open forest, yet fresh and green. Below them were fields of +chequered brown and green. Four or five clear brooks flowed down the +slopes, and the sheen of a little river showed in the distance. Three +small villages were in sight, and, clean white smoke rising from their +chimneys, blended harmoniously into the blue of the skies. It reminded +John of pictures by the great French landscape painters. It was all so +beautiful and peaceful, nor was the impression marred by the distant +mutter of the guns which he had forgotten again.</p> + +<p>Julie and Suzanne, her menacing shadow, dismounted from the wagon +presently and walked with John and Picard. Lieutenant Legaré was stirred +enough from his customary phlegm to offer some gallant words, but war, +the great leveler, had not quite leveled all barriers, so far as he was +concerned, and, after her polite reply, he returned to his martial +duties. John had become the friend of the Lannes family through his +association with Philip in dangerous service, and his position was +recognized.</p> + +<p>The road ascended and the forest became deeper. No houses were now in +sight. As the morning advanced it had grown warmer under a brilliant +sun, but it was pleasant here in the shade. Julie still walked, showing +no sign of a wish for the cart again. John noticed that she was very +strong, or at least very enduring. Suddenly he felt a great obligation +to take care of her for the sake of Lannes. The sister of his +comrade-in-arms was a precious trust in his hands, and he must not +fail.</p> + +<p>The wind shifted and blew toward the east, no longer bringing the sound +of guns. Instead they heard a bird now and then, chattering or singing +in a tree. The illusion of the Middle Ages returned to John. They were a +peaceful troupe, going upon a peaceful errand.</p> + +<p>"Don't tell me there isn't a castle at Ménouville," he said. "I know +there is, although I've never been there, and I never heard of the place +before. When we arrive the drawbridge will be down and the portcullis +up. All the men-at-arms will have burnished their armor brightly and +will wait respectfully in parallel rows to welcome us as we pass +between. His Grace, the Duke of Light Heart, in a suit of red velvet +will be standing on the steps, and Her Graciousness, the Duchess, in a +red brocade dress, with her hair powdered and very high on her head, +will be by his side to greet our merry troupe. Behind them will be all +the ducal children, and the knights and squires and pages, and ladies. I +think they will all be very glad to see us, because in these Middle Ages +of ours, life, even in a great ducal castle, is somewhat lonely. +Visitors are too rare, and there is not the variety of interest that +even the poor will have in a later time."</p> + +<p>"You make believe well, Mr. Scott," she said.</p> + +<p>"There is inspiration," he said, glancing at her. "We are here in the +deeps of an ancient wood, and perhaps the stories and legends of these +old lands move the Americans more than they do the people who live here. +We're the children of Europe and when we look back to the land of our +fathers we often see it through a kind of glorified mist."</p> + +<p>"The wind is shifting again," she said. "I hear the cannon once more."</p> + +<p>"So do I, and I hear something else too! Was that the sound of hoofs?"</p> + +<p>John turned in sudden alarm to Legaré, who heard also and stiffened at +once to attention. They were not alone on the road. The rapid beat of +hoofs came, and around a corner galloped a mass of Uhlans, helmets and +lances glittering. Picard with a shout of warning fired his rifle into +the thick of them. Legaré snatched out his revolver and fired also.</p> + +<p>But they had no chance. The little detachment was ridden down in an +instant. Legaré and half of the men died gallantly. The rest were taken. +Picard had been brought to his knees by a tremendous blow from the butt +of a lance, and John, who had instinctively sprung before Julie, was +overpowered. Suzanne, who endeavored to reach a weapon, fought like a +tigress, but two Uhlans finally subdued her.</p> + +<p>It was so swift and sudden that it scarcely seemed real to John, but +there were the dead bodies lying ghastly in the road, and there stood +Julie, as pale as death, but not trembling. The leader of the Uhlans +pushed his helmet back a little from his forehead, and looked down at +John, who had been disarmed but who stood erect and defiant.</p> + +<p>"It is odd, Mr. Scott," said Captain von Boehlen, "how often the +fortunes of this war have caused us to meet."</p> + +<p>"It is, and sometimes fortune favors one, sometimes the other. You're +in favor now."</p> + +<p>Von Boehlen looked steadily at his prisoner. John thought that the +strength and heaviness of the jaw were even more pronounced than when he +had first seen the Prussian in Dresden. The face was tanned deeply, and +face and figure alike seemed the embodiment of strength. One might +dislike him, but one could not despise him. John even found it in his +heart to respect him, as he returned the steady gaze of the blue eyes +with a look equally as firm.</p> + +<p>"I hope," said John, "that you will send back Mademoiselle Lannes and +the nurses with her to her people. I take it that you're not making war +upon women."</p> + +<p>Von Boehlen gave Julie a quick glance of curiosity and admiration. But +the eyes flashed for only a moment and then were expressionless.</p> + +<p>"I know of one Lannes," he said, "Philip Lannes, the aviator, a name +that fame has brought to us Germans."</p> + +<p>"I am his sister," said Julie.</p> + +<p>"I can wish, Mademoiselle Lannes," said von Boehlen, politely in French, +"that we had captured your brother instead of his sister."</p> + +<p>"But as I said, you will send them back to their own people? You don't +make war upon women?" repeated John.</p> + +<p>"No, we do not make war upon women. We are making war upon Frenchmen, +and I do not hesitate to say in the presence of Mademoiselle Lannes that +this war is made upon very brave Frenchmen. Yet we cannot send the +ladies back. The presence of our cavalry here within the French lines +must not be known to our enemies. Moreover, I obey the orders of +another, and I am compelled to hold them as prisoners—for a while at +least."</p> + +<p>Von Boehlen's tone was not lacking in the least in courtesy. It was more +than respectful when he spoke directly to Julie Lannes, and John's +feeling of repugnance to him underwent a further abatement—he was a +creation of his conditions, and he believed in his teachings.</p> + +<p>"You will at least keep us all as prisoners together?" said John.</p> + +<p>"I know of no reason to the contrary," replied von Boehlen briefly. Then +he acted with the decision that characterized all the German officers +whom John had seen. The women and the prisoners were put in the carts. +Dismounted Uhlans took the place of the drivers and the little +procession with an escort of about fifty cavalry turned from the road +into the woods, von Boehlen and the rest, about five hundred in number, +rode on down the road.</p> + +<p>John was in the last cart with Julie, Suzanne and Picard, and his soul +was full of bitter chagrin. He had just been taking mental resolutions +to protect, no matter what came, Philip Lannes' sister, and, within a +half hour, both she and he were prisoners. But when he saw the face of +Antoine Picard he knew that one, at least, in the cart was suffering as +much as he. The gigantic peasant was the only one whose arms were bound, +and perhaps it was as well. His face expressed the most ferocious anger +and hate, and now and then he pulled hard upon his bonds. John could see +that they were cutting into the flesh. He remembered also that Picard +was not in uniform. He was in German eyes only a <i>franc tireur</i>, subject +to instant execution, and he wondered why von Boehlen had delayed.</p> + +<p>"Save your strength, Antoine," he whispered soothingly. "We'll need it +later. I've been a prisoner before and I escaped. What's been done once +can be done again. In such a huge and confused war as this there's +always a good chance."</p> + +<p>"Ah, you're right, Monsieur," said Antoine, and he ceased to struggle.</p> + +<p>Julie had heard the whisper, and she looked at John confidently. She was +the youngest of all the women in the carts, but she was the coolest.</p> + +<p>"They cannot do anything with us but hold us a few days," she said.</p> + +<p>John was silent, turning away his somber face. He did not like this +carrying away of the women as captives, and to him the women were +embodied in Julie. They were following a little path through the woods, +the German drivers and German guards seeming to know well the way. John, +calculating the course by the sun, was sure that they were now going +directly toward the German army and that they would pass unobserved +beyond the French outposts. The path was leading into a narrow gorge and +the banks and trees would hide them from all observation. He was +confirmed in his opinion by the action of their guards. The leader rode +beside the carts and said in very good French that any one making the +least outcry would be shot instantly. No exception would be made in the +case of a woman.</p> + +<p>John knew that the threat would be kept. Julie Lannes paled a little, +and the faithful Suzanne by her side was darkly menacing, but they +showed no other emotion.</p> + +<p>"Don't risk anything," said John in the lowest of whispers. "It would be +useless."</p> + +<p>Julie nodded. The carts moved on down the gorge, their wheels and the +hoofs of the horses making but little noise on the soft turf. The crash +of the guns was now distinctly louder and far ahead they saw wisps of +smoke floating above the trees. John was sure that the German batteries +were there, but he was equally sure that even had he glasses he could +not have seen them. They would certainly be masked in some adroit +fashion.</p> + +<p>The roaring also grew on their right and left. That must be the French +cannon, and soon they would be beyond the French lines. His bitterness +increased. Nothing could be more galling than to be carried in this +manner through one's own forces and into the camp of the enemy. And +there was Julie, sitting quiet and pale, apparently without fear.</p> + +<p>He reckoned that they rode at least three miles in the gorge. Then they +came into a shallow stream about twenty feet wide that would have been +called a creek at home. Its banks were fairly high, lined on one side by +a hedge and on the other by willows. Instead of following the path any +further the Germans turned into the bed of the stream and drove down it +two or three miles. The roar of the artillery from both armies was now +very great, and the earth shook. Once John caught the shadow of a huge +shell passing high over their heads.</p> + +<p>All the prisoners knew that they were well beyond hope of rescue for the +present. The French line was far behind them and they were within the +German zone. It was better to be resigned, until they saw cause for +hope.</p> + +<p>When they came to a low point in the eastern bank of the stream the +carts turned out, reached a narrow road between lines of poplars and +continued their journey eastward. In the fields on either side John saw +detachments of German infantry, skirmishers probably, as they had not +yet reached the line of cannon.</p> + +<p>"Officer," said John to the German leader, "couldn't you unbind the arms +of my friend in the cart here? Ropes around one's wrists for a long time +are painful, and since we're within your lines he has no chance of +escape now."</p> + +<p>The officer looked at Picard and shrugged his shoulders.</p> + +<p>"Giants are strong," he said.</p> + +<p>"But a little bullet can lay low the greatest of them."</p> + +<p>"That is so."</p> + +<p>He leaned from his horse, inserted the point of his sword between +Picard's wrists and deftly cut the rope without breaking the skin. +Picard clenched and unclenched his hands and drew several mighty breaths +of relief. But he was a peasant of fine manners and he did not forget +them. Turning to the officer, he said:</p> + +<p>"I did not think I'd ever thank a German for anything, but I owe you +gratitude. It's unnatural and painful to remain trussed up like a fowl +going to market."</p> + +<p>The officer gave Picard a glance of pity and rode to the head of the +column, which turned off at a sharp angle toward the north. The great +roar and crash now came from the south and John inferred that they would +soon pass beyond the zone of fire. But for a long time the thunder of +the battle was undiminished.</p> + +<p>"Do you know this country at all?" John asked Picard.</p> + +<p>The giant shook his head.</p> + +<p>"I was never here before, sir," he said, "and I never thought I should +come into any part of France in this fashion. Ah, Mademoiselle Julie, +how can I ever tell the tale of this to your mother?"</p> + +<p>"No harm will come to me, Antoine," said Julie. "I shall be back in +Paris before long. Suzanne and you are with me—and Mr. Scott."</p> + +<p>Suzanne again frowned darkly, but John gave Julie a grateful glance. +Wisdom, however, told him to say nothing. The officer in command came +back to the cart and said, pointing ahead:</p> + +<p>"Behold your destination! The large house on the hill. It is the +headquarters of a person of importance, and you will find quarters there +also. I trust that the ladies will hold no ill will against me. I've +done only what my orders have compelled me to do."</p> + +<p>"We do not, sir," said Julie.</p> + +<p>The officer bowed low and rode back to the head of the column. He was a +gallant man and John liked him. But his attention was directed now to +the house, an old French château standing among oaks. The German flag +flew over it and sentinels rode back and forth on the lawn. John +remembered the officer's words that a "person of importance" was making +his headquarters there. It must be one of the five German army +commanders, at least.</p> + +<p>He looked long at the château. It was much such a place as that in which +Carstairs, Wharton and he had once found refuge, and from the roof of +which Wharton had worked the wireless with so much effect. But houses of +this type were numerous throughout Western Europe.</p> + +<p>It was only two stories in height, large, with long low windows, and the +lawn was more like a park in size. It as now the scene of abundant life, +although, as John knew instinctively, not the life of those to whom it +belonged. A number of young officers sat on the grass reading, and at +the edge of the grounds stood a group of horses with their riders lying +on the ground near them. Not far away were a score of high powered +automobiles, several of which were armored. John also saw beyond them a +battery of eight field guns, idle now and with their gunners asleep +beside them. He had no doubt that other troops in thousands were not far +away and that, in truth, they were in the very thick of the German army.</p> + +<p>The château and its grounds were enclosed by a high iron fence and the +little procession of carts stopped at the great central gate. A group +of officers who had been sitting on the grass, reading a newspaper, came +forward to meet them and John, to his amazement and delight, recognized +the young prince, von Arnheim. It was impossible for him to regard von +Arnheim as other than a friend, and springing impulsively from the cart +he said:</p> + +<p>"I had to leave you for a while. It had become irksome to be a prisoner, +but you see I've come back."</p> + +<p>Von Arnheim stared, then recognition came.</p> + +<p>"Ah, it's Scott, the American! I speak truth when I say that I'm sorry +to see you here."</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry to come," said John, "but I'd rather be your prisoner than +anybody else's, and I wish to ask your courtesy and kindness for the +young lady, sitting in the rear of the cart, Mademoiselle Julie Lannes, +the sister of that great French aviator of whom everybody has heard."</p> + +<p>"I'll do what I can, but you're mistaken in assuming that I'm in command +here. There's a higher personage—but pardon me, I must speak to the +lieutenant."</p> + +<p>The officer in charge was saluting, obviously anxious to make his report +and have done with an unpleasant duty. Von Arnheim gave him rapid +directions in German and then asked Julie and the two Picards to +dismount from the cart, while the others were carried through the gate +and down a drive toward some distant out-buildings.</p> + +<p>John saw von Arnheim's eyes gleam a little, when he noticed the beauty +of young Julie, but the Prussian was a man of heart and manner. He +lifted his helmet, and bowed with the greatest courtesy, saying:</p> + +<p>"It's an unhappy chance for you, but not for us, that has made you our +prisoner, Mademoiselle Lannes. In this château you must consider +yourself a guest, and not a captive. It would not become us to treat +otherwise the sister of one so famous as your brother."</p> + +<p>John noticed that he paid her no direct compliment. It was indirect, +coming through her brother, and he liked von Arnheim better than ever, +because the young captive was, in truth, very beautiful. The brown dress +and the sober hood could not hide it as she stood there, the warm red +light from the setting sun glancing across her rosy face and the +tendrils of golden hair that fell from beneath the hood. She was +beautiful beyond compare, John repeated to himself, but scarcely more +than a child, and she had come into strange places. The stalwart Suzanne +also took note, and she moved a little nearer, while her grim look +deepened.</p> + +<p>"We will give you the best hospitality the house affords," continued von +Arnheim. "It's scarcely equipped for ladies, although the former owners +left—"</p> + +<p>He paused and reddened. John knew his embarrassment was due to the fact +that the house to which he was inviting Julie belonged to one of her own +countrymen. But she did not seem to notice it. The manner and appearance +of von Arnheim inspired confidence.</p> + +<p>"We'll be put with the other prisoners, of course," said John +tentatively.</p> + +<p>"I don't know," replied von Arnheim. "That rests with my superior, whom +you shall soon see."</p> + +<p>They were walking along the gravel toward a heavy bronze door, that told +little of what the house contained. Officers and soldiers saluted the +young prince as he passed. John saw discipline and attention everywhere. +The German note was discipline and obedience, obedience and discipline. +A nation, with wonderful powers of thinking, it was a nation that ceased +to think when the call of the drill sergeant came. Discipline and +obedience had made it terrible and unparalleled in war, to a certain +point, but beyond that point the nations that did think in spite of +their sergeants, could summon up reserves of strength and courage which +the powers of the trained militarists could not create. At least John +thought so.</p> + +<p>The long windows of the house threw back the last rays of the setting +sun, and it was twilight when von Arnheim and his four captives entered +the château. A large man, middle-aged, heavy and bearded, wearing the +uniform of a German general rose, and a staff of several officers rose +with him. It was Auersperg, the medieval prince, and John's heart was +troubled.</p> + +<p>Von Arnheim saluted, bowing deeply. He stood not only in the presence of +his general, but of royalty also. It was something in the German blood, +even in one so brave and of such high rank as von Arnheim himself, that +compelled humility, and John, like the fierce democrat he was, did not +like it at all. The belief was too firmly imbedded in his mind ever to +be removed that men like Auersperg and the mad power for which they +stood had set the torch to Europe.</p> + +<p>"Captain von Boehlen took some prisoners, Your Highness," said von +Arnheim, "and as he was compelled to continue on his expedition he has +sent them here under the escort of Lieutenant Puttkamer. The young lady +is Mademoiselle Julie Lannes, the sister of the aviator, of whom we all +know, the woman and the peasant are her servants, and the young man, +whom we have seen before, is an American, John Scott in the French +service."</p> + +<p>He spoke in French, with intention, John thought, and the heavy-lidded +eyes of Auersperg dwelt an instant on the fresh and beautiful face of +Julie. And that momentary glance was wholly medieval. John saw it and +understood it. A rage against Auersperg that would never die flamed up +in his heart. He already hated everything for which the man stood. +Auersperg's glance passed on, and slowly measured the gigantic figure of +Picard. Then he smiled in a slow and ugly fashion.</p> + +<p>"Ah, a peasant in civilian's dress, captured fighting our brave armies! +Our orders are very strict upon that point. Von Arnheim, take this +<i>franc tireur</i> behind the château and have him shot at once."</p> + +<p>He too had spoken in French, and doubtless with intention also. John +felt a thrill of horror, but Julie Lannes, turning white, sprang before +Picard:</p> + +<p>"No! No!" she cried to Auersperg. "You cannot do such a thing! He is not +a soldier! They would not take him because he is too old! He is my +mother's servant! It would be barbarous to have him shot!"</p> + +<p>Auersperg looked again at Julie, and smiled, but it was the slow, cold +smile of a master.</p> + +<p>"You beg very prettily, Mademoiselle," he said.</p> + +<p>She flushed, but stood firm.</p> + +<p>"It would be murder," she said. "You cannot do it!"</p> + +<p>"You know little of war. This man is a <i>franc tireur</i>, a civilian in +civilian's garb, fighting against us. It is our law that all such who +are caught be shot immediately."</p> + +<p>"Your Highness," said von Arnheim, "I have reason to think that the +lady's story is correct. This man's daughter is her maid, and he is +obviously a servant of her house."</p> + +<p>Auersperg turned his slow, heavy look upon the young Prussian, but John +noticed that von Arnheim met it without flinching, although Picard had +really fired upon the Germans. He surmised that von Arnheim was fully as +high-born as Auersperg, and perhaps more so. John knew that these things +counted for a lot in Germany, however ridiculous they might seem to a +democratic people. Nevertheless Auersperg spoke with irony:</p> + +<p>"Your heart is overworking, von Arnheim," he said "Sometimes I fear that +it is too soft for a Prussian. Our Emperor and our Fatherland demand +that we shall turn hearts of steel to our enemies, and never spare them. +But it may be, my brave Wilhelm, that your sympathy is less for this +hulking peasant and more for the fair face of the lady whom he serves."</p> + +<p>John saw Julie's face flush a deep red, and his hand stole down to his +belt, but no weapon was there. Von Arnheim's face reddened also, but he +stood at attention before his superior officer and replied with dignity:</p> + +<p>"I admire Mademoiselle Lannes, although I have known her only ten +minutes, but I think, Your Highness, that my admiration is warranted, +and also that it is not lacking in respect."</p> + +<p>"Good for you, von Arnheim," said John, under his breath. But the +medieval mind of Auersperg was not disturbed. The slow, cruel smile +passed across his face again.</p> + +<p>"You are brave my Wilhelm," he said, "but I am confirmed in my opinion +that some of our princely houses have become tainted. The harm that was +done when Napoleon smashed his way through Europe has never been undone. +The touch of the democracy was defilement, and it does not pass. Do you +think our ancestors would have wasted so much time over a miserable +French peasant?"</p> + +<p>This was a long speech, much too long for the circumstances, John +thought, but von Arnheim still standing stiffly at attention, merely +said:</p> + +<p>"Your Highness I ask this man's life of you. He is not a <i>franc tireur</i> +in the real sense."</p> + +<p>"Since you make it a personal matter, my brave young Wilhelm, I yield. +Let him be held a prisoner, but no more requests of the same kind. This +is positively the last time I shall yield to such a weakness."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, Your Highness," said von Arnheim. Julie gave him one +flashing look of gratitude and stepped away from Picard, who had stood, +his arms folded across his chest, refusing to utter a single word for +mercy. "This indeed," thought John "is a man." Suzanne was near, and now +both he and his daughter turned away relaxing in no wise their looks of +grim resolution. "Here also is a woman as well as a man," thought John.</p> + +<p>"I hope, Your Highness, that I may assign Mademoiselle Lannes and her +maid to one of the upper rooms," said von Arnheim in tones respectful, +but very firm. "Here also is another man," thought John.</p> + +<p>"You may," said Auersperg shortly, "but let the peasant be sent to the +stables, where the other prisoners are kept."</p> + +<p>Two soldiers were called and they took Picard away. Julie and Suzanne +followed von Arnheim to a stairway, and John was left alone with +medievalism. The man wore no armor, but when only they two stood in the +room his feeling that he was back in the Middle Ages was overpowering. +Here was the baron, and here was he, untitled and unknown.</p> + +<p>Auersperg glanced at Julie, disappearing up the stairway, and then +glanced back at John. Over his heavy face passed the same slow cruel +smile that set all John's nerves to jumping.</p> + +<p>"Why have you, an American, come so far to fight against us?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"I didn't come for that purpose. I was here, visiting, and I was caught +in the whirl of the war, an accident, perhaps. But my sympathies are +wholly with France. I fight in her ranks from choice."</p> + +<p>Auersperg laughed unpleasantly.</p> + +<p>"A republic!" he said. "Millions of the ignorant, led by demagogues! +Bah! The Hohenzollerns will scatter them like chaff!"</p> + +<p>"I can't positively say that I saw any Hohenzollern, but I did see their +armies turned back from Paris by those ignorant people, led by their +demagogues. I'm not even sure of the name of the French general who did +it, but God gave him a better brain for war, though he may have been +born a peasant for all I know, than he did to your Kaiser, or any king, +prince, grand duke or duke in all the German armies!"</p> + +<p>John had been tried beyond endurance and he knew that he had spoken with +impulsive passion, but he knew also that he had spoken with truth. The +face of Auersperg darkened. The medieval baron, full of power, without +responsibility, believing implicitly in what he chose to call his order, +but which was merely the chance of birth, was here. And while the Middle +Ages in reality had passed, war could hide many a dark tale. John was +unable to read the intent in the cruel eyes, but they heard the +footsteps of von Arnheim on the stairs, and the clenched hand that had +been raised fell back by Auersperg's side. Nevertheless medievalism did +not relax its gaze.</p> + +<p>"What to you is this girl who seems to have charmed von Arnheim?" he +asked.</p> + +<p>"Her brother has become my best friend. She has charmed me as she has +charmed von Arnheim, and as she charms all others whom she meets. And I +am pleased to tell Your Highness that the spell she casts is not alone +her beauty, but even more her pure soul."</p> + +<p>Auersperg laughed in an ugly fashion.</p> + +<p>"Youth! Youth!" he exclaimed. "I see that the spell is upon you, even +more than it is upon von Arnheim. But dismiss her from your thoughts. +You go a prisoner into Germany, and it's not likely that you'll ever see +her again."</p> + +<p>Young Scott felt a sinking of the heart, but he was not one to show it.</p> + +<p>"Prisoners may escape," he said boldly, "and what has been done once can +always be done again."</p> + +<p>"We shall see that it does not happen a second time in your case. Von +Arnheim will dispose of you for the night, and even if you should +succeed in stealing from the château there is around it a ring of German +sentinels through which you could not possibly break."</p> + +<p>Some strange kink appeared suddenly in John's brain—he was never able +to account for it afterward, though Auersperg's manner rasped him +terribly.</p> + +<p>"I mean to escape," he said, "and I wager you two to one that I do."</p> + +<p>Auersperg sat down and laughed, laughed in a way that made John's face +turn red. Then he beckoned to von Arnheim.</p> + +<p>"Take him away," he said. "He is characteristic of his frivolous +democracy, frivolous and perhaps amusing, but it is a time for serious +not trifling things."</p> + +<p>John was glad enough to go with von Arnheim, who was silent and +depressed. Yet the thought came to him once more that there were princes +and princes. Von Arnheim led the way to a small bare room under the +roof. John saw that there were soldiers in the upper halls as well as +the lower, and he was sorry that he had made such a boast to Auersperg. +As he now saw it his chance of escape glimmered into nothing.</p> + +<p>"You should not have spoken so to His Highness," said von Arnheim. "I +could not help but hear. He is our commander here, and it is not well to +infuriate one who holds all power over you?"</p> + +<p>"I am but human," replied John.</p> + +<p>"And being human, you should have had complete control over yourself at +such a time."</p> + +<p>"I admit it," said John, taking the rebuke in the right spirit.</p> + +<p>"You're to spend the night here. I've been able to secure this much +lenity for you, but it's for one night only. Tomorrow you go with the +other prisoners in the stables. Your door will be locked, but even if +you should succeed in forcing it don't try to escape. The halls swarm +with sentinels, and you would be shot instantly. I'll have food sent to +you presently."</p> + +<p>He spoke brusquely but kindly. When he went out John heard a huge key +rumbling in the lock.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV" />CHAPTER XIV</h2> + +<h3>A PROMISE KEPT</h3> + + +<p>The room in which John was confined contained only a bed, a chair and a +table. It was lighted by a single window, from which he could see +numerous soldiers below. He also heard the distant mutter of the cannon, +which seemed now to have become a part of nature. There were periods of +excitement or of mental detachment, when he did not notice it, but it +was always there. Now the soldiers in the grounds were moving but +little, and the air pulsed with the thud of the great guns.</p> + +<p>He recalled again his promise, or rather threat, to Auersperg that he +would escape. Instinctively he went to the narrow but tall window and +glanced at the heavens. Then he knew that impulse had made him look for +Lannes and the <i>Arrow</i>, and he laughed at his own folly. Even if Lannes +knew where they were he could not slip prisoners out of a house, +surrounded by watchful German troops.</p> + +<p>He heard the heavy key turning in the lock, and a silent soldier brought +him food, which he put upon the table. The man remained beside the door +until John had eaten his supper, when he took the dishes and withdrew. +He had not spoken a word while he was in the room, but as he was passing +out John said:</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, Pickelbaube! Let's have no ill feeling between you and me."</p> + +<p>The German—honest peasant that he was—grinned and nodded. He could not +understand the English words, but he gathered from John's tone that they +were friendly, and he responded at once. But when he closed the door +behind him John heard the heavy key turning in the lock again. He knew +there was little natural hostility between the people of different +nations. It was instilled into them from above.</p> + +<p>Food brought back new strength and new courage. He took his place again +at the window which was narrow and high, cut through a deep wall. The +illusion of the Middle Ages, which Auersperg had created so completely, +returned. This was the dungeon in a castle and he was a prisoner doomed +to death by its lord. Some dismounted Uhlans who were walking across the +grounds with their long lances over their shoulders gave another touch +to this return of the past, as the first rays of the moonlight glittered +on helmet and lance-head.</p> + +<p>He was not sleepy at all, and staying by the window he kept a strange +watch. He saw white flares appear often on a long line in the west. He +knew it was the flashing of the searchlights, and he surmised that what +he saw was meant for signals. The fighting would go on under steady +light continued long, and that it would continue admitted of no doubt. +He could hear the mutter of the guns, ceaseless like the flowing of a +river.</p> + +<p>He saw the battery drive out of the grounds, then turn into the road +before the château and disappear. He concluded that the cannon were +needed at some weak point where the Franco-British army was pressing +hard.</p> + +<p>Then a company of hussars came from the forest and rode quietly into the +grounds, where they dismounted. John saw that many, obviously the +wounded, were helped from their horses. In battle, he concluded, and not +so far off. Perhaps not more than two or three miles. Rifle-fire, with +the wind blowing the wrong way, would not be heard that distance.</p> + +<p>The hussars, leading their horses, disappeared in a wood behind the +house, and they were followed presently by a long train of automobiles, +moving rather slowly. The moonlight was very bright now and John saw +that they were filled with wounded who stirred but little and who made +no outcry. The line of motors turned into the place and they too +disappeared behind the château, following the hussars.</p> + +<p>Two aeroplanes alighted on the grass and their drivers entered the +house. Bearers of dispatches, John felt sure, and while he watched he +saw both return, spring into their machines and fly away. Their +departure caused him to search the heavens once more, and he knew that +he was looking for Lannes, who could not come.</p> + +<p>Now von Arnheim passed down the graveled walk that led to the great +central gate, but, half way, turned from it and began to talk to some +sentinels who stood on the grass. He was certainly a fine fellow, tall, +well built, and yet free from the German stoutness of figure. He wore a +close uniform of blue-gray which fitted him admirably, and the moonlight +fell in a flood on his handsome, ruddy face.</p> + +<p>"I hope you won't be killed," murmured John. "If there is any French +shell or shrapnel that is labeled specially for a prince and that must +have a prince, I pray it will take Auersperg in place of von Arnheim."</p> + +<p>It was a serious prayer and he felt that it was without a trace of +wickedness or sacrilege. Evidently von Arnheim was giving orders of +importance, as two of the men, to whom he was talking, hurried to +horses, mounted and galloped down the road. Then the young prince walked +slowly back to the house and John could see that he was very thoughtful. +He passed his hand in a troubled way two or three times across his +forehead. Perhaps the medieval prince inside was putting upon the modern +prince outside labors that he was far from liking.</p> + +<p>John's unformed plan of escape included Julie Lannes. He could not go +away without her. If he did he could never face Lannes again, and what +was more, he could never face himself. It was in reality this thought +that made his resolve to escape seem so difficult. It had been lurking +continuously in the back of his head. To go away without Julie was +impossible. Under ordinary circumstances her situation as a prisoner +would not be alarming. Germans regarded women with respect. They had +done so from the earliest times, as he had learned from the painful +study of Tacitus. Von Arnheim had received a deep impression from +Julie's beauty and grace. John could tell it by his looks, but those +looks were honest. They came from the eyes and heart of one who could do +no wrong. But the other! The man of the Middle Ages, the older prince. +He was different. War re-created ancient passions and gave to them +opportunities. No, he could not think of leaving without Julie!</p> + +<p>He kept his place at the tall, narrow window, and the night was steadily +growing brighter. A full, silver moon was swinging high in the heavens. +The stars were out in myriads in that sky of dusky, infinite blue, and +danced regardless of the tiny planet, Earth, shaken by battle. From the +hills came the relentless groaning which he knew was the sound of the +guns, fighting one another under the searchlights.</p> + +<p>Then he heard the clatter of hoofs, and another company of Uhlans rode +up to the château. Their leader dismounted and entered the great gate. +John recognized von Boehlen, who had taken off his helmet to let the +cool air blow upon his close-cropped head. He stood on the graveled walk +for a few minutes directly in a flood of silver rays, every feature +showing clearly. He had been arrogant and domineering, but John liked +him far better than Auersperg. His cruelty would be the cruelty of +battle, and there might be a streak of sentimentalism hidden under the +stiff and harsh German manner, like a vein of gold in rock. As von +Boehlen resumed his approach to the house he passed from John's range of +vision, and then the prisoner watched the horizon for anything that he +might see. Twice he beheld the far flare of searchlights, but nobody +else came to the château, and the night darkened somewhat. No rattle of +arms or stamp of hoofs came from the hussars in the grounds, and he +judged that all but the sentinels slept. Nor was there any sound of +movement in the house, and in the peaceful silence he at last began to +feel sleepy. The problems of his position were too great for him to +solve—at least for the present—and lying down on the cot he was fast +asleep before he knew it.</p> + +<p>Youth does not always sleep soundly, and the tension of John's nerves +continued long after he lapsed into unconsciousness. That, perhaps, was +the reason why he awoke at once when the heavy key began to turn again +in the lock. He sat up on the cot—he had not undressed—and his hand +instinctively slipped to his belt, where there was no weapon.</p> + +<p>The key was certainly turning in the lock, and then the door was +opening! A shadow appeared in the space between door and wall, and +John's first feeling was of apprehension. An atmosphere of suspicion had +been created about him and he considered his life in much more danger +there than it had been when he was first a prisoner.</p> + +<p>The door closed again quickly and softly, but somebody was inside the +room, somebody who had a light, feline step, and John felt the prickling +of the hair at the back of his neck. He longed for a weapon, something +better than only his two hands, but he was reassured when the intruder, +speaking French, called in a whisper:</p> + +<p>"Are you awake, Mr. Scott?"</p> + +<p>It was surely not the voice and words of one who had come to do murder, +and John felt a thrill of recognition.</p> + +<p>"Weber!" he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Yes, it's Weber, Mr. Scott."</p> + +<p>"How under the sun did you get here, Weber?"</p> + +<p>"By pretending to be a German. I'm an Alsatian, you know, and it's not +difficult. I'm doing work for France. It's terribly dangerous. My life +is on the turn of a hair every moment, but I'm willing to take the risk. +I did not know you were here until late tonight, when I came to the +château to see if I could discover anything further about the numbers +and movements of the enemy. You must get away now. I think I can help +you to escape."</p> + +<p>There was a tone in Weber's voice that aroused John's curiosity.</p> + +<p>"It's good of you, Weber," he said, "to take such a risk for me, but why +is it so urgent that I escape tonight?"</p> + +<p>"I've learned since I came to the château that the Prince of Auersperg +is much inflamed against you. Perhaps you spoke to him in a way that +gave offense to his dignity. Ah, sir, the members of these ancient royal +houses, those of the old type, consider themselves above and beyond the +other people of the earth. In Germany you cannot offend them without +risk, and it may be, too, that you stand in his way in regard to +something that he very much desires!"</p> + +<p>Although Weber spoke in a whisper his voice was full of energy and +earnestness. His words sank with the weight of truth into John's heart.</p> + +<p>"Can you really help me to escape?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"I think so. I'm sure of it. The guards in the house are relaxed at this +late hour, and they would seem needless anyhow with so many sentinels +outside."</p> + +<p>"But, Weber, Julie Lannes, the sister of Philip Lannes, is here a +prisoner also. She was taken when I was. She is a Red Cross nurse, and +although the Germans would not harm a woman, I do not like to leave her +in this château. Your Prince of Auersperg does not seem to belong to our +later age."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps not. He holds strongly for the old order, but the young von +Arnheim is here also. His is a devoted German heart, but his German eyes +have looked with admiration, nay more, upon a French face. He will +protect that beautiful young Mademoiselle Julie with his life against +anybody, against his senior in military rank, the Prince of Auersperg +himself. Sir, you must come! If you wish to help Philip Lannes' sister +you can be of more help to her living than dead. If you linger here you +surely disappear from men tomorrow!"</p> + +<p>"How do you know these things, Weber?"</p> + +<p>"I have been in the house three or four hours and there is talk among +the soldiers. I pray you, don't hesitate longer!"</p> + +<p>"How can you find a way?"</p> + +<p>"Wait a minute."</p> + +<p>He slipped back to the door, opened it and looked into the hall.</p> + +<p>"The path is clear," he said, when he returned. "There is no sentinel +near your door, and I've found a way leading out of the château at the +back. Most of these old houses have crooked, disused passages."</p> + +<p>"But suppose we succeed in reaching the outside, Weber, what then? The +place is surrounded by an army."</p> + +<p>"A way is there, too. One man in the darkness can pass through a +multitude. We can't delay, because another chance may not come!"</p> + +<p>John was overborne. Weber was half pulling him toward the door. +Moreover, there was much sense in what the Alsatian said. It was a +commonplace that he could be of more service to Julie alive than dead, +and the man's insistence deciding him, he crept with the Alsatian into +the hall. They stood a few minutes in the dark, listening, but no sound +came. Evidently the house slept well.</p> + +<p>"This way, Mr. Scott," whispered Weber, and he led toward the rear of +the house. Turning the corner of the hall he opened a small door in the +wall, which John would have passed even in the daylight without +noticing.</p> + +<p>"Put a hand on my coat and follow me," said Weber.</p> + +<p>John obeyed without hesitation, and they ascended a half dozen steps +along a passage so narrow that his shoulders touched the walls. It was +very dark there, but at the top they entered a room into which some +moonlight came, enough for John to see barrels, boxes and bags heaped on +the floor.</p> + +<p>"A storeroom," said Weber. "The French are thrifty. The owner of this +house had splendor below, and he has kept provision for it above, almost +concealed by the narrowness of the door and stair. But we'll find a +broader stair on the other side, and then we'll descend through the +kitchen and beyond."</p> + +<p>"This looks promising. You're a clever man, Weber, and my debt to you is +too big for me."</p> + +<p>"Don't think about it. Be careful and don't make any noise. Here's the +other stair. You'd better hold to my coat again."</p> + +<p>They stole softly down the stair, crossed an unused room, went down +another narrow, unused passage, and then, when Weber opened a door, John +felt the cool air of the night blowing upon his face. When the attempt +at escape began, he had not been so enthusiastic, because he was leaving +Julie behind, but with every step his eagerness grew and the free wind +brought with it a sort of intoxication. He did not doubt now that he +would make good his flight. Weber, that fast friend of his, was a +wonderful man. He worked miracles. Everything came out as he predicted +it would, and he would work more miracles.</p> + +<p>"Where are we now?" asked John.</p> + +<p>"This door is by the side of the kitchens. A little to the left is an +extensive conservatory, nearly all the glass of which has been shattered +by a shell, but that fact makes it all the more useful as a path for +us. If we reach it unobserved we can creep through the mass of flowers +and shrubbery to a large fishpond which lies just beyond it. You're a +good swimmer, as I know—and you can swim along its edge until you reach +the shrubbery on the other side. Then you ought to find an opening by +which you can reach the French army."</p> + +<p>"And you, Weber?"</p> + +<p>"I? Oh, I must stay here. The Prince of Auersperg is a man of great +importance. He is high in the confidence of the Kaiser. Besides his +royal rank he commands one of the German armies. If I am to secure +precious information for France it must be done in this house."</p> + +<p>"Come away with me, Weber. You've risked enough already. They'll catch +you and you know the fate of spies. I feel like a criminal or coward +abandoning you to so much danger, after all that you've done for me."</p> + +<p>"Thank you for your good words, Mr. Scott, but it's impossible for me to +go. Keep in the shadow of the wall, and a dozen steps will take you to +the conservatory."</p> + +<p>John wrung the Alsatian's hand, stepped out, and pressed himself against +the side of the house. The breeze still blew upon his face, revivifying +and intoxicating. The lazy, feathery clouds were yet drifting before the +moon and stars.</p> + +<p>He saw to his right the gleam of a bayonet as a sentinel walked back and +forth and he saw another to his left. His heart beat high with hope. He +was merely a mote in infinite night, and surely they could not see him.</p> + +<p>He walked swiftly along in the shadow of the house, and then sprang into +the conservatory, where he crouched between two tall rose bushes. He +waited there a little while, breathing hard, but he had not been +observed. From his rosy shelter he could still see the sentinels on +either side, walking up and down, undisturbed. Around him was a +frightful litter. The shell, the history of which he would never know, +had struck fairly in the center of the place, and it must have burst in +a thousand fragments. Scarcely a pane of glass had been left unbroken, +and the great pots, containing rare fruits and flowers, were mingled +mostly in shattered heaps. It was a pitiable wreck, and it stirred John, +although he had seen so many things so much worse.</p> + +<p>He walked a little distance in a stooping position, and then stood up +among some shrubs, tall enough to hide him. He noticed a slight dampness +in the air, and he saw, too, that the feathery clouds were growing +darker. The faint quiver in the air brought with it, as always, the +rumble of the guns, but he believed that it was not a blended sound. +There was real thunder on the horizon, where the French lay, and then he +saw a distant flash, not white like that of a searchlight, but like +yellow lightning. Rain, a storm perhaps, must be at hand. He had read +that nearly all the great battles in the civil war in his own country +had been followed at once by violent storms of thunder, lightning and +rain. Then why not here, where immense artillery combats never ceased?</p> + +<p>Near the end of the conservatory he paused and looked back at the house. +Every window was dark. There must be light inside, but shutters were +closed. His heart throbbed with intense gratitude to Weber. Without him +escape would have been impossible. He would make his way to the French. +He would find Lannes and together in some way they would rescue Julie, +Julie so young and so beautiful, held in the castle of the medieval +baron. In the lowering shadows the house became a castle and Auersperg +had always been of the Middle Ages.</p> + +<p>The wind freshened and a few drops of rain struck his face. He stood +boldly erect now, unafraid of observation, and picked a way through the +mass of broken glass and overturned shrubbery toward the end of the +conservatory, seeing beyond it a gleam of water which must be the big +fishpond.</p> + +<p>He turned to the left and reached the edge of the pond just as four +figures stepped from the dusk, their raised rifles pointing at him. The +shock was so great that, driven by some unknown but saving impulse, he +threw himself forward into the water just as the soldiers fired. He +heard the four rifles roaring together. Then he swam below water to the +far edge of the pond and came up under the shelter of its circling +shrubbery, raising above its surface only enough of his face for breath.</p> + +<p>As his eyes cleared he saw the four soldiers standing at the far edge of +the pond, looking at the water. Doubtless they were waiting for his +body to reappear, as his action, half fall, half spring, and the roaring +of the rifles had been so close together that they seemed a blended +movement.</p> + +<p>He was trembling all over from intense nervous exertion and excitement, +but his mind steadied enough for him to observe the soldiers. +Undoubtedly they were talking together, as he saw them making the +gestures of men who speak, but, even had he heard them, he could not +have understood their German. They were watching for his body, and as it +did not reappear they might make the circle of the pond looking for it. +He intended, in such an event, to leap out and run, but the elements +were intereceding in his favor. Thunder now preponderated greatly in +that rumble on the western horizon, and a blaze of yellow lightning +played across the surface of the pond. It was followed by a rush of rain +and the soldiers turned back toward the house, evidently sure that they +had not missed.</p> + +<p>John drew himself out of the water and climbed up the bank. His knees +gave way under him and he sank to the ground. Excitement and emotion had +been so violent that he was robbed of strength, but the condition lasted +only a minute or two. Then he rose and began to pick a way.</p> + +<p>The rain was driving hard, and it had grown so dark that one could not +see far. But he felt that the German sentinels now would seek a little +shelter from the wrath of the skies, and keeping in the shelter of a +hedge he passed by the stables, where many of the hussars and Uhlans +slept, through an orchard, the far side of which was packed with +automobiles, and thence into a wood, where he believed at last that he +was safe.</p> + +<p>He stopped here a little while in the lee of a great oak to protect +himself from the driving rain, and he noticed then that it was but a +passing shower, sent, it seemed then to him, as a providential aid. The +part of the rumble that was real thunder was dying. The yellow flare of +the lightning stopped and the rain swept off to the east. The moon and +stars were coming out again.</p> + +<p>John tried to see the château, but it was hidden from him by trees. They +would miss him there, and then they would know that it was he whom the +soldiers had fired upon at the edge of the pond. All of them would +believe that he was dead, and he remembered suddenly that Julie, who was +there among them, would believe it, too. Would she grieve? Or would he +merely be one of the human beings passing through her life, fleeting and +forgotten, like the shower that had just gone? It was true that he had +escaped, but he might be killed in some battle before she was rescued +from Auersperg—if she was rescued.</p> + +<p>These thoughts were hateful, and turning into the road by which they had +come to the château he ran down it. He ran because he wanted motion, +because he wished to reach the French army as quickly as he could, and +help Lannes organize for the rescue of Julie.</p> + +<p>He ran a long distance, because his excitement waned slowly, and because +the severe exercise made the blood course rapidly through his veins, +counteracting the effects of his cold and wetting. When he began to feel +weary he turned out of the road, knowing that it was safer in the +fields. He had the curious belief or impression now that the black +shower was all arranged for his benefit. Providence was merely making +things even. The soldiers had been brought upon him when the chances +were a hundred to one against him, and then the shower had been sent to +cover him, when the chances were a hundred to one against that, too.</p> + +<p>He saw far to the south a sudden faint radiance and he knew that it was +the last of the lightning. The little feathery clouds, which looked so +friendly and pleasant against the blue of the sky, came back and the +moaning on the western horizon toward which he was traveling was wholly +that of the guns.</p> + +<p>He heard a noise over his head, a mixture of a whistle and a scream, and +he knew that a shell was passing high. He walked on, and heard another. +But they could not be firing at him. He was still that mere mote in the +infinite darkness, but, looking back for the bursting of the shells, he +saw a blaze leap up near the point from which he had come.</p> + +<p>A cold shiver seized him. The range was that of the château, and Julie +was there. The French gunners could have no knowledge that their own +people were prisoners in the building, and if one of those huge shells +burst in it, ruin and destruction would follow. The conservatory had +been a silent witness of what flying metal could do. He stopped, +appalled. He had been wrong to leave without Julie, and yet he could +have done nothing else. It was impossible to foresee a shelling of the +château by the French themselves.</p> + +<p>The screaming and whistling came again, but he did not see any +explosion near the château. One could not tell much from such a swift +and passing sound, but he concluded that it was a German shell replying. +He had seen a German battery near the house and it would not remain +quiet under bombardment.</p> + +<p>He had no doubt that the French gunners, having got the range, would +keep it. Somebody, perhaps an aeroplane or an officer with flags in a +tree, was signaling. It was horrible, this murderous mechanism by which +men fired at targets miles away, targets which they could not see, but +which they hit nevertheless. Every pulse beating hard, John shook his +fist at the invisible German guns and the invisible French guns alike.</p> + +<p>Then he recovered himself with an angry shake and began to run again. He +knew now that he must go forward and secure a French force for rescue. +But no matter how much he urged himself on, a great power was pulling at +him, and it was Julie Lannes, a prisoner of the Germans in the château. +Often he stopped and looked back, always in the same direction. Twice +more he saw shells burst in the neighborhood of the house, and then his +heart would beat hard, but after brief hesitation he would always pursue +his course once more toward the French army.</p> + +<p>He did not know the time, but he believed it to be well past midnight. +He had his watch, but his immersion in the fish pond had caused it to +stop. Still, the feel of the air made him believe that he was in the +morning hours. Shells continued to pass over his head, and now they +came from many points. He had seen or heard so much firing in the last +eight or ten days that the world, he felt, must be turned into a huge +ammunition factory to feed all the guns. He laughed to himself at his +own grim joke. He was overstrained and he began to see everything +through a red mist.</p> + +<p>His clothing was drying fast, but his throat was very hot from +excitement and exertion. He came to a little brook, and kneeling down, +drank greedily. Then he bathed his face and felt stronger and better. +His nerves also grew steadier. There was not so much luminous mist in +the atmosphere. Ahead of him the crash of the guns was much louder, and +he knew that he had already come a long distance. It seemed that the +passing of the storm had renewed the activity of the gunners. The mutter +had become rolling thunder, and both to north and south the searchlights +flared repeatedly.</p> + +<p>He heard the beat of hoofs, and he hoped that they were French cavalry +on patrol, but they proved to be German Hussars, Bavarians he judged by +the light blue uniforms, and they were coming from the direction of the +French lines. They had been scouting there, he had no doubt, but they +passed in a few moments, and, leaving his hedge, he resumed his own +rapid flight, continually hoping that he would meet some French force, +scouting also.</p> + +<p>But he was doomed to a long trial of patience. Twice he saw Germans and +hid until they had gone by. They seemed to be scouting in the night +almost to the mouths of the French guns, and he admired their energy +although it stood in the way of his own plans. He came to a second +brook, drank again, and then took a short cut through a small wood. He +had marked the reports of guns from a hill about two miles in front of +him, and he was sure that a French battery must be posted there. He +reckoned that he could reach it in a half hour, if he exerted himself.</p> + +<p>Half way through the wood and human figures rose up all about him. +Strong hands seized his arms and an electric torch flashed in his face.</p> + +<p>"Who are you?" came the fierce question in French.</p> + +<p>But it was not necessary for John to answer. The man who held the torch +was short, but very muscular and strong, his face cut in the antique +mold, his eyes penetrating and eager. It was Bougainville and John gave +a gasp of joy. Then he straightened up and saluted:</p> + +<p>"Colonel Bougainville," he said, "I see that you know me! I have just +escaped from the enemy for the second time. There is a house in that +direction, and it is occupied by the Prince of Auersperg, one of the +German generals."</p> + +<p>He pointed where the château lay, and Bougainville uttered a shout:</p> + +<p>"Ah!"</p> + +<p>"He holds there a prisoner, Mademoiselle Julie Lannes, the sister of the +great Philip Lannes, the aviator; and other Frenchwomen."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" said Bougainville again.</p> + +<p>"You will help rescue them, will you not?"</p> + +<p>Bougainville smiled slightly.</p> + +<p>"An army can't turn aside for the rescue of women," he replied, "but it +happens that this brigade, under General Vaugirard is marching forward +now to find, if possible, an opening between the German armies, and +you're the very man to lead it."</p> + +<p>John's heart bounded with joy. He would be again with the general whom +he admired and trusted, and he would certainly guide the brigade +straight to the château.</p> + +<p>"Is General Vaugirard near?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Just over the brow of this hill, down there where the dim light is +visible among the trees."</p> + +<p>"Then take me to him at once."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV" />CHAPTER XV</h2> + +<h3>THE RESCUE</h3> + + +<p>Escorted by Bougainville, John went down a little slope to a point where +several officers stood talking earnestly. The central figure was that of +a huge man who puffed out his cheeks as he spoke, and whose words and +movements were alive with energy. Even had he seen but a dim outline, +John would have recognized him with no difficulty as General Vaugirard, +and beside him stood de Rougemont.</p> + +<p>Bougainville saluted and said;</p> + +<p>"The American, John Scott, sir. He has just escaped from the enemy and +he brings important information."</p> + +<p>Vaugirard puffed out his great cheeks and whistled with satisfaction.</p> + +<p>"Ah, my young Yankee!" he said. "They cannot hold you!"</p> + +<p>"No, my general," replied John, "I've come back again to fight for +France."</p> + +<p>General Vaugirard looked at him keenly.</p> + +<p>"You're exhausted," he said. "You've been under tremendous pressure."</p> + +<p>"But I can guide you. I want neither sleep nor rest."</p> + +<p>"You need both, as I can see with these two old eyes of mine. Sleep you +can't have now, but rest is yours. You go with me in my automobile, +which this war has trained to climb mountains, jump rivers, and crash +through forests. The motor has become a wonderful weapon of battle."</p> + +<p>"May I ask one question, General?" said John.</p> + +<p>"A dozen."</p> + +<p>"Do you know where the aviator, Philip Lannes, is? His sister is held a +prisoner by a German general in a château toward which we will march, +and doubtless he would wish to go at once to her rescue."</p> + +<p>"He is not here, but his friend, Caumartin, is only a half-mile away. +I'll send a man at once with a message to him to find Lannes, who will +surely follow us, if he can be found. And now, my brave young Yankee, +here is my machine. Into it, and we'll lead the way."</p> + +<p>John sprang into the automobile, and sank down upon the cushions. He had +a vast sense of ease and luxury. He had not known until then, the extent +of his mental and physical overstrain, but de Rougemont, who was also in +the machine, observed it and gave him a drink from a flask, which +revived him greatly.</p> + +<p>Then the automobile turned into the road and moved forward at a slow +gait, puffing gently like a monster trying to hold in his breath. From +the wood and the fields came the tread of many thousand men, marching +to the night attack. Behind their own automobile rose the hum of +motors, bearing troops also, and dragging cannon.</p> + +<p>John felt that he was going back in state, riding by the side of a +general and at the head of an army. He found both pride and exultation +in it. Sleep was far from his eyes. How could one think of sleep at such +a moment? But youth, the restorer, was bringing fresh strength to his +tired muscles and he was never more alert.</p> + +<p>At one point they stopped while the general examined the dusky horizon +through his glasses, and a company of men with faces not French marched +past them. They were John's own Strangers, and despite the presence of +General Vaugirard both Wharton and Carstairs reached up and shook his +hand as they went by.</p> + +<p>"Welcome home," said Wharton.</p> + +<p>"See you again in the morning," said Carstairs.</p> + +<p>"God bless you both," said John with some emotion.</p> + +<p>Captain Daniel Colton nodded to him. They were not effusive, these men +of the Strangers, but their feelings were strong. When the automobile in +its turn passed them again and resumed its place at the head of the +column, they seemed to take no notice.</p> + +<p>No more shells passed over John's head. He knew that General Vaugirard +had sent back word for the batteries to cease firing in that direction, +but both to south and north of them the sullen thunder went on. The +night remained light, adorned rather than obscured by the little white +clouds floating against the sky. The only sound that John could hear was +the great hum and murmur of a moving army, a sound in which the puffing +of automobiles had introduced a new element. He wondered why they had +not roused up German skirmishers, but perhaps those vigilant gentlemen, +had grown weary at last.</p> + +<p>They reached the first brook, and, as they were crossing it, the rifle +fire expected so long began to crackle in front. Then the French +trumpets shrilled, and the whole force marched rapidly, rifles and field +guns opening in full volume. But the French had the advantage of +surprise. Their infantry advanced at the double quick, a powerful force +of cavalry on their right flank galloped to the charge, and +Bougainville's Paris regiment and the Strangers swept over the field.</p> + +<p>A heavy fire met them, but the general's automobile kept in front +puffing along the main road. General Vaugirard puffed with it, but now +and then he ceased his puffing to whistle. John knew that he was pleased +and that all was going well. The battle increased in volume, and their +whole front blazed with fire. The dark was thinning away in the east and +dawn was coming.</p> + +<p>"The château! The château!" cried John as a dark shape rose on the +horizon. Even as he looked a shell burst over it and it leaped into +flames. He cried aloud in fear, not for himself, but for those who were +there. But General Vaugirard was calmly examining the field and the +house through powerful glasses.</p> + +<p>"They're pouring from the building," he said, "and it's full time. Look +how the fire gains! What a pity that we should destroy the home of some +good Frenchman in order to drive out the enemy."</p> + +<p>"Faster, sir! Faster! Ah, I pray you go faster!" exclaimed John, whose +heart was eaten up with anxiety as he saw the château roaring with +flames. But he did not need the general's glasses now to see the people +stream from it, and then rush for refuge from the fire of the French. +The surprise had been so thorough that at this point the enemy was able +to offer little resistance, and, in a few moments more, the automobile +reached the grounds surrounding the burning château.</p> + +<p>John, reckless of commands and of everything else, leaped out of the +machine and ran forward. A gigantic man bearing a slender figure in his +arms emerged from the shrubbery. Behind him came a stalwart young woman, +grim of face. John shouted with joy. It was Picard, carrying Julie, and +the woman who followed was the faithful Suzanne.</p> + +<p>Picard put Julie down. She stood erect, pale as death. But the color +flooded into her face when she saw John, and uttering a cry of joy she +ran forward to meet him. She put her hands in his and said:</p> + +<p>"I knew that you would save me!"</p> + +<p>Time and place were extraordinary, and war, the great leveler, was once +more at work.</p> + +<p>"The château was set on fire by shells, Monsieur Scott," Picard said, +"and when the enemy saw the French force appearing across the fields +they took to flight. That dog of a prince, the Auersperg, tried to carry +off Mademoiselle Julie in his automobile, but the young prince +interfered and while they were quarreling I seized her and took her +away. All the other women have escaped too."</p> + +<p>"Thank God, Picard," exclaimed John, wringing the huge hand of the +peasant, who was at once a peasant and a prince too.</p> + +<p>"And look," said Carstairs, who with Wharton had approached unnoticed. +"An aeroplane comes like the flight of an eagle, and my guess is poor if +it is not our friend, the great Lannes."</p> + +<p>Caumartin in truth had found Philip, and he came like the lightning, +circling and swooping until he touched the ground almost at Julie's +feet. Brother and sister were united in a close embrace, and Lannes +turned to John.</p> + +<p>"I have heard from Caumartin that it was you who brought the word. We +can never repay you."</p> + +<p>"We'll wait and see," said John.</p> + +<p>Her brother did not see Julie flush rosily, as she turned her face away.</p> + +<p>"And now," said Lannes, "we go to Paris. My duties allow me enough time +for the flight. No, John, my friend, don't object. She's been up in the +<i>Arrow</i> with me before. Picard, you and Suzanne can come later."</p> + +<p>The thunder of the battle rolling toward the east still reached them, +but Lannes quickly threw a coat around Julie, gave her a cap and huge +glasses to put on, and exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Now we go."</p> + +<p>"But I must first thank Mr. Scott himself for saving me," she said.</p> + +<p>She put her hand, small and warm, in his, American fashion, and the two +palms met in a strong clasp.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, Mr. Scott," she said.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, but not forever. I'm coming back to Paris."</p> + +<p>"And it's my hope, too, that it's not forever."</p> + +<p>She and her brother took their seats in the <i>Arrow</i>. Carstairs, Wharton +and the others gave it a push, and it soared up into the fresh blue of +the dawn. An ungloved hand, white and small, reached over the side and +waved farewell, a farewell which John felt was for him.</p> + +<p>To the east the battle still rolled, but John had forgotten its +existence. Higher and higher rose the <i>Arrow</i>, flying toward Paris, +until it diminished to a mere dot in the sky, and then was gone.</p> + + +<h3>THE END</h3> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>BY JOSEPH A. ALTSHELER</h2> + + +<p style='text-align: center;'><i><b>The Civil War Series</b></i></p> + +<p><i>In this series of stories Mr. Altsheler covers the principal battles of +the Civil War. In four of the volumes Dick Mason, who fights for the +North, is the leading character, and in the others, his cousin, Harry +Kenton, who joins the Confederate forces, takes the principal part.</i></p> + +<p><br /></p> + +<p><b>The Guns of Bull Run</b></p> + +<p>Harry Kenton follows the lead of his father and joins the Southern +forces. His cousin, Dick Mason, the hero, fights with the North.</p> + +<p><b>The Guns of Shiloh</b></p> + +<p>Dick takes part in the battle of Mill Spring, is captured but escapes. +The story gives a vivid account of the first defeat of the South.</p> + +<p><b>The Scouts of Stonewall</b></p> + +<p>Harry and some friends become aides of Stonewall Jackson. They follow +him through the campaign in the Valley of Virginia.</p> + +<p><b>The Sword of Antietam</b></p> + +<p>After engaging in the Battle of Shiloh, Dick gets into three big fights. +Antietam is the big battle described, with McClellan always in the +foreground.</p> + +<p><b>The Star of Gettysburg</b></p> + +<p>In this book Harry and his friends take part in the battles of +Fredericksburg, The Wilderness and finally Gettysburg. General Lee is a +central figure.</p> + +<p><b>The Rock of Chickamauga</b></p> + +<p>This volume deals with the crisis of the Union during the siege of +Vicksburg and the Battle of Chickamauga. Dick takes an active part.</p> + +<p><b>The Shades of the Wilderness</b></p> + +<p>The story opens with Lee's retreat after Gettysburg. Harry is sent to +Richmond and becomes involved in a dangerous situation with a spy.</p> + +<p><b>The Tree of Appomattox</b></p> + +<p>This description of the Battle of Appomattox has been written from the +account of an eyewitness. Dick plays an important part. The volume +closes with the blue and the gray turning toward a new day.</p> + +<p><br /></p> + +<p style='text-align: center;'><b>These Are Appleton Books<br /> +D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, New York</b></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>BY JOSEPH A. ALTSHELER</h2> + +<p style='text-align: center;'><i><b>The Texan Series</b></i></p> + +<p><i>Three stories telling of the Texan struggle for independence and the +events culminating in the capture of the erratic Santa Anna.</i></p> + +<p><br /></p> + +<p><b>The Texan Star</b></p> + +<p>Ned Fulton, the hero, is a prisoner in the city of Mexico. He makes an +exciting escape and sees the capture of San Antonio.</p> + +<p><b>The Texan Scouts</b></p> + +<p>Ned Fulton and his friends are right in the midst of exciting events +that keep the reader continually on edge. The battle of the Alamo is the +climax of the story.</p> + +<p><b>The Texan Triumph</b></p> + +<p>The duel of skill and courage between Ned and Urrea, his young Mexican +enemy, furnishes pages of excitement. The battle of San Jacinto, which +secured Texan Independence, and the capture of Santa Anna by five Texans +is vividly described.</p> + +<p><br /></p> + +<p style='text-align: center;'><i><b>The World War Series</b></i></p> + +<p><i>Mr. Altsheler, who was in Vienna the day war was declared on Servia, in +Munich when war was declared against Russia, and in England when the +British forces were mobilising, has given in three volumes the +impressions he gained at the places of action during the world crisis.</i></p> + +<p><br /></p> + +<p><b>The Guns of Europe</b></p> + +<p>A young American, unable to reach home, enlists with the Allies where he +sees active service from the beginning. The story closes with the fierce +fighting which preceded the retreat of the Germans from Paris.</p> + +<p><b>The Forest of Swords</b></p> + +<p>The hero finds himself in Paris with Phillip Lannes, his friend, and the +Germans only fifteen miles away. Finally the enemy is turned back at the +Marne, a battle in which John and Phillip are actively engaged.</p> + +<p><b>The Hosts of the Air</b></p> + +<p>The pretty young sister of Phillip is seized by the enemy and carried +into Austria. John resolves to get her back and his adventures make a +wonderfully exciting story.</p> + +<p><br /></p> + +<p style='text-align: center;'><b>These Are Appleton Books<br /> +D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, New York</b></p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Forest of Swords, by Joseph A. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + + +</pre> + +</body> +</html> diff --git a/15760-h/images/front.jpg b/15760-h/images/front.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..febfbf9 --- /dev/null +++ b/15760-h/images/front.jpg diff --git a/15760-h/images/front_sm.jpg b/15760-h/images/front_sm.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b4c885b --- /dev/null +++ b/15760-h/images/front_sm.jpg diff --git a/15760.txt b/15760.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3888871 --- /dev/null +++ b/15760.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9950 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Forest of Swords, by Joseph A. Altsheler + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Forest of Swords + A Story of Paris and the Marne + +Author: Joseph A. Altsheler + +Release Date: May 3, 2005 [EBook #15760] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FOREST OF SWORDS *** + + + + +Produced by Kentuckiana Digital Library, David Garcia, Jon King and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net. + + + + + + + + + +THE FOREST OF SWORDS + + + + +BOOKS BY JOSEPH A. ALTSHELER + + +THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR SERIES + +The Hunters of the Hills The Shadow of the North +The Rulers of the Lakes The Masters of the Peaks +The Lords of the Wild The Sun of Quebec + + +THE YOUNG TRAILERS SERIES + +The Young Trailers The Free Rangers +The Forest Runners The Riflemen of the Ohio +The Keepers of the Trail The Scouts of the Valley +The Eyes of the Woods The Border Watch + + +THE TEXAN SERIES + +The Texan Star The Texan Triumph +The Texan Scouts + + +THE CIVIL WAR SERIES + +The Guns of Bull Run The Star of Gettysburg +The Guns of Shiloh The Rock of Chickamauga +The Scouts of Stonewall The Shades of the Wilderness +The Sword of Antietam The Tree of Appomattox + + +THE GREAT WEST SERIES + +The Lost Hunters The Great Sioux Trail + + +THE WORLD WAR SERIES + +The Guns of Europe The Hosts of the Air +The Forest of Swords + + +BOOKS NOT IN SERIES + +Apache Gold A Soldier of Manhattan +The Quest of the Four The Sun of Saratoga +The Last of the Chiefs A Herald of the West +In Circling Camps The Wilderness Road +The Last Rebel My Captive +The Candidate + + +D. APPLETON AND COMPANY + +New York London + + + + +[Illustration: "He heard a shock near him and, ... saw a huddled mass +of wreckage."] + + + + +WORLD WAR SERIES + + +THE FOREST +OF SWORDS + +A STORY OF PARIS +AND THE MARNE + + +BY + + +JOSEPH A. ALTSHELER + +AUTHOR OF "THE GUNS OF EUROPE," +"THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG," ETC. + + +D. APPLETON AND COMPANY +NEW YORK AND LONDON +1928 + +COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY +D. APPLETON AND COMPANY + +Printed in the United States of America + + + + +FOREWORD + +"The Forest of Swords," while an independent story, based upon the World +War, continues the fortunes of John Scott, Philip Lannes, and their +friends who have appeared already in "The Guns of Europe." As was stated +in the first volume, the author was in Austria and Germany for a month +after the war began, and then went to England. He saw the arrival of the +Emperor, Francis Joseph, in Vienna, the first striking event in the +gigantic struggle, and witnessed the mobilization of their armies by +three great nations. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER PAGE + + I. IN PARIS 1 + II. THE MESSAGE 30 + III. IN THE FRENCH CAMP 53 + IV. THE INVISIBLE HAND 76 + V. SEEN FROM ABOVE 99 + VI. IN HOSTILE HANDS 121 + VII. THE TWO PRINCES 146 +VIII. THE SPORT OF KINGS 167 + IX. THE PUZZLING SIGNAL 186 + X. OLD FRIENDS 209 + XI. THE CONTINUING BATTLE 231 + XII. JULIE LANNES 247 +XIII. THE MIDDLE AGES 268 + XIV. A PROMISE KEPT 291 + XV. THE RESCUE 311 + + + + +THE FOREST OF SWORDS + + + + +CHAPTER I + +IN PARIS + + +John Scott and Philip Lannes walked together down a great boulevard of +Paris. The young American's heart was filled with grief and anger. The +Frenchman felt the same grief, but mingled with it was a fierce, burning +passion, so deep and bitter that it took a much stronger word than anger +to describe it. + +Both had heard that morning the mutter of cannon on the horizon, and +they knew the German conquerors were advancing. They were always +advancing. Nothing had stopped them. The metal and masonry of the +defenses at Liege had crumbled before their huge guns like china +breaking under stone. The giant shells had scooped out the forts at +Maubeuge, Maubeuge the untakable, as if they had been mere eggshells, +and the mighty Teutonic host came on, almost without a check. + +John had read of the German march on Paris, nearly a half-century +before, how everything had been made complete by the genius of Bismarck +and von Moltke, how the ready had sprung upon and crushed the unready, +but the present swoop of the imperial eagle seemed far more vast and +terrible than the earlier rush could have been. + +A month and the legions were already before the City of Light. Men with +glasses could see from the top of the Eiffel Tower the gray ranks that +were to hem in devoted Paris once more, and the government had fled +already to Bordeaux. It seemed that everything was lost before the war +was fairly begun. The coming of the English army, far too small in +numbers, had availed nothing. It had been swept up with the others, +escaping from capture or destruction only by a hair, and was now driven +back with the French on the capital. + +John had witnessed two battles, and in neither had the Germans stopped +long. Disregarding their own losses they drove forward, immense, +overwhelming, triumphant. He felt yet their very physical weight, +pressing upon him, crushing him, giving him no time to breathe. The +German war machine was magnificent, invincible, and for the fourth time +in a century the Germans, the exulting Kaiser at their head, might enter +Paris. + +The Emperor himself might be nothing, mere sound and glitter, but back +of him was the greatest army that ever trod the planet, taught for half +a century to believe in the divine right of kings, and assured now that +might and right were the same. + +Every instinct in him revolted at the thought that Paris should be +trodden under foot once more by the conqueror. The great capital had +truly deserved its claim to be the city of light and leading, and if +Paris and France were lost the whole world would lose. He could never +forget the unpaid debt that his own America owed to France, and he felt +how closely interwoven the two republics were in their beliefs and +aspirations. + +"Why are you so silent?" asked Lannes, half angrily, although John knew +that the anger was not for him. + +"I've said as much as you have," he replied with an attempt at humor. + +"You notice the sunlight falling on it?" said Lannes, pointing to the +Arc de Triomphe, rising before them. + +"Yes, and I believe I know what you are thinking." + +"You are right. I wish he was here now." + +John gazed at the great arch which the sun was gilding with glory and he +shared with Lannes his wish that the mighty man who had built it to +commemorate his triumphs was back with France--for a while at least. He +was never able to make up his mind whether Napoleon was good or evil. +Perhaps he was a mixture of both, highly magnified, but now of all +times, with the German millions at the gates, he was needed most. + +"I think France could afford to take him back," he said, "and risk any +demands he might make or enforce." + +"John," said Lannes, "you've fought with us and suffered with us, and so +you're one of us. You understand what I felt this morning when on the +edge of Paris I heard the German guns. They say that we can fight on, +after our foes have taken the capital, and that the English will come in +greater force to help us. But if victorious Germans march once through +the Arc de Triomphe I shall feel that we can never again win back all +that we have lost." + +A note, low but deep and menacing, came from the far horizon. It might +be a German gun or it might be a French gun, but the effect was the +same. The threat was there. A shudder shook the frame of Lannes, but +John saw a sudden flame of sunlight shoot like a glittering lance from +the Arc de Triomphe. + +"A sign! a sign!" he exclaimed, his imaginative mind on fire in an +instant. "I saw a flash from the arch! It was the soul of the Great +Captain speaking! I tell you, Philip, the Republic is not yet lost! I've +read somewhere, and so have you, that the Romans sold at auction at a +high price the land on which Hannibal's victorious army was camped, when +it lay before Rome!" + +"It's so! And France has her glorious traditions, too! We won't give up +until we're beaten--and not then!" + +The gray eyes of Lannes flamed, and his figure seemed to swell. All the +wonderful French vitality was personified in him. He put his hand +affectionately upon the shoulder of his comrade. + +"It's odd, John," he said, "but you, a foreigner, have lighted the spark +anew in me." + +"Maybe it's because I _am_ a foreigner, though, in reality, I'm now no +foreigner at all, as you've just said. I've become one of you." + +"It's true, John, and I won't forget it. I'm never going to give up hope +again. Maybe somebody will arrive to save us at the last. Whatever the +great one, whose greatest monument stands there, may have been, he loved +France, and his spirit may descend upon Frenchmen." + +"I believe it. He had the strength and courage created by a republic, +and you have them again, the product of another republic. Look at the +flying men, Lannes!" + +Lannes glanced up where the aeroplanes hovered thick over Paris, and +toward the horizon where the invisible German host with its huge guns +was advancing. The look of despair came into his eyes again, but it +rested there only a moment. He remembered his new courage and banished +it. + +"Perhaps I ought to be in the sky myself with the others," he said, "but +I'd only see what I don't like to see. The _Arrow_ and I can't be of any +help now." + +"You brought me here in the _Arrow_, Lannes," said John, seeking to +assume a light tone. "Now what do you intend to do with me? As everybody +is leaving Paris you ought to get me out of it." + +"I hardly know what to do. There are no orders. I've lost touch with the +commander of our flying corps, but you're right in concluding that we +shouldn't remain in Paris. Now where are we to go?" + +"We'll make no mistake if we seek the battle front. You know I'm bound +to rejoin my company, the Strangers, if I can. I must report as soon as +possible to Captain Colton." + +"That's true, John, but I can't leave Paris until tomorrow. I may have +orders to carry, I must obtain supplies for the _Arrow_, and I wish to +visit once more my people on the other side of the Seine." + +"Suppose you go now, and I'll meet you this afternoon in the Place de +l'Opera." + +"Good. Say three o'clock. The first to arrive will await the other +before the steps of the Opera House?" + +John nodded assent and Lannes hurried away. Young Scott followed his +figure with his eyes until it disappeared in the crowd. A back may be an +index to a man's strength of mind, and he saw that Lannes, head erect +and shoulders thrown back, was walking with a rapid and springy step. +Courage was obviously there. + +But John, despite his own strong heart, could not keep from feeling an +infinite sadness and pity, not for Lannes, but for all the three million +people who inhabited the City of Light, most of whom were fleeing now +before the advance of the victorious invader. He could put himself in +their place. France held his deepest sympathy. He felt that a great +nation, sedulously minding its own business, trampled upon and robbed +once before, was now about to be trampled upon and robbed again. He +could not subscribe to the doctrine, that might was right. + +He watched the fugitives a long time. They were crowding the railway +stations, and they were departing by motor, by cart and on foot. Many of +the poorer people, both men and women, carried packs on their backs. The +boulevards and the streets were filled with the retreating masses. + +It was an amazing and stupefying sight, the abandonment by its +inhabitants of a great city, a city in many ways the first in the world, +and it gave John a mighty shock. He had been there with his uncle and +Mr. Anson in the spring, and he had seen nothing but peace and +brightness. The sun had glittered then, as it glittered now over the Arc +de Triomphe, the gleaming dome of the Invalides and the golden waters of +the Seine. It was Paris, soft, beautiful and bright, the Paris that +wished no harm to anybody. + +But the people were going. He could see them going everywhere. The +cruel, ancient times when cities were destroyed or enslaved by the +conqueror had come back, and the great Paris that the world had known so +long might become lost forever. + +The stream of fugitives, rich and poor, mingled, poured on without +ceasing. He did not know where they were going. Most of them did not +know themselves. He saw a great motor, filled high with people and +goods, break down in the streets, and he watched them while they worked +desperately to restore the mechanism. And yet there was no panic. The +sound of voices was not high. The Republic was justifying itself once +more. Silent and somberly defiant, the inhabitants were leaving Paris +before the giant German guns could rain shells upon the unarmed. + +It was three or four hours until the time to meet Lannes, and drawn by +an overwhelming curiosity and anxiety he began the climb of the Butte +Montmartre. If observers on the Eiffel Tower could see the German forces +approaching, then with the powerful glasses he carried over his shoulder +he might discern them from the dome of the Basilica of the Sacred +Heart. + +As he made his way up the ascent through the crooked and narrow little +streets he saw many eyes, mostly black and quick, watching him. This by +night was old Paris, dark and dangerous, where the Apache dwelled, and +by day in a fleeing city, with none to restrain, he might be no less +ruthless. + +But John felt only friendliness for them all. He believed that common +danger would knit all Frenchmen together, and he nodded and smiled at +the watchers. More than one pretty Parisian, not of the upper classes, +smiled back at the American with the frank and open face. + +Before he reached the Basilica a little rat of a young man stepped +before him and asked: + +"Which way, Monsieur?" + +He was three or four years older than John, wearing uncommonly tight +fitting clothes of blue, a red cap with a tassel, and he was about five +feet four inches tall. But small as he was he seemed to be made of +steel, and he stood, poised on his little feet, ready to spring like a +leopard when he chose. + +The blue eyes of the tall American looked steadily into the black eyes +of the short Frenchman, and the black eyes looked back as steadily. John +was fast learning to read the hearts and minds of men through their +eyes, and what he saw in the dark depths pleased him. Here were cunning +and yet courage; impudence and yet truth; caprice and yet honor. Apache +or not, he decided to like him. + +"I'm going up into the lantern of the Basilica," he said, "to see if I +can see the Germans, who are my enemies as well as yours." + +"And will not Monsieur take me, too, and let me have look for look with +him through those glasses at the Germans, some of whom I'm going to +shoot?" + +John smiled. + +"If you're going out potting Germans," he said, "you'd better get +yourself into a uniform as soon as you can. They have no mercy on _franc +tireurs_." + +"I'll chance that. But you'll take me with you into the dome?" + +"What's your name?" + +"Pierre Louis Bougainville." + +"Bougainville! Bougainville! It sounds noble and also historical. I've +read of it, but I don't recall where." + +The little Frenchman drew himself up, and his black eyes glittered. + +"There is a legend among us that it was noble once," he said, "but we +don't know when. I feel within me the spirit to make it great again. +There was a time when the mighty Napoleon said that every soldier +carried a marshal's baton in his knapsack. Perhaps that time has come +again. And the great emperor was a little man like me." + +John began to laugh and then he stopped suddenly. Pierre Louis +Bougainville, so small and so insignificant, was not looking at him. He +was looking over and beyond him, dreaming perhaps of a glittering +future. The funny little red cap with the tassel might shelter a great +brain. Respect took the place of the wish to laugh. + +"Monsieur Bougainville," he said in his excellent French, "my name is +John Scott. I am from America, but I am serving in the allied +Franco-British army. My heart like yours beats for France." + +"Then, Monsieur Jean, you and I are brothers," said the little man, his +eyes still gleaming. "It may be that we shall fight side by side in the +hour of victory. But you will take me into the lantern will you not? +Father Pelletier does not know, as you do, that I'm going to be a great +man, and he will not admit me." + +"If I secure entrance you will, too. Come." + +They reached side by side the Basilique de Sacre-Coeur, which crowns the +summit of the Butte Montmartre, and bought tickets from the porter, +whose calm the proximity of untold Germans did not disturb. John saw the +little Apache make the sign of the cross and bear himself with dignity. +In some curious way Bougainville impressed him once more with a sense of +power. Perhaps there was a spark of genius under the red cap. He knew +from his reading that there was no rule about genius. It passed kings +by, and chose the child of a peasant in a hovel. + +"You're what they call an Apache, are you not?" he asked. + +"Yes, Monsieur." + +"Well, for the present, that is until you win a greater name, I'm going +to call you Geronimo." + +"And why Zhay-ro-nee-mo, Monsieur?" + +"Because that was the name of a great Apache chief. According to our +white standards he was not all that a man should be. He had perhaps a +certain insensibility to the sufferings of others, but in the Apache +view that was not a fault. He was wholly great to them." + +"Very well then, Monsieur Scott, I shall be flattered to be called +Zhay-ro-nee-mo, until I win a name yet greater." + +"Where is the Father Pelletier, the priest, who you said would bar your +way unless I came with you?" + +"He is on the second platform where you look out over Paris before going +into the lantern. It may be that he has against me what you would call +the prejudice. I am young. Youth must have its day, and I have done some +small deeds in the quarter which perhaps do not please Father Pelletier, +a strict, a very strict man. But our country is in danger, and I am +willing to forgive and forget." + +He spoke with so much magnanimity that John was compelled to laugh. +Geronimo laughed, too, showing splendid white teeth. The understanding +between them was now perfect. + +"I must talk with Father Pelletier," said John. "Until you're a great +man, as you're going to be, Geronimo, I suppose I can be spokesman. +After that it will be your part to befriend me." + +On the second platform they found Father Pelletier, a tall young priest +with a fine but severe face, who looked with curiosity at John, and with +disapproval at the Apache. + +"You are Father Pelletier, I believe," said John with his disarming +smile. "These are unusual times, but I wish to go up into the lantern. I +am an American, though, as you can see by my uniform, I am a soldier of +France." + +"But your companion, sir? He has a bad reputation in the quarter. When +he should come to the church he does not, and now when he should not he +does." + +"That reputation of which you speak, Father Pelletier, will soon pass. +Another, better and greater will take its place. Our friend here, and +perhaps both of us will be proud to call him so some day, leaves soon to +fight for France." + +The priest looked again at Bougainville, and his face softened. The +little Apache met his glance with a firm and open gaze, and his figure +seemed to swell again, and to radiate strength. Perhaps the priest saw +in his eyes the same spark that John had noticed there. + +"It is a time when France needs all of her sons," he said, "and even +those who have not deserved well of her before may do great deeds for +her now. You can pass." + +Bougainville walked close to Father Pelletier, and John heard him say in +low tones: + +"I feel within me the power to achieve, and when you see me again you +will recognize it." + +The priest nodded and his friendly hand lay for a moment on the other's +shoulder. + +"Come on, Geronimo," said John cheerfully. "As I remember it's nearly a +hundred steps into the lantern, and that's quite a climb." + +"Not for youth like ours," exclaimed Bougainville, and he ran upward so +lightly that the American had some difficulty in following him. John was +impressed once more by his extraordinary strength and agility, despite +his smallness. He seemed to be a mass of highly wrought steel spring. +But unwilling to be beaten by anybody, John raced with him and the two +stood at the same time upon the utmost crest of the Basilique du +Sacre-Coeur. + +They paused a few moments for fresh breath and then John put the glasses +to his eye, sweeping them in a slow curve. Through the powerful lenses +he saw the vast circle of Paris, and all the long story of the past that +it called up. Two thousand years of history rolled beneath his feet, and +the spectacle was wholly magnificent. + +He beheld the great green valley with its hills, green, too, the line of +the Seine cutting the city apart like the flash of a sword blade, the +golden dome of the Hotel des Invalides, the grinning gargoyles of Notre +Dame, the arches and statues and fountains and the long green ribbons +that marked the boulevards. + +Although the city stood wholly in the sunlight a light haze formed on +the rim of the circling horizon. He now moved the glasses slowly over a +segment there and sought diligently for something. From so high a point +and with such strong aid one could see many miles. He was sure that he +would find what he sought and yet did not wish to see. Presently he +picked out intermittent flashes which he believed were made by sunlight +falling on steel. Then he drew a long and deep breath that was almost +like a sigh. + +"What is it?" asked Bougainville who had stood patiently by his side. + +"I fear it is the glitter of lances, my friend, lances carried by German +Uhlans. Will you look?" + +Bougainville held out his hands eagerly for the glasses, and then drew +them back a little. In his new dignity he would not show sudden emotion. + +"It will give me gladness to see," he said. "I do not fear the Prussian +lances." + +John handed him the glasses and he looked long and intently, at times +sweeping them slowly back and forth, but gazing chiefly at the point +under the horizon that had drawn his companion's attention. + +John meanwhile looked down at the city glittering in the sun, but from +which its people were fleeing, as if its last day had come. It still +seemed impossible that Europe should be wrapped in so great a war and +that the German host should be at the gates of Paris. + +His eyes turned back toward the point where he had seen the gleam of the +lances and he fancied now that he heard the far throb of the German +guns. The huge howitzers like the one Lannes and he had blown up might +soon be throwing shells a ton or more in weight from a range of a dozen +miles into the very heart of the French capital. An acute depression +seized him. He had strengthened the heart of Lannes, and now his own +heart needed strengthening. How was it possible to stop the German army +which had come so far and so fast that its Uhlans could already see +Paris? The unprepared French had been defeated already, and the slow +English, arriving to find France under the iron heel, must go back and +defend their own island. + +"The Germans are there. I have not a doubt of it, and I thank you, +Monsieur Scott, for the use of these," said Bougainville, handing the +glasses back to him. + +"Well, Geronimo," he said, "having seen, what do you say?" + +"The sight is unpleasant, but it is not hopeless. They call us decadent. +I read, Monsieur Scott, more than you think! Ah, it has been the +bitterness of death for Frenchmen to hear all the world say we are a +dying race, and it has been said so often that some of us ourselves had +begun to believe it! But it is not so! I tell you it is not so, and +we'll soon prove to the Germans who come that it isn't! I have looked +for a sign. I sought for it in all the skies through your glasses, but I +did not find it there. Yet I have found it." + +"Where?" + +"In my heart. Every beat tells me that this Paris of ours is not for the +Germans. We will yet turn them back!" + +He reminded John of Lannes in his dramatic intensity, real and not +affected, a true part of his nature. Its effect, too, upon the American +was powerful. He had given courage to Lannes, and now Bougainville, that +little Apache of the Butte Montmartre, was giving new strength to his +own weakening heart. Fresh life flowed back into his veins and he +remembered that he, too, had beheld a sign, the flash of light on the +Arc de Triomphe. + +"I think we have seen enough here, Geronimo," he said lightly, "and +we'll descend. I've a friend to meet later. Which way do you go from the +church?" + +"To the army. I shall be in a uniform tonight, and tomorrow maybe I +shall meet the Germans." + +John held out his hand and the Apache seized it in a firm clasp. + +"I believe in you, as I hope you believe in me," said young Scott. "I +belong to a company called the Strangers, made up chiefly of Americans +and English, and commanded by Captain Daniel Colton. If you're on the +battle line and hear of the Strangers there too I should like for you to +hunt me up if you can. I'd do the same for you, but I don't yet know to +what force you will belong." + +Bougainville promised and they walked down to the second platform, where +Father Pelletier was still standing. + +"What did you see?" he asked of John, unable to hide the eagerness in +his eyes. + +"Uhlans, Father Pelletier, and I fancied that I heard the echo of a +German forty-two centimeter. Would you care to use the glasses? The view +from this floor is almost as good as it is from the lantern." + +John distinctly saw the priest shudder. + +"No," he replied. "I could not bear it. I shall pray today that our +enemies may be confounded; tomorrow I shall throw off the gown of a +priest and put on the coat of a soldier." + +"Another sign," said John to himself, as they continued the descent. +"Even the priests will fight." + +When they were once more in the narrow streets of Montmartre, John said +farewell to Bougainville. + +"Geronimo," he said, "I expect to see you leading a victorious charge +directly into the heart of the German army." + +"If I can meet your hopes I will, Monsieur Scott," said the young +Frenchman gayly, "and now, _au revoir_, I depart for my uniform and +arms, which must be of the best." + +John smiled as he walked down the hill. His heart had warmed toward the +little Apache who might not be any Apache at all. Nevertheless the name +Geronimo seemed to suit him, and he meant to think of him by it until +his valor won him a better. + +He saw from the slopes the same endless stream of people leaving Paris. +They knew that the Germans were near, and report brought them yet +nearer. The tale of the monster guns had traveled fast, and the shells +might be falling among them at any moment. Aeroplanes dotted the skies, +but they paid little attention to them. They still thought of war under +the old conditions, and to the great mass of the people flying machines +were mere toys. + +But John knew better. Those journeys of his with Lannes through the +heavens and their battles in the air for their lives were unforgettable. +Stopping on the last slope of Montmartre he studied space with his +glasses. He was sure that he saw captive balloons on the horizon where +the German army lay, and one shape larger than the rest looked like a +Zeppelin, but he did not believe those monsters had come so far to the +south and west. They must have an available base. + +His heart suddenly increased its beat. He saw a darting figure and he +recognized the shape of the German Taube. Then something black shot +downward from it, and there was a crash in the streets of Paris, +followed by terrible cries. + +He knew what had happened. He caught another glimpse of the Taube +rushing away like a huge carnivorous bird that had already seized its +prey, and then he ran swiftly down the street. The bomb had burst in a +swarm of fugitives and a woman was killed. Several people were wounded, +and a panic had threatened, but the soldiers had restored order already +and ambulances soon took the wounded to hospitals. + +John went on, shocked to the core. It was a new kind of war. The flying +men might rain death from the air upon a helpless city, but their +victims were more likely to be women and children than armed men. For +the first time the clean blue sky became a sinister blanket from which +dropped destruction. + +The confusion created by the bomb soon disappeared. The multitude of +Parisians still poured from the city, and long lines of soldiers took +their place. John wondered what the French commanders would do. Surely +theirs was a desperate problem. Would they try to defend Paris, or would +they let it go rather than risk its destruction by bombardment? Yet its +fall was bound to be a terrible blow. + +Lannes was on the steps of the Opera House at the appointed time, +coming with a brisk manner and a cheerful face. + +"I want you to go with me to our house beyond the Seine," he said. "It +is a quaint old place hidden away, as so many happy homes are in this +city. You will find nobody there but my mother, my sister Julie, and a +faithful old servant, Antoine Picard, and his daughter, Suzanne." + +"But I will be a trespasser?" + +"Not at all. There will be a warm welcome for you. I have told them of +you, how you were my comrade in the air, and how you fought." + +"Pshaw, Lannes, it was you who did most of the fighting. You've given me +a reputation that I can't carry." + +"Never mind about the reputation. What have you been doing since I left +you this morning?" + +"I spent a part of the time in the lantern of the Basilica on +Montmartre, and I had with me a most interesting friend." + +Lannes looked at him curiously. + +"You did not speak of any friend in Paris at this time," he said. + +"I didn't because I never heard of him until a few hours ago. I made his +acquaintance while I was going up Montmartre, but I already consider +him, next to you, the best friend I have in France." + +"Acquaintanceship seems to grow rapidly with you, Monsieur Jean the +Scott." + +"It has, but you must remember that our own friendship was pretty +sudden. It developed in a few minutes of flight from soldiers at the +German border." + +"That is so, but it was soon sealed by great common dangers. Who is your +new friend, John?" + +"A little Apache named Pierre Louis Bougainville, whom I have nicknamed +Geronimo, after a famous Indian chief of my country. He has already gone +to fight for France, and, Philip, he made an extraordinary impression +upon me, although I don't know just why. He is short like Napoleon, he +has the same large and beautifully shaped head, and the same penetrating +eyes that seem able to look you through and through. Maybe it was a +spark of genius in him that impressed me." + +"It may be so," said Lannes thoughtfully. "It was said, and said truly +that the First Republic meant the open career to all the talents, and +the Third offers the same chance. One never can tell where military +genius is going to appear and God knows we need it now in whatever shape +or form it may come. Did you hear of the bomb?" + +"I saw it fall. But, Phil, I don't see the object in such attacks. They +may kill a few people, nearly always the unarmed, but that has no real +effect on a war." + +"They wish to spread terror, I suppose. Lend me your glasses, John." + +Lannes studied the heavens a long time, minutely examining every black +speck against the blue, and John stood beside him, waiting patiently. +Meanwhile the throng of fleeing people moved on as before, silent and +somber, even the children saying little. John was again stirred by the +deepest emotion of sympathy and pity. What a tremendous tragedy it would +be if New York were being abandoned thus to a victorious foe! Lannes +himself had seemed to take no notice of the flight, but John judged he +had made a powerful effort of the will to hide the grief and anger that +surely filled his heart. + +"I don't see anything in the air but our own machines," said Lannes, as +he returned the glasses. "It was evidently a dash by the Taube that +threw the bomb. But we've stayed here long enough. They're waiting for +us at home." + +He led the way through the multitude, relapsing into silence, but +casting a glance now and then at his own peculiar field, the heavens. +They reached the Place de la Concorde, and stopped there a moment or +two. Lannes looked sadly at the black drapery hanging from the stone +figure that typified the lost city of Strassburg, but John glanced up +the great sweep of the Place to the Arc de Triomphe, where he caught +again the glittering shaft of sunlight that he had accepted as a sign. + +"We may be looking upon all this for the last time," said Lannes, in a +voice of grief. "Oh, Paris, City of Light, City of the Heart! You may +not understand me, John, but I couldn't bear to come back to Paris +again, much as I love it, if it is to be despoiled and ruled by +Germans." + +"I do understand you, Philip," said John cheerfully, "but you mustn't +count a city yours until you've taken it. The Germans are near, but +they're not here. Now, lead on. It's not like you to despair!" + +Lannes shook himself, as if he had laid violent hands upon his own body, +and his face cleared. + +"That was the last time, John," he said. "I made that promise before, +but I keep it this time. You won't see me gloomy again. Henceforward +it's hope only. Now, we must hurry. My mother and Julie will be growing +anxious, for we are overdue." + +They crossed the Seine by one of the beautiful stone bridges and entered +a region of narrow and crooked streets, which John thought must be a +part of old Paris. In an American city it would necessarily have been a +quarter of the poor, but John knew that here wealth and distinction were +often hidden behind these modest doors. + +He began to feel very curious about Lannes' family, but he was careful +to ask no questions. He knew that the young Frenchman was showing great +trust and faith in him by taking him into his home. They stopped +presently before a door, and Lannes rang a bell. The door was opened +cautiously in a few moments, and a great head surmounted by thick, gray +hair was thrust out. A powerful neck and a pair of immense shoulders +followed the head. Sharp eyes under heavy lashes peered forth, but in an +instant, when the man saw who was before him, he threw open the door and +said: + +"Welcome, Monsieur." + +John had no doubt that this was the Antoine Picard of whom Lannes had +spoken, and he knew at the first glance that he beheld a real man. Many +people have the idea that all Frenchmen are little, but John knew +better. + +Antoine Picard was a giant, much over six feet, and with the limbs and +chest of a piano-mover. He was about sixty, but age evidently had made +no impression upon his strength. John judged from his fair complexion +that he was from Normandy. "Here," young Scott said to himself, "is one +of those devoted European family servants of whom I've heard so often." + +He regarded the man with interest, and Picard, in return, measured and +weighed him with a lightning glance. + +Lannes laughed. + +"It's all right, Antoine," he said. "He's the young man from that far +barbarian country called America, who escaped from Germany with me, only +he's no barbarian, but a highly civilized being who not only likes +France, but who fights for her. John, this is Antoine Picard, who rules +and protects this house." + +John held out his hand, American fashion, and it was engulfed in the +mighty grasp of the Norseman, as he always thought of him afterward. + +"Madame, your mother, and Mademoiselle, your sister, have been anxious," +said Picard. + +"We were delayed," said Lannes. + +They stepped into a narrow hall, and Picard shut the door behind them, +shooting into place a heavy bolt which sank into its socket with a click +like the closing of the entrance to a fortress. In truth, the whole +aspect of the house reminded John of a stronghold. The narrow hall was +floored with stone, the walls were stone and the light was dim. Lannes +divined John's thoughts. + +"You'll find it more cheerful, presently," he said. "As for us, we're +used to it, and we love it, although it's so old and cold and dark. It +goes back at least five centuries." + +"I suppose some king must have slept here once," said John. "In England +they point out every very old house as a place where a king passed the +night, and make reverence accordingly." + +Lannes laughed gayly. + +"No king ever slept here so far as I know," he said, "but the great +Marshal Lannes, whose name I am so proud to bear, was in this house more +than once, and to me, a staunch republican, that is greater than having +had a king for a tenant. The Marshal, as you may know, although he took +a title and served an Emperor, was always a republican and in the early +days of the empire often offended Napoleon by his frankness and brusque +truths. But enough of old things; we'll see my mother." + +He led the way up the steps, of solid stone, between walls thick enough +for a fortress, and knocked at a door. A deep, full voice responded +"Enter!" and pushing open the door Lannes went in, followed by John. + +It was a large room, with long, low windows, looking out over a sea of +roofs toward the dome of the Invalides and Napoleon's arch of triumph. A +tall woman rose from a chair, and saying "My son!" put her hands upon +Lannes shoulders and kissed him on the forehead. She was fair like her +son, and much less than fifty years of age. There was no stoop in her +shoulders and but little gray in her hair. Her eyes were anxious, but +John saw in them the Spartan determination that marked the women of +France. + +"My friend, John Scott, of whom I have already spoken to you, Madame my +mother," said Lannes. + +John bowed. He knew little of French customs, particularly in the heart +of a French family, and he was afraid to extend his hand, but she gave +him hers, and let it rest in his palm a moment. + +"Philip has told me much of you," she said in her deep, bell-like voice, +"and although I know little of your far America, I can believe the best +of it, if its sons are like you." + +John flushed at the compliment, which he knew to be so sincere. + +"Thank you, Madame," he said. "While my country can take no part in this +war, many of my countrymen will fight with you. France helped us once, +and some of us, at least, will help France now." + +She smiled gravely, and John knew that he was welcome in her house. +Lannes would see to that anyhow, but he wished to make a good impression +on his own account. + +"I know that Philip risks his life daily," she said. "He has chosen the +most dangerous of all paths, the air, but perhaps in that way he can +serve us most." + +She spoke with neither complaint nor reproach, merely as if she were +stating a fact, and her son added briefly: + +"You are right, mother. In the air I can work best for our people. Ah, +John, here is my sister, who is quite curious about the stranger from +across the sea." + +A young girl came into the room. She was tall and slender, not more than +seventeen, very fair, with blue eyes and hair of pure gold. John was +continually observing that while many of the French were dark and small, +in accordance with foreign opinion that made them all so, many more were +blonde and tall. Lannes' sister was scarcely more than a lovely child, +but his heart beat more quickly. + +Lannes kissed her on the forehead, just as he kissed his mother. + +"Julie," he said lightly and yet proudly, "this is the young American +hero of whom I was telling you, my comrade in arms, or rather in the +air, and adopted brother. Mr. John Scott, my sister, Mademoiselle Julie +Lannes." + +She made a shy curtsey and John bowed. It was the first time that he was +ever in the heart of an old French home, and he did not know the rules, +but he felt that he ought not to offer his hand. Young girls, he had +always heard, were kept in strict seclusion in France, but the great war +and the approach of the German army might make a difference. In any +event, he felt bold enough to talk to her a little, and she responded, a +beautiful color coming into her face. + +"Dinner is ready for our guest and you," said Madame Lannes, and she led +the way into another apartment, also with long, low windows, where the +table was set. The curtains were drawn from the windows, and John caught +through one of them a glimpse of the Seine, of marching troops in long +blue coats and red trousers, and of the great city, massing up beyond +like a wall. + +He felt that he had never before sat down to so strange a table. The +world without was shaking beneath the tread of the mightiest of all +wars, but within this room was peace and quiet. Madame was like a Roman +matron, and the young Julie, though shy, had ample dignity. John liked +Lannes' manner toward them both, his fine subordination to his mother +and his protective air toward his sister. He was glad to be there with +them, a welcome guest in the family. + +The dinner was served by a tall young woman. Picard's daughter Suzanne, +to whom Lannes had referred, and she served in silence and with +extraordinary dexterity one of the best dinners that he ever ate. + +As the dinner proceeded John admired the extraordinary composure of the +Lannes family. Surely a woman and a girl of only seventeen would feel +consternation at the knowledge that an overwhelming enemy was almost +within sight of the city they must love so much. Yet they did not refer +to it, until nearly the close of the dinner, and it was Madame who +introduced the subject. + +"I hear, Philip," she said, "that a bomb was thrown today from a German +aeroplane into the Place de l'Opera, killing a woman and injuring +several other people." + +"It is true, mother." + +John glanced covertly at Julie, and saw her face pale. But she did not +tremble. + +"Is it true also that the German army is near?" asked Madame Lannes, +with just the faintest quiver in her voice. + +"Yes, mother. John, standing in the lantern of the Basilique du +Sacre-Coeur, saw through his glasses the flash of sunlight on the lances +of their Uhlans. A shell from one of their great guns could fall in the +suburbs of Paris." + +John's covert glance was now for Madame Lannes. How would the matron who +was cast in the antique mold of Rome take such news? But she veiled her +eyes a little with her long lashes, and he could not catch the +expression there. + +"I believe it is not generally known in Paris that the enemy is so very +near," said Philip, "and while I have not hesitated to tell you the full +truth, mother, I ask you and Julie not to speak of it to others." + +"Of course, Philip, we would add nothing to the general alarm, which is +great enough already, and with cause. But what do you wish us to do? +Shall we remain here, or go while it is yet time to our cousins, the +Menards, at Lyons?" + +Now it was the mother who, in this question of physical peril, was +showing deference to her son, the masculine head of the family. John +liked it. He remembered an old saying, and he felt it to be true, that +they did many things well in France. + +Lannes glanced at young Scott before replying. + +"Mother," he said, "the danger is great. I do not try to conceal it from +you. It was my intention this morning to see you and Julie safe on the +Lyons train, but John and I have beheld signs, not military, perhaps, +but of the soul, and we are firm in the belief that at the eleventh hour +we shall be saved. The German host will not enter Paris." + +Madame Lannes looked fixedly at John and he felt her gaze resting like a +weight upon his face. But he responded. His faith had merely grown +stronger with the hours. + +"I cannot tell why, Madame," he said, "but I believe as surely as I am +sitting here that the enemy will not enter the capital." + +Then she said decisively, "Julie and I remain in our own home in Paris." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE MESSENGER + + +There was little more talk. The dignified quiet of the Lannes family +remained unchanged, and John imitated it. If they could be so calm in +the face of overwhelming disaster it should be no effort for him to +remain unmoved. Yet he glanced often, though covertly, at Julie Lannes, +admiring her lovely color. + +When dinner was over they returned to the room in which Madame Lannes +had received them. The dark had come already, and Suzanne had lighted +four tall candles. There was neither gas nor electricity. + +"Mr. Scott will be our guest tonight, mother," said Lannes, "and +tomorrow he and I go together to the army." + +John raised his hand in protest. It had not been his intention when he +came to remain until morning, but Lannes would listen to no objection; +nor would his mother. + +"Since you fight for our country," she said, "you must let us give you +shelter for at least one night." + +He acquiesced, and they sat a little while, talking of the things +furthest from their hearts. Julie Lannes withdrew presently, and before +long her mother followed. Lannes went to the window, and looked out over +Paris, where the diminished lights twinkled. John stood at the other +window and saw the great blur of the capital. All sounds were fused into +one steady murmur, rather soothing, like the flowing of a river. + +He seemed to hear presently the distant thunder of German guns, but +reason told him it was only a trick of the imagination. Nerves keyed +high often created the illusion of reality. + +"What are you thinking about, Lannes?" he asked. + +"Of my mother and sister. Only the French know the French. The family +tie is powerful with us." + +"I know that, Phil." + +"So you do. You're an adopted child of France. Madame Lannes is a woman +of great heart, John. I am proud to be her son. I have read of your +civil war. I have read how the mothers of your young soldiers suffered +and yet were brave. None can know how much Madame, my mother, has +suffered tonight, with the Germans at the gates of Paris, and yet she +has shown no sign of it." + +John was silent. He did not know what to say, but Lannes did not pursue +the subject, remaining a full five minutes at the window, and not +speaking again, until he turned away. + +"John," he said then, "let's go outside and take a look about the +quarter. It's important now to watch for everything." + +John was full willing. He recognized the truth of Lannes' words and he +wanted air and exercise also. A fortress was a fortress, whether one +called it a home or not, Lannes led the way and they descended to the +lower hall, where the gigantic porter was on watch. + +"My friend and I are going to take a look in the streets, Antoine," said +Lannes. "Guard the house well while we are gone." + +"I will," replied the man, "but will you tell me one thing, Monsieur +Philip? Do Madame Lannes and Mademoiselle Julie remain in Paris?" + +"They do, Antoine, and since I leave tomorrow it will be the duty of you +and Suzanne to protect them." + +"I am gratified, sir, that they do not leave the capital. I have never +known a Lannes to flee at the mere rumor of the enemy's coming." + +"And I hope you never will, Antoine. I think we'll be back in an hour." + +"I shall be here, sir." + +He unbolted the door and Lannes and John stepped out, the cool night air +pouring in a grateful flood upon their faces. Antoine fastened the door +behind them, and John again heard the massive bolt sink into its place. + +"The quarter is uncommonly quiet," said Lannes. "I suppose it has a +right to be after such a day." + +Then be looked up, scanning the heavens, after the manner that had +become natural to him, a flying man. + +"What do you see, Philip?" asked John. + +"A sky of dark blue, plenty of stars, but no aeroplanes, Taubes or other +machines of man's making." + +"I fancy that some of them are on the horizon, but too far away to be +seen by us." + +"Likely as not. The Germans are daring enough and we can expect more +bombs to be dropped on Paris. Our flying corps must organize to meet +theirs. I feel the call of the air, John." + +Young Scott laughed. + +"I believe the earth has ceased to be your natural element," he said. +"You're happiest when you're in the _Arrow_ about a mile above our +planet." + +Lannes laughed also, and with appreciation. The friendship between the +two young men was very strong, and it had in it all the quality of +permanence. Their very unlikeness in character and temperament made them +all the better comrades. What one could not do the other could. + +As they walked along now they said but little. Each was striving to read +what he could in that great book, the streets of Paris. John believed +Lannes had not yet told him his whole mission. He knew that in their +short stay in Paris Philip had spent an hour in the office of the +military governor of the city, and his business must be of great +importance to require an hour from a man who carried such a fearful +weight of responsibility. But whatever Lannes' secret might be, it was +his own and he had no right to pry into it. If the time came for his +comrade to tell it he would do so. + +When they reached the Seine the city did not seem so quiet. They heard +the continuous sound of marching troops and people were still departing +through the streets toward the country or the provincial cities. The +flight went on by night as well as day, and John again felt the +overwhelming pity of it. + +He wondered what the French generals and their English allies would do? +Did they have any possible way of averting this terrible crisis? They +had met nothing but defeat, and the vast German army had crashed, +unchecked, through everything from the border almost to the suburbs of +Paris. + +They stood in the Place Valhubert at the entrance to the Pont +d'Austerlitz, and watched a regiment crossing the river, the long blue +coats and red trousers of the men outlined against the white body of the +bridge. The soldiers were short, they looked little to John, but they +were broad of chest and they marched splendidly with a powerful swinging +stride. + +"From the Midi," said Lannes. "Look how dark they are! France is called +a Latin nation, but I doubt whether the term is correct. These men of +the Midi though are the real Latins. We of northern France, I suspect, +are more Teutonic than anything else, but we are all knitted together in +one race, heart and soul, which are stronger ties than blood." + +"We are to go early in the morning, are we not, Philip?" + +"Yes, early. The _Arrow_ is at the hangar, all primed and eager for a +flight, fearful of growing rusty from a long rest." + +"I believe you actually look upon your plane as a human being." + +"A human being, yes, and more. No human being could carry me above the +clouds. No human being could obey absolutely and without question the +simplest touch of my hand. The _Arrow_ is not human, John, it is +superhuman. You have seen its exploits." + +The dark emitted a figure that advanced toward them, and took the shape +of a man with black hair, a short close beard and an intelligent face. +He approached John and Lannes and looked at them closely. + +"Mr. Scott!" he exclaimed, with eagerness, "I did not know what had +become of you. I was afraid you were lost in one of the battles!" + +"Why, it's Weber!" said John, "our comrade of the flight in the +automobile! And I was afraid that you too, were dead!" + +The two shook hands with great heartiness and Lannes joined in the +reunion. He too at once liked Weber, who always made the impression of +courage and quickness. He wore a new uniform, olive in color with dark +blue threads through it, and it became him, setting off his trim, +compact figure. + +"How did you get here, Mr. Weber?" asked John. + +"I scarcely know," he replied. "My duties are to a certain extent those +of a messenger, but I was caught in the last battle, wounded slightly, +and separated from the main French force. The little company which I had +formed tried to break through the German columns, but they were all +killed or captured except myself, and maybe two or three others. I hid +in a wood, slept a night there, and then reached Paris to see what is +going to happen. Ah, it is terrible! terrible! my comrades! The Germans +are advancing in five great armies, a million and a half strong, and no +troops were ever before equipped so magnificently." + +"Do you know positively that they have a million and a half?" asked +Lannes. + +"I did not count them," replied Weber, smiling a little, "but I have +heard from many certain sources that such are their numbers. I fear, +gentlemen, that Paris is doomed." + +"Scott and I don't think so," said Lannes firmly. "We've gained new +courage today." + +Weber was silent for a few moments. Then he said, giving Lannes his +title as an officer: + +"I've heard of you, Lieutenant Lannes. Who does not know the name of +France's most daring aviator? And doubtless you have information which +is unknown to me. It is altogether likely that one who pierces the air +like an eagle should bear messages between generals of the first rank." + +Lannes did not answer, but looked at Weber, who smiled. + +"Perhaps our trades are not so very different," said the Alsatian, "but +you shoot through clouds while I crawl on the ground. You have a great +advantage of me in method." + +Lannes smiled back. The little tribute was pleasing to the dramatic +instinct so strong in him. + +"You and I, Mr. Weber," he said, "know enough never to speak of what +we're going to do. Now, we'll bid you good night and wish you good luck. +I'd like to be a prophet, even for a day only, and tell what the morrow +would bring." + +"So do I," said Weber, "and I must hurry on my own errand. It may not +be of great importance, but is vital to me that I do it." + +He slid away in the darkness and both John and Lannes spoke well of him +as they returned to the house. Picard admitted them. + +"May I ask, sir, if there is any news that favors France?" he said to +Philip. + +"Not yet, my good Antoine, but it is surely coming." + +John heard the giant Frenchman smother a sigh, but he made no comment, +and walked softly with Lannes to the little room high up that had been +assigned to him. Here when he was alone with his candle he looked around +curiously. + +The room was quite simple, not containing much furniture, in truth, +nothing of any note save on the wall a fine picture of the great Marshal +Lannes, Napoleon's dauntless fighter, and stern republican, despite the +ducal title that he took. It was a good portrait, painted perhaps by +some great artist, and John holding up the candle, looked at it a long +time. + +He thought he could trace some likeness to Philip. Lannes' face was +always stern, in repose, far beyond his years, although when he became +animated it had all the sunniness of youth. But he noticed now that he +had the same tight lips of the Marshal, and the same unfaltering eyes. + +"Duke of Montebello!" said John to himself. "Well, you won that title +grandly, and while the younger Lannes may do as well, if the chance +comes to him, the new heroes of France will be neither dukes nor +princes." + +Then, after removing all the stiff pillows, inclines, foot pieces and +head pieces that make European beds so uncomfortable, he slipped between +the covers, and slid quickly into a long and soothing sleep, from which +he was awakened apparently about a minute later by Lannes himself, who +stood over him, dressed fully, tall and serious. + +"Why, I just got into bed!" exclaimed John. + +"You came in here a full seven hours ago. Open your window and you'll +see the dawn creeping over Paris." + +"Thank you, but you can open it yourself. I never fool with a European +window. I haven't time to master all the mechanism, inside, outside and +between, to say nothing of the various layers of curtains, full length, +half length and otherwise. Nothing that I can conceive of is better +fitted than the European window to keep out light and air." + +Lannes smiled. + +"I see that you're in fine feather this morning," he said, "I'll open it +for you." + +John jumped up and dressed quickly, while Lannes, with accustomed hand, +laid back shutters and curtains. + +"Now, shove up the window," exclaimed John as he wielded towel and +brush. "A little fresh air in a house won't hurt you; it won't hurt +anybody. We're a young people, we Americans, but we can teach you that. +Why, in the German hotels they'd seal up the smoking-rooms and lounges +in the evenings, and then boys would go around shooting clouds of +perfume against the ceilings. Ugh! I can taste now that awful mixture of +smoke, perfume and thrice-breathed air! Ah! that feels better! It's like +a breath from heaven!" + +"Ready now? We're going down to breakfast with my mother and sister." + +"Yes. How do I look in this uniform, Lannes?" + +"Very well. But, Oh, you Americans! we French are charged with vanity, +but you have it." + +John had thought little of his raiment until he came to the house of +Lannes, but now there was a difference. He gave the last touch to his +coat, and he and Philip went down together. Madame Lannes and Julie +received them. They were dressed very simply, Julie in white and Madame +Lannes in plain gray. Their good-morning to John was quiet, but he saw +that it came from the heart. They recognized in him the faithful comrade +in danger, of the son and brother, and he saw once more that French +family affection was very powerful. + +It was early, far earlier than the ordinary time for the European +breakfast, and he knew that it had been served so, because he and Lannes +were to depart. He sat facing a window, and he saw the dawn come over +Paris in a vast silver haze that soon turned to a cloud of gold. He +again stole glances at Julie Lannes. In all her beautiful fairness of +hair and complexion she was like one of the blonde American girls of his +own country. + +When breakfast was over and the two young men rose to go John said the +first farewell. He still did not know the French custom, but, bending +over suddenly, he kissed the still smooth and handsome hand of Madame +Lannes. As she flushed and looked pleased, he judged that he had made no +mistake. Then he touched lightly the hand of the young girl, and said: + +"Mademoiselle Julie, I hope to return soon to this house with your +brother." + +"May it be so," she said, in a voice that trembled, "and may you come +back to a Paris still French!" + +John bowed to them both and with tact and delicacy withdrew from the +room. He felt that there should be no witness of Philip's farewell to +his mother and sister, before going on a journey from which the chances +were that he would never return. + +He strolled down the hall, pretending to look at an old picture or two, +and in a few minutes Lannes came out and joined him. John saw tears in +his eyes, but his face was set and stern. Neither spoke until they +reached the front door, which the giant, Picard, opened for them. + +"If the worst should happen, Antoine," said Lannes, "and you must be the +judge of it when it comes, take them to Lyons, to our cousins the +Menards." + +"I answer with my life," said the man, shutting together his great +teeth, and John felt that it was well for the two women to have such a +guardian. Under impulse, he said: + +"I should like to shake the hand of a man who is worth two of most men." + +Whether the French often shake hands or not, his fingers were enclosed +in the mighty grasp of Picard, and he knew that he had a friend for +life. When they went out Lannes would not look back and was silent for a +long time. The day was warm and beautiful, and the stream of fugitives, +the sad procession, was still flowing from the city. Troops too were +moving, and it seemed to John that they passed in heavier masses than on +the day before. + +"I went out last night while you slept," said Lannes, when they were +nearly at the hangar, "and I will tell you that I bear a message to one +of our most important generals. I carry it in writing, and also in +memory in case I lose the written word. That is all I feel at liberty to +tell you, and in truth I know but little more. The message comes from +our leader to the commander of the army at Paris, who in turn orders me +to deliver it to the general whom we're going to seek. It directs him +with his whole force to move forward to a certain point and hold fast +there. Beyond that I know nothing. Its whole significance is hidden from +me. I feel that I can tell you this, John, as we're about to start upon +a journey which has a far better prospect of death than of life." + +"I'm not afraid," said John, and he told the truth. "I feel, Philip, +that great events are impending and that your dispatch or the effect of +it will be a part in some gigantic plan." + +"I feel that way, too. What an awful crisis! The Germans moved nearer in +the dark. I didn't sleep a minute last night. I couldn't. If the signs +that you and I saw are to be fulfilled they must be fulfilled soon, +because when a thing is done it's done, and when Paris falls it falls." + +"Well, here we are at the hangar, and the _Arrow_ will make you feel +better. You're like the born horseman whose spirits return when he's on +the back of his best runner." + +"I suppose I am. The air is now my proper medium, and anyway, John, my +gallant Yankee, for a man like me the best tonic is always action, +action, and once more action." + +The _Arrow_ was in beautiful condition, smooth, polished and fitted with +everything that was needed. They put on their flying clothes, drew down +their visors, stowed their automatics in handy pockets, and took their +seats in the aeroplane. Then, as he put his hand on the steering rudder +and the attendants gave the _Arrow_ a mighty shove, the soul of Lannes +swelled within him. + +They rose slowly and then swiftly over Paris, and his troubles were left +behind him on the earth. Up, up they went, in a series of graceful +spirals, and although John, at first, felt the old uneasy feeling, it +soon departed. He too exulted in their mounting flight and the rush of +cold air. + +"Use your glasses, John," said Lannes, "and tell me what you can see." + +"Some captive balloons, five other planes, all our own, and on the +horizon, where the German army lies, several black specks too vague and +indefinite for me to make out what they are, although I've no doubt +they're German flyers." + +"I'd like to have a look at the Germans, but our way leads elsewhere. +What else do you see, John?" + +"I look downward and I see the most magnificent and glittering city in +the world." + +"And that's Paris, our glorious Paris, which you and I and a million +others are going to save. I suppose it's hope, John, that makes me feel +we'll do something. Did you know that the Germans dropped two more bombs +on the city last night? One, luckily, fell in the Seine. The other +struck near the Madeleine, close to a group of soldiers, killing two and +wounding four more." + +"Bombs from the air can't do any great damage to a city." + +"No, but they can spread alarm, and it's an insult, too. We feel as the +Germans would if we were dropping bombs on Berlin. I wish you'd keep +those glasses to your eyes all the time, John, and watch the skies. Let +me know at once, if you see anything suspicious." + +John, continually turning in his seat, swept the whole curve of the +world with the powerful glasses. Paris was now far below, a blur of +white and gray. Above, the heavens were of the silkiest blue, beautiful +in their infinite depths, with tiny clouds floating here and there like +whitecaps on an ocean. + +"What do you see now, John?" + +"Nothing but one of the most beautiful days that ever was. It's a fine +sun, that you've got over here, Philip. I can see through these glasses +that it's made out of pure reddish gold." + +"Never mind about that sun, John. America is a full partner in its +ownership and you're used to it. I've heard that you have more sunshine +than we do. Watch for our companions of the air, friend or foe." + +"I see them flying; over Paris, but none is going in our direction. How +far is our port of entry, Lannes?" + +"We should be there in two hours, if nothing happens. Do we still have +the course to ourselves or is anything coming our way now?" + +"No company at all, unless you'd call a machine about three miles off +and much lower down, a comrade." + +"What does it look like?" + +"A French aeroplane, much resembling the _Arrow_." + +"Is it following us?" + +"Not exactly. Yes, it is coming our way now, although it keeps much +lower! A scout, I dare say." + +Lannes was silent for a little while, his eyes fixed on his pathway +through the blue. Then he said: + +"What has become of that machine, John?" + +"It has risen a little, but it's on our private course, that is, if we +can claim the right of way all down to the ground." + +Lannes glanced backward and downward, as well as his position would +allow. + +"A French plane, yes," he said thoughtfully. "There can be no doubt of +it, but why should it follow us in this manner? You do think it's +following us, don't you, John?" + +"It begins to look like it, Phil. It's rising a little now, and is +directly in our wake." + +"Take a long look through those glasses of yours." + +John obeyed, and the following aeroplane at once increased in size +tenfold and came much nearer. + +"It's French. There cannot be any doubt of it," he said, "and only one +man is in it. As he's hidden by his flying-suit I can't tell anything +about him." + +"Watch him closely, John, and keep your hand on the butt of your +automatic. I don't like that fellow's actions. Still, he may be a +Frenchman on an errand like ours. We've no right to think we're the only +people carrying important messages today." + +"He's gaining pretty fast. Although he keeps below us, it looks as if he +wanted to communicate with us." + +The second aeroplane suddenly shot forward and upward at a much greater +rate of speed. John, still watching through his glasses, saw the man +release the steering rudder for an instant, snatch a rifle from the +floor of his plane, and fire directly at Lannes. + +John uttered a shout of anger, and in action, too, he was as quick as a +flash. His automatic was out at once and he rained bullets upon the +treacherous machine. It was hard to take aim, firing from one flying +target, at another, but he saw the man flinch, turn suddenly, and then +go rocketing away at a sharp angle. + +Blazing with wrath John watched him, now far out of range, and then +reloaded his automatic. + +"Did you get him, John?" asked Lannes. + +"I know one bullet found him, because I saw him shiver and shrink, but +it couldn't have been mortal, as he was able to fly away." + +"I'm glad that you at least hit him, because he hit me." + +"What!" exclaimed John. Then he looked at his comrade and saw to his +intense horror that black blood was flowing slowly down a face deadly +pale. + +"His bullet went through my cap and then through my head," said Lannes. +"Oh, not through my skull, or I wouldn't be talking to you now. I think +it glanced off the bone, as I know it's gone out on the other side. But +I'm losing much blood, John, and I seem to be growing numb." + +His voice trailed off in weakness and the _Arrow_ began to move in an +eccentric manner. John saw that Lannes' hand on the rudder was uncertain +and that he had been hard hit. He was aghast, first for his friend, to +whom he had become so strongly attached, and then for the _Arrow_, their +mission and himself. Lannes would soon become unconscious and he, no +flying man at all, would be left high in air with a terrible weight of +responsibility. + +"We must change seats," said Lannes, struggling against the dimness that +was coming over his eyes and the weakness permeating his whole body. "Be +careful, Oh, be careful as you can, and then, in your American language, +a lot more. Slowly! Slowly! Yes, I can move alone. Drag yourself over +me, and I can slide under you. Careful! Careful!" + +The _Arrow_ fluttered like a wounded bird, dropping, darting upward, and +careering to one side. John was sick to his soul, both physically and +mentally. His head became giddy and the wind roared in his ears, but the +exchange of seats was at last, successfully accomplished. + +"Now," said Lannes, "you're a close observer. Remember all that you've +seen me do with the plane. Resolve to yourself that you do know how to +fly the _Arrow_. Fear nothing and fly straight for our destination. +Don't bother about the bleeding of my wound. My thick hair and thick cap +acting together as a heavy bandage will stop it. Now, John, our fate +rests with you." + +The last words were almost inaudible, and John from the corner of his +eye saw his comrade's head droop. He knew that Lannes had become +unconscious and now, appalling though the situation was, he rose to the +crisis. + +He knew the immensity of their danger. A sudden movement of the rudder +and the aeroplane might be wrecked. And in such a position the nerves of +a novice were subject at any time to a jerk. They might be assailed by +another treacherous machine, the dangers, in truth, were uncountable, +but he was upborne by a tremendous desire to carry the word and to save +Lannes and himself. + +In the face of intense resolve all obstacles became as nothing and his +hand steadied on the rudder. He knew that when it came to the air he was +no Lannes and never could be. The solid earth, no matter how much it +rolled around the sun or around itself, was his favorite field of +action, but he felt that he must make one flight, when he carried with +him perhaps the fate of a nation. + +The _Arrow_ was still rocking from side to side and dipping and jumping. +Slowly he steadied it, handling the rudder as if it were a loaded +weapon, and gradually his heart began to pound with triumph. It was no +such flying as the hand of Lannes drew from the _Arrow_, but to John it +seemed splendid for a first trial. He let the machine drop a little +until it was only six or seven hundred yards above the earth, and took +wary glances from side to side. He feared another pursuer, but the air +seemed clear. + +Lannes had sunk a little further forward. John saw that the +bleeding from his head had ceased. There was a dark stain down either +cheek, but it was drying there, and as Lannes had foreseen, his hair and +the cap had acted as a bandage, at last checking the flow effectively. +His breathing was heavy and jerky, but John believed that he would +revive before long. It was not possible that one so vital as Lannes, so +eager for great action, could die thus. + +Now he looked ahead. Their landmarks as Lannes had told him before the +fight, were to be a high hill, a low hill, and a small stream flowing +between. Just behind it they would find a great French army marching +northward and their errand would be over. He did not yet see the hills, +but he was sure that he was still in the pathway of the air. + +He had left Paris far behind, but when he looked down he saw a beautiful +country, a fertile land upon which man had worked for two thousand +years, too beautiful to be trodden to pieces by armies. He saw the +cultivated fields, varying in color like a checker board, and the neat +villages with trees about them. Here and there the spire of a church +rose high above everything. Churches and wars were so numerous in +Europe! + +John checked the speed of the _Arrow_. He was afraid, despite all his +high resolve, to fly fast, and then he must not go beyond the army for +which he was looking. He dropped a little lower as he was passing over a +wood, and then he heard the crack of rifles beneath him. Bullets whizzed +and sang past his ears and he took one fearful glance downward. + +He saw men, spiked helmets on their heads, galloping among the trees, +and he knew that they were a daring band of Uhlans, actually scouting +inside the French lines. They were shooting at the _Arrow_ and firing +fast. + +He attempted to rise so suddenly that the plane gave a violent jerk and +quivered in every fiber. He thought for a moment they were going to +fall, and the sickening sensation at his heart was overpowering. But the +trusty _Arrow_ ceased quivering, and then rose swiftly at an angle not +too great. + +Bullets still whizzed around the plane, and one glanced off its polished +side, but John's first nervous jerkiness in handling the machine had +probably saved him. The target had been so high in air, and of such a +shifting nature that the Uhlans had little chance to hit it. + +He was now beyond the range of any rifle, and he drew a long breath of +relief that was like a deep sigh. Then he took a single downward glance, +and caught a fleeting glimpse of the Uhlans galloping away. Doubtless +they were making all speed back to their own army. + +He flew on for a minute or two, searching the horizon eagerly, and at +last, he saw a tall hill, a low hill and a flash of water between. He +felt so much joy that he uttered a cry, and an echo of it came from a +point almost by his side. + +"Did I hear firing, John?" + +It was Lannes' voice, feeble, but showing all the signs of returning +strength, and again John uttered a joyous shout. + +"You did," he replied. "It was Uhlans in a grove. I was flying low and +their bullets whistled around us. But the _Arrow_ has taken no harm. I +see, too, the hills and the stream which are our landmarks. We're about +to arrive, Philip, with our message, but there's been treachery +somewhere. I wish I knew who was in that French plane." + +"So do I, John. It certainly came out of Paris. In my opinion it meant +to destroy us and keep our message from reaching the one for whom it was +intended. Who could it have been and how could he have known!" + +"Feeling better now, aren't you, Phil?" + +"A lot better. My head aches tremendously, but the dimness has gone from +before my eyes, and I'm able to think, in a poor and feeble way, +perhaps, but I'm not exactly a dumb animal. Where are the hills?" + +John pointed. + +"I can see them," said Lannes exultantly. "Since they did no harm I'm +glad the Uhlans fired at the _Arrow_. Their shots aroused me from stupor +and as we're to reach the army I want to be in possession of my five +senses when I get there." + +John understood perfectly. + +"It's your message and you deliver it," he said. + +Lannes' strength continued to increase, and his mind cleared rapidly. +His head ached frightfully, but he could think with all his usual +swiftness and precision. He sat erect in his seat. + +"Pass me your glasses, John," he said. + +"Now I see the troops," he said, after a long look. "Frenchmen, +Frenchmen, Frenchmen, infantry in thousands and scores of thousands, big +guns in scores and hundreds, cuirassiers, hussars, cannoneers! Ah! It's +a sight to kindle a dead heart back to life! John, this is one of the +great wheels in the mighty machine that is to move forward! Here come +two aeroplanes, scouts sent forward to see who and what we are." + +"You are sure they contain genuine Frenchmen? Remember the fellow who +shot you." + +"Frenchmen, good and true. I can see them for myself." + +He moved his hand, and in a few moments John heard hissing and purring +near, as if great birds were flying to meet him. The outlines of the +hovering planes showed by his side, and Lannes called in a loud voice to +shrouded and visored men. + +"Philip Lannes and his comrade, John Scott, with a message from Paris +to the commander!" he exclaimed. + +He was his old self again, erect, intense, dramatic. He evidently +expected the name Philip Lannes to be known well to them, and it was, as +a cheer followed high in air. + +"Now, John," said Lannes, "Be careful! Your hardest task is before you, +to land. But I've noticed that with you the harder the task the better +you do it. Make for that wide green space to the left of the stream and +come down as slowly and gently as you can. Just slide down." + +John had a fleeting glimpse of thousands of faces looking upward, but he +held a true course for the grassy area, and with a multitude looking on +his nerve was never steadier. Amid great cheering the _Arrow_ came +safely to rest at her appointed place. John and Lannes stepped forth, as +an elderly man in a quiet uniform came forward to meet them. + +Lannes, holding himself stiffly erect, drew a paper from his pocket and +extended it to the general. + +"A letter, sir, from the commander-in-chief of all our armies," he said, +saluting proudly. + +As the general took the letter, Lannes' knees bent beneath him, and he +sank down on his face. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +IN THE FRENCH CAMP + + +John rushed forward and grasped his comrade. The sympathetic hands of +others seized him also, and they raised him to his feet, while an +officer gave him stimulant out of a flask, John meanwhile telling who +his comrade was. Lannes' eyes opened and he flushed through the tan of +his face. + +"Pardon," he said, "it was a momentary weakness. I am ashamed of myself, +but I shall not faint again." + +"You've been shot," said the officer, looking at his sanguinary cap and +face. + +"So I have, but I ask your pardon for it. I won't let it occur again." + +Lannes was now standing stiffly erect, and his eyes shone with pride, as +the general, a tall, elderly man, rapidly read the letter that Philip +had delivered with his own hand. The officer who had spoken of his wound +looked at him with approval. + +"I've heard of you, Philip Lannes," he said, "you're the greatest flying +man in the world." + +Lannes' eyes flashed now. + +"You do me too much honor," he said, "but it was not I who brought our +aeroplane here. It was my American friend, John Scott, now standing +beside me, who beat off an attack upon us and who then, although he had +had no practical experience in flying, guided the machine to this spot. +Born an American, he is one of us and France already owes him much." + +John raised his hand in protest, but he saw that Lannes was enjoying +himself. His dramatic instinct was finding full expression. He had not +only achieved a great triumph, but his best friend had an important +share in it. There was honor for both, and his generous soul rejoiced. + +Both John and Lannes stood at attention until the general had read the +letter not once but twice and thrice. Then he took off his glasses, +rubbed them thoughtfully a moment or two, replaced them and looked +keenly at the two. He was a quiet man and he made no gestures, but John +met his gaze serenely, read his eyes and saw the tremendous weight of +responsibility back of them. + +"You have done well, you two, perhaps far better than you know," said +the general, "and now, since you are wounded, Philip Lannes, you must +have attention. De Rougemont, take care of them." + +De Rougemont, a captain, was the man to whom they had been talking, and +he gladly received the charge. He was a fine, well built officer, under +thirty, and it was obvious that he already took a deep interest in the +two young aviators. Noticing Lannes' anxious glances toward his precious +machine, he promptly detailed two men to take care of the _Arrow_ and +then he led John and Lannes toward the group of tents. + +"First I'll get a surgeon for you," he said to the Frenchman, "and after +that there's food for you both." + +"I hope you'll tell the surgeon to be careful how he takes off my cap," +said Lannes, "because it's fastened to my head now by my own dried +blood." + +"Trust me for that," said de Rougemont. "I'll bring one of our best +men." + +Then, unable to suppress his curiosity any longer, he added: + +"I suppose the message you brought was one of life or death for France." + +"I think so," said Lannes, "but I know little of its nature, myself." + +"I would not ask you to say any more. I know that you cannot speak of +it. But you can tell me this. Are the Germans before Paris?" + +"As nearly as I could tell, their vanguard was within fifteen miles of +the capital." + +"Then if we strike at all we must strike quickly. I think we're going to +strike." + +Lannes was silent, and they entered the tent, where blankets were spread +for him. A surgeon, young and skillful, came promptly, carefully removed +the cap and bound up his head. John stood by and handed the surgeon the +bandages. + +"You're not much hurt," he said to Lannes as he finished. "Your chief +injury was shock, and that has passed. I can keep down the fever and +you'll be ready for work very soon. The high powered bullet makes a +small and clean wound. It tears scarcely at all. Nor will your beauty be +spoiled in the slightest, young sir. Both orifices are under the full +thickness of your hair." + +"I'm grateful for all your assurances," said Lannes, his old indomitable +smile appearing in his eyes, "but you'll have to cure me fast, faster +than you ever cured anybody before, because I'm a flying man, and I fly +again tomorrow." + +"Not tomorrow. In two or three days, perhaps--" + +"Yes, tomorrow, I tell you! Nothing can keep me from it! This army will +march tonight! I know it! and do you think such a wound as this can keep +me here, when the fate of Europe is being decided? I'd rise from these +blankets and go with the army even if I knew that it would make me fall +dead the next day!" + +He spoke with such fierce energy that the surgeon who at first sternly +forbade, looked doubtful and then acquiescent. + +"Go, then," he said, "if you can. The fact that we have so many heroes +may save us." + +He left John alone in the tent with Lannes. The Frenchman regarded his +comrade with a cool, assured gaze. + +"John," he said, "I shall be up in the _Arrow_ tomorrow. I'm not nervous +and excited now, and I'll not cause any fever in my wound. Somebody will +come in five minutes with food. I shall eat a good supper, fall quietly +to sleep, sleep soundly until night, then rise, refreshed and strong, +and go about the work for which I'm best fitted. My mind shall rule over +my body." + +"I see you're what we would call at home a Christian Scientist, and in +your case when a mind like yours is brought to bear there's something in +it." + +The food appeared within the prescribed time, and both ate heartily. +John watched Lannes. He knew that he would suffer agonies of +mortification if he were not able to share in the great movement which +so obviously was about to take place, and, as he looked, he felt a +growing admiration for Philip's immense power of self-control. + +Mind had truly taken command of body. Lannes ate slowly and with evident +relish. From without came many noises of a great army, but he refused to +be disturbed or excited by them. He spoke lightly of his life before the +war, and of a little country home that the Lannes family had in +Normandy. + +"We own the two places, that and the home in the city," he said. "The +house in Normandy is small, but it's beautiful, hidden by flower gardens +and orchards, with a tiny river just back of the last orchard. Julie has +spent most of her life there. She and my mother would go there now, but +it's safer at Lyons or in the Midi. A wonderful girl, Julie! I hope, +John, that you'll come for a long stay with us after the war, among the +Normandy orchards and roses." + +"I hope so," said John. He was dreaming a little then, and he saw young +Julie sitting at the table with them back in Paris. Truly, her golden +hair was the purest gold he had ever seen, and there was no other blue +like the blue of her blue eyes. + +"Now, John," said Lannes, "I'll resume my place on the blankets and in +ten minutes I'll be asleep." + +He lay down, closed his eyes and three minutes short of the appointed +time slept soundly. John gazed at him for a moment in wonder and +admiration. The triumph of will over body had been complete. He touched +Lannes' head. It was normally cool. Either the surgeon's skill had been +great or the very strength of his resolve had been so immense that he +had kept nerves and blood too quiet for fever to rise. + +John left the tent, feeling for the time a personal detachment from +everything. He had no position in this army, and no orders had been +given to him by anybody. But he knew that he was among friends, and +while he stood looking about in uncertainty Captain de Rougemont +appeared. + +"How is young Lannes?" he asked. + +"Sleeping and free from fever. He will move with the army, or rather he +will be hovering over it in his aeroplane. I never before saw such +extraordinary power of will." + +"He's a wonderful fellow. Of course, most of us have heard of him +through his marvelous flying exploits, but it's the first time that I've +ever seen him. What are you going to do?" + +"I don't know. I seem to be left high and dry for the present, at least. +My company is with one of the armies, but where that army is now is more +than I can tell." + +"Nor do I know either. We're all in the dark here, but any young strong +man can certainly get a chance to fight in this war. I'm on the staff of +General Vaugirard, a brigade commander, and he needs active young +officers. You speak good French, and the fact that you came with Lannes +will be a great recommendation, I'll provide you with a horse and all +else necessary." + +John thanked him with great sincerity. The offer was in truth most +welcome. He knew that Lannes would willingly take him in the _Arrow_, +but he felt that he would be in the way there and, as he had said to his +friend, the rolling earth rather than the air around it was his true +field of action. His first enrollment in the French army had been +hurried and without due forms, but war had made it good. + +"I'll not come back for you until afternoon," said de Rougemont, +"because we're already making preparations to advance, and I shall have +much to do meanwhile. You can watch over Lannes and see that he's not +interrupted in his sleep. He'll need it." + +"Yes, I have reason to know that he did not sleep at all last night, and +he must be in a state of complete exhaustion. But, just as he predicted, +he'll rise, his old self again." + +Captain de Rougemont hurried away, and John was left alone in the midst +of a great army. He stood before Lannes' tent, which was in the midst of +a grassy and rather elevated opening, and he heard once more the +infinite sounds made by two hundred thousand armed men, blending into +one vast, fused note. + +The army, too, was moving, or getting ready to move. Batteries of the +splendid French artillery passed before him, squadrons of horsemen +galloped by, and regiments of infantry followed. It all seemed confused, +aimless to the eye, but John knew that nevertheless it was proceeding +with order and method, directed by a master mind. + +Often trumpets sounded and the motion of the troops seemed to quicken. +Now he beheld men from the lands of the sun, the short, dark, fierce +soldiers of the Midi, youths of Marseilles and youths of the first Roman +province, whose native language was Provencal and not French. He +remembered the men of the famous battalion who had marched from +Marseilles to Paris singing Rouget de Lisle's famous song, and giving it +their name, while they tore down an ancient kingdom. Doubtless, spirits +no less ardent and fearless than theirs were here now. + +He saw the Arabs in turbans and flowing robes, and black soldiers from +Senegal, and seeing these men from far African deserts he knew that +France was rallying her strength for a supreme effort. The German +Empire, with the flush of unbroken victory in war after war, could +command the complete devotion of its sons, but the French Republic, +without such triumphs as yet, could do as well. John felt an immense +pride because he, too, was republican to the core, and often there was a +lot in a name. + +It was about noon now, and the sun was shining with dazzling brilliancy. +The tall hill and the low hill were clothed in deep green, and the +waters of the little river that ran between, sparkled in the light. The +air was crisp with a cool wind that blew from the west, and John felt +that the omens were good for the great mysterious movement which he +believed to be at hand. + +He looked into the tent and saw that Lannes was sleeping soundly, with a +good color in his face. A powerful constitution aided by a strong will +had done its work and he was sure that on the morrow Lannes would again +be the most daring French scout of the air. + +John found the waiting hard work. There was so much movement and action +that he wanted to be a part of it. He had thrown in his lot with this +army and he wanted to share its work at once. Yet much time passed, and +de Rougemont did not return. The evidences that the great French army +was marching to the point designated in the note brought by Lannes +multiplied. From the crest of the hill he already saw large bodies of +troops marching forward steadily, their long blue coats flapping +awkwardly about their legs. He wondered once more why they wore such an +inharmonious and conspicuous uniform as blue frock coats and baggy red +trousers. + +He heard presently the martial sounds of the Marseillaise, and the +regiment singing it passed very close to him. The men were nearly all +short, dark, and very young. But the spring and fire with which they +marched were magnificent. As they thundered out the grand old tune their +feet seemed scarcely to touch the earth, and fierce eyes glowed in dark +faces. + +John, with a start, recognized one, a petty officer, a sergeant it +seemed, who marched beside the line. He was the most eager of them all, +and his face was tense and wrapt. It was Geronimo, the little Apache, in +whom the spark of patriotism had lit the fire of genius. His call had +come and it had drawn him from a half savage life into one of glorious +deeds for his country. + +"He'll be a general if he isn't killed first," murmured John, with +absolute conviction. + +Geronimo, at that moment, looked his way and recognized him. His hand +flew to his head in a military salute, which John returned in kind, and +his eyes plainly showed pleasure at sight of this new friend whom he had +made in a few minutes on the Butte Montmartre. + +"We meet again," he said, "and before the week is out it will be victory +or death." + +"I think so, too," said John. + +"I know it," said Geronimo, and, saluting once more, he marched on with +his regiment. John saw them pass across the valley and join the great +mass of troops that filled the whole northern horizon. About an hour +later a cheerful voice called to him, and he beheld Lannes standing in +the door of the tent, his head well bandaged, but his eyes clear and +strong and the natural color in his face. + +"What has happened, John?" he asked. + +"You've slept six or seven hours." + +"And while I slept, the army, as I can see, has begun its march +according to the order we brought. I'm sorry I had to miss any of it, +but I was bound to sleep." + +"You're a marvel." + +"No marvel at all. I'm merely one of a million Frenchmen molded on the +same model. An army can't move fast and tonight the _Arrow_ and I will +be hovering over its front. There's your old place for you in the +plane." + +"I'd only be in your way, Philip. But can't you wait until tomorrow? +Don't rush yourself while you've got a new wound." + +"The wound is nothing. I'm bound to go tonight with the _Arrow_. But +what are you going to do if you don't go with me?" + +"A new friend whom I've made while you slept has found a place for me +with him, on the staff of General Vaugirard, a brigade commander. I +shall serve there until I'm able to rejoin the Strangers." + +"General Vaugirard! I've seen him. An able man, and a most noticeable +figure. You've fared well." + +"I hope so. Here comes Captain de Rougemont." + +The captain showed much pleasure at seeing Lannes up and apparently +well. + +"What! Has our king of the air revived so soon!" he exclaimed. + +"The dead themselves would rise when we're about to strike for the life +of France," said Lannes, his dramatic quality again coming to the front. + +"Well spoken," said de Rougemont, the color flushing into his face. + +"I return to my aeroplane within two hours," said Lannes. "I hold a +commission from our government which allows me to operate somewhat as a +free lance, but, of course, I shall conform for the present to the +wishes of the man who commands the flying corps of this army. Meanwhile, +I leave with you my young Yankee friend here, John Scott. For some +strange reason I've conceived for him a strong brotherly affection. +Kindly see that he doesn't get killed unless it's necessary for our +country, and this, I think, is a long enough speech for me to make now." + +"I'll do my best for him," said de Rougemont earnestly. "I've come for +you, Scott." + +"Good-bye, Philip," said John, extending his hand. + +"Good-bye, John," said Lannes, "and do as I tell you. Don't get yourself +killed unless it's absolutely necessary." + +Usually so stoical, his voice showed emotion, and he turned away after +the strong pressure of the two hands. John and de Rougemont walked down +the valley, where they joined General Vaugirard and the rest of his +staff. + +As soon as John saw the general he knew what Lannes meant by his phrase +"a noticeable figure." General Vaugirard was a man of about sixty, so +enormously fat that he must have weighed three hundred pounds. His face +was covered with thick white beard, out of which looked small, sharp red +eyes. He reminded John of a great white bear. The little red eyes bored +him through for an instant, and then their owner said briefly: + +"De Rougemont has vouched for you. Stay with him. An orderly has your +horse." + +A French soldier held for him a horse bearing all the proper equipment, +and John, saluting the general, sprang into the saddle. He was a good +horseman, and now he felt thoroughly sure of himself. If it came to the +worst, and he was unseated, the earth was not far away, but if he were +thrown out of the _Arrow_ he would have a long and terrible time in +falling. + +General Vaugirard had not yet mounted, but stood beside a huge black +horse, fit to carry such a weight. He was listening and looking with the +deepest attention and his staff was silent around him. John saw from +their manner that these men liked and respected their immense general. + +More trumpets sounded, much nearer now, and a messenger galloped up, +handing a note to General Vaugirard, who glanced at it hastily, uttered +a deep Ah! of relief and joy and thrust it into his pocket. + +Then saying to his staff, "Gentlemen, we march at once," he put one hand +on his horse's shoulder, and, to John's immense surprise, leaped as +lightly into the saddle as if he had been a riding master. He settled +himself easily into his seat, spoke a word to his staff, and then he +rode with his regiments toward that great mass of men on the horizon who +were steadily marching forward. + +John kept by the side of de Rougemont. There were brief introductions to +some of the young officers nearest him, and he felt an air of +friendliness about him. As de Rougemont told them he had already given +ample proof of his devotion to the cause, and he was accepted promptly +as one of them. + +John was now conscious how strongly he had projected himself into the +life of the French. He was an American for generations back and his +blood by descent was British. He had been among the Germans and he liked +them personally, he had served already with the English, and their point +of view was more nearly like the American than any other. But he was +here with the French and he felt for them the deepest sympathy of all. +He was conscious of a tie like that of blood brotherhood. + +He knew it was due to the old and yet unpaid help France had given to +his own country, and above all to the conviction that France, minding +her own business, had been set upon by a greater power, with intent to +crush and destroy. France was attacked by a dragon, and the old similes +of mythology floated through his mind, but, oftenest, that of Andromeda +chained to the rock. And the figure that typified France always had the +golden hair and dark blue eyes of slim, young Julie Lannes. + +They advanced several hours almost in silence, as far as talk was +concerned, but two hundred thousand men marching made a deep and steady +murmur. General Vaugirard kept well in front of his staff, riding, +despite his immense bulk, like a Comanche, and occasionally putting his +glasses to those fiery little red eyes. At length he turned and beckoned +to John, who promptly drew up to his side. + +"You speak good French?" he said in his native tongue. + +"Yes, sir," replied John promptly. + +"I understand that you came with the flying man, Lannes, who brought the +message responsible for this march, and that it is not the only time +you've done good service in our cause?" + +John bowed modestly. + +"Did you see any German troops on the way?" + +"Only a band of Uhlans." + +"A mere scouting party. It occurred to me that you might have seen +masses of troops belonging to the foe, indicating perhaps what is +awaiting us at the end of our march." + +"I know nothing, sir. The Uhlans were all the foes we saw from the air, +save the man who shot Lannes." + +"I believe you. You belong to the youngest of the great nations. Your +people have not yet learned to say with the accents of truth the thing +that is not. I am sixty years old, and yet I have the curiosity to know +where I am going and what I am expected to do when I get there. Behold +how I, an old man, speak so frankly to you, so young." + +"When I saw your excellency leap into the saddle you did not seem to me +to be more than twenty." + +John called him "your excellency" because he thought that in the absence +of precise knowledge of what was fitting the term was as good as +another. + +A smile twinkled in the eyes of General Vaugirard. Evidently he was +pleased. + +"That is flattery, flattery, young man," he said, "but it pleases me. +Since I've drawn from you all you know, which is but little, you may +fall back with your comrades. But keep near; I fancy I shall have much +for you to do before long. Meanwhile, we march on, in ignorance of what +is awaiting us. Ah, well, such is life!" + +He seemed to John a strange compound of age and youth, a mixture of the +philosopher and the soldier. That he was a real leader John could no +longer doubt. He saw the little red eyes watching everything, and he +noticed that the regiments of Vaugirard had no superiors in trimness and +spirit. + +They marched until sundown and stopped in some woods clear of +undergrowth, like most of those in Europe. The camp kitchens went to +work at once, and they received good food and coffee. As far as John +could see men were at rest, but he could not tell whether the whole army +was doing likewise. It spread out much further to both right and left +than his eyes could reach. + +The members of the staff tethered their horses in the grove, and after +supper stood together and talked, while the fat general paced back and +forth, his brow wrinkled in deep thought. + +"Good old Papa Vaugirard is studying how to make the best of us," said +de Rougemont. "We're all his children. They say that he knows nearly ten +thousand men under his command by face if not by name, and we trust him +as no other brigade commander in the army is trusted by his troops. He's +thinking hard now, and General Vaugirard does not think for nothing. As +soon as he arrives at what seems to him a solution of his problem he +will begin to whistle. Then he will interrupt his whistling by saying: +'Ah, well, such is life.'" + +"I hope he'll begin to whistle soon," said John, "because his brow is +wrinkling terribly." + +He watched the huge general with a sort of fascinated gaze. Seen now in +the twilight, Vaugirard's very bulk was impressive. He was immense, +strong, primeval. He walked back and forth over a line about thirty feet +long, and the deep wrinkles remained on his brow. Every member of his +staff was asking how long it would last. + +A sound, mellow and soft, but penetrating, suddenly arose. General +Vaugirard was whistling, and John's heart gave a jump of joy. He did not +in the least doubt de Rougemont's assertion that an answer to the +problem had been found. + +General Vaugirard whistled to himself softly and happily. Then he said +twice, and in very clear tones: "Ah, well, such is life!" He began to +whistle again, stopped in a moment or two and called to de Rougemont, +with whom he talked a while. + +"We're to march once more in a half-hour," said de Rougemont, when he +returned to John and his comrades. "It must be a great converging +movement in which time is worth everything. At least, General Vaugirard +thinks so, and he has a plan to get us into the very front of the +action." + +"I hope so," said John. "I'm not anxious to get killed, but I'd rather +be in the battle than wait. I wonder if I'll meet anywhere on the front +that company to which I belong, the Strangers." + +"I think I've heard of them," said de Rougemont, "a body of Americans +and Englishmen, volunteers in the French service, commanded by Captain +Daniel Colton." + +"Right you are, and I've two particular friends in that company--I +suppose they've rejoined it--Wharton, an American, and Carstairs, an +Englishman. We went through a lot of dangers together before we reached +the British army near Mons, and I'd like to see them again." + +"Maybe you will, but here comes an extraordinary procession." + +They heard many puffing sounds, uniting in one grand puffing chorus, and +saw advancing down a white road toward them a long, ghostly train, as if +a vast troop of extinct monsters had returned to earth and were marching +this way. But John knew very well that it was a train of automobiles and +raising the glasses that he now always carried he saw that they were +empty except for the chauffeurs. + +General Vaugirard began to whistle his mellowest and most musical tune, +stopping only at times to mutter a few words under his breath. John +surmised that he was expressing deep satisfaction, and that he had been +waiting for the motor train. War was now fought under new conditions. +The Germans had thousands and scores of thousands of motors, and perhaps +the French were provided almost as well. + +"I fancy," said de Rougemont, who was also watching the arrival of the +machines, "that we'll leave our horses now and travel by motor." + +De Rougemont's supposition was correct. The line of automobiles began to +mass in front, many rows deep, and all the chauffeurs, their great +goggles shining through the darkness, were bent over their wheels ready +to be off at once with their armed freight. It filled John with elation, +and he saw the same spirit shining in the eyes of the young French +officers. + +General Vaugirard began to puff like one of the machines. He threw out +his great chest, pursed up his mouth and emitted his breath in little +gusts between his lips, "Very good! Very good, my children!" he said, +"Oil and electricity will carry us now, and we go forward, not +backward!" + +True to de Rougemont's prediction, the horses were given to orderlies, +and the staff and a great portion of the troops were taken into the +cars. General Vaugirard and several of the older officers occupied a +huge machine, and just behind him came de Rougemont, John and a +half-dozen young lieutenants and captains in another. Before them +stretched a great white road. Far overhead hovered many aeroplanes. John +had no doubt that the _Arrow_ was among them, or rather was the farthest +one forward. Lannes' eager soul, wound or no wound, would keep him in +front. + +They now moved rapidly, and John's spirits continued to rise. There was +something wonderful in this swift march on wheels in the moonlight. As +far back as he could see the machines came in a stream, and to the left +and right he saw them proceeding on other roads also. All the country +was strange to John. He could not remember having seen it from the +aeroplane, and he was sure that the army, instead of going to Paris, was +bound for some point where it would come in instant contact with the +German forces. + +"Do you know the road?" he asked of de Rougemont. + +"Not at all. I'm from the Gironde country. I've been in Paris, but I +know little of the region about it. A good way to reach the front, is it +not, Mr. Scott?" + +"Fine. I fancy that we're hurried forward to make a link in a chain, or +at least to stop a gap." + +"And those large birds overhead are scouting for us." + +"Look! One of them is dropping down. I dare say it's making a report to +some general higher in rank than ours." + +He pointed with a long forefinger, and John watched the aeroplane come +down in its slanting course like a falling star. It was a beautiful +night, a light blue sky, with a fine moon and hosts of clear stars. One +could see far, and soon after the plane descended John saw it rise again +from the same spot, ascend high in air, and shoot off toward the east. + +"That may have been Lannes," he said. + +"Likely as not," said de Rougemont. + +John now observed General Vaugirard, who sat erect in the front of his +automobile, with a pair of glasses, relatively as huge as himself, to +his eyes. Occasionally he would purse his lips, and John knew that his +favorite expression was coming forth. To the young American's +imaginative mind his broad back expressed rigidity and strength. + +The great murmuring sound, the blended advance of so many men, made John +sleepy by-and-by. In spite of himself his heavy eyelids drooped, and +although he strove manfully against it, sleep took him. When he awoke he +heard the same deep murmur, like the roll of the sea, and saw the army +still advancing. It was yet night, though fine and clear, and there +before him was the broad, powerful back of the general. Vaugirard was +still using the glasses and John judged that he had not slept at all. +But in his own machine everybody was asleep except the man at the wheel. + +The country had grown somewhat hillier, but its characteristics were the +same, fertile, cultivated fields, a small wood here and there, clear +brooks, and church spires shining in the dusk. Both horse and foot +advanced across the fields, but the roads were occupied by the motors, +which John judged were carrying at least twenty thousand men and maybe +forty thousand. + +He was not sleepy now, and he watched the vast panorama wheel past. He +knew without looking at his watch that the night was nearly over, +because he could already smell the dawn. The wind was freshening a bit, +and he heard its rustle in the leaves of a wood as they pushed through +it. + +Then came a hum and a whir, and a long line of men on motor cycles at +the edge of the road crept up and then passed them. One checked his +speed enough to run by the side of John's car, and the rider, raising +his head a little, gazed intently at the young American. His cap closed +over his face like a hood, but the man knew him. + +"Fortune puts us on the same road again, Mr. Scott," he said. + +"I don't believe I know you," said John, although there was a familiar +note in the voice. + +"And yet you've met me several times, and under exciting conditions. It +seems to me that we're always pursuing similar things, or we wouldn't be +together on the same road so often. You're acute enough. Don't you know +me now?" + +"I think I do. You're Fernand Weber, the Alsatian." + +"And so I am. I knew your memory would not fail you. It's a great +movement that we've begun, Mr. Scott. France will be saved or destroyed +within the next few days." + +"I think so." + +"You've deserted your friend, Philip Lannes, the finest of our airmen." + +"Oh, no, I haven't. He's deserted me. I couldn't afford to be a burden +on his aeroplane at such a time as this." + +"I suppose not. I saw an aeroplane come down to earth a little while +ago, and then rise again. I'm sure it was his machine, the _Arrow_." + +"So am I." + +"Here's where he naturally would be. Good-bye, Mr. Scott, and good luck +to you. I must go on with my company." + +"Good-bye and good luck," repeated John, as the Alsatian shot forward. +He liked Weber, who had a most pleasing manner, and he was glad to have +seen him once more. + +"Who was that?" asked de Rougemont, waking from his sleep and catching +the last words of farewell. + +"An Alsatian, named Fernand Weber, who has risked his life more than +once for France. He belongs to the motor-cycle corps that's just +passing." + +"May he and his comrades soon find the enemy, because here is the day." + +The leaves and grass rippled before the breeze and over the eastern +hills the dawn broke. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE INVISIBLE HAND + + +It was a brilliant morning sun, deepening the green of the pleasant +land, lighting up villages and glinting off church steeples. In a field +a little distance to their right John saw two peasants at work already, +bent over, their eyes upon the ground, apparently as indifferent to the +troops as the troops were to them. + +It was very early, but the sun was rising fast, unfolding a splendid +panorama. The French army with its blues and reds was more spectacular +than the German, and hence afforded a more conspicuous target. John was +sure that if the war went on the French would discard these vivid +uniforms and betake themselves to gray or khaki. He saw clearly that the +day of gorgeous raiment for the soldier had passed. + +The great puffing sound of primeval monsters which had blended into one +rather harmonious note ceased, as if by signal, and the innumerable +motors stopped. As far as John could see the army stretched to left and +right over roads, hills and fields, but in the fields behind them the +silent peasants went on with their work--in fields which the Republic +had made their own. + +"I think we take breakfast here," said Rougemont. "War is what one of +your famous American generals said it was, but for the present, at +least, we are marching _de luxe_. Here comes one of those glorious +camp-kitchens." + +An enormous motor vehicle, equipped with all the paraphernalia of a +kitchen, stopped near them, and men, trim and neatly dressed, served hot +food and steaming coffee. General Vaugirard had alighted also, and John +noticed that his step was much more springy and alert than that of some +officers half his age. His breath came in great gusts, and the small +portion of his face not covered by thick beard was ruddy and glowing +with health. He drank several cups of coffee with startling rapidity, +draining each at a breath, and between times he whistled softly a +pleasing little refrain. + +The march must be going well. Undoubtedly General Vaugirard had received +satisfactory messages in the night, while his young American aide, and +other Frenchmen as young, slept. + +"Well, my children," he said, rubbing his hands after his last cup of +coffee had gone to its fate, "the day dawns and behold the sun of France +is rising. It's not the sun of Austerlitz, but a modest republican sun +that can grow and grow. Behold we are at the appointed place, set forth +in the message that came to us from the commander-in-chief through +Paris, and then by way of the air! And, look, my children, the bird +from the blue descends once more among us!" + +There were flying machines of many kinds in the air, but John promptly +picked out one which seemed to be coming with the flight of an eagle out +of its uppermost heights. He seemed to know its slim, lithe shape, and +the rapidity and decision of its approach. His heart thrilled, as it had +thrilled when he saw the _Arrow_ coming for the first time on that spur +of the Alps near Salzburg. + +"It's for me," said General Vaugirard, as he looked upward. "This flying +demon, this man without fear, was told to report directly to me, and he +conies at the appointed hour." + +Something of the mystery that belongs to the gulf of the infinite was +reflected in the general's eyes. He, too, felt that man's flight in the +heavens yet had in it a touch of the supernatural. Lannes' plane had +seemed to shoot from white clouds, out of unknown spaces, and the +general ceased to whistle or breathe gustily. His chest rose and fell +more violently than usual, but the breath came softly. + +The plane descended rapidly and settled down on the grass very near +them. Lannes saluted and presented a note to General Vaugirard, who +started and then expelled the breath from his lungs in two or three +prodigious puffs. + +"Good, my son, good!" he exclaimed, patting Lannes repeatedly on the +shoulder; "and now a cup of coffee for you at once! Hurry with it, some +of you idle children! Can't you see that he needs it!" + +John was first with the coffee, which Lannes drank eagerly, although it +was steaming hot. John saw that he needed it very much indeed, as he was +white and shaky. He noticed, too, that there were spots of blood on +Lannes' left sleeve. + +"What is it, Philip?" he whispered. "You've been attacked again?" + +"Aye, truly. My movements seem to be observed by some mysterious eye. A +shot was fired at me, and again it came from a French plane. That was +all I could see. We were in a bank of mist at the time, and I just +caught a glimpse of the plane itself. The man was a mere shapeless +figure to me. I had no time to fight him, because I was due here with +another message which made vengeance upon him at that time a matter of +little moment." + +He flecked the red drops off his sleeve, and added: + +"It was but a scratch. My weary look comes from a long and hard flight +and not from the mysterious bullet. I'm to rest here an hour, which will +be sufficient to restore me, and then I'm off again." + +"Is there any rule against your telling me what you've seen, Philip?" + +De Rougemont and several other officers had approached, drawn by their +curiosity, and interest in Lannes. + +"None at all," he replied in a tone all could hear, "but I'm able to +speak in general terms only. I can't give details, because I don't know +'em. The Germans are not many miles ahead. They're in hundreds of +thousands, and I hear that this is only one of a half-dozen armies." + +"And our own force?" said de Rougemont eagerly. + +Lannes' chest expanded. The dramatic impulse was strong upon him again. + +"There is another army on our right, and another on our left," he +replied, "and although I don't know surely, I think there are others +still further on the line. The English are somewhere with us, too." + +John felt his face tingle as the blood rose in it. He had left a Paris +apparently lost. Within a day almost a tremendous transformation had +occurred. A mighty but invisible intellect, to which he was yet scarcely +able to attach a name, had been at work. The French armies, the beaten +and the unbeaten, had become bound together like huge links in a chain, +and the same invisible and all but nameless mind was drawing the chain +forward with gigantic force. + +"A million Frenchmen must be advancing," he heard Lannes saying, and +then he came out of his vision. General Vaugirard bustled up and gave +orders to de Rougemont, who said presently to John: + +"Can you ride a motor cycle?" + +"I've had some experience, and I'm willing to make it more." + +"Good. In this army, staff officers will no longer have horses shot +under them. We're to take orders on motor cycles. They've been sent +ahead for us, and here's yours waiting for you." + +The cycles were leaning against trees, and the members of the staff took +their places beside them. General Vaugirard walked a little distance up +the road, climbed into an automobile and, standing up, looked a long +time through his glasses. Lannes, who had been resting on the grass, +approached the general and John saw him take a note from him. Then +Lannes went away to the _Arrow_ and sailed off into the heavens. Many +other planes were flying over the French army and far off in front John +saw through his own glasses a fleet of them which he knew must be +German. + +Then he heard a sound, faint but deep, which came rolling like an echo, +and he recognized it as the distant note of a big gun. He quivered a +little, as he leaned against his motor cycle, but quickly stiffened +again to attention. The faint rolling sound came again from their right +and then many times. John, using his glasses, saw nothing there, and the +giant general, still standing up in the car and also using his glasses, +saw nothing there either. + +Yet the same quiver that affected John had gone through this whole army +of two hundred thousand men, one of the huge links in the French chain. +There was none among them who did not know that the far note was the +herald of battle, not a mere battle of armies, but of nations face to +face. + +General Vaugirard did not show any excitement. He leaped lightly from +the car, and then began to pace up and down slowly, as if he were +awaiting orders. The men moved restlessly on the meadows, looking like a +vast sea of varied colors, as the sun glimmered on the red and blue of +their uniforms. + +But no order came for them to advance. John thought that perhaps they +were saved to be driven as a wedge into the German center and whispered +his belief to de Rougemont, who agreed with him. + +"They are opening on the left, too," said the Frenchman. "Can't you hear +the growling of the guns there?" + +John listened and soon he separated the note from other sounds. Beyond a +doubt the battle had now begun on both flanks, though at distant points. +He wondered where the English force was, though he had an idea that it +was on the left then. Yet he was already thoroughly at home with the +staff of General Vaugirard. + +The growling on either side of them seemed soon to come a little closer, +but John knew nevertheless that it was many miles away. + +"Not an enemy in sight, not even a trace of smoke," said de Rougemont to +him. "We seem to be a great army here, merely resting in the fields, and +yet we know that a huge battle is going on." + +"And that's about all we do know," said John. "What has impressed me in +this war is the fact that high officers even know so little. When cannon +throw shells ten or twelve miles, eyesight doesn't get much chance." + +A wait for a full half-hour followed, a period of intense anxiety for +all in the group, and for the whole army too. John used his glasses +freely, and often he saw the French soldiers moving about in a restless +manner, until they were checked by their officers. But most of them were +lying down, their blue coats and red trousers making a vast and vivid +blur against the green of the grass. + +All the while the sound of the cannon grew, but, despite the power of +his glasses, John could not see a sign of war. Only that roaring sound +came to tell him that battle, vast, gigantic, on a scale the world had +never seen before, was joined, and the volume of the cannon fire, beyond +a doubt, was growing. It pulsed heavily, and either he or his fancy +noticed a steady jarring motion. A faint acrid taint crept into the air +and he felt it in his nose and throat. He coughed now and then, and he +observed that men around him coughed also. But, on the whole, the army +was singularly still, the soldiers straining eye or ear to see something +or hear more of the titanic struggle that was raging on either side of +them. + +John again searched the horizon eagerly with his glasses, but it showed +only green hills and bits of wood, bare of human activity. The French +aeroplanes still hovered, but not in front of General Vaugirard. They +were off to right and left, where the wings of the nations had closed in +combat. He was ceasing to think of the foes as armies, but as nations in +battle line. Here stood not a French army, but France, and there stood +not a German army, but Germany. + +As he looked toward the left he picked out a narrow road, running +between hedges, and showing but a strip of white even through the +glasses. He saw something coming along this road. It was far away when +he first noticed it, but it was coming with great speed, and he was soon +able to tell that it was a man on a motor cycle. His pulse leaped +again. He felt instinctively that the rider was for them and that he +bore something of great import. The figure, man and cycle, molded into +one, sped along the narrow road which led to the base of the hill on +which General Vaugirard and his staff stood. + +The huge general saw the approaching figure too, and he began to whistle +melodiously like the note of a piccolo, with the vast thunder of the +guns accompanying him as an orchestra. John knew that the cyclist was a +messenger, and that he was eagerly expected. An order of some kind was +at hand! All the members of the staff had the same conviction. + +The cyclist stopped at the bottom of the hill, leaped from the machine +and ran to General Vaugirard, to whom he handed a note. The general read +it, expelled his breath in a mighty gust, and turning to his staff, +said: + +"My children, our time has come. The whole central army of which we are +a part will advance. It will perhaps be known before night whether +France is to remain a great nation or become the vassal of Germany. My +children, if France ever had need for you to fight with all your hearts +and souls, that need is here today." + +His manner was simple and majestic, and his words touched the mind and +feeling of every one who heard them. John was moved as much as if he had +been a Frenchman too. He felt a profound sympathy for this devoted +France, which had suffered so much, to which his own country still owed +that great debt, and which had a right to her own soil, fertilized with +so many centuries of labor. + +General Vaugirard, resting a pad on his knee, wrote rapid notes which he +gave to the members of his staff in turn to be delivered. John's was to +a Parisian regiment lying in a field, and expanding body and mind into +instant action, he leaped upon the cycle and sped away. It was often +hard for him now to separate fact from fancy. His imagination, vivid at +all times, painted new pictures while such a tremendous drama passed +before him. + +Yet he knew afterward that the sound of the battle did increase in +volume as he flew over the short distance to the regiment. Both east and +west were shaking with the tremendous concussion. One crash he heard +distinctly above the others and he believed it was that of a forty-two +centimeter. + +He reached the field, his cycle spun between the eager soldiers, and as +he leaped off in the presence of the colonel he fairly thrust the note +into his hand, exclaiming at the same time in his zeal, "It's an order +to advance! The whole Army of the Center is about to attack." + +He called it the Army of the Center at a guess, but names did not matter +now. The colonel glanced at the note, waved his sword above his head and +cried in a loud voice: + +"My lads, up and forward!" + +The regiment arose with a roar of cheering and began to advance across +the fields. John caught a glimpse of a petty officer, short and small, +but as compact and fierce as a panther, driving on men who needed no +driving. "Geronimo is going to make good," he said to himself. "He'll do +or die today." + +As he raced back for new orders, if need be, he knew now that fact not +fancy told him the battle was growing. The earth shook not only on right +and left but in front also. A hasty look through the glasses showed +little tongues of fire licking up on the horizon before them and he knew +that they came from the monster cannon of the Germans who were surely +advancing, while the French were advancing also to meet them. + +General Vaugirard sprang into his automobile, taking only two of his +senior officers with him, while the rest followed on their motor cycles. +As far as John could see on either side the vast rows of French swept +across hills and fields. There was little shouting now and no sound of +bands, but presently a shout arose behind them: "Way for the artillery!" + +Then he heard cries, the rumble of wheels and the rapid beat of hoofs. +With an instinctive shudder, lest he be ground to pieces, he pulled from +the road, and saw the motor of General Vaugirard turn out also. Then the +great French batteries thundered past to seek positions soon in the +fields behind low hills. He saw them a little later unlimbering and +making ready. + +The French advance changed from a walk to a trot. John saw the Parisian +regiment, not far away, but at the very front and he knew that among all +those ardent souls there was none more ardent than that of the little +Apache, Bougainville. Meanwhile, Vaugirard in his motor kept to the +road and the staff on their motor cycles followed closely. + +On both flanks the thunder of massed cannon was deepening, and now John, +who used his glasses occasionally, was able to see wisps and tendrils of +smoke on the eastern and northern horizons. The tremor in the air was +strong and continuous. It played incessantly upon the drums of his ears, +and he found that he could not hear the words of the other aides so well +as before. But there was no succession of crashes. The sound was more +like the roaring of a distant storm. + +They advanced another mile, two hundred thousand men, afire with zeal, a +whole vast army moved forward as the other French armies were by the +hidden hand which they could not see, of which they knew nothing, but +the touch of which they could feel. + +John heard a whizzing sound, he caught a glimpse of a dark object, +rushing forward at frightful velocity, and then he and his wheel reeled +beneath the force of a tremendous explosion. The shell coming from an +invisible point, miles away, had burst some distance on his right, +scattering death and wounds over a wide radius. But Vaugirard's brigades +did not stop for one instant. They cheered loudly, closed up the gap in +their line, and went on steadily as before. Some one began to sing the +Marseillaise, and in an instant the song, like fire in dry grass, spread +along a vast front. John had often wished that he could have heard the +armies of the French Revolution singing their tremendous battle hymn as +they marched to victory, and now he heard it on a scale far more +gigantic than in the days of the First French Republic. + +The vast chorus rolled for miles and for all he knew other armies, far +to right and left, might be singing it, too. The immense volume of the +song drowned out everything, even that tremor in the air, caused by the +big guns. John's heart beat so hard that it caused actual physical pain +in his side, and presently, although he was unconscious of it, he was +thundering out the verses with the others. + +He was riding by the side of de Rougemont, and he stopped singing long +enough to shout, at the top of his voice: + +"No enemy in sight yet?" + +"No," de Rougemont shouted back, "but he doesn't need to be. The German +guns have our range." + +From a line on the distant horizon, from positions behind hills, the +German shells were falling fast, cutting down men by hundreds, tearing +great holes in the earth, and filling the air with an awful shrieking +and hissing. It was all the more terrible because the deadly missiles +seemed to come from nowhere. It was like a mortal hail rained out of +heaven. John had not yet seen a German, nothing but those tongues of +fire licking up on the horizon, and some little whitish clouds of smoke, +lifting themselves slowly above the trees, yet the thunder was no longer +a rumble. It had a deep and angry note, whose burden was death. + +They must maintain their steady march directly toward the mouths of +those guns. John comprehended in those awful moments that the task of +the French was terrible, almost superhuman. If their nation was to live +they must hurl back a victorious foe, practically numberless, armed and +equipped with everything that a great race in a half-century of supreme +thought and effort could prepare for war. It was spirit and patriotism +against the monstrous machine of fire and steel, and he trembled lest +the machine could overcome anything in the world. + +He was about to shout again to de Rougemont, but his words were lost in +the rending crash of the French artillery. Their batteries were posted +on both sides of him, and they, too, had found the range. All along the +front hundreds of guns were opening and John hastily thrust portions +that he tore from his handkerchief into his ear, lest he be deafened +forever. + +The sight, at first magnificent, now became appalling. The shells came +in showers and the French ranks were torn and mangled. Companies existed +and then they were not. The explosions were like the crash of +thunderbolts, but through it all the French continued to advance. Those +whose knees grew weak beneath them were upborne and carried forward by +the press of their comrades. The French gunners, too, were making +prodigious efforts but with cannon of such long range neither side could +see what its batteries were accomplishing. John was sure, though, that +the great French artillery must be giving as good as it received. + +He was conscious that General Vaugirard was still going forward along +the long white road, sweeping his glasses from left to right and from +right to left in a continuous semi-circle, apparently undisturbed, +apparently now without human emotion. He was no figure of romance, but +he was a man, cool and powerful, ready to die with all his men, if death +for them was needed. + +Still the invisible hand swept them on, the hand that a million men in +action could not see, but which every one of the million, in his own +way, felt. The crash of the guns on both sides had become fused together +into one roar, so steady and continued so long that the sound seemed +almost normal. Voices could now be heard under it and John spoke to de +Rougemont. + +"Can you make anything of it?" he asked. "Do we win or do we lose?" + +"It's too early yet to tell anything. The cannon only are speaking, but +you'll note that our army is advancing." + +"Yes, I see it. Before I've only beheld it in retreat before +overwhelming numbers. This is different." + +General Vaugirard beckoned to his aides, and again sent them out with +messages. John's note was to the commander of a battery of field guns +telling him to move further forward. He started at once through the +fields on his motor cycle, but he could not go fast now. The ground had +been cut deep by artillery and cavalry and torn by shells and he had to +pick his way, while the shower of steel, sent by men who were firing by +mathematics, swept over and about him. + +Shivers seized him more than once, as shrapnel and pieces of shell flew +by. Now and then he covered his eyes with one hand to shut out the +horror of dead and torn men lying on either side of his path, but in +spite of the shells, in spite of the deadly nausea that assailed him at +times, he went on. The rush of air from a shell threw him once from his +motor cycle, but as he fell on soft clodded earth he was not hurt, and, +springing quickly back on his wheel, he reached the battery. + +The order was welcome to the commander of the guns, who was anxious to +go closer, and, limbering up, he advanced as rapidly as weapons of such +great weight could be dragged across the fields. John followed, that he +might report the result. They were now facing toward the east and the +whole horizon there was a blaze of fire. The shells were coming thicker +and thicker, and the air was filled with the screaming of the shrapnel. + +The commander of the battery, a short, powerful Frenchman, was as cool +as ice, and John drew coolness from him. One can get used to almost +anything, and his nervous tremors were passing. Despite the terrible +fire of the German artillery the French army was still advancing. Many +thousands had fallen already before the shells and shrapnel of the +invisible foe, but there had been no check. + +The cannon crossed a brook, and, unlimbering, again opened a tremendous +fire. To one side and on a hill here, a man whom the commander watched +closely was signaling. John knew that he was directing the aim of the +battery and the French, like the Germans, were killing by mathematics. + +He rode his cycle to the crest of a little elevation behind the battery +and with his newfound coolness began to use his glasses again. Despite +the thin, whitish smoke, he saw men on the horizon, mere manikins moving +back and forth, apparently without meaning, but men nevertheless. He +caught, too, the outline of giant tubes, the huge guns that were sending +the ceaseless rain of death upon the French. + +He also saw signs of hurry and confusion among those manikins, and he +knew that the French shells were striking them. He rode down to the +commander and told him. The swart Frenchman grinned. + +"My children are biting," he said, glancing affectionately at his guns. +"They're brave lads, and their teeth are long and sharp." + +He looked at his signal man, and the guns let loose again with a force +that sent the air rushing away in violent waves. Batteries farther on +were firing also with great rapidity. In most of these the gunners were +directed by field telephones strung hastily, but the one near John still +depended upon signal men. It was composed of eight five-inch guns, and +John believed that its fire was most accurate and deadly. + +Using his glasses again, he saw that the disturbance among those +manikins was increasing. They were running here and there, and many +seemed to vanish suddenly--he knew that they were blown away by the +shells. To the right of the great French battery some lighter field guns +were advancing. One drawn by eight horses had not yet unlimbered, and he +saw a shell strike squarely upon it. In the following explosion pieces +of steel whizzed by him and when the smoke cleared away the gun, the +gunners and the horses were all gone. The monster shell had blown +everything to pieces. The other guns hurried on, took up their positions +and began to fire. John shuddered violently, but in a moment or two, he, +too, forgot the little tragedy in the far more gigantic one that was +being played before him. + +He rode back to General Vaugirard and told him that his order had been +obeyed. The general nodded, but did not take his glasses from the +horizon, where a long gray line was beginning to appear against the +green of the earth. "It goes well so far," John heard him say in the +under note which was audible beneath the thunder of the battle. + +In a quarter of an hour the great batteries limbered up again, and once +more the French army went forward, the troops to lie down and wait +again, while the artillery worked with ferocious energy. It was yet a +battle of big guns, at least in the center. The armies were not near +enough to each other for rifles; in truth not near enough yet to be +seen. John, even with his glasses, could only discern the gray line +advancing, he could make little of its form or order or of what it was +trying to do. + +But a light wind was now bringing smoke from one flank where the battle +was far heavier than in the center, and the concussion of the artillery +at that point became so frightful that the air seemed to come in waves +of the utmost violence and to beat upon the drum of the ear with the +force of a hammer. Owing to the wind John could not hear the battle on +the other flank so well, but he believed that it was being fought there +with equal fury and determination. + +He was watching with such intentness that he did not hear the sweep of +an aeroplane behind him, but he did see Lannes run to General +Vaugirard's car and give him a note. + +While the general read and pondered, Lannes turned toward the wheel on +which John sat. Although he tried to preserve calm, John knew that he +was tremendously excited. He had taken off his heavy glasses and his +wonderful gray eyes were flashing. It was obvious to his friend, who now +knew him so well, that he was moved by some tremendous emotion. + +John rode up by the side of Lannes and said: + +"What have you seen, Philip? You can tell a little at least, can't you?" + +"More than a little! A lot! The _Arrow_ and I have looked over a great +area, John! Miles and miles and yet more miles! and wherever we went we +gazed down upon armies locked in battle, and beyond that were other +armies locked in battle, too! The nations meet in wrath! You can't see +it here, nor from anywhere on the earth! It's only in the air high +overhead that one can get even a partial view of its immensity! The +English army is off there on the flank, a full thirty miles away, and +you're not likely to see it today!" + +He would have said more, but General Vaugirard beckoned to him, gave him +a note which he had written hastily, and in a few more minutes Lannes +was flitting like a swallow through the heavens. Then General +Vaugirard's car moved forward and brigade after brigade of the French +army resumed its advance also. + +John felt that the great German machine had been met by a French machine +as great. Perhaps the master mind that thrills through an organism of +steel no less than one of human flesh was on the French side. He did not +know. The invisible hand thrusting forward the French armies was still +invisible to him. Yet he felt with the certainty of conviction that the +eye and the brain of one man were achieving a marvel. In some mysterious +manner the French defense had become an offense. The Republican troops +were now attacking and the Imperial troops were seeking to hold fast. + +He seemed to comprehend it all in an instant, and a mighty joy surged +over him. De Rougemont saw his glistening eye and he asked curiously: + +"What is it that you are feeling so strongly, Mr. Scott?" + +"The thrill of the advance! The unknown plan, whatever it is, is +working! Your nation is about to be saved! I feel it! I know it!" + +De Rougemont gazed at him, and then the light leaped into his own eyes. + +"A prophet! A prophet!" he cried. "Inspired youth speaks!" + +A great crisis may call into being a great impulse, and de Rougemont's +words were at once accepted as truth by all the young aides. Words of +fire, words vital with life had gone forth, predicting their triumph, +and as they rode among the troops carrying orders they communicated +their burning zeal to the men who were already eager for closer battle. + +The storm of missiles from the cannon was increasing rapidly. John now +distinctly saw the huge German masses, not advancing but standing firm +to receive the French attack, their front a vast line of belching guns. +He knew that they would soon be within the area of rifle fire and he +knew with equal truth that it would take the valor of immense numbers, +wielded by the supreme skill of leaders to drive back the Germans. + +The guns, some drawn by horses and others by motors, were moving forward +with them. When the horses were swept away by a shell, men seized the +guns and dragged them. Then they stopped again, took new positions and +renewed the rain of death on the German army. + +They began to hear a whistle and hiss that they knew. It was that of the +bullets, and along the vast front they were coming in millions. But the +French were using their rifles, too, and at intervals the deep +thundering chant of the Marseillaise swept through their ranks. In spite +of shell, shrapnel and bullets, in spite of everything, the French army +in the center was advancing and John believed that the armies on the +other parts of the line were advancing, too. + +The bullets struck around them, and then among them. One aide fell from +his cycle, and lay dead in the road, two more were wounded, but two +hundred thousand men, their artillery blazing death over their heads, +went on straight at the mouths of a thousand cannon. + +Companies and regiments were swept away, but there was no check. Nor did +the other French armies, the huge links in the chain, stop. A feeling of +victory had swept along the whole gigantic battle front. They were +fighting for Paris, for their country, for the soil which they tended, +alive, and in which they slept, dead, and just at the moment when +everything seemed to have been lost they were saving all. The heroic age +of France had come again, and the Third Republic was justifying the +First. + +The battle deepened and thickened to an extraordinary degree, as the +space between the two fronts narrowed. John for the first time saw the +German troops without the aid of glasses. They were mere outlines +against a fiery horizon, reddened by the mouths of so many belching +cannon, but they seemed to him to stand there like a wall. + +Another giant shell burst near them, and two more members of the staff +fell from their cycles, dead before they touched the ground. That +convulsive shudder seized John again, but the crash of tremendous events +was so rapid that fear and horror alike passed in an instant. A piece of +the same shell struck General Vaugirard's car and put it out of action +at once. But the general leaped lightly to the ground, then swung his +immense bulk across one of the riderless motor cycles and advanced with +the surviving members of his staff. Imperturbable, he still swept the +field with his glasses. Two aides were now sent to the right with +messages, and a third, John himself, was despatched to the left on a +similar errand. + +It was John's duty to tell a regiment to bear in further to the left and +close up a vacant spot in the line. He wheeled his cycle into a field, +and then passed between rows of grapevines. The regiment, its ranks much +thinned, was now about a hundred yards away, but shell and bullets alike +were sweeping the distance between. + +Nevertheless, he rode on, his wheel bumping over the rough ground, until +he heard a rushing sound, and then blank darkness enveloped him. He fell +one way, and the motor cycle fell another. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +SEEN FROM ABOVE + + +John's period of unconsciousness was brief. The sweep of air from a +gigantic shell, passing close, had taken his senses for a minute or two, +but he leaped to his feet to find his motor cycle broken and puffing out +its last breath, and himself among the dead and wounded in the wake of +the army which was advancing rapidly. The turmoil was so vast, and so +much dust and burned gunpowder was floating about that he was not able +to tell where the valiant Vaugirard with the remainder of his staff +marched. In front of him a regiment, cut up terribly, was advancing at a +swift pace, and acting under the impulse of the moment he ran forward to +join them. + +When he overtook the regiment he saw that it had neither colonel, nor +captains nor any other officers of high degree. A little man, scarcely +more than a youth, his head bare, his eyes snapping fire, one hand +holding aloft a red cap on the point of a sword, had taken command and +was urging the soldiers on with every fierce shout that he knew. The +men were responding. Command seemed natural to him. Here was a born +leader in battle. John knew him, and he knew that his own prophecy had +been fulfilled. + +"Geronimo!" he gasped. + +But young Bougainville did not see him. He was still shouting to the men +whom he now led so well. The point of the sword, doubtless taken from +the hand of some fallen officer, had pierced the red cap which was +slowly sinking down the blade, but he did not notice it. + +John looked again for his commander, but not seeing him, and knowing how +futile it was now to seek him in all the fiery crush, he resolved to +stay with the young Apache. + +"Geronimo," he cried, and it was the last time he called him by that +name, "I go with you!" + +In all the excitement of the moment young Bougainville recognized him +and something droll flashed in his eyes. + +"Did I boast too much?" he shouted. + +"You didn't!" John shouted back. + +"Come on then! A big crowd of Germans is just over this hill, and we +must smash 'em!" + +John kept by his side, but Bougainville, still waving his sword, while +the red cap sank lower and lower on the blade, addressed his men in +terms of encouragement and affection. + +"Forward, my children!" he shouted. "Men, without fear, let us be the +first to make the enemy feel our bayonets! Look, a regiment on the right +is ahead of you, and another also on the left leads you! Faster! +Faster, my children!" + +An angle of the German line was thrust forward at this point where a +hill afforded a strong position. Bullets were coming from it in showers, +but the Bougainville regiment broke into a run, passed ahead of the +others and rushed straight at the hill. + +It was the first time that men had come face to face in the battle and +now John saw the French fury, the enthusiasm and fire that Napoleon had +capitalized and cultivated so sedulously. Shouting fiercely, they flung +themselves upon the Germans and by sheer impact drove them back. They +cleared the hill in a few moments, triumphantly seized four cannon and +then, still shouting, swept on. + +John found himself shouting with the others. This was victory, the first +real taste of it, and it was sweet to the lips. But the regiment was +halted presently, lest it get too far forward and be cut off, and a +general striding over to Bougainville uttered words of approval that +John could not hear amid the terrific din of so many men in battle--a +million, a million and a half or more, he never knew. + +They stood there panting, while the French line along a front of maybe +fifty miles crept on and on. The French machine with the British wheels +and springs cooeperating, was working beautifully now. It was a match and +more for their enemy. The Germans, witnessing the fire and dash of the +French and feeling their tremendous impact, began to take alarm. It had +not seemed possible to them in those last triumphant days that they +could fail, but now Paris was receding farther and farther from their +grasp. + +John recovered a certain degree of coolness. The fire of the foe was +turned away from them for the present, and, finding that the glasses +thrown over his shoulder, had not been injured by his fall, he examined +the battle front as he stood by the side of Bougainville. The country +was fairly open here and along a range of miles the cannon in hundreds +and hundreds were pouring forth destruction. Yet the line, save where +the angle had been crushed by the rush of Bougainville's regiment, stood +fast, and John shuddered at thought of the frightful slaughter, needed +to drive it back, if it could be driven back at all. + +Then he glanced at the fields across which they had come. For two or +three miles they were sprinkled with the fallen, the red and blue of the +French uniform showing vividly against the green grass. But there was +little time for looking that way and again he turned his glasses in +front. The regiment had taken cover behind a low ridge, and six rapid +firers were sending a fierce hail on the German lines. But the men under +orders from Bougainville, withheld the fire of their rifles for the +present. + +Bougainville himself stood up as became a leader of men, and lowered his +sword for the first time. The cap had sunk all the way down the blade +and picking it off he put it back on his head. He had obtained glasses +also, probably from some fallen officer, and he walked back and forth +seeking a weak spot in the enemy's line, into which he could charge with +his men. + +John admired him. His was no frenzied rage, but a courage, measured and +stern. The springs of power hidden in him had been touched and he stood +forth, a born leader. + +"How does it happen," said John, "that you're in command?" + +"Our officers were all in front," replied Bougainville, "when our +regiment was swept by many shells. When they ceased bursting upon us and +among us the officers were no longer there. The regiment was about to +break. I could not bear to see that, and seizing the sword, I hoisted my +cap upon it. The rest, perhaps, you saw. The men seem to trust me." + +"They do," said John, with emphasis. + +Bougainville, for the time at least, was certainly the leader of the +regiment. It was an incident that John believed possible only in his own +country, or France, and he remembered once more the famous old saying of +Napoleon that every French peasant carried a marshal's baton in his +knapsack. + +Now he recalled, too, that Napoleon had fought some of his greatest +defensive battles in the region they faced. Doubtless the mighty emperor +and his marshals had trod the very soil on which Bougainville and he now +stood. Surely the French must know it, and surely it would give them +superhuman courage for battle. + +"I belong to the command of General Vaugirard," he said to Bougainville. +"I'm serving on his staff, but I was knocked off my motor cycle by the +rush of air from a shell. The cycle was ruined and I was unconscious +for a moment or two. When I revived, my general and his command were +gone." + +"You'd better stay with me a while," said Bougainville. "We're going to +advance again soon. When night comes, if you're still alive, then you +can look for General Vaugirard. The fire of the artillery is increasing. +How the earth shakes!" + +"So it does. I wish I knew what was happening." + +"There comes one of those men in the air. He is going to drop down by +us. Maybe you can learn something from him." + +John felt a sudden wild hope that it was Lannes, but his luck did not +hold good enough for it. The plane was of another shape than the +_Arrow_, and, when it descended to the ground, a man older than Lannes +stepped out upon the grass. He glanced around as if he were looking for +some general of division for whom he had an order, and John, unable to +restrain himself, rushed to him and exclaimed: + +"News! News! For Heaven's sake, give us news! Surely you've seen from +above!" + +The man smiled and John knew that a bearer of bad news would not smile. + +"I'm the friend and comrade of Philip Lannes," continued John, feeling +that all the flying men of France knew the name of Lannes, and that it +would be a password to this man's good graces. + +"I know him well," said the air scout. "Who of our craft does not? My +own name is Caumartin, and I have flown with Lannes more than once in +the great meets at Rheims. In answer to your question I'm able to tell +you that on the wings the soldiers of France are advancing. A wedge has +been thrust between the German armies and the one nearest Paris is +retreating, lest it be cut off." + +Bougainville heard the words, and he ran among the men, telling them. A +fierce shout arose and John himself quivered with feeling. It was +better, far better than he had hoped. He realized now that his courage +before had been the courage of despair. Lannes and he, as a last resort, +had put faith in signs and omens, because there was nothing else to bear +them up. + +"Is it true? Is it true beyond doubt! You've really seen it with your +own eyes?" he exclaimed. + +Caumartin smiled again. His were deep eyes, and the smile that came from +them was reassuring. + +"I saw it myself," he replied. "At the point nearest Paris the gray +masses are withdrawing. I looked directly down upon them. And now, can +you tell me where I can find General Vaugirard?" + +"I wish I could. I'm on his staff, but I've lost him. He's somewhere to +the northward." + +"Then I'll find him." + +Caumartin resumed his place in his machine. John looked longingly at the +aeroplane. He would gladly have gone with Caumartin, but feeling that he +would be only a burden at such a time, he would not suggest it. +Nevertheless he called to the aviator: + +"If you see Philip Lannes in the heavens tell him that his friend John +Scott is here behind a low ridge crested with trees!" + +Caumartin nodded, and as some of the soldiers gave his plane a push he +soared swiftly away in search of General Vaugirard. John watched him a +moment or two and then turned his attention back to the German army in +front of them. + +The thudding of the heavy guns to their left had become so violent that +it affected his nerves. The waves of air beat upon his ears like +storm-driven rollers, and he was glad when Bougainville's regiment moved +forward again. The Germans seemed to have withdrawn some of their force +in the center, and, for a little while, the regiment with which John now +marched was not under fire. + +They heard reserves now coming up behind them, more trains of motor +cars, bearing fresh troops, and batteries of field guns advancing as +fast as they could. Men were busy also stringing telephone wires, and, +presently, they passed a battery of guns of the largest caliber, the +fire of which was directed entirely by telephone. Some distance beyond +it the regiment stopped again. The huge shells were passing over their +heads toward the German lines, and John believed that he could hear and +count every one of them. + +The remains of the regiment now lay down in a dip, as they did not know +anything to do, except to wait for the remainder of the French line to +advance. + +Something struck near them presently and exploded with a crash. Steel +splinters flew, but as they were prone only one man was injured. + +"They're reaching us again with their shell fire," said John. + +"Not at all," said Bougainville. "Look up." + +John saw high in the heavens several black specks, which he knew at +once were aeroplanes. Since the bomb had been dropped from one of them +it was obvious that they were German flyers, and missiles of a like +nature might be expected from the same source. Involuntarily he crouched +close to the ground, and tried to press himself into it. He knew that +such an effort would afford him no protection, but the body sought it +nevertheless. All around him the young French soldiers too were clinging +to Mother Earth. Only Bougainville stood erect. + +John had felt less apprehension under the artillery fire and in the +charge than he did now. He was helpless here when death fell like hail +from the skies, and he quivered in every muscle as he waited. A crash +came again, but the bomb had struck farther away, then a third, and a +fourth, each farther and farther in its turn, and Bougainville suddenly +uttered a shout that was full of vengeance and exultation. + +John looked up. The group of black specks was still in the sky, but +another group was hovering near, and clapping his glasses to his eyes he +saw flashes of light passing between them. + +"You're right, Bougainville! you're right!" he cried, although +Bougainville had not said a word. "The French flyers have come and +there's a fight in the air!" + +He forgot all about the battle on earth, while he watched the combat in +the heavens. Yet it was an affair of only a few moments. The Germans +evidently feeling that they were too far away from their base, soon +retreated. One of their machines turned over on its side and fell like a +shot through space. + +John shuddered, took the glasses down, and, by impulse, closed his eyes. +He heard a shock near him, and, opening his eyes again, saw a huddled +mass of wreckage, from which a foot encased in a broad German shoe +protruded. The ribs of the plane were driven deep into the earth and he +looked away. But a hum and swish suddenly came once more, and a sleek +and graceful aeroplane, which he knew to be the _Arrow_, sank to the +earth close to him. Lannes, smiling and triumphant, stepped forth and +John hailed him eagerly. + +"I met Caumartin in an aerial road," said Lannes, in his best dramatic +manner, "and he described this place, at which you were waiting. As it +was directly on my way I concluded to come by for you. I was delayed by +a skirmish overhead which you may have seen." + +"Yes, I saw it, or at least part of it." + +"I came in at the end only. The Taubes were too presuming. They came +over into our air, but we repelled the attack, and one, as I can see +here, will never come again. I found General Vaugirard, although he is +now two or three miles to your right, and when I deliver a message that +he has given me I return. But I take you with me now." + +John was overjoyed, but he would part from Bougainville with regret. + +"Philip," he said, "here is Pierre Louis Bougainville, whom I met that +day on Montmartre. All the officers of this regiment have been killed +and by grace of courage and intuition he now leads it better than it was +ever led before." + +Lannes extended his hand. Bougainville's met it, and the two closed in +the clasp of those who knew, each, that the other was a man. Then a drum +began to beat, and Bougainville, waving his sword aloft, led his +regiment forward again with a rush. But the _Arrow_, with a hard push +from the last of the soldiers, was already rising, Lannes at the +steering rudder and John in his old place. + +"You can find your cap and coat in the locker," said Lannes without +looking back, and John put them on quickly. His joy and eagerness were +not due to flight from the field of battle, because the heavens +themselves were not safe, but because he could look down upon this field +on which the nations struggled and, to some extent, behold and measure +it with his own eyes. + +The _Arrow_ rose slowly, and John leaned back luxuriously in his seat. +He had a singular feeling that he had come back home again. The sharp, +acrid odor that assailed eye and nostril departed and the atmosphere +grew rapidly purer. The rolling waves of air from the concussion of the +guns became much less violent, and soon ceased entirely. All the smoke +floated below him, while above the heavens were a shining blue, +unsullied by the dust and flame of the conflict. + +"Do you go far, Philip?" John asked. + +"Forty miles. I could cover the distance quickly in the _Arrow_, but on +such a day as this I can't be sure of finding at once the man for whom +I'm looking. Besides, we may meet German planes. You've your automatic +with you?" + +"I'm never without it. I'm ready to help if they come at us. I've been +through so much today that I've become blunted to fear." + +"I don't think we'll meet an enemy, but we must be armed and watchful." + +John had not yet looked down, but he knew that the _Arrow_ was rising +high. The thunder of the battle died so fast that it became a mere +murmur, and the air was thin, pure and cold. When he felt that the +_Arrow_ had reached its zenith he put the glasses to his eyes and looked +over. + +He saw a world spouting fire. Along a tremendous line curved and broken, +thousands of cannon great and small were flashing, and for miles and +miles a continuous coil of whitish smoke marked where the riflemen were +at work. Near the center of the line he saw a vast mass of men advancing +and he spoke of it to Lannes. + +"I've seen it already," said the Frenchman. "That's where a great force +of ours is cutting in between the German armies. It's the movement that +has saved France, and the mind that planned it was worth a million men +to us today." + +"I can well believe it. Now I see running between the hills a shining +ribbon which I take to be a river." + +"That's the Marne. If we can, we'll drive the Germans back across it. +Search the skies that way and see if you can find any of the Taubes." + +"I see some black specks which I take to be the German planes, but they +don't grow." + +"Which indicates that they're not coming any nearer. They've had enough +of us for the present and it's to their interest too to keep over their +own army now. What do you see beneath us?" + +"A great multitude of troops, French, as I can discern the uniform, and +by Jove, Lannes, I can trace far beyond the towers and spires of Paris!" + +"I knew you could. It marks how near the Germans have come to the +capital, but they'll come no nearer. The great days of the French have +returned, and we'll surely drive them upon the Marne." + +"Suppose we fly a little lower, Lannes. Then we can get a better view of +the field as we go along." + +"I'll do as you say, John. I rose so high, because I thought attack here +was less possible, but as no enemy is in sight we'll drop down." + +The _Arrow_ sank gradually, and now both could get a splendid view of a +spectacle, such as no man had ever beheld until that day. The sounds of +battle were still unheard, but they clearly saw the fire of the cannon, +the rapid-firers, and the rifles. It was like a red streak running in +curves and zigzags across fifty or maybe a hundred miles of country. + +"We continue to cut in," said Lannes. "You can see how our armies off +there are marching into that great open space between the Germans. +Unless the extreme German army hastens it will be separated entirely +from the rest. Oh, what a day! What a glorious, magnificent day! A day +unlike any other in the world's story! Our heads in the dust in the +morning and high in the air by night!" + +"But we haven't won yet?" + +"No, but we are winning enough to know that we will win." + +"How many men do you think are engaged in that battle below?" + +"Along all its windings two millions, maybe, or at least a million and a +half anyhow. Perhaps nobody will ever know." + +Then they relapsed into silence for a little while. The _Arrow_ flew +fast and the motor drummed steadily in their ears. Lannes let the +aeroplane sink a little lower, and John became conscious of a new sound, +akin nevertheless to the throb of the motor. It was the concussion of +the battle. The topmost and weakest waves of air hurled off in circles +by countless cannon and rifles were reaching them. But they had been +softened so much by distance that the sound was not unpleasant, and the +_Arrow_ rocked gently as if touched by a light wind. + +John never ceased to watch with his glasses, and in a few minutes he +announced that men in gray were below. + +"I expected that," said Lannes. "This battle line, as you know, is far +from straight, and, in order to reach our destination in the quickest +time possible, we must pass over a portion of the German army, an +extended corner or angle as it were. What are they doing there, John?" + +"Firing about fifty cannon as fast as they can. Back of the cannon is a +great huddle of motors and of large automobile trucks, loaded, I should +say, with ammunition." + +"You're quite sure of what you say?" asked Lannes, after a silence of a +moment or two. + +"Absolutely sure. I fancy that it's an ammunition depot." + +"Then, John, you and I must take a risk. We are to deliver a message, +but we can't let go an opportunity like this. You recall how you threw +the bombs on the forty-two centimeter. I have more bombs here in the +_Arrow_--I never fly now without 'em--little fellows, but tremendously +powerful. I shall dip and when we're directly over the ammunition depot +drop the bombs squarely into the middle of it." + +"I'm ready," said John, feeling alternate thrills of eagerness and +horror, "but Philip, don't you go so near that if the depot blows up it +will blow us up too." + +"Never fear," said Lannes, laughing, not with amusement but with +excitement, "I've no more wish to be scattered through the firmament +than you have. Besides, we've that message to deliver. Do you think the +Germans have noticed us?" + +"No, a lot of smoke from their cannon fire has gathered above them and +perhaps it veils us. Besides, their whole attention must be absorbed by +the French army, and I don't think it likely that they're looking up." + +"But they're bound to see us soon. We have one great advantage, however. +The target is much larger than the forty-two centimeter was, and there +are no Taubes or dirigibles here to drive us off. Ready now, John, and +when I touch the bottom of my loop you throw the bombs. Here they are!" + +Four bombs were pushed to John's side and they lay ready to his grasp. +Then as the _Arrow_ began its downward curve, he laid his glasses aside +and watched. The most advanced German batteries were placed in a pit, +into which a telephone wire ran. Evidently these guns, like the French, +were fired by order from some distant point. John longed to hurl a bomb +at the pit, but the chances were ten to one that he would miss it, and +he held to the ammunition depot, spread over a full acre, as his target. + +Now the Germans saw them. He knew it, as many of them looked up, and +some began to fire at the _Arrow_, but the aeroplane was too high and +swift for their bullets. + +"Now!" said Lannes in sudden, sharp tones. + +The aeroplane dipped with sickening velocity, but John steadied himself, +and watching his chance he threw four bombs so fast that the fourth had +left his hands before the first touched the ground. An awful, rending +explosion followed, and for a minute the _Arrow_ rocked violently, as if +in a hurricane. Then, as the waves of air decreased in violence, it +darted upward on an even keel. + +John saw far below a vast scene of wreckage, amid which lay many dead or +wounded men. Motors were blown to pieces and cannon dismounted. + +"Score heavily for us," said Lannes. "I scarcely hoped for such a goodly +blow as this while we were on our way!" + +John would not look down again. Despite the value of the deed, he +shuddered and he was glad when the _Arrow_ in its swift flight had left +the area of devastation far behind. + +"We're flying over the French now," he said. "So I expected," said +Lannes. "Can you see a hill crested with a low farm house?" + +"Yes," replied John, after looking a little while. "It's straight ahead. +The house is partly hidden by trees." + +"Then that's the place. You wouldn't think we'd come nearly fifty miles, +would you, John?" + +"Fifty miles! It feels more like a thousand!" + +Lannes laughed, this time with satisfaction, not excitement. + +"You'll find there the general to whom we reported first," he said, "and +he'll be glad to see us! I can't tell you how glad he will be. His joy +will be far beyond our personal deserts. It will have little to do with +the fact that you, John Scott, and I, Philip Lannes, have come back to +him." + +The circling _Arrow_ came down in a meadow just behind the house, and +officers rushed forward to meet it. Lannes and John, stepping out, left +it in charge of two of the younger men. Then, proudly waving the others +aside, they walked to the low stone farmhouse, in front of which the +elderly, spectacled general was standing. He looked at Lannes +inquiringly, but the young Frenchman, without a word, handed him a note. + +John watched the general read, and he saw the transformation of the +man's face. Doubting, anxious, worn, it was illumined suddenly. In a +voice that trembled he said to the senior officers who clustered about +him: + +"We're advancing in the center, and on the other flank. Already we've +driven a huge wedge between the German armies, and Paris, nay, France +herself, is saved!" + +The officers, mostly old men, did not cheer, but John had never before +witnessed such relief expressed on human faces. It seemed to him that +they had choked up, and could not speak. The commander held the note in +a shaking hand and presently he turned to Lannes. + +"Your fortune has been great. It's not often that one has a chance to +bear such a message as this." + +"My pride is so high I can't describe it," said Lannes in a dramatic but +sincere tone. + +"Go in the house and an orderly will give food and wine to you and your +comrade. In a half hour, perhaps, I may have another message for you." + +Both John and Lannes needed rest and food, and they obeyed gladly. The +strain upon the two was far greater than they had realized at the time, +and for a few moments they were threatened with collapse which very +strong efforts of the will prevented. They were conscious, too, as they +stood upon the ground, of a quivering, shaking motion. They were +assailed once more by the violent waves of air coming from the +concussion of cannon and rifles past counting. The thin, whitish film +which was a compound of dust and burned gunpowder assailed them again +and lay, bitter, in their mouths and nostrils. + +"The earth shakes too much," said Lannes in a droll tone. "I think we'd +better go back into the unchanging ether, where a man can be sure of +himself." + +"I'm seasick," said John; "who wouldn't be, with ten thousand cannon, +more or less, and a million or two of rifles shaking the planet? I'm +going into the house as fast as I can." + +It was a building, centuries old, of gray crumbling stone, with large, +low rooms, and, to John's amazement, the peasant who inhabited it and +his family were present. The farmer and his wife, both strong and dark, +were about forty, and there were four children, the oldest a girl of +about thirteen. What fear they may have felt in the morning was gone +now, and, as they knew that the French army was advancing, a joy, +reserved but none the less deep, had taken its place. + +John and Lannes sat down at a small table covered with a neat white +cloth, and Madame, walking quickly and lightly, served them with bread, +cold meat and light red wine. The smaller children hovered in the +background and looked curiously at the young foreigner who wore the +French uniform. + +"May I ask your name, Madame?" John asked politely. + +"Poiret," she said. "My man is Jules Poiret, and this farm has been in +his family since the great revolution. You and your comrade came from +the air, as I saw, and you can tell us, can you not, whether the Poiret +farm is to become German or remain French? The enemy has been pushed +back today, but will he come so near to Paris again? Tell me truly, on +your soul, Monsieur!" + +"I don't believe the Germans will ever again be so near to Paris," +replied John with sincerity. "My friend, who is the great Philip Lannes, +the flying man, and I, have looked down upon a battle line fifty, maybe +a hundred miles long, and nearly everywhere the Germans are retreating." + +She bent her head a little as she poured the coffee for them, but not +enough to hide the glitter in her eye. "Perhaps the good God intervened +at the last moment, as Father Hansard promised he would," she said +calmly. "At any rate, the Germans are gone. I gathered as much from +chance words of the generals--never before have so many generals +gathered under the Poiret roof, and it will never happen again--but I +wished to hear it from one who had seen with his own eyes." + +"We saw them withdrawing, Madame, with these two pairs of eyes of ours," +said Lannes. + +"And then Poiret can go back to his work with the vines. Whether it is +war or peace, men must eat and drink, Monsieur." + +"But certainly, Madame, and women too." "It is so. I trust that soon the +Germans will be driven back much faster. The house quivers all the time. +It is old and already several pieces of plaster have fallen." + +Her anxiety was obvious. With the Germans driven back she thought now of +the Poiret homestead. John, in the new strength that had come to him +from food and drink, had forgotten for the moment that ceaseless quiver +of the earth. He held the little bottle aloft and poured a thin stream +of wine into his glass. The red thread swayed gently from side to side. + +"You speak truly, Madame," he said. "The rocking goes on, but I'm sure +that the concussion of the guns will be too far away tonight for you to +feel it." + +They offered her gold for the food and wine, but after one longing +glance she steadfastly refused it. + +"Since you have come across the sea to fight for us," she said to John, +"how could I take your money?" + +Lannes and John returned to the bit of grass in front of the house, +where the elderly general and other generals were still standing and +using their glasses. + +"You are refreshed?" said the general to Lannes. + +"Refreshed and ready to take your orders wherever you wish them to go." + +John stepped aside, while the general talked briefly and in a low tone +to his comrade. He looked upon himself merely as a passenger, or a sort +of help to Lannes, and he would not pry into military secrets. But when +the two rose again in the _Arrow_, the general and all his suite waved +their caps to them. Beyond a doubt, Lannes had done magnificent work +that day, and John was glad for his friend's sake. + +The _Arrow_ ascended at a sharp angle, and then hovered for a little +while in curves and spirals. John saw the generals below, but they were +no longer watching the aeroplane. Their glasses were turned once more to +the battle front. + +"Ultimately we're to reach the commander of the central army, if we +can," said Lannes, "but meanwhile we're to bend in toward the German +lines, in search of your immediate chief, General Vaugirard, who is one +of the staunchest and most daring fighters in the whole French Army. If +we find him at all it's likely that we'll find him farther forward than +any other general." + +"But not any farther than my friend of Montmartre, Bougainville. There's +a remarkable fellow. I saw his military talent the first time I met him. +Or I should better say I felt it rather than saw it. And he was making +good in a wonderful manner today." + +"I believe with you, John, that he's a genius. But if we find General +Vaugirard and then finish our errand we must hasten. It will be night in +two hours." + +He increased the speed of the aeroplane and they flew eastward, +searching all the hills and woods for the command of General Vaugirard. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +IN HOSTILE HANDS + + +The task that lay before the two young men was one of great difficulty. +The battle line was shifting continually, although the Germans were +being pressed steadily back toward the east and north, but among so many +generals it would be hard to find the particular one to whom they were +bearing orders. The commander of the central army was of high +importance, but the fact did not bring him at once before the eye. + +They were to see General Vaugirard, too, but it was possible that he had +fallen. John, though, could not look upon it as a probability. The +general was so big, so vital, that he must be living, and he felt the +same way about Bougainville. It was incredible that fate itself should +snuff out in a day that spark of fire. + +Lannes, uncertain of his course, bore in again toward the German lines, +and dropped as low as he could, compatible with safety from any kind of +shot. John meanwhile scanned every hill and valley wood and field with +his powerful glasses, and he was unable to see any diminution in the +fury of the struggle. The cannon thundered, with all their might, along +a line of scores of miles; rapid firers sent a deadly hail upon the +opposing lines; rifles flashed by the hundred thousand, and here and +there masses of troops closed with the bayonet. + +Seen from a height the battle was stripped of some of its horrors, but +all its magnitude remained to awe those who looked down upon it. From +the high, cold air John could not see pain and wounds, only the swaying +back and forth of the battle lines. All the time he searched attentively +for men who did not wear the red and blue of France, and at last he +said: + +"I've failed to find any sign of the British army." + +"They're farther to the left," replied Lannes. "I caught a glimpse of +their khaki lines this morning. Their regular troops are great fighters, +as our Napoleon himself admitted more than once, and they've never done +better than they're doing today. When I saw them they were advancing." + +"I'm glad of that. It's curious how I feel about the English, Philip. +They've got such a conceit that they irritate me terribly at times, yet +I don't want to see them beaten by any other Europeans. That's our +American privilege." + +"A family feeling, perhaps," said Lannes, laughing, "but we French and +English have been compelled to be allies, and after fighting each other +for a thousand years we're now the best of friends. I think, John, we'll +have to go down and procure information from somebody about our +general. Otherwise we'll never find him." + +"We must be near the center of our army, and that's where he's likely to +be. Suppose we descend in the field a little to the east of us." + +Lannes looked down, and, pronouncing the place suitable, began to drop +in a series of spirals until they rested in a small field that had been +devoted to the growth of vegetables. Here John at once felt the shaking +of the earth, and tasted the bitter odor again. But woods on either side +of them hid the sight of troops, although the sound of the battle was as +great and violent as ever. + +"We seem to have landed on a desert island," said Lannes. + +"So we do," said John. "Evidently there is nobody here to tell us where +we can find our dear and long lost general. I'll go down to the edge of +the nearest wood and see if any of our skirmishers are there." + +"All right, John, but hurry back. I'll hold the _Arrow_ ready for +instant flight, as we can't afford to linger here." + +John ran toward the wood, but before he reached the first trees he +turned back with a shout of alarm. He had caught a glimpse of horses, +helmets and the glittering heads of lances. Moreover, the Uhlans were +coming directly toward him. + +In that moment of danger the young American showed the best that was in +him. Forgetful of self and remembering the importance of Lannes' +mission, he shouted: + +"The Uhlans are upon us, Philip! I can't escape, but you must! Go! Go +at once!" + +Lannes gave one startled glance, and he understood in a flash. He too +knew the vital nature of his errand, but his instant decision gave a +wrench to his whole being. He saw the Uhlans breaking through the woods +and John before them. He was standing beside the _Arrow_, and giving the +machine a sharp push he sprang in and rose at a sharp angle. + +"Up! Up, Philip!" John continued to cry, until the cold edge of a lance +lay against his throat and a brusque voice bade him to surrender. + +"All right, I yield," said John, "but kindly take your lance away. It's +so sharp and cold it makes me feel uncomfortable." + +As he spoke he continued to look upward. The _Arrow_ was soaring higher +and higher, and the Uhlans were firing at it, but they were not able to +hit such a fleeting target. In another minute it was out of range. + +John felt the cold steel come away from his throat, and satisfied that +Lannes with his precious message was safe, he looked at his captors. +They were about thirty in number, Prussian Uhlans. + +"Well," said John to the one who seemed to be their leader, "what do you +want with me?" + +"To hold you prisoner," replied the man, in excellent English--John was +always surprised at the number of people on the continent who spoke +English--"and to ask you why we find an American here in French +uniform." + +The man who spoke was young, blond, ruddy, and his tone was rather +humorous. John had been too much in Germany to hate Germans. He liked +most of them personally, but for many of their ideas, ideas which he +considered deadly to the world, he had an intense dislike. + +"You find me here because I didn't have time to get away," he replied, +"and I'm in a French uniform because it's my fighting suit." + +The young officer smiled. John rather liked him, and he saw, too, that +he was no older than himself. + +"It's lucky for you that you're in some kind of a uniform," the German +said, "or I should have you shot immediately. But I'm sorry we didn't +take the man in the aeroplane instead of you." + +John looked up again. The _Arrow_ had become small in the distant blue. +A whimsical impulse seized him. + +"You've a right to be sorry," he said. "That was the greatest flying man +in the world, and all day he has carried messages, heavy with the fate +of nations. If you had taken him a few moments ago you might have saved +the German army from defeat today. But your chance has gone. If you were +to see him again you would not know him and his plane from others of +their kind." + +The officer's eyes dilated at first. Then he smiled again and stroked +his young mustache. + +"It may be true, as you say," he replied, "but meanwhile I'll have to +take you to my chief, Captain von Boehlen." + +John's heart sank a little when he heard the name von Boehlen. Fortune, +he thought, had played him a hard trick by bringing him face to face +with the man who had least cause to like him. But he would not show it. + +"Very well," he said; "which way?" + +"Straight before you," said the officer. "I'd give you a mount, but it +isn't far. Remember as you walk that we're just behind you, and don't +try to run away. You'd have no chance on earth. My own name is Arnheim, +Wilhelm von Arnheim." + +"And mine's John Scott," said John, as he walked straight ahead. + +They passed through a wood and into another field, where a large body of +Prussian cavalry was waiting. A tall man, built heavily, stood beside a +horse, watching a distant corner of the battle through glasses. John +knew that uncompromising figure at once. It was von Boehlen. + +"A prisoner, Captain," said von Arnheim, saluting respectfully. + +Von Boehlen turned slowly, and a malicious light leaped in his eyes when +he saw John on foot before him, and wholly in his power. + +"And so," he said, "it's young Scott of the hotel in Dresden and of the +wireless station, and you've come straight into my hands!" + +The whimsical humor which sometimes seized John when he was in the most +dangerous situation took hold of him again. It was not humor exactly, +but it was the innate desire to make the best of a bad situation. + +"I'm in your hands," he replied, "but I didn't walk willingly into 'em. +Your lieutenant, von Arnheim here, and his men brought me on the points +of their lances. I'm quite willing to go away again." + +Von Boehlen recognized the spirit in the reply and the malice departed +from his own eyes. Yet he asked sternly: + +"Why do you put on a French uniform and meddle in a quarrel not your +own?" + +"I've made it my own. I take the chances of war." + +"To the rear with him, and put him with the other prisoners," said von +Boehlen to von Arnheim, and the young Prussian and two Uhlans escorted +him to the edge of the field where twenty or thirty French prisoners sat +on the ground. + +"I take it," said von Arnheim, "that you and our captain have met +before." + +"Yes, and the last time it was under circumstances that did not endear +me to him." + +"If it was in war it will not be to your harm. Captain von Boehlen is a +stern but just man, and his conduct is strictly according to our +military code. You will stay here with the other prisoners under guard. +I hope to see you again." + +With these polite words the young officer rode back to his chief, and +John's heart warmed to him because of his kindness. Then he sat down on +the grass and looked at those who were prisoners with him. Most of them +were wounded, but none seemed despondent. All were lying down, some +propped on their elbows, and they were watching and listening with the +closest attention. A half-dozen Germans, rifle in hand, stood near by. + +John took his place on the grass by the side of a fair, slim young man +who carried his left arm in a bandage. + +"Englishman?" said the young man. + +"No, American." + +"But you have been fighting for us, as your uniform shows. What +command?" + +"General Vaugirard's, but I became separated from it earlier in the +day." + +"I've heard of him. Great, fat man, as cool as ice and as brave as a +lion. A good general to serve under. My own name is Fleury, Albert +Fleury. I was wounded and taken early this morning, and the others and I +have been herded here ever since by the Germans. They will not tell us a +word, but I notice they have not advanced." + +"The German army is retreating everywhere. For this day, at least, we're +victorious. Somebody has made a great plan and has carried it through. +The cavalry of the invader came within sight of Paris this morning, but +they won't be able to see it tomorrow morning. Whisper it to the others. +We'll take the good news quietly. We won't let the guards see that we +know." + +The news was circulated in low tones and every one of the wounded forgot +his wound. They spoke among themselves, but all the while the thunder of +the hundred-mile battle went on with unremitting ferocity. John put his +ear to the ground now, and the earth quivered incessantly like a ship +shaken at sea by its machinery. + +The day was now waning fast and he looked at the mass of Uhlans who +stood arrayed in the open space, as if they were awaiting an order. +Lieutenant von Arnheim rode back and ordered the guards to march on with +them. + +There was none too severely wounded to walk and they proceeded in a file +through the fields, Uhlans on all sides, but the great mass behind them, +where their commander, von Boehlen, himself rode. + +The night was almost at hand. Twilight was already coming over the +eastern hills, and one of the most momentous days in the story of man +was drawing to a close. People often do not know the magnitude of an +event until it has passed long since and shows in perspective, but John +felt to the full the result of the event, just as the old Greeks must +have known at once what Salamis or Plataea meant to them. The hosts of +the world's greatest military empire were turned back, and he had all +the certainty of conviction that they would be driven farther on the +next day. + +The little band of prisoners who walked while their Prussian captors +rode, were animated by feelings like those of John. It was the captured +who exulted and the captors who were depressed, though neither expressed +it in words, and the twilight was too deep now for faces to show either +joy or sorrow. + +John and Fleury walked side by side. They were near the same age. Fleury +was an Alpinist from the high mountain region of Savoy and he had +arrived so recently in the main theater of conflict that he knew little +of what had been passing. He and John talked in whispers and they spoke +encouraging words to each other. Fleury listened in wonder to John's +account of his flights with Lannes. + +"It is marvelous to have looked down upon a battle a hundred miles +long," he said. "Have you any idea where these Uhlans intend to take +us?" + +"I haven't. Doubtless they don't know themselves. The night is here now, +and I imagine they'll stop somewhere soon." + +The twilight died in the west as well as the east, and darkness came +over the field of gigantic strife. But the earth continued to quiver +with the thunder of artillery, and John felt the waves of air pulsing in +his ears. Now and then searchlights burned in a white blaze across the +hills. Fields, trees and houses would stand out for a moment, and then +be gone absolutely. + +John's vivid imagination turned the whole into a storm at night. The +artillery was the thunder and the flare of the searchlights was the +lightning. His mind created, for a little while, the illusion that the +combat had passed out of the hands of man and that nature was at work. +He and Fleury ceased to talk and he walked on, thinking little of his +destination. He had no sense of weariness, nor of any physical need at +all. + +Von Arnheim rode up by his side and said: + +"You'll not have to walk much further, Mr. Scott. A camp of ours is just +beyond a brook, not more than a few hundred yards away, and the +prisoners will stay there for the night. I'm sorry to find you among +the French fighting against us. We Germans expected American sympathy. +There is so much German blood in the United States." + +"But, as I told Captain von Boehlen, we're a republic, and we're +democrats. In many of the big ideas there's a gulf between us and +Germany so wide that it can never be bridged. This war has made clear +the enormous difference." + +Von Arnheim sighed. + +"And yet, as a people, we like each other personally," he said. + +"That's so, but as nations we diverge absolutely." + +"Perhaps, I can't dispute it. But here is our camp. You'll be treated +well. We Germans are not barbarians, as our enemies allege." + +John saw fires burning in an ancient wood, through which a clear brook +ran. The ground was carpeted with bodies, which at first he thought were +those of dead men. But they were merely sleepers. German troops in +thousands had dropped in their tracks. It was scarcely sleep, but +something deeper, a stupor of exhaustion so utter, both mental and +physical, that it was like the effect of anesthesia. They lay in every +imaginable position, and they stretched away through the forest in +scores of thousands. + +John and Fleury saw their own place at once. Several hundred men in +French uniforms were lying or sitting on the ground in a great group +near the forest. A few slept, but the others, as well as John could see +by the light of the fires, were wide awake. + +The sight of the brook gave John a burning thirst, and making a sign to +the German guard, who nodded, he knelt and drank. He did not care +whether the water was pure or not, most likely it was not, with armies +treading their way across it, but as it cut through the dust and grime +of his mouth and throat he felt as if a new and more vigorous life were +flowing into his veins. After drinking once, twice, and thrice, he sat +down on the bank with Fleury, but in a minute or two young von Arnheim +came for him. + +"Our commander wishes to talk with you," he said. + +"I'm honored," said John, "but conversation is not one of my strong +points." + +"The general will make the conversation," said von Arnheim, smiling. "It +will be your duty, as he sees it, to answer questions." + +John's liking for von Arnheim grew. He had seldom seen a finer young +man. He was frank and open in manner, and bright blue eyes shone in a +face that bore every sign of honesty. Official enemies he and von +Arnheim were, but real enemies they never could be. + +He divined that he would be subjected to a cross-examination, but he had +no objection. Moreover, he wanted to see a German general of high +degree. Von Arnheim led the way through the woods to a little glade, in +which about a dozen officers stood. One of them, the oldest man present, +who was obviously in command, stood nearest the fire, holding his helmet +in his hand. + +The general was past sixty, of medium height, but extremely broad and +muscular. His head, bald save for a fringe of white hair, had been +reddened by the sun, and his face, with its deep heavy lines and his +corded neck, was red, too. He showed age but not weakness. His eyes, +small, red and uncommonly keen, gazed from under a white bushy thatch. +He looked like a fierce old dragon to John. + +"The American prisoner, sir," said von Arnheim in English to the +general. + +The old man concentrated the stare of his small red eyes upon John for +many long seconds. The young American felt the weight and power of that +gaze. He knew too instinctively that the man before him was a great +fighter, a true representative of the German military caste and system. +He longed to turn his own eyes away, but he resolutely held them steady. +He would not be looked down, not even by an old Prussian general to whom +the fate of a hundred thousand was nothing. + +"Very well, Your Highness, you may stand aside," said the general in a +deep harsh voice. + +Out of the corner of his eye John saw that the man who stood aside was +von Arnheim. "Your Highness!" Then this young lieutenant must be a +prince. If so, some princes were likable. Wharton and Carstairs and he +had outwitted a prince once, but it could not be von Arnheim. He turned +his full gaze back to the general, who continued in his deep gruff +voice, speaking perfect English: + +"I understand that you are an American and your name is John Scott." + +"And duly enrolled and uniformed in the French service," said John, +"You can't shoot me as a _franc tireur_." + +"We could shoot you for anything, if we wished, but such is not our +purpose. I have heard from a captain of Uhlans, Rudolf von Boehlen, a +most able and valuable officer, that you are brave and alert." + +"I thank Captain von Boehlen for his compliment. I did not expect it +from him." + +"Ah, he bears you no malice. We Germans are large enough to admire skill +and courage in others. He has spoken of the affair of the wireless. It +cost us much, but it belongs to the past. We will achieve what we wish." + +John was silent. He believed that these preliminaries on the part of the +old general were intended to create an atmosphere, a belief in his mind +that German power was invincible. + +"We have withdrawn a portion of our force today," continued the general, +"in order to rectify our line. Our army had advanced too far. Tomorrow +we resume our march on Paris." + +John felt that it was an extraordinary statement for an old man, one of +such high rank, the commander of perhaps a quarter of a million +soldiers, to be making to him, a young American, but he held his peace, +awaiting what lay behind it all. + +"Now you are a captive," continued the general, "you will be sent to a +prison, and you will be held there until the end of the war. You will +necessarily suffer much. We cannot help it. Yet you might be sent to +your own country. Americans and Germans are not enemies. I know from +Captain von Boehlen who took you that you have been in an aeroplane with +a Frenchman. Some account of what you saw from space might help your +departure for America." + +And so that was it! Now the prisoner's eye steadily confronted that of +the old general. + +"Your Highness," he said, as he thought that the old man might be a +prince as well as a general, "you have read the history of the great +civil war in my country, have you not?" + +"It was a part of my military duty to study it. It was a long and +desperate struggle with many great battles, but what has it to do with +the present?" + +"Did you ever hear of any traitor on either side, North or South, in +that struggle?" + +The deep red veins in the old general's face stood out, but he gave no +other sign. + +"You prefer, then," he said, "to become a charge upon our German +hospitality. But I can say that your refusal will not make terms harder +for you. Lieutenant von Arnheim, take him back to the other prisoners." + +"Thank you, sir," said John, and he gave the military salute. He could +understand the old man's point of view, rough and gruff though he was, +and he was not lacking in a certain respect for him. The general +punctiliously returned the salute. + +"You've made a good impression," said von Arnheim, as they walked away +together. + +"I gather," said John, "from a reference by the general, that you're a +prince." + +Von Arnheim looked embarrassed. + +"In a way I am," he admitted, "but ours is a mediatized house. Perhaps +it doesn't count for much. Still, if it hadn't been for this war I might +have gone to your country and married an heiress." + +His eyes were twinkling. Here, John thought was a fine fellow beyond +question. + +"Perhaps you can come after the war and marry one," he said. "Personally +I hope you'll have the chance." + +"Thanks," said von Arnheim, a bit wistfully, "but I'm afraid now it will +be a long time, if ever. I need not seek to conceal from you that we +were turned back today. You know it already." + +"Yes, I know it," said John, speaking without any trace of exultation, +"and I'm willing to tell you that it was one of the results I saw from +the aeroplane. Can I ask what you intend to do with the prisoners you +have here, including myself?" + +"I do not know. You are to sleep where you are tonight. Your bed, the +earth, will be as good as ours, and perhaps in the morning we'll find an +answer to your question." + +Von Arnheim bade him a pleasant good night and turned to duties +elsewhere. John watched him as he strode away, a fine, straight young +figure. He had found him a most likable man, and he was bound to admit +that there was much in the German character to admire. But for the +present it was--in his view--a Germany misled. + +The prisoners numbered perhaps six hundred, and at least half of them +were wounded. John soon learned that the hurt usually suffered in +stoical silence. It was so in the great American civil war, and it was +true now in the great European war. + +Rough food was brought to them by German guards, and those who were able +drank at the brook. Water was served to the severely wounded by their +comrades in tin cups given to them by the Germans, and then all but a +few lay on the grass and sought sleep. + +John and his new friend, Fleury, were among those who yet sat up and +listened to the sounds of battle still in progress, although it was far +in the night. It was an average night of late summer or early autumn, +cool, fairly bright, and with but little wind. But the dull, moaning +sound made by the distant cannonade came from both sides of them, and +the earth yet quivered, though but faintly. Now and then, the +searchlights gleamed against the background of darkness, but John felt +that the combat must soon stop, at least until the next day. The German +army in which he was a prisoner had ceased already, but other German +armies along the vast line fought on, failing day, by the light which +man himself had devised. + +Fleury was intelligent and educated. Although it was bitter to him to be +a prisoner at such a time, he had some comprehension of what had +occurred, and he knew that John had been in a position to see far more +than he. He asked the young American many questions about his flight in +the air, and about Philip Lannes, of whom he had heard. + +"It was wonderful," he said, "to look down on a battle a hundred miles +long." + +"We didn't see all of it," said John, "but we saw it in many places, and +we don't know that it was a hundred miles long, but it must have been +that or near it." + +"And the greatest day for France in her history! What mighty +calculations must have been made and what tremendous marchings and +combats must have been carried out to achieve such a result." + +"One of the decisive battles of history, like Plataea, or the Metaurus or +Gettysburg. There go the Uhlans with Captain von Boehlen at their head. +Now I wonder what they mean to do!" + +A thousand men, splendidly mounted and armed, rode through the forest. +The moonlight fell on von Boehlen's face and showed it set and grim. +John felt that he was bound to recognize in him a stern and resolute +man, carrying out his own conceptions of duty. Nor had von Boehlen been +discourteous to him, although he might have felt cause for much +resentment. The Prussian glanced at him as he passed, but said nothing. +Soon he and his horsemen passed out of sight in the dusk. + +John, wondering how late it might be, suddenly remembered that he had a +watch and found it was eleven o'clock. + +"An hour of midnight," he said to Fleury. + +Most all the French stretched upon the ground were now in deep slumber, +wounded and unwounded alike. The sounds of cannon fire were sinking +away, but they did not die wholly. The faint thunder of the distant +guns never ceased to come. But the campfire, where he knew the German +generals slept or planned, went out, and darkness trailed its length +over all this land which by night had become a wilderness. + +John was able to trace dimly the sleeping figures of Germans in the +dusk, sunk down upon the ground and buried in the sleep or stupor of +exhaustion. As they lay near him so they lay in the same way in hundreds +of thousands along the vast line. Men and horses, strained to their last +nerve and muscle, were too tired to move. It seemed as if more than a +million men lay dead in the fields and woods of Northeastern France. + +John, who had been wide awake, suddenly dropped on the ground where the +others were stretched. He collapsed all in a moment, as if every drop of +blood had been drained suddenly from his body. Keyed high throughout the +day, his whole system now gave way before the accumulated impact of +events so tremendous. The silence save for the distant moaning that +succeeded the roar of a million men or more in battle was like a +powerful drug, and he slept like one dead, never moving hand or foot. + +He was roused shortly before morning by some one who shook him gently +but persistently, and at last he sat up, looking around in the dim light +for the person who had dragged him back from peace to a battle-mad +world. He saw an unkempt, bearded man in a French uniform, one sleeve +stained with blood, and he recognized Weber, the Alsatian. + +"Why, Weber!" he exclaimed, "they've got you, too! This is bad! They +may consider you, an Alsatian, a traitor, and execute you at once!" + +Weber smiled in rather melancholy fashion, and said in a low tone: + +"It's bad enough to be captured, but I won't be shot Nobody here knows +that I'm an Alsatian, and consequently they will think I'm a Frenchman. +If you call me anything, call me Fernand, which is my first name, but +which they will take for the last." + +"All right, Fernand. I'll practice on it now, so I'll make no slip. How +did you happen to be taken?" + +"I was in a motor car, a part of a train of about a hundred cars. There +were seven in it besides myself. We were ordered to cross a field and +join a line of advancing infantry. When we were in the middle of the +field a masked German battery of rapid-firers opened on us at short +range. It was an awful experience, like a stroke of lightning, and I +don't think that more than a dozen of us escaped with our lives. I was +wounded in the arm and taken before I could get out of the field. I was +brought here with some other prisoners and I have been sleeping on the +ground just beyond that hillock. I awoke early, and, walking the little +distance our guards allow, I happened to recognize your figure lying +here. I was sorry and yet glad to see you, sorry that you were a +prisoner, and glad to find at least one whom I knew, a friend." + +John gave Weber's hand a strong grasp. + +"I can say the same about you," he said warmly. "We're both prisoners, +but yesterday was a magnificent day for France and democracy." + +"It was, and now it's to be seen what today will be." + +"I hope and believe it will be no less magnificent." + +"I learned that you were taken just after you alighted from an +aeroplane, and that a man with you escaped in the plane. At least, I +presume it was you, as I heard the Germans talking of such a person and +I knew of your great friendship for Philip Lannes. Lannes, of course was +the one who escaped." + +"A good surmise, Fernand. It was no less a man than he." + +Weber's eyes sparkled. + +"I was sure of it," he said. "A wonderful fellow, that Lannes, perhaps +the most skillful and important bearer of dispatches that France has. +But he will not forget you, Mr. Scott. He knows, of course, where you +were taken, and doubtless from points high in the air he has traced the +course of this German army. He will find time to come for you. He will +surely do so. He has a feeling for you like that of a brother, and his +skill in the air gives him a wonderful advantage. In all the history of +the world there have never before been any scouts like the aeroplanes." + +"That's true, and that, I think, is their chief use." + +Impulse made John look up. The skies were fast beginning to brighten +with the first light in the east, and large objects would be visible +there. But he saw nothing against the blue save two or three captive +balloons which floated not far above the trees inside the German lines. +He longed for a sight of the _Arrow_. He believed that he would know its +shape even high in the heavens, but they were speckless. + +The Alsatian, whose eyes followed his, shook his head. + +"He is not there, Mr. Scott," he said, "and you will not see him today, +but I have a conviction that he will come, by night doubtless." + +John lowered his eyes and his feeling of disappointment passed. It had +been foolish of him to hope so soon, but it was only a momentary +impulse, Lannes could not seek him now, and even if he were to come +there would be no chance of rescue until circumstances changed. + +"Doubtless you and he were embarked on a long errand when you were +taken," said Weber. + +"We were carrying a message to the commander of one of the French +armies, but I don't know the name of the commander, I don't know which +army it is, and I don't know where it is." + +Weber laughed. + +"But Lannes knew all of those things," he said. "Oh, he's a close one! +He wouldn't trust such secrets not even to his brother-in-arms." + +"Nor should he do so. I'd rather he'd never tell them to me unless he +thought it necessary." + +"I agree with you exactly, Mr. Scott. Hark! Did you hear it? The battle +swells afresh, and it's not yet full day!" + +The roaring had not ceased, but out of the west rose a sound, louder +yet, deep, rolling and heavy with menace. It was the discharge of a +great gun and it came from a point several miles away. + +"We don't know who fired that," said Weber, "It may be French, English +or German, but it's my opinion that we'll hear its like in our forest +all day long, just as we did yesterday. However, it shall not keep me +from bathing my face in this brook." + +"Nor me either," said John. + +The cold water refreshed and invigorated him, and as he stooped over the +brook, he heard other cannon. They seemed to him fairly to spring into +action, and, in a few moments, the whole earth was roaring again with +the huge volume of their fire. + +Other prisoners, wounded and unwounded, awakened by the cannon, strolled +down to the brook and dipped into its waters. + +"I'd better slip back to my place beyond the hillock," said Weber. +"We're in two lots, we prisoners, and I belong in the other lot. I don't +think our guards have noticed our presence here, and it will be safer +for me to return. But it's likely that we'll all be gathered into one +body soon, and I'll help you watch for Lannes." + +"I'll be glad of your help," said John sincerely. "We must escape. In +all the confusion of so huge a battle there ought to be a chance." + +Weber slipped away in the crowd now hurrying down to the stream, and in +a few moments John was joined by Fleury, whose attention was centered on +the sounds of the distant battle. He deemed it best to say nothing to +him of Weber, who did not wish to be known as an Alsatian. Fleury's +heavy sleep had made him strong and fresh again, but he was in a fury at +his helplessness. + +"To think of our being tied here at such a time," he said. "France and +England are pushing the battle again! I know it, and we're helpless, +mere prisoners!" + +"Still," said John, "while we can't fight we may see things worth +seeing. Perhaps it's not altogether our loss to be inside the German +army on such a day." + +Fleury could not reconcile himself to such a view, but he sought to make +the best of it, and he was cheered, too, by the vast increase in the +volume of the cannon fire. Before the full day had crossed from east to +west the great guns were thundering again along the long battle line. +But in their immediate vicinity there was no action. All the German +troops here seemed to be resting on their arms. No Uhlans were visible +and John judged that the detachment under von Boehlen, having gone forth +chiefly for scouting purposes, had not yet returned. + +They received bread, sausage and coffee for breakfast from one of the +huge kitchen automobiles, and nearly all ate with a good appetite. Their +German captors did not treat them badly, but John, watching both +officers and men, did not see any elation. He had no doubt that the +officers were stunned by the terrible surprise of the day before, and as +for the men, they would know nothing. He had seen early that the Germans +were splendid troops, disciplined, brave and ingenious, but the habit of +blind obedience would blind them also to the fact that fortune had +turned her face away from them. + +He wished that his friend von Arnheim--friend he regarded him--would +appear and tell him something about the battle, but his wish did not +come true for an hour and meanwhile the whole heavens resounded with the +roar of the battle, while distant flashes from the guns could be seen on +either flank. + +The young German, glasses in hand, evidently seeking a good view, walked +to the crest of the hillock behind which Weber had disappeared. John +presumed enough on their brief friendship to call to him. + +"Do you see anything of interest?" he asked. + +Von Arnheim nodded quickly. + +"I see the distant fringe of a battle," he replied amiably, "but it's +too early in the morning for me to pass my judgment upon it." + +"Nevertheless you can look for a day of most desperate struggle!" + +Von Arnheim nodded very gravely. + +"Men by tens of thousands will fall before night," he said. + +As if to confirm his words, the roar of the battle took a sudden and +mighty increase, like a convulsion. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE TWO PRINCES + + +John sat with the other prisoners for more than two hours listening to +the thunder of the great battle or rather series of battles which were +afterwards classified under the general head the Battle of the Marne. He +was not a soldier, merely a civilian serving as a soldier, but he had +learned already to interpret many of the signs of combat. There was an +atmospheric feeling that registered on a sensitive mind the difference +between victory and defeat, and he was firm in the belief that as +yesterday had gone today was going. Certainly this great German army +which he believed to be in the center was not advancing, and something +of a character most menacing was happening to the wings of the German +force. He read it in the serious, preoccupied faces of the officers who +passed near. There was not a smile on the face of the youngest of them +all, but deepest anxiety was written alike on young and old. + +John and Fleury sat together at the edge of the brook, and for a while +forgot their chagrin at not being on the battle line. The battle itself +which they could not see, but which they could hear, absorbed them so +thoroughly that they had no time to think of regrets. + +John had thought that man's violence, his energy in destruction on the +first day could not be equalled, but it seemed to him now that the +second day surpassed the first. The cannon fire was distant, yet the +waves of air beat heavily upon them, and the earth shook without +ceasing. Wisps of smoke floated toward them and the air was tainted +again with the acrid smell of burned gunpowder. + +"You're a mountaineer, Fleury, you told me," said Scott, "and you should +be able to judge how sound travels through gorges. I suppose you yodel, +of course?" + +"Yodel, what's that?" + +"To make a long singing cry on a peak which is supposed to reach to +somebody on another peak who sends back the same kind of a singing cry. +We have a general impression in America that European mountaineers don't +do much but stand in fancy costumes on crests and ridges and yodel to +one another." + +"It may have been so once," said the young Savoyard, "but this is a bad +year for yodeling. The voice of the cannon carries so far that the voice +of man doesn't amount to much. But what sound did you want me to +interpret?" + +"That of the cannon. Does its volume move eastward or westward? I should +think it's much like your mountain storms and you know how they travel +among the ridges." + +"The comparison is just, but I can't yet tell any shifting of the +artillery fire. The wind brings the sound toward us, and if there's any +great advance or retreat I should be able to detect it. I should say +that as far as the second day is concerned nothing decisive has happened +yet." + +"Do you know this country?" + +"A little. My regiment marched through here about three weeks ago and we +made two camps not far from this spot. This is the wood of Senouart, and +the brook here runs down to the river Marne." + +"And we're not far from that river. Then we've pressed back the Germans +farther than I thought. It's strange that the German army here does not +move." + +"It's waiting, and I fancy it doesn't know what to do. I've an idea that +our victory yesterday was greater than the French and British have +realized, but which the Germans, of course, understand. Why do they +leave us here, almost neglected, and why do their officers walk about, +looking so doubtful and anxious? I've heard that the Germans were +approaching Paris with five armies. It may be that we've cut off at +least one of those armies and that it's in mortal danger." + +"It may be so. But have you thought, Fleury, of the extraordinary +difference between this morning and yesterday morning?" + +"I have. In conditions they're worlds apart. Hark! Listen now, Scott, my +friend!" + +He lay on the grass and put his ear to the ground, just as John had +often done. Listening intently for at least two minutes, he announced +with conviction that the cannonade was moving eastward. + +"Which means that the Germans are withdrawing again?" said John. + +"Undoubtedly," said Fleury, his face glowing. + +They listened a quarter of an hour longer, and John himself was then +able to tell that the battle line was shifting. The Germans elsewhere +must have fallen back several miles, but the army about him did not yet +move. He caught a glimpse of the burly general walking back and forth in +the forest, his hands clasped behind him, and a frown on his broad, +fighting face. He would walk occasionally to a little telephone station, +improvised under the trees--John could see the wires stretching away +through the forest--and listen long and attentively. But when he put +down the receiver the same moody look was invariably on his face, and +John was convinced as much by his expression as by the sound of the guns +that affairs were not going well with the Germans. + +Another long hour passed and the sun moved on toward noon, but a German +army of perhaps a quarter of a million men lay idle in the forest of +Senouart, as John now called the whole region. + +Presently the general walked down the line and John lost sight of him. +But Weber reappeared, coming from the other side of the hillock, and +John was glad to see him, since Fleury had gone back to attend to a +wounded friend. + +"There doesn't seem to be as much action here as I expected," said +Weber, cheerfully, sitting down on the grass beside young Scott. + +"But they're shaking the world there! and there!" said John, nodding to +right and to left. + +"So they are. This is a most extraordinary reversal, Mr. Scott, and I +can't conceive how it was brought about. Some mysterious mind has made +and carried through a plan that was superbly Napoleonic. I'd give much +to know how it was done." + +John shook his head. + +"I know nothing of it," he said. + +"But doubtless your friend Lannes does. What a wonderful thing it is to +carry through the heavens the dispatches which may move forward a +million armed men." + +"I don't know anything about Lannes' dispatches." + +"Nor do I, but I can make a close guess, just as you can. He's surely +hovering over the battle field today, and as I said last night he +certainly has some idea where you are, and sooner or later will come for +you." + +John looked up, but again the heavens were bare and clear. Then he +looked down and saw walking near them a heavy, middle-aged, bearded man +to whom all the German officers paid great deference. The man's manner +was haughty and overbearing, and John understood at once that in the +monarchical sense he was a personage. + +"Do you know the big fellow there?" he said to Weber. "Have you heard +anyone speak of him?" + +"I saw him this morning, and one of the guards told us who he is. That +is Prince Karl of Auersperg. The house of Auersperg is one of the +oldest in Germany, much older than the Emperor's family, the +Hohenzollerns. I don't suppose the world contains any royal blood more +ancient than that of Prince Karl." + +"Evidently he feels that it's so. I'm getting used to princes, but our +heavy friend there must be something of a specialist in the princely +line. I should judge from his manner that he is not only the oldest man +on earth, speaking in terms of blood, but the owner of the earth as +well." + +"The Auerspergs have an immense pride." + +"I can see it, but a lot of pride fell before Paris yesterday, and a lot +more is falling among these hills and forests today. There seems to be a +lot of difference between princes, the Arnheims and the Auerspergs, for +instance." + +Then a sudden thought struck John. It had the vaguest sort of basis, but +it came home to him with all the power of conviction. + +"I wonder if Prince Karl of Auersperg once owned a magnificent armored +automobile," he said. + +Weber looked puzzled, and then his eyes lightened. + +"Ah, I know what you mean!" he exclaimed. "The one in which we took that +flight with Carstairs the Englishman and Wharton the American. It +belonged to a prince, without doubt, yes. But no, it couldn't have been +Prince Karl of Auersperg who owned the machine." + +"I'm not so sure. I've an intuition that it is he. Besides, he looks +like just the kind of prince from whom I'd like to take his best +automobile, also everything else good that he might happen to have. I +shall feel much disappointed if this proves not to be our prince." + +"You Americans are such democrats." + +"I don't go so far as to say a man is necessarily bad because of his +high rank, but as I reminded you a little while ago, there are princes +and princes. The ancient house of Auersperg as it walks up and down, +indicating its conviction of its own superiority to everything else on +earth, does not please me." + +"The Uhlans are coming back!" exclaimed Weber in tones of excitement. + +"And that's von Boehlen at their head! I'd know his figure as far as I +could see it! And they've had a brush, too! Look at the empty saddles +and the wounded men! As sure as we live they've run into the French +cavalry and then they've run out again!" + +The Uhlans were returning at a gallop, and the German officers of high +rank were crowding forward to meet them. It was obvious to every one +that they had received a terrible handling, but John knew that von +Boehlen was not a man to come at a panicky gallop. Some powerful motive +must send him so fast. + +He saw the Prussian captain spring from his horse and rush to a little +group composed of the general, the prince and several others of high +rank who had drawn closely together at his coming. + +Von Boehlen was wounded slightly, but he stood erect as he saluted the +commander and talked with him briefly and rapidly. John's busy and +imaginative mind was at work at once with surmises, and he settled upon +one which he was sure must be the truth. The French advance in the +center was coming, and this German army also must soon go into action. + +He was confirmed in his belief by a hurried order to the guards to go +eastward with the prisoners. As the captives, the wounded and the +unwounded, marched off through the forest of Senouart they heard at a +distance, but behind them, the opening of a huge artillery fire. It was +so tremendous that they could feel the shaking of the earth as they +walked, and despite the hurrying of their guards they stopped at the +crest of a low ridge to look back. + +They gazed across a wide valley toward high green hills, along which +they saw rapid and many flashes. John longed now for the glasses which +had been taken from him when he was captured, but he was quite sure that +the flashes were made by French guns. From a point perhaps a mile in +front of the prisoners masked German batteries were replying. Fleury +with his extraordinary power of judging sound was able to locate these +guns with some degree of approximation. + +"Look! the aeroplanes!" said John, pointing toward the hills which he +now called to himself the French line. + +Numerous dark shapes, forty or fifty at least, appeared in the sky and +hovered over the western edge of the wide, shallow basin. John was sure +that they were the French scouts of the blue, appearing almost in line +like troops on the ground, and his heart gave a great throb. No doubt +could be left now, that this German army was being attacked in force +and with the greatest violence. It followed then that the entire German +line was being assailed, and that the French victory was continuing its +advance. The Republic had rallied grandly and was hurling back the +Empire in the most magnificent manner. + +All those emotions of joy and exultation that he had felt the day before +returned with increased force. In daily contact he liked Germans as well +as Frenchmen, but he thought that no punishment could ever be adequate +for the gigantic crimes of kings. Napoleon himself had been the champion +of democracy and freedom, until he became an emperor and his head +swelled so much with success that he thought of God and himself +together, just as the Kaiser was now thinking. It was a curious +inversion that the French who were fighting then to dominate Europe were +fighting now to prevent such a domination. But it was now a great French +republican nation remade and reinvigorated, as any one could see. + +The guards hurried them on again. Another mile and they stopped once +more on the crest of a low hill, where it seemed that they would remain +some time, as the Germans were too busy with a vast battle to think much +about a few prisoners. It was evident that the whole army was engaged. +The old general, the other generals, the princes and perhaps dukes and +barons too, were in the thick of it. John's heart was filled with an +intense hatred of the very name of royalty. Kings and princes could be +good men personally, but as he saw its work upon the huge battle fields +of Europe he felt that the institution itself was the curse of the +earth. + +"We shall win again today," said Fleury, rousing him from his +absorption. "Look across the fields, Scott, my friend, and see how those +great masses of infantry charging our army have been repulsed." + +It was a far look, and at the distance the German brigades seemed to be +blended together, but the great gray mass was coming back slowly. He +forgot all about himself and his own fate in his desire to see every act +of the gigantic drama as it passed before him. He took no thought of +escape at present, nor did Fleury, who stood beside him. The fire of the +guns great and small had now blended into the usual steady thunder, +beneath which human voices could be heard. + +"We don't have the forty-two centimeters, nor the great siege guns," +said Fleury, "but the French field artillery is the best in the world. +It's undoubtedly holding back the German hosts and covering the French +advance." + +"That's my opinion, too," said John. "I saw its wonderful work in the +retreat toward Paris. I think it saved the early French armies from +destruction." + +The German army was made of stern material. Having planted its feet here +it refused to be driven back. Its cannon was a line of flaming +volcanoes, its cavalry charged again and again into the face of death, +and its infantry perished in masses, but the stern old general spared +nothing. Passing up and down the lines, listening at the telephone and +receiving the reports of air scouts and land scouts, he always hurled +in fresh troops at the critical points and Fritz and Karl and Wilhelm +and August, sober and honest men, went forward willingly, sometimes +singing and sometimes in silence, to die for a false and outworn system. +John as a prisoner had a better view than he would have had if with the +French army. In a country open now he could see a full mile to right and +left, where the German hosts marched again and again to attack, and +while the French troops were too far away for his eyes he beheld the +continuous flare of their fire, like a broad red ribbon across the whole +western horizon. + +The passing of time was nothing to him. He forgot all about it in his +absorption. But the sun climbed on, afternoon came, and still the battle +at this point raged, the French unable to drive the Germans farther and +the Germans unable to stop the French attacks. John roused himself and +endeavored to dissociate the thunder on their flanks from that in front, +and, after long listening, he was able to make the separation, or at +least he thought so. He knew now that the struggle there was no less +fierce than the one before him. + +The Kaiser himself must be present with one or the other of these +armies, and a man who had talked for more than twenty years of his +divine right, his shining armor, his invincible sword and his mailed +fist must be raging with the bitterness of death to find that he was +only a mortal like other mortals, and that simple French republicans +were defeating the War Lord, his Grand Army and the host of kings, +princes, dukes, barons, high-born, very high-born, and all the other +relics of medievalism. Dipped to the heel and beyond in the fountain of +democracy, John could not keep from feeling a fierce joy as he saw with +his own eyes the Germans fighting in the utmost desperation, not to take +Paris and destroy France, but to save themselves from destruction. + +The afternoon, slow and bright, save for the battle, dragged on. Scott +and Fleury kept together. Weber appeared once more and spoke rather +despondently. He believed that the Germans would hold fast, and might +even resume the offensive toward Paris again, but Fleury shook his head. + +"Today is like yesterday," he said. + +"How can you tell?" asked Weber. + +"Because the fire on both flanks is slowly moving eastward, that is, the +Germans there are yielding ground. My ears, trained to note such things, +tell me so. My friend, I am not mistaken." + +He spoke gravely, without exultation, but John took fresh hope from his +words. Toward night the fire in their front died somewhat, and after +sunset it sank lower, but they still heard a prodigious volume of firing +on both flanks. John remembered then that they had eaten nothing since +morning, but when some of the prisoners who spoke German requested food +it was served to them. + +Night came over what seemed to be a drawn battle at this point, and +after eating his brief supper John saw the automobiles and stretchers +bringing in the wounded. They passed him in thousands and thousands, +hurt in every conceivable manner. At first he could scarcely bear to +look at them, but it was astonishing how soon one hardened to such +sights. + +The wounded were being carried to improvised hospitals in the rear, but +so far as John knew the dead were left on the field. The Germans with +their usual thorough system worked rapidly and smoothly, but he noticed +that the fires were but very few. There was but little light in the wood +of Senouart or the hills beyond, and there was little, too, on the +ridges that marked the French position. + +John kept near the edges of the space allotted to the prisoners, hoping +that he might again see von Arnheim. He had discovered early that the +Germans were unusually kind to Americans, and the fact that he had been +taken fighting against them did not prevent them from showing generous +treatment. The officer in charge of the guard even wanted to talk to him +about the war and prove to him how jealousy had caused the other nations +to set upon Germany. But John evaded him and continued to look for the +young prince who was serving as a mere lieutenant. + +It was about an hour after dark when he caught his first glimpse of von +Arnheim, and he was really glad to see that he was not wounded. + +"I've come to tell you, Mr. Scott," said von Arnheim, "that all of you +must march at once. You will cross the Marne, and then pass as prisoners +into Germany. You will be well treated there and I think you can +probably secure your release on condition that you return to your own +country and take no further part in the war." + +John shook his head. + +"I don't expect any harshness from the Germans," he said, "but I'm in +this war to stay, if the bullets and shells will let me. I warn you now +that I'm going to escape." + +Von Arnheim laughed pleasantly. + +"It's fair of you to give us warning of your intentions," he said, "but +I don't think you'll have much chance. You must get ready to start at +once." + +"I take it," said John, "that our departure means the departure of the +German army also." + +Von Arnheim opened his mouth to speak, but he closed it again suddenly. + +"It's only a deduction of mine," said John. + +Von Arnheim nodded in farewell and hurried away. + +"Now I'm sure," said John to Fleury a few minutes later, "that this army +is going to withdraw." + +"I think so too," said Fleury. "I can yet hear the fire of the cannon on +either flank and it has certainly moved to the east. In my opinion, my +friend, both German wings have been defeated, and this central army is +compelled to fall back because it's left without supports. But we'll +soon see. They can't hide from us the evidences of retreat." + +The prisoners now marched in a long file in the moonlight across the +fields, and John soon recognized the proof that Fleury was right. The +German army was retreating. There were innumerable dull, rumbling +sounds, made by the cannon and motors of all kinds passing along the +roads, and at times also he heard the heavy tramp of scores of +thousands marching in a direction that did not lead to Paris. + +John began to think now of Lannes. Would he come? Was Weber right when +he credited to him a knowledge near to omniscience? How was it possible +for him to pick out a friend in all that huge morass of battle! And yet +he had a wonderful, almost an unreasoning faith in Philip, and, as +always when he thought of him, he looked up at the heavens. + +It was an average night, one in which large objects should be visible in +the skies, and he saw several aeroplanes almost over their heads, while +the rattle of a dirigible came from a point further toward the east. + +The aeroplane was bound to be German, but as John looked he saw a sleek +shape darting high over them all and flying eastward. Intuition, or +perhaps it was something in the motion and shape of the machine, made +him believe it was the _Arrow_. It must be the _Arrow_! And Lannes must +be in it! High over the army and high over the German planes it darted +forward like a swallow and disappeared in a cloud of white mist. His +hair lifted a little, and a thrill ran down his spine. + +He still looked up as he walked along, and there was the sleek shape +again! It had come back out of the white mist, and was circling over the +German planes, flying with the speed and certainty of an eagle. He saw +three of the German machines whirl about and begin to mount as if they +would examine the stranger. But the solitary plane began to rise again +in a series of dazzling circles. Up, up it went, as if it would +penetrate the last and thinnest layer of air, until it reached the dark +and empty void beyond. + +The _Arrow_--he was sure it could be no other--was quickly lost in the +infinite heights, and then the German planes were lost, too, but they +soon came back, although the _Arrow_ did not. It had probably returned +to some point over the French line or had gone eastward beyond the +Germans. + +John felt that he had again seen a sign. He remembered how he and Lannes +had drawn hope from omens when they were looking at the Arc de Triomphe, +and a similar hope sprang up now. Weber was right! Lannes would come to +his rescue. Some thought or impulse yet unknown would guide him. + +Light clouds now drifted up from the southwest, and all the aeroplanes +were hidden, but the heavy murmur of the marching army went on. The +puffing and clashing of innumerable automobiles came from the roads +also, though John soon ceased to pay attention to them. As the hours +passed, he felt an increased weariness. He had sat still almost the +whole day, but the strain of the watching and waiting had been as great +as that of the walking now was. He wondered if the guards would ever let +them stop. + +They waded another brook, passed through another wood and then they were +ordered to halt. The guards announced that they could sleep, as they +would go no farther that night. The men did not lie down. They fell, and +each lay where he fell, and in whatever position he had assumed when +falling. + +John was conscious of hearing the order, of striking the grass full +length, and he knew nothing more until the next morning when he was +aroused by Fleury. He saw a whitish dawn with much mist floating over +the fields, and he believed that a large river, probably the Marne, must +be near. + +As far as he could see the ground was covered with German soldiers. They +too had dropped at the command to stop, and had gone to sleep as they +were falling. The majority of them still slept. + +"What is it, Fleury? Why did you wake me up?" asked John. + +"The river Marne is close by, and I'm sure that the Germans are going to +retreat across it. I had an idea that possibly we might escape while +there's so much mist. They can't watch us very closely while they have +so much else to do, and doubtless they would care but little if some of +us did escape." + +"We'll certainly look for the chance. Can you see any sign of the French +pursuit?" + +"Not yet, but our people will surely follow. They're still at it already +on the flanks!" + +The distant thunder of cannon came from both right and left. + +"A third day of fighting is at hand," said Fleury. + +"And it will be followed by a fourth." + +"And a fifth." + +"But we shall continue to drive the enemy away." + +Both spoke with the utmost confidence. Having seen their armies +victorious for two days they had no doubt they would win again. All that +morning they listened to the sounds of combat, although they saw much +less than on the day before. The prisoners were in a little wood, where +they lay down at times, and then, restless and anxious, would stand on +tiptoe again, seeking to see at least a corner of the battle. + +John and Fleury were standing near noon at the edge of the wood, when a +small body of Uhlans halted close by. Being not more than fifty in +number, John judged that they were scouts, and the foaming mouths of +their horses showing that they had been ridden hard, confirmed him in +the opinion. They were only fifty or sixty yards from him, and although +they were motionless for some time, their eager faces showed that they +were waiting for some movement. + +It was pure chance, but John happened to be looking at a rather large +man who sat his horse easily, his gloved hand resting on his thigh. He +saw distinctly that his face was very ruddy and covered with beads of +perspiration. Then man and horse together fell to the ground as if +struck by a bolt of lightning. The man did not move at all, but the +horse kicked for a few moments and lay still. + +There was a shout of mingled amazement and horror from the other Uhlans, +and it found its echo in John's own mind. He saw one of the men look up, +and he looked up also. A dark shape hovered overhead. Something small +and black, and then another and another fell from it and shot downward +into the group of Uhlans. A second man was hurled from his horse and lay +still upon the ground. Again John felt that thrill of horror and +amazement. + +"What is it? What is it?" he cried. + +"I think it's the steel arrow," said Fleury, pressing a little further +forward and standing on tiptoe. "As well as I can see, the first passed +entirely through the head of the man and then broke the backbone of the +horse beneath him." + +John saw one of the Uhlans, who had dismounted, holding up a short, +heavy steel weapon, a dart rather than an arrow, its weight adjusted so +that it was sure to fall point downward. Coming from such a height John +did not wonder that it had pierced both horse and rider, and as he +looked another, falling near the Uhlan, struck deep into the earth. + +"There goes the aeroplane that did it," said John to Fleury, pointing +upward. + +It hovered a minute or two longer and flew swiftly back toward the +French lines, pursued vainly a portion of the distance by the German +Taubes. + +"A new weapon of death," said Fleury. "The fighters move in the air, +under the water, on the earth, everywhere." + +"The Uhlans are off again," said John. "Whatever their duty was the +steel arrows have sent them on it in a hurry." + +"And we're about to move too. See, these batteries are limbering up +preparatory to a withdrawal." + +Inside of fifteen minutes they were again marching eastward, though +slowly and with the roar of battle going on as fiercely behind them as +ever. John heard again from some of the talk of the guards that the +Germans had five armies along their whole line, but whether the one with +which he was now a prisoner was falling back with its whole force he +had no way of knowing. Both he and Fleury were sure the prisoners +themselves would soon cross the Marne, and that large detachments of the +enemy would go with them. + +Thoughts of escape returned. Crossing a river in battle was a perilous +operation, entailing much confusion, and the chance might come at the +Marne. They could see too that the Germans were now being pressed +harder. The French shells were coming faster and with more deadly +precision. Now and then they exploded among the masses of German +infantry, and once or twice they struck close to the captives. + +"It would be a pity to be killed by our own people," said Fleury. + +"And at such a time as this," said John. "Do you know, Fleury, that my +greatest fear about getting killed is that then I wouldn't know how this +war is going to end?" + +"I feel that way myself sometimes. Look, there's the Marne! See its +waters shining! It's the mark of the first great stage in the German +retreat." + +"I wonder how we're going to cross. I suppose the bridges will be +crowded with artillery and men. It might pay the Germans just to let us +go." + +"They won't do that. There's nothing in their rules about liberating +prisoners, and they wouldn't hear of such a thing, anyhow, trouble or no +trouble." + +"I see some boats, and I fancy we'll cross on them. I wonder if we +couldn't make what we call in my country a get-away, while we're waiting +for the embarkation." + +"If our gunners become much more accurate our get-away, as you call it, +will be into the next life." + +Two huge shells had burst near, and, although none of the flying metal +struck them, their faces were stung by fine dirt. When John brushed the +dust out of his eyes he saw that he was right in his surmise about the +crossing in boats, but wrong about probable delays in embarkation. The +German machine even in retreat worked with neatness and dispatch. There +were three boats, and the first relay of prisoners, including John and +Fleury, was hurried into them. A bridge farther down the stream rumbled +heavily as the artillery crossed on it. But the French force was coming +closer and closer. A shell struck in the river sixty or eighty feet from +them and the water rose in a cataract. Some of the prisoners had been +put at the oars and they, like the Germans, showed eagerness to reach +the other side. John noted the landing, a narrow entrance between thick +clumps of willows, and he confessed to himself that he too would feel +better when they were on the farther bank. + +The Marne is not a wide river, and a few powerful pulls at the oars sent +them near to the landing. But at that moment a shell whistled through +the air, plunged into the water and exploded practically beneath the +boat. + +John was hurled upward in a gush of foam and water, and then, when he +dropped back, the Marne received him in its bosom. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE SPORT OF KINGS + + +John Scott, who was suffering from his second immersion in a French +river, came up with mouth, eyes and nose full of water. The stream +around him was crowded with men swimming or with those who had reached +water shallow enough to permit of wading. As well as he could see, the +shell had done no damage besides giving them a huge bath, of which every +one stood in much need. + +But he had a keen and active mind and it never worked quicker than it +did now. He had thought his chance for escape might come in the +confusion of a hurried crossing, and here it was. He dived and swam down +the stream toward the willows that lined the bank. When he could hold +his breath no longer he came up in one of the thickest clumps. The water +reached to his waist there, and standing on the bottom in all the +density of willows and bushes he was hidden thoroughly from all except +watchful searchers. And who would miss him at such a time, and who, if +missing, would take the trouble to look for him while the French cannon +were thundering upon them and a perilous crossing was to be made? + +It was all so ridiculously easy. He knew that he had nothing to do but +stand close while the men pulled themselves out of the river and the +remaining boats made their passage. For further protection he moved into +water deep enough to reach to his neck, while he still retained the +cover of the willows and bushes. Here he watched the German troops pass +over, and listened to the heavy cannonade. He soon noted that the +Germans, after crossing, were taking up strong positions on the other +side. He could tell it from the tremendous artillery fire that came from +their side of the Marne. + +John now found that his position, while safe from observation, was far +from comfortable. The chill of the water began to creep into his bones +and more shells struck unpleasantly near. Another fell into the river +and he was blinded for a moment by the violent showers of foam and +spray. He began to feel uneasy. If the German and French armies were +going to fight each other from the opposing sides of the Marne he would +be held there indefinitely, either to be killed by a shell or bullet or +to drown from cramp. + +But time passed and he saw no chance of leaving his watery lair. The +chill went further into his bones. He was lonesome too. He longed for +the companionship of Fleury, and he wondered what had become of him. He +sincerely hoped that he too had reached a covert and that they should +meet again. + +No rumbling came from the bridge below, and, glancing down the stream, +John saw that it was empty. There must be many other bridges over the +Marne, but he believed that the German armies had now crossed it, and +would devote their energy to a new attack. He was squarely between the +lines and he did not see any chance to escape until darkness. + +He looked up and saw a bright sun and blue skies. Night was distant, and +so far as he was concerned it might be a year away. If two armies were +firing shells directly at a man they must hit him in an hour or two, and +if not, a polar stream such as the Marne had now become would certainly +freeze him to death. He had no idea French rivers could be so cold. The +Marne must be fed by a whole flock of glaciers. + +His teeth began to chatter violently, and then he took stern hold of +himself. He felt that he was allowing his imagination to run away with +him, and he rebuked John Scott sternly and often for such foolishness. +He tried to get some warmth into his veins by jumping up and down in the +water, but it was of little avail. Yet he stood it another hour. Then he +made one more long and critical examination of the ground. + +Shells were now screaming high overhead, but nobody was in sight. He +judged that it was now an artillery battle, with the foes perhaps three +or four miles apart, and, leaving the willows, he crept out upon the +bank. It was the side held by the Germans, but he knew that if he +attempted to swim the river to the other bank he would be taken with +cramps and would drown. + +There was a little patch of long grass about ten yards from the river, +and, crawling to it, he lay down. The grass rose a foot high on either +side of him, but the sun, bright and hot, shone directly down upon his +face and body. It felt wonderfully good after that long submersion in +the Marne. Removing all his heavy wet clothing, he wrung the water out +of it as much as he could, and lay back in a state of nature, for both +himself and his clothing to dry. Meanwhile, in order to avoid cold, he +stretched and tensed his muscles for a quarter of an hour before he lay +still again. + +A wonderful warmth and restfulness flowed back into his veins. He had +feared chills and a serious illness, but he knew now that they would not +come. Youth, wiry and seasoned by hard campaigning, would quickly +recover, but knowing that, for the present, he could neither go forward +nor backward, he luxuriated in the grass, while the sun sucked the damp +out of his clothing. + +Meanwhile the battle was raging over his head and he scarcely noticed +it. The shells whistled and shrieked incessantly, but, midway between +the contending lines, he felt that they were no longer likely to drop +near. So he relaxed, and a dreamy feeling crept over him. He could hear +the murmur of insects in the grass, and he reflected that the smaller +one was, the safer one was. A shell was not likely to take any notice of +a gnat. + +He felt of his clothing. It was not dry yet and he would wait a little +longer. Anyhow, what was the use of hurrying? He turned over on his +side and continued to luxuriate in the long grass. + +The warmth and dryness had sent the blood pulsing in a strong flood +through his veins once more, and the mental rebound came too. Although +he lay immediately between two gigantic armies which were sending +showers of metal at each other along a line of many miles, he considered +his escape sure and the thought of personal danger disappeared. If one +only had something to eat! It is curious how the normal instincts and +wants of man assert themselves even under the most dangerous conditions. +He began to think of the good German brown bread and the hot sausage +that he had devoured, and the hot coffee that he had drunk. One could +eat the food of an enemy without compunction. + +But it was folly to move, even to seek dinner or supper, while the +shells were flying in such quantities over his head. As he turned once +more and lay on his back he caught glimpses as of swift shadows passing +high above, and the whistling and screaming of shells and shrapnel was +continuous. It was true that a missile might fall short and find him in +the grass, but he considered the possibility remote and it did not give +him a tremor. As he was sure now that he would suffer no bodily ill from +his long bath in the Marne he might remain in the grass until night and +then creep away. Blessed night! It was the kindly veil for all +fugitives, and no one ever awaited it with more eagerness than John +Scott. + +The sun was now well beyond the zenith, and its golden darts came +indirectly. His clothing was thoroughly dry at last, and he put it on +again. Clad anew he was tempted to seek escape at once, but the sound of +a footstep caused him to lie down in the shelter of the grass again. + +His ear was now against the earth and the footsteps were much more +distinct. He was sure that they were made by a horse, and he believed +that a Uhlan was riding near. He remembered how long and sharp their +lances were, and he was grateful that the grass was so thick and tall. +He longed for the automatic revolver that had been such a trusty friend, +but the Germans had taken it long since, and he was wholly unarmed. + +He was afraid to raise his head high enough to see the horseman, lest he +be seen, but the footsteps, as if fate had a grudge against him, were +coming nearer. His blood grew hot in a kind of rebellion against chance, +or the power that directed the universe. It was really a grim joke that, +after having escaped so much, a mere wandering scout of a Uhlan should +pick him up, so to speak, on the point of his lance. + +He pressed hard against the earth. He would have pressed himself into it +if he could, and imagination, the deceiver, made him think that he was +doing so. The temptation to raise his head above the grass and look +became more violent, but will held him firm and he still lay flat. + +Then he noticed that the hoofbeats wandered about in an irregular, +aimless fashion. Not even a scout hunting a good position for +observation would ride in such a way, and becoming more daring he +raised his head slowly, until he could peep over the grass stems. He saw +a horse, fifteen or twenty feet from him, but without rider, bridle or +saddle. It was a black horse of gigantic build like a Percheron, with +feet as large as a half-bushel measure, and a huge rough mane. + +The horse saw John and gazed at him out of great, mild, limpid eyes. The +young American thought he beheld fright there and the desire for +companionship. The animal, probably belonging to some farmer who had +fled before the armies, had wandered into the battle area, seeking the +human friends to whom he was so used, and nothing living was more +harmless than he. He reminded John in some ways of those stalwart and +honest peasants who were so ruthlessly made into cannon food by the +gigantic and infinitely more dangerous Tammany that rules the seventy +million Germans. + +The horse walked nearer and the look in his eyes became so full of +terror and the need of man's support that for the time he stood as a +human being in John's imagination. + +"Poor old horse!" he called, "I'm sorry for you, but your case is no +worse than mine. Here we both are, wishing harm to nobody, but with a +million men shooting over our backs." + +The horse, emboldened by the friendly voice, came nearer and nuzzled at +the human friend whom he had found so opportunely, and who, although so +much smaller than himself, was, as he knew, so much more powerful. This +human comrade would show him what to do and protect him from all harm. +But John took alarm. He too found pleasure in having a comrade, even if +it were only a horse, but the animal would probably attract the +attention of scouts or skirmishers. He tried to shoo him away, but for a +long time the horse would not move. At last he pulled a heavy bunch of +grass, wadded it together and threw it in his face. + +The horse, staring at him reproachfully, turned and walked away. John's +lively fancy saw a tear in the huge, luminous eye, and his conscience +smote him hard. + +"I had to do it, Marne, old fellow," he called. "You're so big and you +stick up so high that you arouse attention, and that's just what I don't +want." + +He had decided to call the horse Marne, after the river near by, and he +noticed that he did not go far. The animal, reassured by John's friendly +after-word, began to crop the grass about twenty feet away. He had a +human friend after all, one on whom he could rely. Man did not want to +be bothered by him just then, but that was the way of man, and he did +not mind, since the grass was so plentiful and good. He would be there, +close at hand, when he was needed. + +John was really moved by the interlude. The loneliness, and then the +friendliness of the horse appealed to him. He too needed a comrade, and +here he was. He forgot, for a time, the moaning of the shells over his +head, and began to think again about his escape. So thinking, the horse +came once more into his mind. He showed every sign of grazing there +until dark came. Then why not ride away on him? It was true that a +horse was larger and made more noise than a fugitive man slipping +through the grass, but there were times when strength and speed, +especially speed, counted for a lot. + +The last hours of the afternoon waned, trailing their slow length, +minute by minute, and throughout that time the roar of the battle was as +steady as the fall of Niagara. It even came to the point that John paid +little attention to it, but the sport of kings, in which thousands of +men were ground up, they knew not why, went merrily on. None of the +shells struck near John, and with infinite joy he saw the coming of the +long shadows betokening the twilight. The horse, still grazing near by, +raised his head more than once and looked at him, as if it were time to +go. As the sun sank and the dusk grew John stood up. He saw that the +night was going to be dark and he was thankful. The Marne was merely a +silver streak in the shadow, and in the wood near by the trees were +fusing into a single clump of darkness. + +He stood erect, stretching his muscles and feeling that it was glorious +to be a man with his head in the air, instead of a creature that +grovelled on the ground. Then he walked over to the horse and patted him +on the shoulder. + +"Marne, old boy," he said, "I think it's about time for you and me to +go." + +The horse rubbed his great head against John's arm, signifying that he +was ready to obey any command his new master might give him. John knew +from his build that he was a draught horse, but there were times in +which one could not choose a particular horse for a particular need. + +"Marne, old fellow," he said, stroking the animal's mane, "you're not to +be a menial cart horse tonight. I am an Arabian genie and I hereby turn +you into a light, smooth, beautifully built automobile for one passenger +only, and I'm that passenger." + +Holding fast to the thick mane he sprang upon the horse's back, and +urged him down the stream, keeping close to the water where there was +shelter among the willows and bushes. He had no definite idea in his +head, but he felt that if he kept on going he must arrive somewhere. He +was afraid to make the horse swim the river in an effort to reach the +French army. Appearing on the surface of the water he felt that he would +almost certainly be seen and some good rifleman or other would be sure +to pick him off. + +He concluded at last that if no German troops came in sight he would let +the horse take him where he would. Marne must have a home and a master +somewhere and habit would send him to them. So he ceased to push at his +neck and try to direct him, and the horse continued a slow and peaceful +progress down the stream in the shadow of small trees. The night was +darker than those just before it, and the dampness of the air indicated +possible flurries of rain. Cannon still rumbled on the horizon like the +thunder of a summer night. + +While trusting to the horse to lead him to some destination, John kept a +wary watch, with eyes now growing used to the darkness. If German +troops appeared and speed to escape were lacking, he would jump from +Marne's back and hunt a new covert. But he saw nobody. The evidences of +man's work were present continually in the cannonade, but man himself +was absent. + +The horse went on with ponderous and sure tread. Evidently he had +wandered far under the influence of the firing, but it was equally +evident that his certain instinct was guiding him back again. He crossed +a brook flowing down into the Marne, passed through a wheat field, and +entered a little valley, where grew a number of oaks, clear of +undergrowth. + +When he saw what was lying under the oaks he pulled hard at the rough +mane, until the horse stopped. He had distinctly made out the figures of +men, stretched upon the ground, apparently asleep, and sure to be +Germans. He stared hard at them, but the horse snorted and tried to pull +away. The action of the animal rather than his own eyesight made him +reckon aright. + +A horse would not be afraid of living men, and, slipping from the back +of Marne, John approached cautiously. A few rays of wan moonlight +filtered through the trees, and when he had come close he shuddered over +and over again. About a dozen men lay on the ground and all were stone +dead. The torn earth and their own torn figures showed that a shell had +burst among them. Doubtless it had been an infantry patrol, and the +survivors had hurried away. + +John, still shuddering, was about to turn back to his horse, when he +remembered that he needed much and that in war one must not be too +scrupulous. Force of will made him return to the group and he sought for +what he wanted. Evidently the firing had been hot there and the rest of +the patrol had not lingered in their flight. + +He took from one man a pair of blankets. He could have had his choice of +two or three good rifles, but he passed them by in favor of a large +automatic pistol which would not be in the way. This had been carried by +a young man whom he took to be an officer, and he also found on him many +cartridges for the pistol. Then he searched their knapsacks for food, +finding plenty of bread and sausage and filling with it one knapsack +which he put over his shoulder. + +He returned hastily to his horse, guided him around the fatal spot, and +when he was some distance on the other side dismounted and ate as only a +half-starved man can eat. Water was obtained from a convenient brook and +carefully storing the remainder of the food in the knapsack he remounted +the horse. + +"Now go on, my good and gallant beast," he said, "and I feel sure that +your journey is nearly at an end. A draught horse like you, bulky and +slow, would not wander any great distance." + +The horse himself immediately justified his prediction by raising his +head, neighing and advancing at a swifter pace. John saw, standing among +some trees, a low and small house, built of stone and evidently very +old, its humble nature indicating that it belonged to a peasant. Behind +it was a tiny vineyard, and there was a stable and another outhouse. + +"Well, Marne, my lad, here's your home, beyond a doubt," said John. But +no answer came to the neigh. The house remained silent and dark. It +confirmed John's first belief that the horse belonged to some peasant +who had fled with his family from the armies. He stroked the animal's +neck, and felt real pity for him, as if he had been a child abandoned. + +"I know that while I'm a friend I'm almost a stranger to you, but come, +we'll examine things," he said. + +He sprang off the horse, and drew his automatic. The possession of the +pistol gave him an immense amount of courage and confidence, but he did +not anticipate any trouble at the house as he was sure that it was +abandoned. + +He pushed open the door and saw a dark inside. Staring a little he made +out a plainly furnished room, from which all the lighter articles had +been taken. There was a hearth, but with no fire on it, and John decided +that he would sleep in the house. It was in a lonely place, but he would +take the risk. + +The horse had already gone to the stable and was pushing the door with +his nose. John let him in, and found some oat straw which he gave him. +Then he left him munching in content, and as he departed he struck him a +resounding blow of friendliness on the flank. + +"Good old Marne," he said, "you're certainly one of the best friends +I've found in Europe. In fact, you're about the only living being I've +associated with that doesn't want to kill somebody." + +He entered the house and closed the door. In addition to the +sitting-room there was a bedroom and a kitchen, all bearing the signs of +recent occupancy. He found a small petroleum lamp, but he concluded not +to light it. Instead he sat on a wooden bench in the main room beside a +small window, ate a little more from the knapsack, and watched a while +lest friend or enemy should come. + +It had grown somewhat darker and the clouds were driving across the sky. +The wind was rising and the threatened flurries of rain came, beating +against the cottage. John was devoutly glad that he had found the little +house. Having spent many hours immersed to his neck in a river he felt +that he had had enough water for one day. Moreover, his escape, his snug +shelter and the abundance of food at hand, gave him an extraordinary +sense of ease and rest. He noticed that in the darkness and rain one +might pass within fifty feet of the cottage without seeing it. + +The wind increased and moaned among the oaks that grew around the house, +but above the moaning the sounds of battle, the distant thunder of the +artillery yet came. The sport of kings was going merrily on. Neither +night nor storm stopped it and men were still being ground by thousands +into cannon food. But John had now a feeling of detachment. Three days +of continuous battle had dulled his senses. They might fight on as they +pleased. It did not concern him, for tonight at least. He was going to +look out for himself. + +He fastened the door securely, but, as he left the window open, +currents of fresh cool air poured into the room. He was now fully +revived in both mind and body, and he took present ease and comfort, +thinking but little of the future. The flurries of rain melted into a +steady pour. The cold deepened, and as he wrapped the two blankets +around him his sense of comfort increased. Lightning flared at +infrequent intervals and now and then real thunder mingled with that of +the artillery. + +He felt that he might have been back at home. It was like some snug +little place in the high hills of Pennsylvania or New York. Like many +other Americans, he often felt surprise that Europe should be so much +like America. The trees and the grass and the rivers were just the same. +Nothing was different but the ancient buildings. He knew now that +history and a long literature merely created the illusion of difference. + +He wondered why the artillery fire did not die, with the wind sweeping +such gusts of rain before it. Then he remembered that the sound of so +many great cannon could travel a long distance, and there might be no +rain at the points from which the firing came. The cottage might stand +in a long narrow valley up which the clouds would travel. + +Not feeling sleepy yet he decided to have another look about the house. +A search revealed a small box of matches near the lamp on the shelf. +Then he closed the window in order to shut in the flame, and, lighting +the lamp, pursued his investigation. + +He found in the kitchen a jar of honey that he had overlooked, and he +resolved to use a part of it for breakfast. Europeans did not seem able +to live without jam or honey in the mornings, and he would follow the +custom. Not much was left in the other rooms, besides some old articles +of clothing, including two or three blue blouses of the kind worn by +French peasants or workmen, but on one of the walls he saw an excellent +engraving of the young Napoleon, conqueror of Italy. + +It showed him, horseback, on a high road looking down upon troops in +battle, Castiglione or Rivoli, perhaps, his face thin and gaunt, his +hair long and cut squarely across his forehead, the eyes deep, burning +and unfathomable. It was so thoroughly alive that he believed it must be +a reproduction of some great painting. He stood a long time, fascinated +by this picture of the young republican general who rose like a meteor +over Europe and who changed the world. + +John, like nearly all young men, viewed the Napoleonic cycle with a +certain awe and wonder. A student, he had considered Napoleon the great +democratic champion and mainly in the right as far as Austerlitz. Then +swollen ambition had ruined everything and, in his opinion, another +swollen ambition, though for far less cause, was now bringing equal +disaster upon Europe. A belief in one's infallibility might come from +achievement or birth, but only the former could win any respect from +thinking men. + +It seemed to John presently that the deep, inscrutable eyes were gazing +at him, and he felt a quivering at the roots of his hair. It was young +Bonaparte, the republican general, and not Napoleon, the emperor, who +was looking into his heart. + +"Well," said John, in a sort of defiance, "if you had stuck to your +early principles we wouldn't have all this now. First Consul you might +have been, but you shouldn't have gone any further." + +He turned away with a sigh of regret that so great a warrior and +statesman, in the end, should have misused his energies. + +He returned to the room below, blew out the lamp and opened the window +again. The cool fresh air once more poured into the room, and he took +long deep breaths of it. It was still raining, though lightly, and the +pattering of the drops on the leaves made a pleasant sound. The thunder +and the lightning had ceased, though not the far rumble of artillery. +John knew that the sport of kings was still going on under the +searchlights, and all his intense horror of the murderous monarchies +returned. He was not sleepy yet, and he listened a long time. The sound +seemed to come from both sides of him, and he felt that the abandoned +cottage among the trees was merely a little oasis in the sea of war. + +The rain ceased and he concluded to scout about the house to see if any +one was near, or if any farm animals besides the horse had been left. +But Marne was alone. There was not even a fowl of any kind. He concluded +that the horse had probably wandered away before the peasant left, as so +valuable an animal would not have been abandoned otherwise. + +His scouting--he was learning to be very cautious--took him some +distance from the house and he came to a narrow road, but smooth and +hard, a road which troops were almost sure to use, while such great +movements were going on. He waited behind a hedge a little while, and +then he heard the hum of motors. + +He had grown familiar with the throbbing, grinding sound made by many +military automobiles on the march, but he waited calmly, merely +loosening his automatic for the sake of precaution. He felt sure that +while he stood behind a hedge he would never be seen on a dark night by +men traveling in haste. The automobiles came quickly into view and in +those in front he saw elderly men in uniforms of high rank. Nearly all +the German generals seemed to him to be old men who for forty or fifty +years had studied nothing but how to conquer, men too old and hardened +to think much of the rights of others or ever to give way to generous +emotions. + +He also saw sitting erect in one of the motors the man for whom he had +felt at first sight an invincible repulsion. Prince Karl of Auersperg. +Young von Arnheim had represented the good prince to him, but here was +the medieval type, the believer in divine right, and in his own +superiority, decreed even before birth. John noted in the moonlight his +air of ownership, his insolent eyes and his heavy, arrogant face. He +hoped that the present war would sweep away all such as Auersperg. + +He watched nearly an hour while the automobiles, cyclists, a column of +infantry, and then several batteries of heavy guns drawn by motors, +passed. He judged that the Germans were executing a change of front +somewhere, and that the Franco-British forces were still pressing hard. +The far thunder of the guns had not ceased for an instant, although it +must be nearly midnight. He wished he knew what this movement on the +part of the Germans meant, but, even if he had known, he had no way of +reaching his own army, and he turned back to the cottage. + +Having fastened the door securely again he spread the blankets on the +bench by the window and lay down to sleep. The tension was gone from his +nerves now, and he felt that he could fall asleep at once, but he did +not. A shift in the wind brought the sound of the artillery more +plainly. His imagination again came into vivid play. He believed that +the bench beneath him, the whole cottage, in fact, was quivering before +the waves of the air, set in such violent motion by so many great guns. + +It annoyed him intensely. He felt a sort of personal anger against +everybody. It was past midnight of the third day and it was time for the +killing to stop. At least they might rest until morning, and give his +nerves a chance. He moved restlessly on the bench a half hour or more, +but at last he sank gradually to sleep. As his eyes closed the thunder +of the cannonade was as loud and steady as ever. He slept, but the +murderous sport of kings went on. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE PUZZLING SIGNAL + + +When John awoke a bright sun was shining in at the window, bringing with +it the distant mutter of cannon, a small fire was burning on the hearth +on the opposite side of the room, a man was bending over the coals, and +the pleasant odor of boiling coffee came to his nostrils. He sat up in +amazement and looked at the man who, not turning around, went on +placidly with his work of preparing breakfast. But he recognized the +figure. + +"Weber!" he exclaimed. + +"None other!" said the Alsatian, facing about, and showing a cheery +countenance. "I was in the boat just behind you when your own was +demolished by the shell. In all the spray and foam and confusion I saw +my chance, and dropping overboard from ours I floated with the stream. I +had an idea that you might escape, and since you must come down the +river between the two armies I also, for the same reasons, chose the +same path. I came upon this cottage several hours ago, picked the +fastenings of the door and to my astonishment and delight found you, my +friend, unharmed, but sound asleep upon the bench there. I slept a while +in the corner, then I undertook to make breakfast with provisions and +utensils that I found in the forest. Ah, it was easy enough last night +to find almost anything one wished. The fields and forest were full of +dead men." + +"I provided myself in the same way, but I'm delighted to see you. I was +never before in my life so lonely. How chance seems to throw us together +so often!" + +"And we've both profited by it. The coffee is boiling now, Mr. Scott. +I've a good German coffee pot and two cups that I took from the fallen. +God rest their souls, they'll need them no more, while we do." + +"The battle goes on," said John, listening a moment at the window. + +"Somewhere on the hundred mile line it has continued without a break of +an instant, and it may go on this way for a week or a month. Ah, it's a +fearful war, Mr. Scott, and we've seen only the beginning! But drink the +coffee now, while it's hot. And I've warmed too, some of the cold food +from the knapsacks. German sausage is good at any time." + +"And just now it's heavenly. I'm glad we have such a plentiful supply of +sausage and bread, even if we did have to take it from the dead. I want +to tell you again how pleasant it is to see you here." + +"I feel that way too. We're like comrades united. Now if we only had +your English friend Carstairs, your American friend Wharton, and Lannes +we'd be quite a family group." + +"I fancy that we'll see Lannes before we do Carstairs and Wharton." + +"I think so too. He'll certainly be hovering today somewhere over the +ground between the two armies--either to observe the Germans or more +likely to carry messages between the French generals. I tell you, Mr. +Scott, that Philip Lannes is perhaps the most wonderful young man in +Europe. In addition to his extraordinary ability in the air he has +courage, coolness, perception and quickness almost without equal. +There's something Napoleonic about him." + +"You know he's descended from the family of the famous Marshal, Lannes, +not from Lannes himself, but from a close relative, and the blood's the +same. They say that blood will tell, and don't you think that the spirit +of the great Lannes may have reappeared in Philip?" + +"It's altogether likely." + +"I've been thinking a lot about Napoleon. There's a wonderful picture of +him as a young republican general in a room here. Perhaps it's the +conditions around us, but at times I am sure the heroic days of the +First Republic have returned to France. The spirit that animated Hoche +and Marceau and Kleber and Bonaparte, before he became spoiled, seems to +have descended upon the French. And there were Murat, Lannes and +Lefebvre, and Berthier and the others. Think of that wonderful crowd of +boys leading the republican armies to victories over all the kings! It +seems to me the most marvelous thing in the history of war, since the +Greeks turned back the Persians." + +Weber refilled his coffee cup, drank a portion of it, and said: + +"I have thought of it, Mr. Scott, I have thought of it more than once. +It may be that the Gallic fury has been aroused. It has seemed so to me +since the German armies were turned back from Paris. The French have +burned more gunpowder than any other nation in Europe, and they're a +fighting race. It would appear now that the Terrible Year, 1870, was +merely an aggregation of mistakes, and did not represent either the +wisdom or natural genius of the nation." + +"That is, the French were then far below normal, as we would say, but +have now returned to their best, and that the two Kaisers made the +mistake of thinking the French in their lowest form were the French in +their usual form?" + +"It may be so," said Weber, thoughtfully. "Nations reckon their strength +in peace, but only war itself discloses the fact. Evidently tremendous +miscalculations have been made by somebody." + +"By somebody? By whom? That's why I'm against the Kaisers and all the +secret business of the military monarchies. War made over night by a +dozen men! a third of the world's population plunged into battle! and +the rest drawn into the suffering some way or other! I don't like a lot +of your European ways." + +Weber shook his head. + +"We've inherited kings," he said. "But how did you find this place?" + +"Accident. Stumbled on it, and mighty grateful I was, too. It kept me +warm and dry after standing so long in the Marne I thought I was bound +to turn into a fish. Isolated little place, but the Germans have been +passing near. Before sleeping last night, I went out scouting and as I +stood behind a hedge I saw a lot of them. I recognized in a motor the +Very High Born, his High Mightiness, the owner of the earth, the Prince +of Auersperg." + +Weber took another drink of coffee. + +"An able man and one of our most bitter enemies," he said. "A foe of +democracy everywhere. I think he was to have been made governor of +Paris, and then Paris would have known that it had a governor. I've seen +him in Alsace, and I've heard a lot about him." + +"But all that's off now. I fancy that the next governor of Paris, if it +should have a governor, will be a Frenchman. But the day is advancing, +Weber; what do you think we ought to do?" + +"I've been thinking of your friend Lannes. I've an idea that he'll come +for you, if he finds an interval in his duties." + +"But how could he possibly find me? Why, it's the old needle in the +haystack business." + +"He couldn't unless we made some sort of signal." + +"There's no signal that I can make." + +"But there's one that I can. Look, Mr. Scott." + +He unbuttoned his long French coat, and took from his breast a roll of +red, white and blue. He opened it and disclosed a French flag about four +feet long. + +"If that were put in a conspicuous place," he said, "an aviator with +glasses could see it a long way, and he would come to find out what it +meant." + +"The top of a tree is the place for it!" exclaimed John. "Now if you +only had around here a real tree, or two, in place of what we call +saplings in my country, we might do some fine signaling with the flag." + +"We'll try it, but I think we should go a considerable distance from the +cottage. If Germans instead of French should come then we'd have a +better chance of escaping among the hedges and vineyards." + +John agreed with him and they quickly made ready, each taking his +automatic and knapsack, and leaving the fire to die of itself on the +hearth. + +"I'm telling that cottage good-bye with regret," said John, as they +walked away. "I spent some normal and peaceful hours there last night +and it's a neat little place. I hope its owners will be able to come +back to it. As soon as I open the stable door, in order that the horse +may go where he will, I'll be ready." + +He gave the big animal a friendly pat as he left and Marne gazed after +him with envious sorrowful eyes. + +They walked a full mile, keeping close to the Marne, where the trees and +bushes were thickest, and listened meanwhile to the fourth day's +swelling roar of the battle. Its long continuance had made it even more +depressing and terrifying than in its earlier stages. To John's mind, at +least, it took on the form of a cataclysm, of some huge paroxysm of the +earth. He ate to it, he slept to it, he woke to it, and now he was +walking to it. The illusion was deepened by the fact that no human being +save Weber was visible to him. The country between the two monstrous +battle lines was silent and deserted. + +"Apparently," said Weber, "we're in no danger of human interference as +we walk here." + +"Not unless a shell coming from a point fifteen miles or so beyond the +hills should drop on us, or we should be pierced by an arrow from one of +our Frenchmen in the clouds. But so far as I can see there's nothing +above us, although I can make out one or two aeroplanes far toward the +east." + +"The air is heavy and cloudy and that's against them, but they'll be out +before long. You'll see. I think, Mr. Scott, that we'll find a good tree +in that little grove of beeches there." + +"The tall one in the center. Yes, that'll suit us." + +They inspected the tree and then made a long circuit about it, finding +nobody near. John, full of zeal and enthusiasm, volunteered to climb the +tree and fasten the flag to its topmost stem, and Weber, after some +claims on his own behalf, agreed. John was a good climber, alert, agile +and full of strength, and he went up the trunk like an expert. It was an +uncommonly tall tree for France, much more than a sapling, and when he +reached the last bough that would support him he found that he could see +over all the other trees and some of the low hills. At a little distance +ran the Marne, a silver sheet, and he thought he could discern faint +puffs of smoke on the hills beyond. No human being was in sight, but +although high in the tree he could still feel the vibrations of the air +beneath the throb of so many great guns. Several aeroplanes hovered at +points far distant, and he knew that others would be on the long battle +line. + +Reaching as high as he could he tied the flag with a piece of twine that +Weber had given him--the Alsation seemed to have provided for +everything--and then watched it as it unfolded and fluttered in the +light breeze. He felt a certain pride, as he had done his part of the +task well. The flag waved above the green leaves and any watcher of the +skies could see it. + +"How does it show?" he called to Weber. + +"Well, indeed. You'd better climb down now. If the Germans come from the +air they'll get you there, and if they come on land they'll have you in +the tree. You'll be caught between air and earth." + +"That being the case I'll come down at once," said John, and he +descended the tree rapidly. At Weber's advice they withdrew to a cluster +of vines growing near, where they would be well hidden, since their +signal was as likely to draw enemies as friends. + +"I think Lannes will surely see that flag," said Weber. + +"Why do you have such great confidence in his coming?" asked John. + +"He inspires confidence, when you see him, and there's his reputation. +I've an idea that he'll be carrying dispatches between the two wings of +the French army, dispatches of vast importance, since the different +French forces have to cooperate now along a line of four or five score +miles. Of course the telephone and the telegraph are at work, too, but +the value of the aeroplane as a scout and dispatch bearer cannot be over +estimated." + +"One is coming now," said John, "and I think it has been attracted by +our flag. I take it to be German." + +"Then we'd better keep very close. Still, there's little chance of our +being seen here, and the aviators, even if they suspect a presence, +can't afford to descend, leave their planes and search for anybody." + +"I agree with you there. One can remain here in comparative safety and +watch the results of our signal. That machine is coming fast and I'm +quite sure it's German." + +"An armored machine with two men and a light rapid fire gun in it. +Beyond a doubt it will circle about our tree." + +The plane was very near now, and assuredly it was German. John could +discern the Teutonic cast of their countenances, as the two men in it +leaned over and looked at the flag. They dropped lower and lower and +then flew in circles about the tree. John, despite his anxiety and +suspense, could not fail to notice the humorous phase of it. The plane +certainly could not effect a landing in the boughs, and if it descended +to the ground in order that one of their number might get out, climb the +tree and capture the flag, they would incur the danger of a sudden swoop +from French machines. Besides, the flag would be of no value to them, +unless they knew who put it there and why. + +"The Germans, of course, see that it's a French flag," he said to +Weber. "I wonder what they're going to do." + +"I think they'll have to leave it," said Weber, "because I can now see +other aeroplanes to the west, aeroplanes which may be French, and they +dare not linger too long." + +"And our little flag may make a big disturbance in the heavens." + +"So it seems." + +The German plane made circle after circle around the tree, finally drew +off to some distance, and then, as it wavered back and forth, its +machine gun began to spit fire. Little boughs and leaves cut from the +tree fell to the ground, but the flag, untouched, fluttered defiantly in +the light breeze. + +"They're trying to shoot it down," said John, "and with such an unsteady +gun platform they've missed every time." + +"I doubt whether they'll continue firing," said Weber. "An aeroplane +doesn't carry any great amount of ammunition and they can't afford to +waste much." + +"They're through now," said John. "See, they're flying away toward the +east, and unless my imagination deceives me, their machine actually +looks crestfallen, while our flag is snapping away in the wind, haughty +and defiant." + +"A vivid fancy yours, Mr. Scott, but it's easy to imagine that German +machine looking cheap, because that's just the way the men on board it +must feel. Suppose we sit down here and take our ease. No flying man +can see through those vines over our heads, and we can watch in safety. +We're sure to draw other scouts of the air, while for us it's an +interesting and comparatively safe experience." + +"Our flag is certainly an attraction," said John, making himself +comfortable on the ground. "There's a bird of passage now, coming down +from the north as swift as a swallow." + +"It's a little monoplane," said Weber, "and it certainly resembles a +swallow, as it comes like a flash toward this tree. I thought at first +it might be Lannes in the _Arrow_, but the plane is too small, and it's +of German make." + +"I fancy it won't linger long. This is not a healthy bit of space for +lone fellows in monoplanes." + +The little plane slackened its speed, as it approached the tree, and +then sailed by it at a moderate rate. When it was opposite the flag a +spurt of flame came from the pistol of the man in it, and John actually +laughed. + +"That was sheer spite," he said. "Did he think he could shoot our flag +away with a single bullet from a pistol when a machine gun has just +failed? That's right, turn about and make off as fast as you can, you +poor little mono!" + +The monoplane also curved around the tree, but did not make a series of +circles. Instead, when its prow was turned northward it darted off again +in that direction, going even more swiftly than it had come, as if the +aviator were ashamed of himself and wished to get away as soon as +possible from the scene of his disgrace. Away and away it flew, +dwindling to a black speck and then to nothing. + +John's shoulders shook, and Weber, looking at him, was forced to smile +too. + +"Well, it was funny," he said. "Our flag is certainly making a stir in +the heavens." + +"I wonder what will come next," said John. "It's like bait drawing birds +of prey." + +The heavens were now beautifully clear, a vault of blue velvet, against +which anything would show. Far away the cannon groaned and thundered, +and the waves of air pulsed heavily, but John noticed neither now. His +whole attention was centered upon the flag, and what it might call from +the air. + +"In such a brilliant atmosphere we can certainly see our visitors from +afar," he said. + +"So we can," said Weber, "and lo! another appears out of the east!" + +The dark speck showed on the horizon and grew fast, coming apparently +straight in their direction. John did not believe it had seen their flag +at first, owing to the great distance, but was either a messenger or a +scout. As it soon began to descend from its great height in the air, +although still preserving a straight course for the tree, he felt sure +that the flag had now come into its view. It grew very fast in size and +was outlined with startling clearness against the burning blue of the +sky. + +The approaching machine consisted of two planes alike in shape and size, +superimposed and about six feet apart, the whole with a stabilizing tail +about ten feet long and six feet broad. John saw as it approached that +the aviator sat before the motor and screw, but that the elevating and +steering rudders were placed in front of him. There were three men +besides the aviator in the machine. + +"A biplane," said John. + +"Yes," said Weber, "I recognize the type of the machine. It's originally +a French model." + +"But in this case, undoubtedly a German imitation. They've seen our +flag, because I can make out one of the men with glasses to his eyes. +They hover about as if in uncertainty. No wonder they can't make up +their minds, because there's the tricolor floating from the top of that +tall tree, and not a thing in the world to explain why it's in such a +place. A man with a rifle is about to take a shot at it. Bang! There it +goes! But I can't see that the bullet has damaged our flag. Look, how it +whips about and snaps defiance! Now, all the men except the aviator +himself have out glasses and are studying the phenomenon of our signal. +They come above the tree, and I think they're going to make a swoop +around the grove near the ground. Lie close, Weber! As I found out once +before, a thick forest is the best defense against aeroplanes. They +can't get through the screen of boughs." + +They heard a whirring and drumming, and the biplane not more than fifty +feet above the earth made several circles about the little wood. John +saw the men in it very clearly. He could even discern the German cast of +countenance where all except the one at the wheel that controlled the +two rudders had thrown back their hoods and taken off their glasses. +The three carried rifles which they held ready for use, in case they +detected an enemy. + +Whirling around like a vast primeval bird of prey the biplane began to +rise, as if disappointed of a victim, and winding upward was soon above +the trees. Then John heard the rapid crackle of rifles. + +"Shooting at our flag again!" he exclaimed. + +But the whizz of a bullet that buried itself in the earth near him told +him better. + +"It isn't possible that they've seen us!" he exclaimed. + +"No," said Weber, "they're merely peppering the woods and vines in the +hope that they'll hit a concealed enemy, if such there should be." + +"That being the case," said John, "I'm going to make my body as small as +possible, and push myself into the ground if I can." + +He lay very close, but the rifle fire quickly passed to other portions +of the wood, and then died away entirely. John straightened himself out +and saw the biplane becoming smaller, as it flew off in the direction +whence it had come. + +"I hope you'll come to no good," he said, shaking his fist at the +disappearing plane. "You've scared me half to death with your shots, and +I hope that both your rudders will get out of gear and stay out of gear! +I hope that the wheel controlling them will be smashed up! I hope that +the top plane will crash into the bottom one! I hope that a French shell +will shoot your tail off! And I hope that you'll tumble to the earth and +lie there, nothing but a heap of rotting wood and rusty old metal!" + +"Well done, Mr. Scott!" said Weber. "That was quite a curse, but I think +it will take something more solid to disable the biplane." + +"I think so too, but I've relieved my feelings, and after a man has done +so he can work a lot better. What are we to look for now, Weber? We +don't seem to have success in attracting anything but Germans. If Lannes +is coming at all, as you think he will, he'll get a pretty late ticket +of admission to our reserved section of the air." + +"You must remember that the sky above us is a pretty large place, and at +any rate we're a drawing power. We're always pulling something out of +the ether." + +"And our biggest catch is coming now! Look, Weber, look I If that isn't +one of Herr Zeppelin's railroad trains of the air then I'll eat it when +it gets here!" + +"You're right, Mr. Scott. There the monster comes. It can't be anything +but a Zeppelin! They must have one of their big sheds not far east of +us." + +"We'll hear its rattling soon. Like the others it will surely see our +flag and make for it. But if they take a notion to shoot up the wood, as +the men on that biplane did, we'd better hunt holes. A Zeppelin can +carry a lot of soldiers." + +The Zeppelin was not moving fast. It had none of the quick graceful +movements of the aeroplanes, but came on slowly like some huge monster +of the air, looking about for prey. It turned southeast for a moment or +two, then some one on board saw the flag and coming back it lumbered +toward the tree. + +"Ugly things," said John. "Lannes and I blew up one once, and I wish I +had the same chance against that fellow up there. But they're in the +same puzzled state that the other fellows were. Men on both platforms +are examining the flag through glasses, and the flag doesn't give a rap +for them. It's standing out in the wind, now, straight and stiff. It +seems to know that old Noah's ark can't make it out." + +The huge Zeppelin drew its length along the grove, coming as close to +the trees as it dared, then passed above, and after some circling +lumbered away to the south. + +"Good-bye, old Mr. Curiosity," exclaimed John. "You weren't invited +here, and I don't care whether you ever come again. Besides, you're +nothing but a big bluff, anyway. There's our flag, still standing +straight out in the wind, so you can see every stripe on it, and yet you +haven't, despite your visit, the remotest idea why it was put there!" + +Weber smiled. + +"They've all gone away as ignorant as they were when they came," he +said, "but we must be due for a French visitor or two. After so long a +run of Germans we should have Frenchmen soon." + +"I begin to believe with you that Lannes will arrive some time or other. +He flies fast and far and in time he must see our signal." + +"I've never doubted it. Meanwhile I think I'll take a little luncheon, +and I'd advise you to do the same. We haven't had such a bad time here, +saving those random rifle shots from the biplane." + +"Not at all. It's like watching a play, and you certainly have a clear +field for observation, when you look up at the heavens. The stage is +always in full view." + +John was feeling uncommonly good. Their concealment while they watched +the scouts and messengers from the skies coming to see the meaning of +the flag had been easy and restful. Much of his long and painful tension +had relaxed. The hum of distant artillery was in his ears as ever, like +a moaning of the wind, but he was growing so used to it that he would +now have noticed its absence rather than its presence. So he ate his +share of bread and sausage with a good appetite, meanwhile keeping a +watchful eye upon the heavens which burned in the same brilliant blue. + +It was now about noon. The rain the night before had given fresh tints +to the green of grass and foliage. The whole earth, indifferent to the +puny millions that struggled on its vast bosom, seemed refreshed and +revitalized. A modest little bird in brown plumage perched on a bough +near them, and, indifferent too, to war, poured forth a brilliant volume +of song. + +"Happy little fellow," John said. "Nothing to do but eat and sleep and +sing." + +"Unless he's snapped up by some bigger bird," said Weber, "but having +been an hour without callers we're now about to have a new one. And as +this comes from the west it's likely to be French." + +John felt excitement, and stood up. Yes, there was the machine coming +out of the blue haze in the west, soaring beautifully and fast. It was +very high, but his eye, trained now, saw that it was descending +gradually. He felt an intense hope that it was Lannes, but he soon knew +that it was not lie. The approaching machine could not possibly be the +_Arrow_. + +"It's a Bleriot monoplane," said Weber. "I can tell the type almost as +far as I can see it. It's much like a gigantic bird, with powerful +parchment wings mounted upon a strong body. The wings as you see now +present a concave surface to the earth. They always do that. The flyer +sits between the two wings and has in front of him the lever with which +he controls the whole affair." + +"You seem to know a good deal about flying machines, Weber." + +"Oh, yes, I've observed them a lot. I've always been curious about them +and I've attended the great flying meets at Rheims, but personally I'm a +coward about heights. I study the types of these wonderful machines, but +I don't go up in 'em. That's a little fellow coming now and he's seen +the flag." + +"There's only one man in the plane, but as he's undoubtedly French what +do you think we ought to do? He can't carry us away with him in the +machine, it's too small. Do you think we should signal him to come to +the ground and have a talk?" + +"Perhaps we'd better let him pass, Mr. Scott. We have no real +information to give. He might suspect that we are Germans and a lot of +time would be lost maneuvering. Suppose we remain in hiding, and say +nothing until Lannes himself appears." + +"You still feel sure that he will come?" + +"It's a conviction." + +"Same way with me, and I agree with you that we'd better let our friend +in the Bleriot go by. He's descending fast now. The plane certainly does +look like a bird. Reminds me somewhat of a German Taube, though this +machine is much smaller." + +"The pilot will take only a look or two at the flag. Then, if we don't +hail him, he'll sail swiftly back to the west." + +"For good reasons too. The air here is chiefly in the German sphere of +influence, and if I were in his place I'd take to my heels too at a +single glance." + +"That's what he's doing now. He's flying past the flag just as one of +the Germans did. He leans over to take a look at it, can't make out what +it means, glances back apprehensively toward the German quarter of the +heavens, and now he's sliding like a streak through the blue for French +air." + +"So near and yet so far! A friend in the air just over our heads, and we +had to let him go. Well, he couldn't have done us any good." + +"No, he couldn't, and he's gone back so fast that he's out of sight +already, but another and different inhabitant of the air is coming out +of the south. See, the shape off there, Mr. Scott. Wait until it comes +nearer, and I think I can tell you what it is. Now it's made out the +flag and is steering for it." + +"What class of plane is it, Weber? Can you tell that yet?" + +"Yes. It's an Esnault-Pelterie, an invention of a young Frenchman. It's +a monoplane with flexible, warped wings. It's made of steel tubes, +welded together, and it has two wheels, one behind the other for contact +with the ground." + +"I noticed something queer in its appearance. It's the wheels. I don't +call this machine any great beauty, but it seems to cut the air well. I +suppose we'd better treat it as we did the Bleriot--let it go as it +came, none the worse and none the wiser?" + +"I think so. But we have no other choice! That flyer is a suspicious +fellow and he isn't taking any chances. He's come fairly close to the +flag, and now he's sheering off at an angle." + +"I don't blame him. He probably has something more important to do than +to unravel the meaning of a flag in a tree top." + +"Nor I either. But whatever comes we'll wait for Lannes, always for +Lannes. The heavens here, Mr. Scott, are peopled with strange birds, but +of all the lot there is one particular bird for which we are looking." + +"Right again. My eyes have grown a little weary of watching the skies. +For a long stare, blue isn't as soft and easy a sight as green, and I +think I'll look at the grass and leaves for a little while." + +"Then while you rest I'll keep an outlook and when I'm tired you can +relieve me." + +"Good enough." + +John lay down in the grass and rested his body while he eased his worn +eyes. Weber commented now and then on the new birds in the heavens, +aeroplanes of all kinds, but they kept their distance. + +"The air over us is not held now by either French or Germans," said +Weber, "and I imagine that only the more daring make incursions into it. +Perhaps, too, they are kept busy elsewhere, because, as my ears +distinctly tell me, the battle is increasing in volume." + +"I noticed the swelling fire when I lay down here," said John. "It seems +a strange thing, but for a while I had forgotten all about the battle." + +Presently Weber took his eyes from the heavens, moved about and looked +uneasy. + +"If I'm not mistaken," he said, "I caught a glimpse of steel down the +river. I think it was a lance head glittering in the sun, and Uhlans may +be near." + +"How far away do you think it was." + +"A half-mile or more. I must take a look in that direction. I'm a good +scout, Mr. Scott, and I'll see what's up. Watch here will you, until I +come back? It may be some time." + +"All right, but don't get yourself captured, Weber. I'd be mighty +lonesome without you." + +"Don't fear for me. Of course, as I told you, I'll be gone for some +time, and if I may suggest, Mr. Scott, I wouldn't move from among the +vines." + +"Catch me doing it! I'll say here in my green bower and as my eyes are +back in form I'll watch the heavens." + +"Good-bye, then, for a while." + +Weber slipped away. His tread was so light that he vanished, as if he +had melted into air. + +"That man would certainly have made a good scout in our old Indian +days," thought John, and with the thought came the conviction that Weber +was too clever to let himself be caught. Then he turned his attention +back to the heavens. + +They were now well on into the afternoon, and the sun was at the zenith. +A haze of gold shimmered against the vast blue vault. A wind perfumed +with grass and green leaves, brought also the ceaseless roar of the +guns, and now and then the bitter taste of burned gunpowder. The faint +trembling of the earth, or rather of the air just above it, went on, and +John, turning about in his little bower, surveyed the heavens from all +quarters. + +He saw shapes, faint, dark and floating on every horizon, but none of +them came near until a full half-hour had elapsed. Then one shot out of +the west, sailed toward the northeast, but curving suddenly, came back +in the direction of the tree. As the shape grew larger and more defined +John's heart began to throb. He had seen many aeroplanes that day, and +most of them had been swift and graceful, but none was as swift and +graceful as the one that was now coming. + +It was a machine, beautiful in shape, and as lithe and fast as the +darting swallow. There could be none other like it in the heavens, and +his heart throbbed harder. Intuition, perhaps, was back of knowledge and +he never for a moment doubted that it was he for whom they had looked so +long. + +The aeroplane seemed fairly to shoot out of space. First its outlines +became visible, and then the man at the rudder. He came straight toward +the tree, dropped low and circled about it, while John rushed from the +vines and cried as loud as he could: + +"Lannes! Lannes, it's me! John Scott! I've been waiting for you!" + +The _Arrow_ dropped further, barely touched the earth, and Lannes, +leaning over, shouted to John in tones, tense and sharp with command: + +"Give the plane a shove with all your might, and jump in. For God's sake +don't linger, man! Jump!" + +The impulse communicated by Lannes was so powerful that before he knew +what he was doing John pushed the _Arrow_ violently and sprang into the +extra seat, just as it was leaving the earth. + +Lannes gave the rudder a strong twist and the aeroplane shot up like a +mounting bird. John got back his breath and presence of mind. + +"Wait, Philip! Wait!" he cried. "We're leaving behind our friend Weber! +He's down there, somewhere by the river!" + +Lannes made no reply. The _Arrow_ continued its rise, sharp and swift, +and John heard a crackling sound below. Little missiles, steel and +deadly, shot by them. One passed so close to his face that his breath +went again. When he recovered it once more the _Arrow_, its inmates, +unharmed, was far above the range of rifles, flying in a circle. + +"Look down, John," said Lannes. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +OLD FRIENDS + + +John, obeying Lannes' command, glanced down, as one looks over the side +of a ship toward the sea, and he saw many horsemen galloping across the +field. He recognized at once the Uhlans, and, for all he knew; they +might be von Boehlen's own command. + +"Hand me your glasses, will you?" he said. + +When Lannes passed them to him he looked long and well, but he did not +see any sign of a prisoner among the Prussians. He also searched the +woods and other fields near by, but they were empty. The whole Prussian +force was gathered beneath them. John breathed a deep sigh of relief. + +"It's evident that Weber has escaped," he said. "Doubtless this was the +very troop of Uhlans of which the Alsatian had caught a glimpse. He is +clever and swift and I've no doubt he found a covert." + +"I'm sorry we had to leave him," said Lannes, "but there was no other +choice. I came to the tree to examine the flag, and being above I saw +the Uhlans nearby before you did. Then I heard your shout and dropped +down. But as I knew the Uhlans were coming for us I made you jump almost +before you knew it, and we got away by a hair. The _Arrow_ was struck +twice, but the bullets glanced off its polished sides. There are two +slight scars, but I can have them removed." + +John laughed. + +"Philip," he said, "I believe you love the _Arrow_ as a fellow loves his +best girl." + +"Well spoken, Monsieur Jean the Scott, and the _Arrow_ never fails me. +And so you've been with Weber?" + +"It's a long tale. I was in a boat crossing the Marne. It was sunk by +one of the French shells, and I escaped. I reached the deserted cottage +of a peasant, and Weber, who was wandering around, happened to come +there, too. We've been trying to escape today, and we put that flag up +in the tree as a sort of signal, while we hid among the vines below, +until you should come, as he believed you would. He was right, but he +was unlucky enough to be absent when you arrived." "Maybe it couldn't +have happened in a better way. The _Arrow_ can carry only two, and I +don't know what we'd have done with him. He's a clever fellow and he'll +make his way back to the army." + +"I hope so, in fact I feel so. But, Philip, it's glorious to be with you +again, and to be up here, where the bullets can't reach you." + +"That is, so long as the German flyers don't come near enough to take +shots at us." + +"I don't see any in sight, and meanwhile I intend to be comfortable. +Good old _Arrow_! The best little rescuer in the world! Lannes, I +believe it's a large part of your business to fly about over fields of +battle and rescue me." + +"You certainly give me plenty of opportunities," laughed Lannes. + +"What's been happening? I fancy that a lot of water has flowed under the +bridges of the Marne since I left you." + +"We continue to gain," replied Lannes, with quiet satisfaction. "We +press the German armies back everywhere. Our supreme chief is a silent +man, but he has delivered a master stroke. We've emerged from the very +gulf of defeat and despair to the heights of victory. We're not only +driving the Germans across the Marne, but we're driving them further. +Moreover, their armies are cut apart, and one is fighting for its +existence, just as the French and English were fighting for theirs in +that terrible retreat from Mons and Charleroi." + +"It's glorious, but we mustn't be too sanguine, Lannes. The powers that +overcome the German and Austro-Hungarian Empires will not forget for a +hundred years that they had a war." + +"You're not telling me any news, Monsieur Jean the Scott. I've been in +Germany often, and like you I've seen what they have and what they are. +We're only beginning." + +"Where are you going now, Philip?" + +"Toward the end of our line. I've some dispatches for the commander of +the British force. Your friends, Carstairs and Wharton, are there, and +you may see them. But I understand that the Strangers are to remain with +the French, so you, Carstairs and Wharton will have to consider +yourselves Frenchmen and stay under our banner." + +"That's all right. I hope we'll be under the command of General +Vaugirard. Do you know anything of him?" + +"Not today, but he was alive yesterday. Take the glasses now, John, will +you, and be my eyes as you have been before. One needs to watch the +heavens all the time." + +John took Lannes' powerful glasses, and objects invisible before leaped +into view. + +"I see two or three rivers, a dozen villages, and troops," he said. "The +troops are to the west, and although they are this side of the Marne, I +should judge that they are ours." + +"Ours undoubtedly," said Lannes, glancing the way John's glasses +pointed. "Not less than a hundred thousand of our men have crossed the +Marne at that point, and more will soon be coming. It's a part of the +great wedge thrust forward by our chief. But keep your eye on the air, +John. What do you see there?" + +"Nothing that's near. In the east I barely catch seven or eight black +dots that I take to be German aeroplanes, but they seem to be content +with hovering over their own lines. They don't approach." + +"Doubtless they don't, because they're beginning to watch the air over +the Marne as a danger zone. That pretty little signal of yours may have +scared them." + +Lannes laughed. It was evident that he was in a most excellent humor. + +"All right, have your fun," said John, showing his own teeth in a smile. +"If our flag didn't frighten away the German army it at least achieved +what we wanted, that is, it brought you. The whole episode would be +perfect if it were not for the fact that we lost sight of Weber." + +"I tell you again not to worry about him. That man has shown uncommon +ability to take care of himself." + +"All right. I'll let him go for the present. Hello, here we are crossing +the Marne again, and without getting our feet wet." + +"We're a good half mile above it, but we'll cross it once more soon. I'm +following the shortest road to the British army and that takes us over a +loop of the river." + +"Yes, here we are recrossing, and now we're coming to a region of +chequered fields, green and brown and yellow. I always like these varied +colors of the French country. It's a beautiful land down there, Philip." + +"So it is, but see if it isn't defaced by sixty or seventy thousand +sunburnt men in khaki, the khaki often stained with blood. The men, too, +should be tired to death, but you can't tell that from this height." + +"The British army you mean? Yes, by all that's glorious, I see them, or +at least a part of them! I see thousands of men lying down in the +fields as if they were dead." + +"They're not dead, though. They just drop in their tracks and sleep in +any position." + +"I saw the Germans doing that, too. I suppose we'll land soon, Philip, +won't we? They've sighted us and a plane is coming forward to meet us." + +"We'll make for the meadow over there just beyond the little stream. I +think I can discern the general's marquee, and I must deliver my message +as soon as possible. Wave to that fellow that we're friends." + +An English aeroplane was now very near them and John, leaning over, made +gestures of amity. Although the aviator's head was almost completely +enshrouded in a hood, he discerned a typically British face. + +"Kings of the air, with dispatches for your general!" John cried. He +knew that the man would not hear him, but he was so exultant that he +wanted to say something, to shout to him, or in the slang of his own +land, to let off steam. + +But while the English aviator could not understand the words the +gestures were clear to him, and he waved a hand in friendly fashion. +Then, wheeling in a fine circle, he came back by their side as an +escort. + +The _Arrow_, like a bird, folding its wings, sank gracefully into the +meadow, and Lannes, hastily jumping out, asked John to look after the +aeroplane. Then he rushed toward a group of officers, among whom he +recognized the chief of the army. + +John himself disembarked stiffly, and stretched his limbs, while several +young Englishmen looked at him curiously. He had learned long since how +to deal with Englishmen, that is to take no notice of them until they +made their presence known, and then to acquiesce slowly and reluctantly +in their existence. So, he took short steps back and forth on the grass, +flexing and tensing his muscles, as abstractedly as if he were alone on +a desert island. + +"I say," said a handsome fair young man at last, "would you mind telling +us, old chap, where you come from?" + +John continued to stretch his muscles and took several long and deep +breaths. After the delay he turned to the fair young man and said: + +"Beg pardon, but did you speak to me?" + +The Englishman flushed a little and pulled at his yellow mustache. An +older man said: + +"Don't press His Highness, Lord James. Don't you see that he's an +American and therefore privileged?" + +"I'm privileged," said John, "because I was with you fellows from +Belgium to Paris, and since then I've been away saving you from the +Germans." + +Lord James laughed. He had a fine face and all embarrassment disappeared +from it. + +"We want to be friends," he said. "Shake hands." + +John shook. He also shook the hand of the older man and several others. +Then he explained who he was, and told who had come with him, none less +than the famous young French aviator, Philip Lannes. + +"Lannes," said Mr. Yellow Mustache, who, John soon learned, was Lord +James Ivor. "Why, we've all heard of him. He's come to the chief with +messages a half-dozen times since this battle began, and I judge from +the way he rushed to him just now that he has another, that can't be +delayed." + +"I think so, too," said John, "although I don't know anything about it +myself. He's a close-mouthed fellow. But do any of you happen to have +heard of an Englishman, Carstairs, and an American, Wharton, who belong +to a company called the Strangers in the French army, but who must be at +present with you--that is, if they're alive?" + +John's voice dropped a little, as he added the last words, but Lord +James Ivor walked to the brow of a low hill, called to somebody beyond, +and then walked back. + +"It's a happy chance that I can tell you what you want to know," he +said. "Those two men have been serving in my own company, and they're +both alive and well. But they were lying on the grass there, dead to the +world, that is, sleeping, as if they were two of the original seven +sleepers." + +Two figures appeared on the brow of the hill, gazed at first in a +puzzled manner at John and then, uttering shouts of welcome, rushed +toward him. Carstairs seized him by one hand and Wharton by the other. + +"Not killed, I see," said Carstairs. + +"Nor is he going to be killed," said Wharton. + +"Now, where have you been?" asked Carstairs. + +"Yes, where have you been?" asked Wharton. + +"I've been taking a couple of pleasure trips with my friend, Lannes," +replied John. "Between trips I was a prisoner of the Germans, and I've +seen a lot of the great battle. Has the British army suffered much?" + +A shade flitted over the face of Carstairs as he replied: + +"We haven't been shot up so much since Waterloo. It's been appalling. +For days and nights we've been fighting and marching. Whenever we +stopped even for a moment we fell on the ground and were asleep before +we touched it. Half the fellows I knew have been killed. I think as long +as I live I'll hear the drumming of those guns in my ears, and, confound +'em, I still hear 'em in reality now. If you turn your attention to it +you can hear the confounded business quite plainly! But what I do know, +Scott, is that we've been winning! I don't know where I am and I haven't +a clear idea of what I've been doing all the time, but as sure as we're +in France the victory is ours." + +"But won by the French chiefly" John could not keep from saying. + +"Quite true. Our own army is not large, but it has done as much per +man." + +"And the moral support," added John. "The French have felt the presence +of a friend, a friend, too, who in six months will be ten times as +strong as he is now." + +"Where is Lannes?" asked Wharton. + +"He's got your job, Wharton," replied John with a smile. "He's Envoy +Extraordinary and Bearer of Messages concerning Life and Death between +the armies. As soon as he landed he went directly to the British +commander, and they're now conferring in a tent. That will never happen +to you. You will never be closeted with the leader of a great army." + +"I don't know. I may not be able to fly like the Frenchman, but he can't +handle the wireless as I can, and he isn't the chain-lightning chauffeur +that Carstairs is. Please to remember those facts." + +"I do. But here comes Lannes, the man of mystery." + +Lannes seemed preoccupied, but he greeted Carstairs and Wharton warmly. + +"I'm about to take another flight," he said. "No, thank you so much, but +I've time neither to eat nor to drink. I must fly at once, though it's +to be a short flight. Take care of my friend, Monsieur Jean the Scott, +while I'm gone, won't you? Don't let him wander into German hands again, +because I won't have time to go for him once more." + +"We won't!" said Carstairs and Wharton with one voice. "Having got him +back we're going to keep him." + +Lannes smiling sprang into the _Arrow_. The willing young Englishmen +gave it a mighty push, and rising into the blue afternoon sky he sailed +away toward the south. + +"He'll be back all right," said Carstairs. "I've come to the conclusion +that nothing can ever catch that fellow. He's a wonder, he is. One of +the most difficult jobs I have, Scott, is to give the French all the +credit that's due 'em. I've been trained, as all other Englishmen were, +to consider 'em pretty poor stuff that we've licked regularly for a +thousand years, and here we suddenly find 'em heroes and +brothers-in-arms. It's all the fault of the writers. Was it Shakespeare +who said: 'Methinks that five Frenchmen on one pair of English legs did +walk?'" + +"No," said Lord James Ivor, "It was the other way around. 'Methinks that +one Englishman on five pairs of French legs did walk.'" + +"I'm not so sure about the number, either," interjected Wharton. "Are +you positive it was five?" + +"Whatever it was," said Carstairs, "the Frenchman was slandered, and by +our own great bard, too. But come and take something with us, if Lord +James, our immediate chief, is willing." + +"He's willing, and he'll go with you," said Lord James Ivor. "I need a +bite myself and in war like this a man can't afford to neglect food and +drink, when the chance is offered." + +"The habits of you Europeans are strong," said John, whose spirits were +still exuberant. "If you didn't have to stop now and then to work or to +fight you'd eat all the time. One meal would merge into another, making +a beautiful, savory chain linked together. I know the Englishman's +heaven perfectly well. It's made of lakes of ale, beer, porter and +Scotch highballs, surrounded by high banks of cheese, mutton and roast +beef." + +"There could be worse heavens," said Carstairs, "and if it should happen +that way it wouldn't be long before you Yankees would be trying to break +out of your heaven and into ours. But here's a taste of it now, the +cheese, for instance, and the beer, although it's in bottles." + +A spry Tommy Atkins served them, and John, thankful at heart, ate and +drank with the best of them. And while they ate the pulsing waves of air +from the battle beat upon their ears. It seemed to these young men to +have been beating that way for weeks. + +"Lannes will be back soon," said John to Carstairs and Wharton, "and +he'll tear you away from your friends here. You think, Carstairs, that +you're an Englishman, and you're convinced, Wharton, that you're an +American, but you're both wrong. You're Frenchmen, and you're going back +to the French army, where you belong. Then Captain Daniel Colton of the +Strangers will want to know from you why you haven't returned sooner." + +"But how are we to go?" said Carstairs. + +"And where are we to go?" said Wharton. + +"I'd go in a minute," added Carstairs, "if the German army would let +me." + +"So would I," said Wharton, "but the Germans fight so hard that we can't +get away." + +"Lannes will attend to all those matters," said John. "I'll rest until +he comes, if I have the chance. Is that your artillery firing?" + +"It's our big guns out in front," said Lord James Ivor. "Jove, but what +work they've done! A lot of our guns have been smashed, one half of our +gunners maybe have been smashed with 'em, but they've never flinched. +They covered our retreat from Belgium, and they've been the heralds of +our advance here on the Marne! Listen to 'em! How they talk!" + +The heavy crash of guns far in front and the thunder of the German guns +replying came back to their ears. It was a louder note in the general +and ceaseless murmur of the battle, but the young men paid it only a +passing moment of attention. Carstairs presently added as an +afterthought: + +"Unless Lannes returns soon I don't think we'll hear from him. That +blaze of the guns in front of us indicates close fighting again, and +we'll probably be ordered forward soon." + +"I don't think so," said Lord James Ivor. "Our guns and the German guns +will talk together for quite a while before the infantry advance. You +can spend a good two hours with us yet, and still have time to depart +for the French army." + +It was evident that Lord James Ivor knew what he was talking about, +since, as far as John could see, the khaki army lay outspread on the +turf. These men were too much exhausted and too much dulled to danger to +stir merely because the cannon were blazing. It took the sharp orders of +their officers to move them. Shells from the German guns began to fall +along the fringe of the troops, but thousands slept heavily on. + +John, after disposing of the excellent rations offered to him, sat down +on the grass with Wharton, Carstairs and Lord James Ivor. The sun was +now waning, but the western sky was full of gold, and the yellow rays +slanting across the hills and fields made them vivid with light. Lord +James handed his glasses to John with the remark: + +"Would you like to take a look there toward the east, Scott?" + +John with the help of the glasses discerned the English batteries in +action. He saw the men working about them, the muzzles pointing upward, +and then the flash. Some of the guns were completely hidden in foliage, +and he could detect their presence only by the heavy detonations coming +from such points. Yet, like many of the English soldiers about him, +John's mind did not respond to so much battle. He looked at the flashes, +and he listened to the reports without emotion. His senses had become +dulled by it, and registered no impressions. + +"We've masked our batteries as much as possible," said Lord James. "The +Germans are great fellows at hiding their big guns. They use every clump +of wood, hay stacks, stray stacks and anything else, behind which you +could put a piece of artillery. They trained harder before the war, but +we'll soon be able to match 'em." + +While Lord James was talking, John turned the glasses to the south and +watched the sky. He had observed two black dots, both of which grew fast +into the shape of aeroplanes. One, he knew, was the _Arrow_. He had +learned to recognize the plane at a vast distance. It was something in +the shape or a trick of motion perhaps, almost like that of a human +being, with which he had become familiar and which he could not mistake. +The other plane, by the side of Lannes' machine, bothered him. It was +much larger than the _Arrow_, but they seemed to be on terms of perfect +friendship, each the consort of the other. + +"Lannes is coming," announced John. "He's four or five miles to the +south and he's about a quarter of a mile up, but he has company. Will +you have a look, Lord James?" + +Lord James Ivor, taking back his own glasses, studied the two +approaching planes. + +"The small one looks like your friend's plane," he said, "and the other, +although much bigger, has only one man in it too. But they fly along +like twins. We'll soon know all about them because they're coming +straight to us. They're descending now into this field." + +The _Arrow_ slanted gently to the earth and the larger machine descended +near by. Lannes stepped out of one, and an older man, whom John +recognized as the aviator Caumartin, alighted from the other. + +"My friends," said Lannes, cheerily, "here we are again. You see I've +brought with me a friend, Monsieur Caumartin, a brave man, and a great +aviator." + +He paused to introduce Caumartin to Wharton and the Englishmen, and then +went on: + +"This flying machine in which our friend Caumartin comes is not so swift +and so graceful as the _Arrow_--few aeroplanes are--but it is strong and +it has the capacity. It is what you might call an excursion steamer of +the air. It can take several people and our good Caumartin has come in +it for Lieutenant Wharton and Lieutenant Carstairs. So! he has an order +for them written by the brave Captain Colton of the Strangers. Produce +the order, Monsieur Caumartin." + +The aviator took a note from a pocket in his jacket and handed it to +Lord James Ivor, who announced that it was in truth such an order. + +"You're to be delivered to the Strangers F.O.B.," said John. + +"What's F.O.B.?" exclaimed Carstairs. + +"It's a shipping term of my country," replied John. "It means Free on +Board, and you'll arrive among the Strangers without charge." + +"But," said Carstairs, looking dubiously at the big, ugly machine, +"automobiles are my specialty!" + +"And the wireless is mine!" said Wharton in the same doubting tone. + +"Oh, it's easy," said John lightly. "Easiest thing in the world. You +have nothing to do but sit still and look calm and wise. If you're +attacked by a Zeppelin, throw bombs--no doubt Caumartin has them on +board--but if a flock of Taubes assail you use your automatics. I +congratulate you both on making your first flight under such auspices, +with two armies of a million men each, more or less, looking at you, and +with the chance to dodge the shells from four or five thousand cannon." + +"Your trouble, Scott, is talking too much," said Wharton, "because you +went up in the air when you had no other way to go, you think you're a +bird." + +"So I am at times," laughed John. "A bird without the feathers. Come +now, brace up! Remember that the solid earth is always below you, a long +way below, perhaps, but it's there, and Friend Caumartin is bound to +deliver you soon to your rightful master, Captain Daniel Colton, who +will talk to you like an affectionate but stern parent." + +"For Heaven's sake, let's start and get away from this wild Yankee," +said Carstairs. + +"But you won't get away from me," rejoined John. "Lannes and I in the +_Arrow_ will watch over you all the way, and, if we can, rescue you, +should your plane break down." + +Caumartin supplied Wharton and Carstairs with suitable coats and caps, +and they took their places unflinchingly in the big plane. Their hearts +may have been beating hard, but they would not let their hands tremble. + +"I suppose the _Omnibus_ starts first, Philip, doesn't it?" asked John. + +"Yes," replied Lannes, smiling, "and we can overtake it. _Omnibus_ is a +good name for it. We'll call it that. It looks awkward, John, but it's +one of the safest machines built." + +Plenty of willing hands gave the _Omnibus_ a lift and then did a like +service for the _Arrow_. As they rose, aviators and passengers alike +waved a farewell to Lord James Ivor, and he and the Englishmen about him +waved back. But the thousands lying on the grass slept heavily on, while +the cannon on their utmost fringe thundered and crashed and the German +cannon crashed and thundered, replying. + +The _Arrow_ kept close to the _Omnibus_, so close that John could see +the white faces of Wharton and Carstairs and their hands clenching the +sides. But he remembered his own original experience, and he was not +disposed to jest at them now. + +"They're air-sick--as I was," he said to Lannes. "Call to them to look +westward at the troops," said Lannes. "Great portions of the French and +English armies are now visible, and such a sight will make them forget +their natural apprehensions." + +Lannes was right. When they beheld the magnificent panorama spread out +for them the color came back into the faces of Carstairs and Wharton, +and their clenched fingers relaxed. The spectacle was indeed grand and +gorgeous as they looked up at the sky, down at the earth, and at the +line where they met. The sun was now low, but mighty terraces of red and +gold rose in the west, making it a blaze of varied colors. In the east +the terraces were silver and silver gray, and the light there was +softer. The green earth beneath was mottled with the red and silver and +gold from the skies. + +The German army was yet invisible beyond the hills, although the cannon +were flashing there, but to the west they saw vast masses of infantry, +some stationary, while others moved slowly forward. Looking upon this +wonderful sight, Wharton and Carstairs forgot that they were high in the +air. Their hearts beat fast, and their eyes became brilliant with +enthusiasm. They waved hands at the _Arrow_ which flew near like a +guiding friend. + +"Wonderful, isn't it?" shouted John. + +"I never expect to see its like again," Carstairs shouted back, and +then, lest he should not be true to his faith, he added: + +"But I won't desert the automobile. It's my best friend." + +"British obstinacy!" shouted John. + +Carstairs shouted back something, but the planes were now too far apart +for him to hear. John saw that the _Omnibus_, despite her awkward look, +was flying well and he also saw through Lannes' glasses four aeroplanes +bearing up from the east. He did not say much until he had examined them +well and had concluded that they were Taubes. + +"Lannes," he said, "German machines are trespassing on our air, and +unless I'm mistaken they're making for us." + +"It's likely. Just under the locker there you'll find a rifle, and a +belt of cartridges. It's a good weapon, and if the pinch comes you'll +have to use it. Are your friends good shots?" + +"I think they are, and I know they're as brave as lions." + +"Then they'll have a chance to show it. The _Omnibus_ carries several +rifles and an abundance of ammunition. She might be called a cargo boat, +as there's a lot of room on her. I'm going to bear in close, and you +tell Caumartin and the others of the danger." + +The _Arrow_ swerved, came near to the _Omnibus_, and John shouted the +warning. Carstairs and Wharton instantly seized rifles and he saw them +lay two others loaded at their feet. With the prospect of a battle for +life air-sickness disappeared. + +"You can rely on them, Philip," said John as the _Arrow_ bore away a +little, "but I don't like the looks of one of those German machines." + +"What's odd about it?" + +"It's bigger than the others. Ah, now I see! It carries a machine gun." + +"That's bad. It can send a hail of metal at us. It's lucky that +aeroplanes are such unstable gun-platforms. When platforms and targets +are alike swerving it's hard to hit anything. We're going to rise and +dive, and rise and dive and swerve and swerve, John, so be ready. I'll +signal to Caumartin to do the same, and maybe the machine gun won't get +us." + +John was quite sure that the _Arrow_ could escape by immediate flight, +but he knew that Lannes would never desert the _Omnibus_, and its +passengers, and he felt the same way. The subject was not even mentioned +by either. + +The German machines, approaching rapidly, spread out like a fan, the +heavier one with the machine gun in the center. John could see the man +at the rapid firer, but he did not yet open with it. The _Arrow_ and the +_Omnibus_ were wavering like feathers in a storm and closer range was +needed. John sat with his own rifle across his knee and then looked at +Wharton in the _Omnibus_ scarcely a hundred yards away. The figure of +Wharton was tense and rigid. His rifle was raised and his eyes never +left the man at the machine gun. + +"I forgot to tell you, Philip," said John, "that Wharton is a great +sharpshooter. It's natural to him, and I don't believe the shifting +platform will interfere with his aim." + +"Then I hope that he never has done better sharp-shooting than he will +do today. Ah, there goes the machine gun!" + +There was a rapid rat-a-tat, not so clear and distinct as it would have +been at the same distance on ground, and a stream of bullets poured from +the machine gun. But they passed between the _Arrow_ and the _Omnibus_, +and only cut the unoffending air. Meanwhile Wharton was watching. A +wrath, cold but consuming, had taken hold of him. The fact that he was +high above the earth, perched in a swaying unstable seat was forgotten. +He had eyes and thought only for the murderous machine gun and the man +who worked it. An instinctive marksman, he and his rifle were now as +one, and of all the birds of prey in the air at that moment Wharton was +the most dangerous. + +The machine gun was silent for a minute. The riflemen in the Taubes on +the wings of the attacking force fired a few shots, but all of them went +wild. John, tense and silent, sat with his own rifle raised, but half of +the time he watched Wharton. + +The two forces came a little nearer. Again the machine gun poured forth +its stream of bullets. Two glanced off the sides of the _Omnibus_, and +then John saw Wharton's rifle leap to his shoulder. The movement and the +flash of the weapon were so near together that be seemed to take no aim. +Yet his bullet sped true. The man at the machine gun, who was standing +in a stooped position, threw up his hands, fell backward and out of the +plane. A thrill of horror shot through John, and he shut his eyes a +moment to keep from seeing that falling body. + +"What has happened?" asked Lannes, who had not looked around. + +"Wharton has shot the man at the machine gun clean out of the aeroplane. +He must be falling yet." + +"Ghastly, but necessary. Has anybody taken the slain man's place?" + +"Yes, another has sprung to the gun! But he's gone! Wharton has shot him +too! He's fallen on the floor of the car, and he lies quite still." + +"Your friend is indeed a sharpshooter. How many men are left in the +plane?" + +"Only one! No, good God, there's none! Wharton has shot the third man +also, and now the machine goes whirling and falling through space!" + +"I said that friend of yours must be a sharpshooter," said Lannes, in a +tone of awe, "but he must be more! He must be the king of all riflemen. +It's evident that the _Omnibus_ knows how to defend herself. I'll swing +in a little, and you can take a shot or two." + +John fired once, without hitting anything but the air, which made no +complaint, but the battle was over. Horrified by the fate that had +overtaken their comrades and seeing help for their enemy at hand the +Taubes withdrew. + +The _Arrow_ and the _Omnibus_ flew on toward the French lines, whence +other machines were coming to meet them. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE CONTINUING BATTLE + + +The _Arrow_ bore in toward the _Omnibus_. Wharton had put his rifle +aside and was staring downward as if he would see the wreck that he had +made. Lannes called to him loudly: + +"You've saved us all!" + +Wharton looked rather white, but he shouted back: + +"I had no other choice." + +The French aeroplanes were around them now, their motors drumming +steadily and the aviators shouting congratulations to Lannes and +Caumartin, whom they knew well. It was a friendly group, full of pride +and exultation, and the _Arrow_ and the _Omnibus_ had a triumphant +escort. Soon they were directly over the French, and then they began +their descent. As usual, when they reached the army they made it amid +cheers, and the first man who greeted John was short and young but with +a face of pride. + +"You have come back to us out of the air, Monsieur Scott," he said, "and +I salute you." + +It was Pierre Louis Bougainville, made a colonel already for +extraordinary, almost unprecedented, valor and ability in so young a +man. John recognized his rank by his uniform, and he acknowledged it +gladly. + +"It's true, I have come back, Colonel Bougainville," he said, "and right +glad I am to come. I see that your country has had no cause to complain +of you in the last week." + +"Nor of hundreds of thousands of Frenchmen," said Bougainville. "Your +company, the Strangers, is close at hand, and here is your captain now." + +Captain Daniel Colton, thin and ascetic, walked forward. John gave him +his best salute and said: + +"Captain Colton, I beg to report to you for duty." + +A light smile passed swiftly over Cotton's face. + +"You're a little late, Lieutenant Scott," he said. + +"I know it, sir, but I've brought Lieutenant Carstairs and Lieutenant +Wharton with me. There have been obstacles which prevented our speedy +return. We've done our best." + +"I can well believe it. You left on horseback, and you return by air. +But I'm most heartily glad to see all three of you again. I feared that +you were dead." + +"Thank you, sir," said John. "But we don't mean to die." + +"Nevertheless," said Captain Colton, gravely, "death has been all about +us for days and nights. Many of the Strangers are gone. You will find +the living lying in the little valley just beyond us, and you can resume +your duties." + +Lannes, after a word or two, left them, and Caumartin took the +_Omnibus_ to another part of the field. Lannes' importance was +continually growing in John's eyes, nor was it the effect of +imagination. He saw that under the new conditions of warfare the ability +of the young Frenchman to carry messages between generals separated +widely could not be overrated. He might depart that very night on +another flight. + +"May I ask, sir," he said to Captain Colton, "to what command or +division the Strangers are now attached?" + +"To that of General Vaugirard, a very able man." + +"I'm glad to hear it, sir. I know him. I was with him before I was taken +by the Germans." + +"It seems that you're about to have a general reunion," said Carstairs +to young Scott, as they walked away. + +"I am, and I'm mighty happy over it. I'll admit that I was rather glad +to see you, you blooming Britisher." + +About one-third of the Strangers were gone forever, and the rest, except +the higher officers, were prostrate in the glade. White, worn and +motionless they lay in the same stupor that John had seen overtake the +German troops. Some were flat upon their backs, with arms outstretched, +looking like crosses, others lay on their faces, and others were curled +up on their sides. Few were over twenty-five. Nearly all had mothers in +America or Great Britain. + +While they slept the guns yet grumbled at many points. The sound on the +horizon had gone on so long now that it seemed normal to John. He knew +that it would continue so throughout the night, and maybe for many more +days and nights. Unless it came near and made him a direct personal +menace he would pay no attention to it. + +It was growing late. Night was spreading once more over the vast battle +field, stretching over thirty leagues maybe. The common soldier knew +nothing, majors and colonels knew little more, but the silent man whose +invisible hand had swept the gigantic German army back from Paris knew +much. While the fire of the artillery continued under the searchlights +the exhausted infantry sank down. Then the telephones began to talk over +a vast stretch of space, dazzling white lights made signals, the +sputtering wireless sent messages in the air, and the flying machines +shot through the heavens. Commanders talked to one another in many ways +now, and they would talk all through the night. + +John and his comrades ate supper, while most of the Strangers slept +around them. Those who were awake recognized them, shook hands and said +a few words. They were a taciturn lot. After supper Carstairs and +Wharton dropped upon the grass and were soon sound asleep. Scott was +inclined to be wakeful and he walked along the edge of the glade, +looking anxiously at the sleeping forms. + +He saw the loom of a fire just beyond the ridge and going to the crest +to look at it he beheld outlined before it a gigantic figure that he +recognized at once. It was General Vaugirard, and John would have been +glad to speak to him, but he hesitated to approach a general. While he +stood doubting a hand fell upon his shoulder and a glad voice said in +his ear: + +"And our young American has come back! Ah, my friend, let me shake your +hand!" + +It was Captain de Rougemont, trim, erect and without a wound. John +gladly let him shake. Then in reply to de Rougemont's eager questions he +told briefly of all that had happened since they parted. + +"The general has asked twice if we had any news of you," said de +Rougemont. "He does not forget. A great mind in a vast body." + +"Could I speak to him?" + +"Of a certainty, my friend; come." + +They advanced toward the fire. General Vaugirard was walking up and +down, his hands clasped behind his back, and whistling softly. His huge +figure looked yet more huge outlined against the flames. He heard the +tread of the two young men and looking up recognized John instantly. + +"Risen from the dead!" he exclaimed with warmth, clasping the young +man's hand in his own gigantic palm. "I had despaired of ever seeing you +again! There are so many more gallant lads whom I will certainly never +see! Ah, well, such is life! The roll of our brave young dead is long, +very long!" + +He reclasped his hands behind his back and walking up and down began to +whistle again softly. His emotion over the holocaust had passed, and +once more he was the general planning for victory. But he stopped +presently and said to John: + +"The Strangers, to whom you belong, have come under my command. You are +one of my children now. I have my eye on all of you. You are brave lads. +Go and seek rest with them while you can. You may not have another +chance in a month. We have driven the German, but he will turn, and then +we may fight weeks, months, no one knows how long. Ah, well, such is +life!" + +John saluted respectfully, and withdrew to the little open glade in +which the Strangers were lying, sleeping a great sleep. Captain Colton +himself, wrapped in a blanket, was now a-slumber under a tree, and +Wharton and Carstairs near by, stretched on their sides, were deep in +slumber too. Fires were burning on the long line, but they were not +numerous, and in the distance they seemed mere pin points. At times bars +of intense white light, like flashes of lightning, would sweep along the +front, showing that the searchlights of either army still provided +illumination for the fighting. The note of the artillery came like a +distant and smothered groan, but it did not cease, and it would not +cease, since the searchlights would show it a way all through the night. + +John sat down, looked at the faint flashes on the far horizon and +listened to that moaning which grew in volume as one paid close +attention to it. Europe or a great part of it had gone mad. He was +filled once more with wrath against kings and all their doings as he +looked upon the murderous aftermath of feudalism, the most gigantic of +all wars, made in a few hours by a few men sitting around a table. Then +he laughed at himself. What was he! A mere feather in a cyclone! +Certainly he had been blown about like one! + +His nervous imagination now passed quickly and throwing himself upon the +ground he slept like those around him. All the Strangers were awakened +at early dawn by the signal of a trumpet, and when John opened his eyes +he found the air still quivering beneath the throb of the guns. As he +had foreseen they had never ceased in the darkness, and he could not +remember how many days and nights now they had been raining steel upon +human beings. + +He was refreshed and strengthened by a night of good sleep, but his mind +was as sensitive as ever. In the morning no less bitterly than at night +he raged against the folly and ambition of the kings. But the others +paid no attention to the cannon. They were light of heart and easy of +tongue. They chaffed one another in the cool dawn, and cried to the +cooks for breakfast, which was soon brought to them, hot and plentiful. + +"I suppose it's forward again," said Carstairs between drinks of coffee. + +"I fancy you're right," said Wharton. "Since we've been put in the +brigade of that giant of a general, Vaugirard, we're always going +forward. He seems to have an uncommon love of fighting for a fat man." + +"It's an illusion," said John, "that a fat man is more peaceful than a +thin one." + +"How are you going to prove it?" asked Wharton. + +"Look at Napoleon. When he was thin he was a great fighter, and when he +became stout he was just as great a fighter as ever. Fat didn't take +away his belligerency." + +"I hear that the whole German army has been driven across the Marne," +said Carstairs, "and that the force we hoped to cut off has either +escaped or is about to escape. If that's so they won't retreat much +further. The pride of the Germans is too great, and their army is too +powerful for them to yield much more ground to us." + +"I think you're right, or about as near right as an Englishman can be, +Carstairs," said John. "What must be the feelings of the Emperor and the +kings and the princes and the grand dukes and the dukes and the martial +professors to know that the German army has been turned back from Paris, +just when the City of Light seemed ready to fall into their hands?" + +"Pretty bitter, I think," said Carstairs, "but it's not pleasant to have +the capital of a country fall into the hands of hostile armies. I don't +read of such things with delight. It wouldn't give me any such +overwhelming joy for us to march into Berlin. To beat the Germans is +enough." + +Another trumpet blew and the Strangers rose for battle again with an +invisible enemy. All the officers, like the men, were on foot, their +horses having been killed in the earlier fighting, and they advanced +slowly across the stubble of a wheat field. The morning was still cool, +although the sun was bright, and the air was full of vigor. The rumbling +of the artillery grew with the day, but the Strangers said little. +Battle had ceased to be a novelty. They would fight somewhere and with +somebody, but they would wait patiently and without curiosity until the +time came. + +"I suppose Lannes didn't come back," said Carstairs. "I haven't heard +anyone speak of seeing him this morning." + +"He may have returned before we awoke," said John. "The _Arrow_ flies +very fast. Like as not he delivered his message, whatever it was, and +was off again with another in a few minutes. He may be sixty or eighty +miles from here now." + +"Odd fellow that Lannes," said Carstairs. "Do you know anything about +his people, Scott?" + +"Not much except that he has a mother and sister. I spent a night with +them at their house in Paris. I've heard that French family ties are +strong, but they seemed to look upon him as the weak would regard a +great champion, a knight, in their own phrase, without fear and without +reproach." + +"That speaks well for him." + +John's mind traveled back to that modest house across the Seine. It had +done so often during all the days and nights of fighting, and he thought +of Julie Lannes in her simple white dress, Julie with the golden hair +and the bluest of blue eyes. She had not seemed at all foreign to him. +In her simplicity and openness she was like one of the young girls of +his own country. French custom might have compelled a difference at +other times, but war was a great leveler of manners. She and her mother +must have suffered agonies of suspense, when the guns were thundering +almost within hearing of Paris, suspense for Philip, suspense for their +country, and suspense in a less degree for themselves. Maybe Lannes had +gone back once in the _Arrow_ to show them that he was safe, and to tell +them that, for the time at least, the great German invasion had been +rolled back. + +"A penny for your dream!" said Carstairs. + +"Not for a penny, nor for a pound, nor for anything else," said John. +"This dream of mine had something brilliant and beautiful and pure at +the very core of it, and I'm not selling." + +Carstairs looked curiously at him, and a light smile played across his +face. But the smile was sympathetic. + +"I'll wager you that with two guesses I can tell the nature of your +dream," he said. + +John shook his head, and he, too, smiled. + +"As we say at home," he said, "you may guess right the very first time, +but I won't tell you whether you're right or wrong." + +"I take only one guess. That coruscating core of your dream was a girl." + +"I told you I wouldn't say whether you were right or wrong." + +"Is she blonde or dark?" + +"I repeat that I'm answering no questions." + +"Does she live in one of your Northern or one of your Southern States?" + +John smiled. + +"I suppose you haven't heard from her in a long time, as mail from +across the water isn't coming with much regularity to this battle +field." + +John smiled again. + +"And now I'll conclude," said Carstairs, speaking very seriously. "If +it is a girl, and I know it is, I hope that she'll smile when she thinks +of you, as you've been smiling when you think of her. I hope, too, that +you'll go through this war without getting killed, although the chances +are three or four to one against it, and go back home and win her." + +John smiled once more and was silent, but when Carstairs held out his +hand he could not keep from shaking it. Then Paris, the modest house +beyond the Seine, and the girl within it, floated away like an illusion, +driven from thought in an instant by a giant shell that struck within a +few hundred yards of them, exploding with a terrible crash and filling +the air with deadly bits of flying shell. + +There was such a whistling in his ears that John thought at first he had +been hit, but when he shook himself a little he found he was unhurt, and +his heart resumed its normal beat. Other shells coming out of space +began to strike, but none so near, and the Strangers went calmly on. On +their right was a Paris regiment made up mostly of short, but +thick-chested men, all very dark. Its numbers were only one-third what +they had been a week before, and its colonel was Pierre Louis +Bougainville, late Apache, late of the Butte Montmartre. All the +colonels, majors and captains of this regiment had been killed and he +now led it, earning his promotion by the divine right of genius. He, at +least, could look into his knapsack and see there the shadow of a +marshal's baton, a shadow that might grow more material. + +John watched him and he wondered at this transformation of a rat of +Montmartre into a man. And yet there had been many such transformations +in the French Revolution. What had happened once could always happen +again. Napoleon himself had been the son of a poor little lawyer in a +distant and half-savage island, not even French in blood, but an Italian +and an alien. + +Crash! Another shell burst near, and told him to quit thinking of old +times and attend to the business before him. The past had nothing more +mighty than the present. The speed of the Strangers was increased a +little, and the French regiments on either side kept pace with them. +More shells fell. They came, shrieking through the air like hideous +birds of remote ages. Some passed entirely over the advancing troops, +but one fell among the French on John's right, and the column opening +out, passed shudderingly around the spot where death had struck. + +Two or three of the Strangers were blown away presently. It seemed to +John's horrified eyes that one of them entirely vanished in minute +fragments. He knew now what annihilation meant. + +The heavy French field guns behind them were firing over their heads, +but there was still nothing in front, merely the low green hills and not +even a flash of flame nor a puff of smoke. The whistling death came out +of space. + +The French went on, a wide shallow valley opened out before them, and +they descended by the easy slope into it. Here the German shells and +shrapnel ceased to fall among them, but, as the heavy thunder +continued, John knew the guns had merely turned aside their fire for +other points on the French line. Carstairs by his side gave an immense +sigh of relief. + +"I can never get used to the horrible roaring and groaning of those +shells," he said. "If I get killed I'd like it to be done without the +thing that does it shrieking and gloating over me." + +They were well in the valley now, and John noticed that along its right +ran a dense wood, fresh and green despite the lateness of the season. +But as he looked he heard the shrill snarling of many trumpets, and, for +a moment or two, his heart stood still, as a vast body of German cavalry +burst from the screen of the wood and rushed down upon them. + +It was not often in this war that cavalry had a great chance, but here +it had come. The ambush was complete. The German signals, either from +the sky or the hills, had told when the French were in the valley, and +then the German guns had turned aside their fire for the very good +reason that they did not wish to send shells among their own men. + +John's feeling was one of horrified surprise. The German cavalry +extending across a mile of front seemed countless. Imagination in that +terrific moment magnified them into millions. He saw the foaming mouths, +the white teeth and the flashing eyes of the horses, and then the tense +faces and eyes of their riders. Lances and sabers were held aloft, and +the earth thundered with the tread of the mounted legions. + +"Good God!" cried Wharton. + +"Wheel, men, wheel!" shouted Captain Colton. + +As they turned to face the rushing tide of steel, the regiment of +Bougainville whirled on their flank and then Bougainville was almost at +his side. He saw fire leap from the little man's eye. He saw him shout +commands, rapid incisive, and correct and he saw clearly that if this +were Napoleon's day that marshal's baton in the knapsack would indeed +become a reality. + +The Paris regiment, kneeling, was the first to fire, and the next +instant flame burst from the rifles of the Strangers. It was not a +moment too soon. It seemed to many of the young Americans and Englishmen +that they had been ridden down already, but sheet after sheet of bullets +fired by men, fighting for their lives, formed a wall of death. + +The Uhlans, the hussars and the cuirassiers reeled back in the very +moment of triumph. Horses with their riders crashed to the ground, and +others, mad with terror, rushed wildly through the French ranks. + +John, Carstairs and Wharton snatched up rifles, all three, and began to +fire with the men as fast as they could. A vast turmoil, frightful in +its fury, followed. The German cavalry reeled back, but it did not +retreat. The shrill clamor of many trumpets came again, and once more +the horsemen charged. The sheet of death blazed in their faces again, +and then the French met them with bayonet. + +The Strangers had closed in to meet the shock. John felt rather than saw +Carstairs and Wharton on either side of him, and the three of them were +firing cartridge after cartridge into the light whitish smoke that hung +between them and the charging horsemen. He was devoutly thankful that +the Paris regiment was immediately on their right, and that it was led +by such a man as Bougainville. General Vaugirard, he knew, was farther +to their left, and now he began to hear the rapid firers, pouring a rain +of death upon the cavalry. + +"We win! we win!" cried Carstairs. "If they couldn't beat us down in the +first rush they can't beat us down at all!" + +Carstairs was right. The French had broken into no panic, and, when, +infantry standing firm, pour forth the incessant and deadly stream of +death, that modern arms make possible, no cavalry can live before them. +Yet the Germans charged again and again into the hurricane of fire and +steel. The tumult of the battle face to face became terrific. + +John could no longer hear the words of his comrades. He saw dimly +through the whitish smoke in front, but he continued to fire. Once he +leaped aside to let a wounded and riderless horse gallop past, and +thrice he sprang over the bodies of the dead. + +The infantry were advancing now, driving the cavalry before them, and +the French were able to bring their lighter field guns into action. John +heard the rapid crashes, and he saw the line of cavalry drawing back. +He, too, was shouting with triumph, although nobody heard him. But all +the Strangers were filled with fiery zeal. Without orders they rushed +forward, driving the horsemen yet further. John saw through the whitish +mist a fierce face and a powerful arm swinging aloft a saber. + +He recognized von Boehlen and von Boehlen recognized him. Shouting, the +Prussian urged his horse at him and struck him with the saber. John, +under impulse, dropped to his knees, and the heavy blade whistled above +him. But something else struck him on the head and he fell senseless to +the earth. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +JULIE LANNES + + +John Scott came slowly out of the darkness and hovered for a while +between dusk and light. It was not an unpleasant world in which he +lingered. It seemed full of rest and peace. His mind and body were +relaxed, and there was no urgent call for him to march and to fight. The +insistent drumming of the great guns which could play upon the nervous +system until it was wholly out of tune was gone. The only sound he heard +was that of a voice, a fresh young voice, singing a French song in a +tone low and soft. He had always liked these little love songs of the +kind that were sung in a subdued way. They were pathetic and pure as a +rose leaf. + +He might have opened his eyes and looked for the singer, but he did not. +The twilight region between sleep and consciousness was too pleasant. He +had no responsibilities, nothing to do. He had a dim memory that he had +belonged to an army, that it was his business to try to kill some one, +and to try to keep from getting killed, but all that was gone now. He +could lie there, without pain of body or anxiety of mind, and let vague +but bright visions pass through his soul. + +His eyes still closed, he listened to the voice. It was very low, +scarcely more than a murmur, yet it was thrillingly sweet. It might not +be a human voice, after all, just the distant note of a bird in the +forest, or the murmur of a brave little stream, or a summer wind among +green leaves. + +He moved a little and became conscious that he was not going back into +that winter region of dusk. His soul instead was steadily moving toward +the light. The beat of his heart grew normal, and then memory in a full +tide rushed upon him. He saw the great cavalry battle with all its red +turmoil, the savage swing of von Boehlen's saber and himself drifting +out into the darkness. + +He opened his eyes, the battle vanished, and he saw himself lying upon a +low, wooden platform. His head rested upon a small pillow, a blanket was +under him, and another above him. Turning slowly he saw other men +wrapped in blankets like himself on the platform in a row that stretched +far to right and left. Above was a low roof, but both sides of the +structure were open. + +He understood it all in a moment. He had come back to a world of battle +and wounds, and he was one of the wounded. But he listened for the soft, +musical note which he believed now, in his imaginative state, had drawn +him from the mid-region between life and death. + +The stalwart figure of a woman in a somber dress with a red cross sewed +upon it passed between him and the light, but he knew that it was not +she who had been singing. He closed his eyes in disappointment, but +reopened them. A man wearing a white jacket and radiating an atmosphere +of drugs now walked before him. He must be a surgeon. At home, surgeons +wore white jackets. Beyond doubt he was one and maybe he was going to +stop at John's cot to treat some terrible wound of which he was not yet +conscious. He shivered a little, but the man passed on, and his heart +beat its relief. + +Then a soldier took his place in the bar of light. He was a short, thick +man in a ridiculous, long blue coat, and equally ridiculous, baggy, red +trousers. An obscure cap was cocked in an obscure manner over his ears, +and his face was covered with a beard, black, thick and untrimmed. He +carried a rifle over his shoulder and nobody could mistake him for +anything but a Frenchman. Then he was not a prisoner again, but was in +French hands. That, at least, was a consolation. + +It was amusing to lie there and see the people, one by one, pass between +him and the light. He could easily imagine that he was an inspection +officer and that they walked by under orders from him. Two more women in +those somber dresses with the red crosses embroidered upon them, were +silhouetted for a moment against the glow and then were gone. Then a man +with his arm in a sling and his face very pale walked slowly by. A +wounded soldier! There must be many, very many of them! + +The musical murmur ceased and he was growing weary. He closed his eyes +and then he opened them again because he felt for a moment on his face a +fragrant breath, fleeting and very light. He looked up into the eyes of +Julie Lannes. They were blue, very blue, but with infinite wistful +depths in them, and he noticed that her golden hair had faint touches of +the sun in it. It was a crown of glory. He remembered that he had seen +something like it in the best pictures of the old masters. + +"Mademoiselle Julie!" he said. + +"You have come back," she said gently. "We have been anxious about you. +Philip has been to see you three times." + +He noticed that she, too, wore the somber dress with the red cross, and +he began to comprehend. + +"A nurse," he said. "Why, you are too young for such work!" + +"But I am strong, and the wounded are so many, hundreds of thousands, +they say. Is it not a time for the women of France to help as much as +they can?" + +"I suppose so. I've heard that in our civil war the women passed over +the battle fields, seeking the wounded and nursed them afterward. But +you didn't come here alone, did you, Mademoiselle Julie?" + +"Antoine Picard--you remember him--and his daughter Suzanne, are with +me. My mother would have come too, but she is ill. She will come later." + +"How long have I been here?" + +"Four days." + +John thought a little. Many and mighty events had happened in four days +before he was wounded and many and mighty events may have occurred +since. + +"Would you mind telling me where we are, Mademoiselle Julie?" he asked. + +"I do not know exactly myself, but we are somewhere near the river, +Aisne. The German army has turned and is fortifying against us. When the +wind blows this way you can hear the rumble of the guns. Ah, there it is +now, Mr. Scott!" + +John distinctly heard that low, sinister menace, coming from the east, +and he knew what it was. Why should he not? He had listened to it for +days and days. It was easy enough now to tell the thunder of the +artillery from real thunder. He was quite sure that it had never ceased +while he was unconscious. It had been going on so long now, as steady as +the flowing of a river. + +"I've been asking you a lot of questions, Mademoiselle Julie, but I want +to ask you one more." + +"What is it, Mr. Scott?" + +"What happened to me?" + +"They say that you were knocked down by a horse, and that when you were +falling his knee struck your head. There was a concussion but the +surgeon says that when you come out of it you will recover very fast." + +"Is the man who says it a good surgeon, one upon whom a fellow can rely, +one of the very best surgeons that ever worked on a hurt head?" + +"Yes, Mr. Scott. But why do you ask such a question? Is it your odd +American way?" + +"Not at all. Mademoiselle Julie. I merely wanted to satisfy myself. He +knows that I'm not likely to be insane or weak-minded or anything of the +kind, because I got in the way of that horse's knee?" + +"Oh, no, Mr. Scott, there is not the least danger in the world. Your +mind will be as sound as your body. Don't trouble yourself." + +She laughed and now John knew that it was she whom he had heard singing +the chansonette in that low murmuring tone. What was that little song? +Well, it did not matter about the words. The music was that of a soft +breeze from the south blowing among roses. John's imaginings were +growing poetical. Perhaps there were yet some lingering effects from the +concussion. + +"Here is the surgeon now," said Mademoiselle Julie. "He will take a look +at you and he will be glad to find that what he has predicted has come +true." + +It was the man in the white jacket, and with that wonderful tangle of +black whiskers, like a patch cut out of a scrub forest. + +"Well, my young Yankee," he said, "I see that you've come around. You've +raised an interesting question in my mind. Since a cavalry horse wasn't +able to break it, is the American skull thicker than the skulls of other +people?" + +"A lot of you Europeans don't seem to think we're civilized." + +"But when you fight for us we do. Isn't that so, Mademoiselle Lannes?" + +"I think it is." + +"War is a curious thing. While it drives people apart it also brings +them together. We learn in battle, and its aftermath, that we're very +much alike. And now, my young Yankee, I'll be here again in two hours to +change that bandage for the last time. I'll be through with you then, +and in another day you can go forward to meet the German shells." + +"I prefer to run against a horse's knee," said John with spirit. + +Surgeon Lucien Delorme laughed heartily. + +"I'm confirmed in my opinion that you won't need me after another change +of bandages," he said. "We've a couple of hundred thousand cases much +worse than yours to tend, and Mademoiselle Lannes will look after you +today. She has watched over you, I understand, because you're a friend +of her brother, the great flying man, Philip Lannes." + +"Yes," said John, "that's it, of course." + +Julie herself said nothing. + +Surgeon Delorme passed through the bar of brilliant light and +disappeared, his place being taken by a gigantic figure with grizzled +hair, and the stern face of the thoughtful peasant, the same Antoine +Picard who had been left as a guardian over the little house beyond the +Seine. John closed his eyes, that is nearly, and caught the glance that +the big man gave to Julie. It was protecting and fatherly, and he knew +that Antoine would answer for her at any time with his life. It was one +remnant of feudalism to which he did not object. He opened his eyes wide +and said: + +"Well, my good Picard, perhaps you thought you were going to look at a +dead American, but you are not. Behold me!" + +He sat up and doubled up his arm to show his muscle and power. Picard +smiled and offered to shake hands in the American fashion. He seemed +genuinely glad that John had returned to the real world, and John +ascribed it to Picard's knowledge that he was Lannes' friend. + +Julie said some words to Picard, and with a little _au revoir_ to John, +went away. John watched her until she was out of sight. He realized +again that young French girls were kept secluded from the world, immured +almost. But the world had changed. Since a few men met around a table +six or seven weeks before and sent a few dispatches a revolution had +come. Old customs, old ideas and old barriers were going fast, and might +be going faster. War, the leveler, was prodigiously at work. + +These were tremendous things, but he had himself to think about too, and +personality can often outweigh the universe. Julie was gone, taking a +lot of the light with her, but Picard was still there, and while he was +grizzled and stern he was a friend. + +John sat up quite straight and Picard did not try to keep him from it. + +"Picard," he said, "you see me, don't you?" + +"I do, sir, with these two good eyes of mine, as good as those in the +head of any young man, and fifty is behind me." + +"That's because you're not intellectual, Picard, but we'll return to our +lamb chops. I am here, I, a soldier of France, though an American--for +which I am grateful--laid four days upon my back by a wound. And was +that wound inflicted by a shell, shrapnel, bomb, lance, saber, bullet or +any of the other noble weapons of warfare? No, sir, it was done by a +horse, and not by a kick, either, he jostled me with his knee when he +wasn't looking. Would you call that an honorable wound?" + +"All wounds received in the service of one's country or adopted country +are honorable, sir." + +"You give me comfort, Picard. But spread the story that I was not hit by +a horse's knee but by a piece of shell, a very large and wicked piece of +shell. I want it to get into the histories that way. The greatest of +Frenchmen, though he was an Italian, said that history was a fable +agreed upon, and you and I want to make an agreement about myself and a +shell." + +"I don't understand you at all, sir." + +"Well, never mind. Tell me how long Mademoiselle Julie is going to stay +here. I'm a great friend of her brother, Lieutenant Philip Lannes. Oh, +we're such wonderful friends! And we've been through such terrible +dangers together!" + +"Then, perhaps it's Lieutenant Lannes and not his sister, Mademoiselle +Julie, that you wish to inquire about." + +"Don't be ironical, Picard. I was merely digressing, which I admit is +wrong, as you're apt to distract the attention of your hearer from the +real subject. We'll return to Mademoiselle Julie. Do you think she's +going to remain here long?" + +"I would tell you if I could, sir, but no one knows. I think it depends +upon many circumstances. The young lady is most brave, as becomes one of +her blood, and the changes in France are great. All of us who may not +fight can serve otherwise." + +"Why is it that you're not fighting, Picard?" + +The great peasant flung up his arms angrily. + +"Because I am beyond the age. Because I am too old, they said. Think of +it! I, Antoine Picard, could take two of these little officers and crush +them to death at once in my arms! There is not in all this army a man +who could walk farther than I can! There is not one who could lift the +wheel of a cannon out of the mud more quickly than I can, and they would +not take me! What do a few years mean?" + +"Nothing in your case, Antoine, but they'll take you, later on. Never +fear. Before this war is over every country in it will need all the men +it can get, whether old or young." + +"I fear that it is so," said the gigantic peasant, a shadow crossing his +stern face, "but, sir, one thing is decided. France, the France of the +Revolution, the France that belongs to its people, will not fall." + +John looked at him with a new interest. Here was a peasant, but a +thinking peasant, and there were millions like him in France. They were +not really peasants in the old sense of the word, but workingmen with a +stake in the country, and the mind and courage to defend it. It might be +possible to beat the army of a nation, but not a nation in arms. + +"No, Picard," said John, "France will not fall." + +"And that being settled, sir," said Picard, with grim humor, "I think +you'd better lie down again. You've talked a lot for a man who has been +unconscious four days." + +"You're right, my good Picard, as I've no doubt you usually are. Was I +troublesome, much, when I was out in the dark?" + +"But little, sir. I've lifted much heavier men, and that Dr. Delorme is +strong himself, not afraid, either, to use the knife. Ah, sir, you +should have seen how beautifully he worked right under the fire of the +German guns! Psst! if need be he'd have taken a leg off you in five +minutes, as neatly as if he had been in a hospital in Paris!" + +John felt apprehensively for his legs. Both were there, and in good +condition. + +"If that man ever comes near me with the intention of cutting off one of +my legs I'll shoot him, good fellow and good doctor though he may be," +he said. "Help me up a little higher, will you, Picard? I want to see +what kind of a place we're in." + +Picard built up a little pyramid of saddles and knapsacks behind him and +John drew himself up with his back against them. The rows and rows of +wounded stretched as far as he could see, and there was a powerful odor +of drugs. Around him was a forest, of the kind with which he had become +familiar in Europe, that is, of small trees, free from underbrush. He +saw some distance away soldiers walking up and down and beyond them the +vague outline of an earthwork. + +"What place is this, anyway, Picard?" he asked. + +"It has no name, sir. It's a hospital. It was built in the forest in a +day. More than five thousand wounded lie here. The army itself is +further on. You were found and brought in by some young officers of that +most singular company composed of Americans and English who are always +quarreling among one another, but who unite and fight like demons +against anybody else." + +"A dollar to a cent it was Wharton and Carstairs who brought me here," +said John, smiling to himself. + +"What does Monsieur say?" + +"Merely commenting on some absent friends of mine. But this isn't a bad +place, Picard." + +The shed was of immense length and breadth and just beyond it were some +small buildings, evidently of hasty construction. John inferred that +they were for the nurses and doctors, and he wondered which one +sheltered Julie Lannes. The forest seemed to be largely of young pines, +and the breeze that blew through it was fresh and wholesome. As he +breathed it young Scott felt that he was inhaling new life and strength. +But the wind also brought upon its edge that far faint murmur which he +knew was the throbbing of the great guns, miles and miles away. + +"Perhaps, Monsieur had better lie down again now and sleep awhile," said +Picard insinuatingly. + +"Sleep! I need sleep! Why, Picard, by your own account I've just +awakened from a sleep four days and four nights long." + +"But, sir, that was not sleep. It was the stupor of unconsciousness. +Now your sleep will be easy and natural." + +"Very well," said John, who had really begun to feel a little weary, +"I'll go to sleep, since, in a way, you order it, but if Mademoiselle +Julie Lannes should happen to pass my cot again, will you kindly wake me +up?" + +"If possible, sir," said Picard, the faintest smile passing over his +iron features, and forced to be content with that reply, John soon slept +again. Julie passed by him twice, but Picard did not awaken him, nor +try. The first time she was alone. Trained and educated like most young +French girls, she had seen little of the world until she was projected +into the very heart of it by an immense and appalling war. But its +effect upon her had been like that upon John. Old manners and customs +crumbled away, an era vanished, and a new one with new ideas came to +take its place. She shuddered often at what she had seen in this great +hospital in the woods, but she was glad that she had come. French +courage was as strong in the hearts of women as in the hearts of men, +and the brusque but good Dr. Delorme had said that she learned fast. She +had more courage, yes, and more skill, than many nurses older and +stronger than she, and there was the stalwart Suzanne, who worked with +her. + +She was alone the first time and she stopped by John's cot, where he +slept so peacefully. He was undeniably handsome, this young American who +had come to their house in Paris with Philip. And her brother, that +wonderful man of the air, who was almost a demi-god to her, had spoken +so well of him, had praised so much his skill, his courage, and his +honesty. And he had received his wound fighting so gallantly for France, +her country. Her beautiful color deepened a little as she walked away. + +John awoke again in the afternoon, and the first sound he heard was that +same far rumble of the guns, now apparently a part of nature, but he did +not linger in any twilight land between dark and light. All the mists of +sleep cleared away at once and he sat up, healthy, strong and hungry. +Demanding food from an orderly he received it, and when he had eaten it +he asked for Surgeon Delorme. + +The surgeon did not come for a half hour and then he demanded brusquely +what John wanted. + +"None of your drugs," replied happy young Scott, "but my uniform and my +arms. I don't know your procedure here, but I want you to certify to the +whole world that I'm entirely well and ready to return to the ranks." + +Surgeon Delorme critically examined the bandage which he had changed +that morning, and then felt of John's head at various points. + +"A fine strong skull," he said, smiling, "and quite undamaged. When this +war is over I shall go to America and make an exhaustive study of the +Yankee skull. Has bone, through the influence of climate or of more +plentiful food, acquired a more tenacious quality there than it has +here? It is a most interesting and complicated question." + +"But it's solution will have to be deferred, my good Monsieur Delorme, +and so you'd better quit thumping my head so hard. Give me that +certificate, because if you don't I'll get up and go without it. Don't +you hear those guns out there, doctor? Why, they're calling to me all +the time. They tell me, strong and well, again, to come at once and join +my comrades of the Strangers, who are fighting the enemy." + +"You shall go in the morning," said Surgeon Delorme, putting his broad +hand upon young Scott's head. "The effects of the concussion will have +vanished then." + +"But I want to get up now and put on my uniform; can't I?" + +"I know no reason why you shouldn't. There's a huge fellow named Picard +around here who has been watching over you, and who has your uniform. +I'll call him." + +When John was dressed he walked with Picard into the edge of the forest. +His first steps were wavering, and his head swam a little, but in a few +minutes the dizziness disappeared and his walk became steady and +elastic. He was his old self again, strong in every fiber. He would +certainly be with the Strangers the next morning. + +Many more of the wounded, thousands of them, were lying or sitting on +the short grass in the forest. They were the less seriously hurt, and +they were cheerful. Some of them sang. + +"They'll be going back to the army fast," said Picard. "Unless they're +torn by shrapnel nearly all the wounded get well again and quickly. The +bullet with the great power is merciful. It goes through so fast that it +does not tear either flesh or bone. If you're healthy, if your blood is +good, psst! you're well again in a week." + +"Do you know if Lieutenant Lannes is expected here?" asked John. + +"I heard from Mademoiselle Julie that he would come at set of sun. He +has been on another perilous errand. Ah, his is a strange and terrible +life, sir. Up there in the sky, a half mile, maybe a mile, above the +earth. All the dangers of the earth and those, too, of the air to fight! +Nothing above you and nothing below you. It's a new world in which +Monsieur Philip Lannes moves, but I would not go in it with him, not for +all the treasures of the Louvre!" + +He looked up at the calm and benevolent blue sky and shuddered. + +John laughed. + +"Some of us feel that way," he said. "Many men as brave as any that ever +lived can't bear to look down from a height. But sunset is approaching, +my gallant Picard, and Lannes should soon be here." + +The rays of the sun fell in showers of red gold where they stood, but a +narrow band of gray under the eastern horizon showed that twilight was +not far away. The two stood side by side staring up at the heavens, +where they felt with absolute certainty the black dot would appear at +the appointed time. It was a singular tribute to the courage and +character of Lannes that all who knew him had implicit faith in his +promises, not alone in his honesty of purpose, but in his ability to +carry it out in the face of difficulty and danger. The band of gray in +the east broadened, but they still watched with the utmost faith. + +"I see something to the eastward," said John, "or is it merely a shadow +in the sky?" + +"I don't think it's a shadow. It must be one of those terrible machines, +and perhaps it's that of our brave Monsieur Philip." + +"You're right, Picard, it's no shadow, nor is it a bit of black cloud. +It's an aeroplane, flying very fast. The skies over Europe hold many +aeroplanes these days, but I know all the tricks of the _Arrow_, all its +pretty little ways, its manner of curving, looping and dropping, and I +should say that the _Arrow_, Philip Lannes aboard, is coming." + +"I pray, sir, that you are right. I always hold my breath until he is on +the ground again." + +"Then you'll have to make a record in holding breath, my brave Picard. +He is still far, very far, from us, and it will be a good ten minutes +before he arrives." + +But John knew beyond a doubt, after a little more watching, that it was +really the _Arrow_, and with eager eyes he watched the gallant little +machine as it descended in many a graceful loop and spiral to the earth. +They hurried forward to meet it, and Lannes, bright-eyed and trim, +sprang out, greeting John with a welcome cry. + +"Up again," he exclaimed, "and, as I see with these two eyes of mine, +as well as ever! And you too, my brave Picard, here to meet me!" + +He hastened away with a report, but came back to them in a few minutes. + +"Now," he said, "We'll go and see my sister." + +John was not at all unwilling. + +They found her in one of the new houses of pine boards, and the faithful +and stalwart Suzanne was with her. It was the plainest of plain places, +inhabited by at least twenty other Red Cross nurses, and John stood on +one side until the first greeting of brother and sister was over. Then +Lannes, by a word and a gesture, included him in what was practically a +family group, although he was conscious that the stalwart Suzanne was +watching him with a wary eye. + +"Julie and Suzanne," said Lannes, "are going tomorrow with other nurses +to the little town of Menouville, where also many wounded lie. They are +less well supplied with doctors and nurses than we are here. Dr. Delorme +goes also with a small detachment as escort. I have asked that you, +Monsieur Jean the Scott, be sent with them. Our brave Picard goes too. +Menouville is about eight miles from here, and it's not much out of the +way to the front. So you will not be kept long from your Strangers, +John." + +"I go willingly," said John, "and I'm glad, Philip, that you've seen fit +to consider me worth while as a part of the escort." + +He spoke quietly, but his glance wandered to Julie Lannes. It may have +been a chance, but hers turned toward him at the same time, and the +eyes, the blue and the gray, met. Again the girl's brilliant color +deepened a little, and she looked quickly away. Only the watchful and +grim Suzanne saw. + +"Do you have to go away at once, Philip?" asked Julie. + +"In one hour, my sister. There is not much rest for the _Arrow_ and me +these days, but they are such days as happen perhaps only once in a +thousand years, and one must do his best to be worthy. I'm not +preaching, little sister, don't think that, but I must answer to every +call." + +The twilight had spread from east to west. The heavy shadows in the east +promised a dark night, but out of the shadows, as always, came that +sullen mutter of the ruthless guns. Julie shivered a little, and glanced +at the dim sky. + +"Must you go up there in the cold dark?" she said. "It's like leaving +the world. It's dangerous enough in the day, but you have a bright sky +then. In the night it's terrible!" + +"Don't you fear for me, little sister," said Lannes. "Why, I like the +night for some reasons. You can slip by your enemies in the dark, and if +you're flying low the cannon don't have half the chance at you. Besides, +I've the air over these regions all mapped and graded now. I know all +the roads and paths, the meeting places of the clouds, points suitable +for ambush, aerial fields, meadows and forests. Oh, it's home up there! +Don't you worry, and do you write, too, to Madame, my mother, in Paris, +that I'm perfectly safe." + +Lannes kissed her and went away abruptly. John was sure that an attempt +to hide emotion caused his brusque departure. + +"Believe everything he tells you, Mademoiselle Julie," he said. "I've +come to the conclusion that nothing can ever trap your brother. Besides +courage and skill he has luck. The stars always shine for him." + +"They're not shining tonight," said Picard, looking up at the dusky sky. + +"But I believe, Mr. Scott, that you are right," said Julie. + +"He'll certainly come to us at Menouville tomorrow night," said John, +speaking in English--all the conversation hitherto had been in French, +"and I think we'll have a pleasant ride through the forest in the +morning, Miss Lannes. You'll let me call you Miss Lannes, once or twice, +in my language, won't you? I like to hear the sound of it." + +"I've no objection, Mr. Scott," she replied also in English. She did not +blush, but looked directly at him with bright eyes. John was conscious +of something cool and strong. She was very young, she was French, and +she had lived a sheltered life, but he realized once more that human +beings are the same everywhere and that war, the leveler, had broken +down all barriers. + +"I've not heard who is to be our commander, Miss Lannes," he continued +in English, "but I'll be here early in the morning. May I wish you happy +dreams and a pleasant awakening, as they say at home?" + +"But you have two homes now, France and America." + +"That's so, and I'm beginning to love one as much as the other. Any +way, to the re-seeing, Miss Lannes, which I believe is equivalent to _au +revoir_." + +He made a very fine bow, one that would have done credit to a trained +old courtier, and withdrew. The fierce and watchful eyes of Suzanne +followed him. + +John was up at dawn, as strong and well as he had ever been in his life. +As he was putting on his uniform an orderly arrived with a note from +Lieutenant Hector Legare, telling him to report at once for duty with a +party that was going to Menouville. + +The start was made quickly. John found that the women with surgical +supplies were traveling in carts. The soldiers, about twenty in number, +walked. John and the doctor walked with them. All the automobiles were +in use carrying troops to the front, but the carts were strong and +comfortable and John did not mind. It ought to be a pleasant trip. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE MIDDLE AGES + + +The little party moved away without attracting notice. In a time of such +prodigious movement the going or coming of a few individuals was a +matter of no concern. The hood that Julie Lannes had drawn over her hair +and face, and her plain brown dress might have been those of a nun. She +too passed before unseeing eyes. + +Lieutenant Legare was a neutral person, arousing no interest in John who +walked by the side of the gigantic Picard, the stalwart Suzanne being in +one of the carts beside Julie. The faint throbbing of the guns, now a +distinct part of nature, came to them from a line many miles away, but +John took no notice of it. He had returned to the world among pleasant +people, and this was one of the finest mornings in early autumn that he +had ever seen. + +The country was much more heavily forested than usual. At points, the +woods turned into what John would almost have called a real forest. Then +they could not see very far ahead or to either side, but the road was +good and the carts moved forward, though not at a pace too great for the +walkers. + +Picard carried a rifle over his shoulders, and John had secured an +automatic. All the soldiers were well armed. John felt a singular +lightness of heart, and, despite the forbidding glare of Suzanne, who +was in the last cart, he spoke to Julie. + +"It's too fine a morning for battle," he said in English. "Let's pretend +that we're a company of troubadours, minnesingers, jongleurs, acrobats +and what not, going from one great castle to another." + +"I suppose Antoine there is the chief acrobat?" + +"He might do a flip-flap, but if he did the earth would shake." + +"Then you are the chief troubadour. Where is your harp or viol, Sir +Knight of the Tuneful Road?" + +"I'm merely imagining character, not action. I haven't a harp or a viol, +and if I had them I couldn't play on either." + +"Do you think it right to talk In English to the strange young American, +Mademoiselle? Would Madame your mother approve?" said Suzanne in a +fierce whisper. + +"It is sometimes necessary in war, Suzanne, to talk where one would not +do so in peace," replied Julie gravely, and then she said to John again +in English: + +"We cannot carry out the pretense, Mr. Scott. The tuneful or merry folk +of the Middle Ages did not travel with arms. They had no enemies, and +they were welcome everywhere. Nor did they travel as we do to the +accompaniment of war. The sound of the guns grows louder." + +"So it does," said John, bending an ear--he had forgotten that a battle +was raging somewhere, "but we're behind the French lines and it cannot +touch us." + +"It was a wonderful victory. Our soldiers are the bravest in the world +are they not, Mr. Scott?" + +John smiled. They were still talking English. He liked to hear her +piquant pronunciation of it, and he surmised too that the bravest of +hearts beat in the bosom of this young girl whom war had suddenly made a +woman. How could the sister of such a man as Lannes be otherwise than +brave? The sober brown dress, and the hood equally sober, failed to hide +her youthful beauty. The strands of hair escaping from the hood showed +pure gold in the sunshine, and in the same sunshine the blue of her eyes +seemed deeper than ever. + +John was often impressed by the weakness of generalities, and one of +them was the fact that so many of the French were so fair, and so many +of the English so dark. He did not remember the origin of the Lannes +family, but he was sure that through her mother's line, at least, she +must be largely of Norman blood. + +"What are you thinking of so gravely, Mr. Scott?" she asked, still in +English, to the deep dissatisfaction of Suzanne, who never relaxed her +grim glare. + +"I don't know. Perhaps it was the contrast of our peaceful journey to +what is going on twelve or fifteen miles away." + +"It is beautiful here!" she said. + +Truly it was. The road, smooth and white, ran along the slopes of hills, +crested with open forest, yet fresh and green. Below them were fields of +chequered brown and green. Four or five clear brooks flowed down the +slopes, and the sheen of a little river showed in the distance. Three +small villages were in sight, and, clean white smoke rising from their +chimneys, blended harmoniously into the blue of the skies. It reminded +John of pictures by the great French landscape painters. It was all so +beautiful and peaceful, nor was the impression marred by the distant +mutter of the guns which he had forgotten again. + +Julie and Suzanne, her menacing shadow, dismounted from the wagon +presently and walked with John and Picard. Lieutenant Legare was stirred +enough from his customary phlegm to offer some gallant words, but war, +the great leveler, had not quite leveled all barriers, so far as he was +concerned, and, after her polite reply, he returned to his martial +duties. John had become the friend of the Lannes family through his +association with Philip in dangerous service, and his position was +recognized. + +The road ascended and the forest became deeper. No houses were now in +sight. As the morning advanced it had grown warmer under a brilliant +sun, but it was pleasant here in the shade. Julie still walked, showing +no sign of a wish for the cart again. John noticed that she was very +strong, or at least very enduring. Suddenly he felt a great obligation +to take care of her for the sake of Lannes. The sister of his +comrade-in-arms was a precious trust in his hands, and he must not +fail. + +The wind shifted and blew toward the east, no longer bringing the sound +of guns. Instead they heard a bird now and then, chattering or singing +in a tree. The illusion of the Middle Ages returned to John. They were a +peaceful troupe, going upon a peaceful errand. + +"Don't tell me there isn't a castle at Menouville," he said. "I know +there is, although I've never been there, and I never heard of the place +before. When we arrive the drawbridge will be down and the portcullis +up. All the men-at-arms will have burnished their armor brightly and +will wait respectfully in parallel rows to welcome us as we pass +between. His Grace, the Duke of Light Heart, in a suit of red velvet +will be standing on the steps, and Her Graciousness, the Duchess, in a +red brocade dress, with her hair powdered and very high on her head, +will be by his side to greet our merry troupe. Behind them will be all +the ducal children, and the knights and squires and pages, and ladies. I +think they will all be very glad to see us, because in these Middle Ages +of ours, life, even in a great ducal castle, is somewhat lonely. +Visitors are too rare, and there is not the variety of interest that +even the poor will have in a later time." + +"You make believe well, Mr. Scott," she said. + +"There is inspiration," he said, glancing at her. "We are here in the +deeps of an ancient wood, and perhaps the stories and legends of these +old lands move the Americans more than they do the people who live here. +We're the children of Europe and when we look back to the land of our +fathers we often see it through a kind of glorified mist." + +"The wind is shifting again," she said. "I hear the cannon once more." + +"So do I, and I hear something else too! Was that the sound of hoofs?" + +John turned in sudden alarm to Legare, who heard also and stiffened at +once to attention. They were not alone on the road. The rapid beat of +hoofs came, and around a corner galloped a mass of Uhlans, helmets and +lances glittering. Picard with a shout of warning fired his rifle into +the thick of them. Legare snatched out his revolver and fired also. + +But they had no chance. The little detachment was ridden down in an +instant. Legare and half of the men died gallantly. The rest were taken. +Picard had been brought to his knees by a tremendous blow from the butt +of a lance, and John, who had instinctively sprung before Julie, was +overpowered. Suzanne, who endeavored to reach a weapon, fought like a +tigress, but two Uhlans finally subdued her. + +It was so swift and sudden that it scarcely seemed real to John, but +there were the dead bodies lying ghastly in the road, and there stood +Julie, as pale as death, but not trembling. The leader of the Uhlans +pushed his helmet back a little from his forehead, and looked down at +John, who had been disarmed but who stood erect and defiant. + +"It is odd, Mr. Scott," said Captain von Boehlen, "how often the +fortunes of this war have caused us to meet." + +"It is, and sometimes fortune favors one, sometimes the other. You're +in favor now." + +Von Boehlen looked steadily at his prisoner. John thought that the +strength and heaviness of the jaw were even more pronounced than when he +had first seen the Prussian in Dresden. The face was tanned deeply, and +face and figure alike seemed the embodiment of strength. One might +dislike him, but one could not despise him. John even found it in his +heart to respect him, as he returned the steady gaze of the blue eyes +with a look equally as firm. + +"I hope," said John, "that you will send back Mademoiselle Lannes and +the nurses with her to her people. I take it that you're not making war +upon women." + +Von Boehlen gave Julie a quick glance of curiosity and admiration. But +the eyes flashed for only a moment and then were expressionless. + +"I know of one Lannes," he said, "Philip Lannes, the aviator, a name +that fame has brought to us Germans." + +"I am his sister," said Julie. + +"I can wish, Mademoiselle Lannes," said von Boehlen, politely in French, +"that we had captured your brother instead of his sister." + +"But as I said, you will send them back to their own people? You don't +make war upon women?" repeated John. + +"No, we do not make war upon women. We are making war upon Frenchmen, +and I do not hesitate to say in the presence of Mademoiselle Lannes that +this war is made upon very brave Frenchmen. Yet we cannot send the +ladies back. The presence of our cavalry here within the French lines +must not be known to our enemies. Moreover, I obey the orders of +another, and I am compelled to hold them as prisoners--for a while at +least." + +Von Boehlen's tone was not lacking in the least in courtesy. It was more +than respectful when he spoke directly to Julie Lannes, and John's +feeling of repugnance to him underwent a further abatement--he was a +creation of his conditions, and he believed in his teachings. + +"You will at least keep us all as prisoners together?" said John. + +"I know of no reason to the contrary," replied von Boehlen briefly. Then +he acted with the decision that characterized all the German officers +whom John had seen. The women and the prisoners were put in the carts. +Dismounted Uhlans took the place of the drivers and the little +procession with an escort of about fifty cavalry turned from the road +into the woods, von Boehlen and the rest, about five hundred in number, +rode on down the road. + +John was in the last cart with Julie, Suzanne and Picard, and his soul +was full of bitter chagrin. He had just been taking mental resolutions +to protect, no matter what came, Philip Lannes' sister, and, within a +half hour, both she and he were prisoners. But when he saw the face of +Antoine Picard he knew that one, at least, in the cart was suffering as +much as he. The gigantic peasant was the only one whose arms were bound, +and perhaps it was as well. His face expressed the most ferocious anger +and hate, and now and then he pulled hard upon his bonds. John could see +that they were cutting into the flesh. He remembered also that Picard +was not in uniform. He was in German eyes only a _franc tireur_, subject +to instant execution, and he wondered why von Boehlen had delayed. + +"Save your strength, Antoine," he whispered soothingly. "We'll need it +later. I've been a prisoner before and I escaped. What's been done once +can be done again. In such a huge and confused war as this there's +always a good chance." + +"Ah, you're right, Monsieur," said Antoine, and he ceased to struggle. + +Julie had heard the whisper, and she looked at John confidently. She was +the youngest of all the women in the carts, but she was the coolest. + +"They cannot do anything with us but hold us a few days," she said. + +John was silent, turning away his somber face. He did not like this +carrying away of the women as captives, and to him the women were +embodied in Julie. They were following a little path through the woods, +the German drivers and German guards seeming to know well the way. John, +calculating the course by the sun, was sure that they were now going +directly toward the German army and that they would pass unobserved +beyond the French outposts. The path was leading into a narrow gorge and +the banks and trees would hide them from all observation. He was +confirmed in his opinion by the action of their guards. The leader rode +beside the carts and said in very good French that any one making the +least outcry would be shot instantly. No exception would be made in the +case of a woman. + +John knew that the threat would be kept. Julie Lannes paled a little, +and the faithful Suzanne by her side was darkly menacing, but they +showed no other emotion. + +"Don't risk anything," said John in the lowest of whispers. "It would be +useless." + +Julie nodded. The carts moved on down the gorge, their wheels and the +hoofs of the horses making but little noise on the soft turf. The crash +of the guns was now distinctly louder and far ahead they saw wisps of +smoke floating above the trees. John was sure that the German batteries +were there, but he was equally sure that even had he glasses he could +not have seen them. They would certainly be masked in some adroit +fashion. + +The roaring also grew on their right and left. That must be the French +cannon, and soon they would be beyond the French lines. His bitterness +increased. Nothing could be more galling than to be carried in this +manner through one's own forces and into the camp of the enemy. And +there was Julie, sitting quiet and pale, apparently without fear. + +He reckoned that they rode at least three miles in the gorge. Then they +came into a shallow stream about twenty feet wide that would have been +called a creek at home. Its banks were fairly high, lined on one side by +a hedge and on the other by willows. Instead of following the path any +further the Germans turned into the bed of the stream and drove down it +two or three miles. The roar of the artillery from both armies was now +very great, and the earth shook. Once John caught the shadow of a huge +shell passing high over their heads. + +All the prisoners knew that they were well beyond hope of rescue for the +present. The French line was far behind them and they were within the +German zone. It was better to be resigned, until they saw cause for +hope. + +When they came to a low point in the eastern bank of the stream the +carts turned out, reached a narrow road between lines of poplars and +continued their journey eastward. In the fields on either side John saw +detachments of German infantry, skirmishers probably, as they had not +yet reached the line of cannon. + +"Officer," said John to the German leader, "couldn't you unbind the arms +of my friend in the cart here? Ropes around one's wrists for a long time +are painful, and since we're within your lines he has no chance of +escape now." + +The officer looked at Picard and shrugged his shoulders. + +"Giants are strong," he said. + +"But a little bullet can lay low the greatest of them." + +"That is so." + +He leaned from his horse, inserted the point of his sword between +Picard's wrists and deftly cut the rope without breaking the skin. +Picard clenched and unclenched his hands and drew several mighty breaths +of relief. But he was a peasant of fine manners and he did not forget +them. Turning to the officer, he said: + +"I did not think I'd ever thank a German for anything, but I owe you +gratitude. It's unnatural and painful to remain trussed up like a fowl +going to market." + +The officer gave Picard a glance of pity and rode to the head of the +column, which turned off at a sharp angle toward the north. The great +roar and crash now came from the south and John inferred that they would +soon pass beyond the zone of fire. But for a long time the thunder of +the battle was undiminished. + +"Do you know this country at all?" John asked Picard. + +The giant shook his head. + +"I was never here before, sir," he said, "and I never thought I should +come into any part of France in this fashion. Ah, Mademoiselle Julie, +how can I ever tell the tale of this to your mother?" + +"No harm will come to me, Antoine," said Julie. "I shall be back in +Paris before long. Suzanne and you are with me--and Mr. Scott." + +Suzanne again frowned darkly, but John gave Julie a grateful glance. +Wisdom, however, told him to say nothing. The officer in command came +back to the cart and said, pointing ahead: + +"Behold your destination! The large house on the hill. It is the +headquarters of a person of importance, and you will find quarters there +also. I trust that the ladies will hold no ill will against me. I've +done only what my orders have compelled me to do." + +"We do not, sir," said Julie. + +The officer bowed low and rode back to the head of the column. He was a +gallant man and John liked him. But his attention was directed now to +the house, an old French chateau standing among oaks. The German flag +flew over it and sentinels rode back and forth on the lawn. John +remembered the officer's words that a "person of importance" was making +his headquarters there. It must be one of the five German army +commanders, at least. + +He looked long at the chateau. It was much such a place as that in which +Carstairs, Wharton and he had once found refuge, and from the roof of +which Wharton had worked the wireless with so much effect. But houses of +this type were numerous throughout Western Europe. + +It was only two stories in height, large, with long low windows, and the +lawn was more like a park in size. It as now the scene of abundant life, +although, as John knew instinctively, not the life of those to whom it +belonged. A number of young officers sat on the grass reading, and at +the edge of the grounds stood a group of horses with their riders lying +on the ground near them. Not far away were a score of high powered +automobiles, several of which were armored. John also saw beyond them a +battery of eight field guns, idle now and with their gunners asleep +beside them. He had no doubt that other troops in thousands were not far +away and that, in truth, they were in the very thick of the German army. + +The chateau and its grounds were enclosed by a high iron fence and the +little procession of carts stopped at the great central gate. A group +of officers who had been sitting on the grass, reading a newspaper, came +forward to meet them and John, to his amazement and delight, recognized +the young prince, von Arnheim. It was impossible for him to regard von +Arnheim as other than a friend, and springing impulsively from the cart +he said: + +"I had to leave you for a while. It had become irksome to be a prisoner, +but you see I've come back." + +Von Arnheim stared, then recognition came. + +"Ah, it's Scott, the American! I speak truth when I say that I'm sorry +to see you here." + +"I'm sorry to come," said John, "but I'd rather be your prisoner than +anybody else's, and I wish to ask your courtesy and kindness for the +young lady, sitting in the rear of the cart, Mademoiselle Julie Lannes, +the sister of that great French aviator of whom everybody has heard." + +"I'll do what I can, but you're mistaken in assuming that I'm in command +here. There's a higher personage--but pardon me, I must speak to the +lieutenant." + +The officer in charge was saluting, obviously anxious to make his report +and have done with an unpleasant duty. Von Arnheim gave him rapid +directions in German and then asked Julie and the two Picards to +dismount from the cart, while the others were carried through the gate +and down a drive toward some distant out-buildings. + +John saw von Arnheim's eyes gleam a little, when he noticed the beauty +of young Julie, but the Prussian was a man of heart and manner. He +lifted his helmet, and bowed with the greatest courtesy, saying: + +"It's an unhappy chance for you, but not for us, that has made you our +prisoner, Mademoiselle Lannes. In this chateau you must consider +yourself a guest, and not a captive. It would not become us to treat +otherwise the sister of one so famous as your brother." + +John noticed that he paid her no direct compliment. It was indirect, +coming through her brother, and he liked von Arnheim better than ever, +because the young captive was, in truth, very beautiful. The brown dress +and the sober hood could not hide it as she stood there, the warm red +light from the setting sun glancing across her rosy face and the +tendrils of golden hair that fell from beneath the hood. She was +beautiful beyond compare, John repeated to himself, but scarcely more +than a child, and she had come into strange places. The stalwart Suzanne +also took note, and she moved a little nearer, while her grim look +deepened. + +"We will give you the best hospitality the house affords," continued von +Arnheim. "It's scarcely equipped for ladies, although the former owners +left--" + +He paused and reddened. John knew his embarrassment was due to the fact +that the house to which he was inviting Julie belonged to one of her own +countrymen. But she did not seem to notice it. The manner and appearance +of von Arnheim inspired confidence. + +"We'll be put with the other prisoners, of course," said John +tentatively. + +"I don't know," replied von Arnheim. "That rests with my superior, whom +you shall soon see." + +They were walking along the gravel toward a heavy bronze door, that told +little of what the house contained. Officers and soldiers saluted the +young prince as he passed. John saw discipline and attention everywhere. +The German note was discipline and obedience, obedience and discipline. +A nation, with wonderful powers of thinking, it was a nation that ceased +to think when the call of the drill sergeant came. Discipline and +obedience had made it terrible and unparalleled in war, to a certain +point, but beyond that point the nations that did think in spite of +their sergeants, could summon up reserves of strength and courage which +the powers of the trained militarists could not create. At least John +thought so. + +The long windows of the house threw back the last rays of the setting +sun, and it was twilight when von Arnheim and his four captives entered +the chateau. A large man, middle-aged, heavy and bearded, wearing the +uniform of a German general rose, and a staff of several officers rose +with him. It was Auersperg, the medieval prince, and John's heart was +troubled. + +Von Arnheim saluted, bowing deeply. He stood not only in the presence of +his general, but of royalty also. It was something in the German blood, +even in one so brave and of such high rank as von Arnheim himself, that +compelled humility, and John, like the fierce democrat he was, did not +like it at all. The belief was too firmly imbedded in his mind ever to +be removed that men like Auersperg and the mad power for which they +stood had set the torch to Europe. + +"Captain von Boehlen took some prisoners, Your Highness," said von +Arnheim, "and as he was compelled to continue on his expedition he has +sent them here under the escort of Lieutenant Puttkamer. The young lady +is Mademoiselle Julie Lannes, the sister of the aviator, of whom we all +know, the woman and the peasant are her servants, and the young man, +whom we have seen before, is an American, John Scott in the French +service." + +He spoke in French, with intention, John thought, and the heavy-lidded +eyes of Auersperg dwelt an instant on the fresh and beautiful face of +Julie. And that momentary glance was wholly medieval. John saw it and +understood it. A rage against Auersperg that would never die flamed up +in his heart. He already hated everything for which the man stood. +Auersperg's glance passed on, and slowly measured the gigantic figure of +Picard. Then he smiled in a slow and ugly fashion. + +"Ah, a peasant in civilian's dress, captured fighting our brave armies! +Our orders are very strict upon that point. Von Arnheim, take this +_franc tireur_ behind the chateau and have him shot at once." + +He too had spoken in French, and doubtless with intention also. John +felt a thrill of horror, but Julie Lannes, turning white, sprang before +Picard: + +"No! No!" she cried to Auersperg. "You cannot do such a thing! He is not +a soldier! They would not take him because he is too old! He is my +mother's servant! It would be barbarous to have him shot!" + +Auersperg looked again at Julie, and smiled, but it was the slow, cold +smile of a master. + +"You beg very prettily, Mademoiselle," he said. + +She flushed, but stood firm. + +"It would be murder," she said. "You cannot do it!" + +"You know little of war. This man is a _franc tireur_, a civilian in +civilian's garb, fighting against us. It is our law that all such who +are caught be shot immediately." + +"Your Highness," said von Arnheim, "I have reason to think that the +lady's story is correct. This man's daughter is her maid, and he is +obviously a servant of her house." + +Auersperg turned his slow, heavy look upon the young Prussian, but John +noticed that von Arnheim met it without flinching, although Picard had +really fired upon the Germans. He surmised that von Arnheim was fully as +high-born as Auersperg, and perhaps more so. John knew that these things +counted for a lot in Germany, however ridiculous they might seem to a +democratic people. Nevertheless Auersperg spoke with irony: + +"Your heart is overworking, von Arnheim," he said "Sometimes I fear that +it is too soft for a Prussian. Our Emperor and our Fatherland demand +that we shall turn hearts of steel to our enemies, and never spare them. +But it may be, my brave Wilhelm, that your sympathy is less for this +hulking peasant and more for the fair face of the lady whom he serves." + +John saw Julie's face flush a deep red, and his hand stole down to his +belt, but no weapon was there. Von Arnheim's face reddened also, but he +stood at attention before his superior officer and replied with dignity: + +"I admire Mademoiselle Lannes, although I have known her only ten +minutes, but I think, Your Highness, that my admiration is warranted, +and also that it is not lacking in respect." + +"Good for you, von Arnheim," said John, under his breath. But the +medieval mind of Auersperg was not disturbed. The slow, cruel smile +passed across his face again. + +"You are brave my Wilhelm," he said, "but I am confirmed in my opinion +that some of our princely houses have become tainted. The harm that was +done when Napoleon smashed his way through Europe has never been undone. +The touch of the democracy was defilement, and it does not pass. Do you +think our ancestors would have wasted so much time over a miserable +French peasant?" + +This was a long speech, much too long for the circumstances, John +thought, but von Arnheim still standing stiffly at attention, merely +said: + +"Your Highness I ask this man's life of you. He is not a _franc tireur_ +in the real sense." + +"Since you make it a personal matter, my brave young Wilhelm, I yield. +Let him be held a prisoner, but no more requests of the same kind. This +is positively the last time I shall yield to such a weakness." + +"Thank you, Your Highness," said von Arnheim. Julie gave him one +flashing look of gratitude and stepped away from Picard, who had stood, +his arms folded across his chest, refusing to utter a single word for +mercy. "This indeed," thought John "is a man." Suzanne was near, and now +both he and his daughter turned away relaxing in no wise their looks of +grim resolution. "Here also is a woman as well as a man," thought John. + +"I hope, Your Highness, that I may assign Mademoiselle Lannes and her +maid to one of the upper rooms," said von Arnheim in tones respectful, +but very firm. "Here also is another man," thought John. + +"You may," said Auersperg shortly, "but let the peasant be sent to the +stables, where the other prisoners are kept." + +Two soldiers were called and they took Picard away. Julie and Suzanne +followed von Arnheim to a stairway, and John was left alone with +medievalism. The man wore no armor, but when only they two stood in the +room his feeling that he was back in the Middle Ages was overpowering. +Here was the baron, and here was he, untitled and unknown. + +Auersperg glanced at Julie, disappearing up the stairway, and then +glanced back at John. Over his heavy face passed the same slow cruel +smile that set all John's nerves to jumping. + +"Why have you, an American, come so far to fight against us?" he asked. + +"I didn't come for that purpose. I was here, visiting, and I was caught +in the whirl of the war, an accident, perhaps. But my sympathies are +wholly with France. I fight in her ranks from choice." + +Auersperg laughed unpleasantly. + +"A republic!" he said. "Millions of the ignorant, led by demagogues! +Bah! The Hohenzollerns will scatter them like chaff!" + +"I can't positively say that I saw any Hohenzollern, but I did see their +armies turned back from Paris by those ignorant people, led by their +demagogues. I'm not even sure of the name of the French general who did +it, but God gave him a better brain for war, though he may have been +born a peasant for all I know, than he did to your Kaiser, or any king, +prince, grand duke or duke in all the German armies!" + +John had been tried beyond endurance and he knew that he had spoken with +impulsive passion, but he knew also that he had spoken with truth. The +face of Auersperg darkened. The medieval baron, full of power, without +responsibility, believing implicitly in what he chose to call his order, +but which was merely the chance of birth, was here. And while the Middle +Ages in reality had passed, war could hide many a dark tale. John was +unable to read the intent in the cruel eyes, but they heard the +footsteps of von Arnheim on the stairs, and the clenched hand that had +been raised fell back by Auersperg's side. Nevertheless medievalism did +not relax its gaze. + +"What to you is this girl who seems to have charmed von Arnheim?" he +asked. + +"Her brother has become my best friend. She has charmed me as she has +charmed von Arnheim, and as she charms all others whom she meets. And I +am pleased to tell Your Highness that the spell she casts is not alone +her beauty, but even more her pure soul." + +Auersperg laughed in an ugly fashion. + +"Youth! Youth!" he exclaimed. "I see that the spell is upon you, even +more than it is upon von Arnheim. But dismiss her from your thoughts. +You go a prisoner into Germany, and it's not likely that you'll ever see +her again." + +Young Scott felt a sinking of the heart, but he was not one to show it. + +"Prisoners may escape," he said boldly, "and what has been done once can +always be done again." + +"We shall see that it does not happen a second time in your case. Von +Arnheim will dispose of you for the night, and even if you should +succeed in stealing from the chateau there is around it a ring of German +sentinels through which you could not possibly break." + +Some strange kink appeared suddenly in John's brain--he was never able +to account for it afterward, though Auersperg's manner rasped him +terribly. + +"I mean to escape," he said, "and I wager you two to one that I do." + +Auersperg sat down and laughed, laughed in a way that made John's face +turn red. Then he beckoned to von Arnheim. + +"Take him away," he said. "He is characteristic of his frivolous +democracy, frivolous and perhaps amusing, but it is a time for serious +not trifling things." + +John was glad enough to go with von Arnheim, who was silent and +depressed. Yet the thought came to him once more that there were princes +and princes. Von Arnheim led the way to a small bare room under the +roof. John saw that there were soldiers in the upper halls as well as +the lower, and he was sorry that he had made such a boast to Auersperg. +As he now saw it his chance of escape glimmered into nothing. + +"You should not have spoken so to His Highness," said von Arnheim. "I +could not help but hear. He is our commander here, and it is not well to +infuriate one who holds all power over you?" + +"I am but human," replied John. + +"And being human, you should have had complete control over yourself at +such a time." + +"I admit it," said John, taking the rebuke in the right spirit. + +"You're to spend the night here. I've been able to secure this much +lenity for you, but it's for one night only. Tomorrow you go with the +other prisoners in the stables. Your door will be locked, but even if +you should succeed in forcing it don't try to escape. The halls swarm +with sentinels, and you would be shot instantly. I'll have food sent to +you presently." + +He spoke brusquely but kindly. When he went out John heard a huge key +rumbling in the lock. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +A PROMISE KEPT + + +The room in which John was confined contained only a bed, a chair and a +table. It was lighted by a single window, from which he could see +numerous soldiers below. He also heard the distant mutter of the cannon, +which seemed now to have become a part of nature. There were periods of +excitement or of mental detachment, when he did not notice it, but it +was always there. Now the soldiers in the grounds were moving but +little, and the air pulsed with the thud of the great guns. + +He recalled again his promise, or rather threat, to Auersperg that he +would escape. Instinctively he went to the narrow but tall window and +glanced at the heavens. Then he knew that impulse had made him look for +Lannes and the _Arrow_, and he laughed at his own folly. Even if Lannes +knew where they were he could not slip prisoners out of a house, +surrounded by watchful German troops. + +He heard the heavy key turning in the lock, and a silent soldier brought +him food, which he put upon the table. The man remained beside the door +until John had eaten his supper, when he took the dishes and withdrew. +He had not spoken a word while he was in the room, but as he was passing +out John said: + +"Good-bye, Pickelbaube! Let's have no ill feeling between you and me." + +The German--honest peasant that he was--grinned and nodded. He could not +understand the English words, but he gathered from John's tone that they +were friendly, and he responded at once. But when he closed the door +behind him John heard the heavy key turning in the lock again. He knew +there was little natural hostility between the people of different +nations. It was instilled into them from above. + +Food brought back new strength and new courage. He took his place again +at the window which was narrow and high, cut through a deep wall. The +illusion of the Middle Ages, which Auersperg had created so completely, +returned. This was the dungeon in a castle and he was a prisoner doomed +to death by its lord. Some dismounted Uhlans who were walking across the +grounds with their long lances over their shoulders gave another touch +to this return of the past, as the first rays of the moonlight glittered +on helmet and lance-head. + +He was not sleepy at all, and staying by the window he kept a strange +watch. He saw white flares appear often on a long line in the west. He +knew it was the flashing of the searchlights, and he surmised that what +he saw was meant for signals. The fighting would go on under steady +light continued long, and that it would continue admitted of no doubt. +He could hear the mutter of the guns, ceaseless like the flowing of a +river. + +He saw the battery drive out of the grounds, then turn into the road +before the chateau and disappear. He concluded that the cannon were +needed at some weak point where the Franco-British army was pressing +hard. + +Then a company of hussars came from the forest and rode quietly into the +grounds, where they dismounted. John saw that many, obviously the +wounded, were helped from their horses. In battle, he concluded, and not +so far off. Perhaps not more than two or three miles. Rifle-fire, with +the wind blowing the wrong way, would not be heard that distance. + +The hussars, leading their horses, disappeared in a wood behind the +house, and they were followed presently by a long train of automobiles, +moving rather slowly. The moonlight was very bright now and John saw +that they were filled with wounded who stirred but little and who made +no outcry. The line of motors turned into the place and they too +disappeared behind the chateau, following the hussars. + +Two aeroplanes alighted on the grass and their drivers entered the +house. Bearers of dispatches, John felt sure, and while he watched he +saw both return, spring into their machines and fly away. Their +departure caused him to search the heavens once more, and he knew that +he was looking for Lannes, who could not come. + +Now von Arnheim passed down the graveled walk that led to the great +central gate, but, half way, turned from it and began to talk to some +sentinels who stood on the grass. He was certainly a fine fellow, tall, +well built, and yet free from the German stoutness of figure. He wore a +close uniform of blue-gray which fitted him admirably, and the moonlight +fell in a flood on his handsome, ruddy face. + +"I hope you won't be killed," murmured John. "If there is any French +shell or shrapnel that is labeled specially for a prince and that must +have a prince, I pray it will take Auersperg in place of von Arnheim." + +It was a serious prayer and he felt that it was without a trace of +wickedness or sacrilege. Evidently von Arnheim was giving orders of +importance, as two of the men, to whom he was talking, hurried to +horses, mounted and galloped down the road. Then the young prince walked +slowly back to the house and John could see that he was very thoughtful. +He passed his hand in a troubled way two or three times across his +forehead. Perhaps the medieval prince inside was putting upon the modern +prince outside labors that he was far from liking. + +John's unformed plan of escape included Julie Lannes. He could not go +away without her. If he did he could never face Lannes again, and what +was more, he could never face himself. It was in reality this thought +that made his resolve to escape seem so difficult. It had been lurking +continuously in the back of his head. To go away without Julie was +impossible. Under ordinary circumstances her situation as a prisoner +would not be alarming. Germans regarded women with respect. They had +done so from the earliest times, as he had learned from the painful +study of Tacitus. Von Arnheim had received a deep impression from +Julie's beauty and grace. John could tell it by his looks, but those +looks were honest. They came from the eyes and heart of one who could do +no wrong. But the other! The man of the Middle Ages, the older prince. +He was different. War re-created ancient passions and gave to them +opportunities. No, he could not think of leaving without Julie! + +He kept his place at the tall, narrow window, and the night was steadily +growing brighter. A full, silver moon was swinging high in the heavens. +The stars were out in myriads in that sky of dusky, infinite blue, and +danced regardless of the tiny planet, Earth, shaken by battle. From the +hills came the relentless groaning which he knew was the sound of the +guns, fighting one another under the searchlights. + +Then he heard the clatter of hoofs, and another company of Uhlans rode +up to the chateau. Their leader dismounted and entered the great gate. +John recognized von Boehlen, who had taken off his helmet to let the +cool air blow upon his close-cropped head. He stood on the graveled walk +for a few minutes directly in a flood of silver rays, every feature +showing clearly. He had been arrogant and domineering, but John liked +him far better than Auersperg. His cruelty would be the cruelty of +battle, and there might be a streak of sentimentalism hidden under the +stiff and harsh German manner, like a vein of gold in rock. As von +Boehlen resumed his approach to the house he passed from John's range of +vision, and then the prisoner watched the horizon for anything that he +might see. Twice he beheld the far flare of searchlights, but nobody +else came to the chateau, and the night darkened somewhat. No rattle of +arms or stamp of hoofs came from the hussars in the grounds, and he +judged that all but the sentinels slept. Nor was there any sound of +movement in the house, and in the peaceful silence he at last began to +feel sleepy. The problems of his position were too great for him to +solve--at least for the present--and lying down on the cot he was fast +asleep before he knew it. + +Youth does not always sleep soundly, and the tension of John's nerves +continued long after he lapsed into unconsciousness. That, perhaps, was +the reason why he awoke at once when the heavy key began to turn again +in the lock. He sat up on the cot--he had not undressed--and his hand +instinctively slipped to his belt, where there was no weapon. + +The key was certainly turning in the lock, and then the door was +opening! A shadow appeared in the space between door and wall, and +John's first feeling was of apprehension. An atmosphere of suspicion had +been created about him and he considered his life in much more danger +there than it had been when he was first a prisoner. + +The door closed again quickly and softly, but somebody was inside the +room, somebody who had a light, feline step, and John felt the prickling +of the hair at the back of his neck. He longed for a weapon, something +better than only his two hands, but he was reassured when the intruder, +speaking French, called in a whisper: + +"Are you awake, Mr. Scott?" + +It was surely not the voice and words of one who had come to do murder, +and John felt a thrill of recognition. + +"Weber!" he exclaimed. + +"Yes, it's Weber, Mr. Scott." + +"How under the sun did you get here, Weber?" + +"By pretending to be a German. I'm an Alsatian, you know, and it's not +difficult. I'm doing work for France. It's terribly dangerous. My life +is on the turn of a hair every moment, but I'm willing to take the risk. +I did not know you were here until late tonight, when I came to the +chateau to see if I could discover anything further about the numbers +and movements of the enemy. You must get away now. I think I can help +you to escape." + +There was a tone in Weber's voice that aroused John's curiosity. + +"It's good of you, Weber," he said, "to take such a risk for me, but why +is it so urgent that I escape tonight?" + +"I've learned since I came to the chateau that the Prince of Auersperg +is much inflamed against you. Perhaps you spoke to him in a way that +gave offense to his dignity. Ah, sir, the members of these ancient royal +houses, those of the old type, consider themselves above and beyond the +other people of the earth. In Germany you cannot offend them without +risk, and it may be, too, that you stand in his way in regard to +something that he very much desires!" + +Although Weber spoke in a whisper his voice was full of energy and +earnestness. His words sank with the weight of truth into John's heart. + +"Can you really help me to escape?" he asked. + +"I think so. I'm sure of it. The guards in the house are relaxed at this +late hour, and they would seem needless anyhow with so many sentinels +outside." + +"But, Weber, Julie Lannes, the sister of Philip Lannes, is here a +prisoner also. She was taken when I was. She is a Red Cross nurse, and +although the Germans would not harm a woman, I do not like to leave her +in this chateau. Your Prince of Auersperg does not seem to belong to our +later age." + +"Perhaps not. He holds strongly for the old order, but the young von +Arnheim is here also. His is a devoted German heart, but his German eyes +have looked with admiration, nay more, upon a French face. He will +protect that beautiful young Mademoiselle Julie with his life against +anybody, against his senior in military rank, the Prince of Auersperg +himself. Sir, you must come! If you wish to help Philip Lannes' sister +you can be of more help to her living than dead. If you linger here you +surely disappear from men tomorrow!" + +"How do you know these things, Weber?" + +"I have been in the house three or four hours and there is talk among +the soldiers. I pray you, don't hesitate longer!" + +"How can you find a way?" + +"Wait a minute." + +He slipped back to the door, opened it and looked into the hall. + +"The path is clear," he said, when he returned. "There is no sentinel +near your door, and I've found a way leading out of the chateau at the +back. Most of these old houses have crooked, disused passages." + +"But suppose we succeed in reaching the outside, Weber, what then? The +place is surrounded by an army." + +"A way is there, too. One man in the darkness can pass through a +multitude. We can't delay, because another chance may not come!" + +John was overborne. Weber was half pulling him toward the door. +Moreover, there was much sense in what the Alsatian said. It was a +commonplace that he could be of more service to Julie alive than dead, +and the man's insistence deciding him, he crept with the Alsatian into +the hall. They stood a few minutes in the dark, listening, but no sound +came. Evidently the house slept well. + +"This way, Mr. Scott," whispered Weber, and he led toward the rear of +the house. Turning the corner of the hall he opened a small door in the +wall, which John would have passed even in the daylight without +noticing. + +"Put a hand on my coat and follow me," said Weber. + +John obeyed without hesitation, and they ascended a half dozen steps +along a passage so narrow that his shoulders touched the walls. It was +very dark there, but at the top they entered a room into which some +moonlight came, enough for John to see barrels, boxes and bags heaped on +the floor. + +"A storeroom," said Weber. "The French are thrifty. The owner of this +house had splendor below, and he has kept provision for it above, almost +concealed by the narrowness of the door and stair. But we'll find a +broader stair on the other side, and then we'll descend through the +kitchen and beyond." + +"This looks promising. You're a clever man, Weber, and my debt to you is +too big for me." + +"Don't think about it. Be careful and don't make any noise. Here's the +other stair. You'd better hold to my coat again." + +They stole softly down the stair, crossed an unused room, went down +another narrow, unused passage, and then, when Weber opened a door, John +felt the cool air of the night blowing upon his face. When the attempt +at escape began, he had not been so enthusiastic, because he was leaving +Julie behind, but with every step his eagerness grew and the free wind +brought with it a sort of intoxication. He did not doubt now that he +would make good his flight. Weber, that fast friend of his, was a +wonderful man. He worked miracles. Everything came out as he predicted +it would, and he would work more miracles. + +"Where are we now?" asked John. + +"This door is by the side of the kitchens. A little to the left is an +extensive conservatory, nearly all the glass of which has been shattered +by a shell, but that fact makes it all the more useful as a path for +us. If we reach it unobserved we can creep through the mass of flowers +and shrubbery to a large fishpond which lies just beyond it. You're a +good swimmer, as I know--and you can swim along its edge until you reach +the shrubbery on the other side. Then you ought to find an opening by +which you can reach the French army." + +"And you, Weber?" + +"I? Oh, I must stay here. The Prince of Auersperg is a man of great +importance. He is high in the confidence of the Kaiser. Besides his +royal rank he commands one of the German armies. If I am to secure +precious information for France it must be done in this house." + +"Come away with me, Weber. You've risked enough already. They'll catch +you and you know the fate of spies. I feel like a criminal or coward +abandoning you to so much danger, after all that you've done for me." + +"Thank you for your good words, Mr. Scott, but it's impossible for me to +go. Keep in the shadow of the wall, and a dozen steps will take you to +the conservatory." + +John wrung the Alsatian's hand, stepped out, and pressed himself against +the side of the house. The breeze still blew upon his face, revivifying +and intoxicating. The lazy, feathery clouds were yet drifting before the +moon and stars. + +He saw to his right the gleam of a bayonet as a sentinel walked back and +forth and he saw another to his left. His heart beat high with hope. He +was merely a mote in infinite night, and surely they could not see him. + +He walked swiftly along in the shadow of the house, and then sprang into +the conservatory, where he crouched between two tall rose bushes. He +waited there a little while, breathing hard, but he had not been +observed. From his rosy shelter he could still see the sentinels on +either side, walking up and down, undisturbed. Around him was a +frightful litter. The shell, the history of which he would never know, +had struck fairly in the center of the place, and it must have burst in +a thousand fragments. Scarcely a pane of glass had been left unbroken, +and the great pots, containing rare fruits and flowers, were mingled +mostly in shattered heaps. It was a pitiable wreck, and it stirred John, +although he had seen so many things so much worse. + +He walked a little distance in a stooping position, and then stood up +among some shrubs, tall enough to hide him. He noticed a slight dampness +in the air, and he saw, too, that the feathery clouds were growing +darker. The faint quiver in the air brought with it, as always, the +rumble of the guns, but he believed that it was not a blended sound. +There was real thunder on the horizon, where the French lay, and then he +saw a distant flash, not white like that of a searchlight, but like +yellow lightning. Rain, a storm perhaps, must be at hand. He had read +that nearly all the great battles in the civil war in his own country +had been followed at once by violent storms of thunder, lightning and +rain. Then why not here, where immense artillery combats never ceased? + +Near the end of the conservatory he paused and looked back at the house. +Every window was dark. There must be light inside, but shutters were +closed. His heart throbbed with intense gratitude to Weber. Without him +escape would have been impossible. He would make his way to the French. +He would find Lannes and together in some way they would rescue Julie, +Julie so young and so beautiful, held in the castle of the medieval +baron. In the lowering shadows the house became a castle and Auersperg +had always been of the Middle Ages. + +The wind freshened and a few drops of rain struck his face. He stood +boldly erect now, unafraid of observation, and picked a way through the +mass of broken glass and overturned shrubbery toward the end of the +conservatory, seeing beyond it a gleam of water which must be the big +fishpond. + +He turned to the left and reached the edge of the pond just as four +figures stepped from the dusk, their raised rifles pointing at him. The +shock was so great that, driven by some unknown but saving impulse, he +threw himself forward into the water just as the soldiers fired. He +heard the four rifles roaring together. Then he swam below water to the +far edge of the pond and came up under the shelter of its circling +shrubbery, raising above its surface only enough of his face for breath. + +As his eyes cleared he saw the four soldiers standing at the far edge of +the pond, looking at the water. Doubtless they were waiting for his +body to reappear, as his action, half fall, half spring, and the roaring +of the rifles had been so close together that they seemed a blended +movement. + +He was trembling all over from intense nervous exertion and excitement, +but his mind steadied enough for him to observe the soldiers. +Undoubtedly they were talking together, as he saw them making the +gestures of men who speak, but, even had he heard them, he could not +have understood their German. They were watching for his body, and as it +did not reappear they might make the circle of the pond looking for it. +He intended, in such an event, to leap out and run, but the elements +were intereceding in his favor. Thunder now preponderated greatly in +that rumble on the western horizon, and a blaze of yellow lightning +played across the surface of the pond. It was followed by a rush of rain +and the soldiers turned back toward the house, evidently sure that they +had not missed. + +John drew himself out of the water and climbed up the bank. His knees +gave way under him and he sank to the ground. Excitement and emotion had +been so violent that he was robbed of strength, but the condition lasted +only a minute or two. Then he rose and began to pick a way. + +The rain was driving hard, and it had grown so dark that one could not +see far. But he felt that the German sentinels now would seek a little +shelter from the wrath of the skies, and keeping in the shelter of a +hedge he passed by the stables, where many of the hussars and Uhlans +slept, through an orchard, the far side of which was packed with +automobiles, and thence into a wood, where he believed at last that he +was safe. + +He stopped here a little while in the lee of a great oak to protect +himself from the driving rain, and he noticed then that it was but a +passing shower, sent, it seemed then to him, as a providential aid. The +part of the rumble that was real thunder was dying. The yellow flare of +the lightning stopped and the rain swept off to the east. The moon and +stars were coming out again. + +John tried to see the chateau, but it was hidden from him by trees. They +would miss him there, and then they would know that it was he whom the +soldiers had fired upon at the edge of the pond. All of them would +believe that he was dead, and he remembered suddenly that Julie, who was +there among them, would believe it, too. Would she grieve? Or would he +merely be one of the human beings passing through her life, fleeting and +forgotten, like the shower that had just gone? It was true that he had +escaped, but he might be killed in some battle before she was rescued +from Auersperg--if she was rescued. + +These thoughts were hateful, and turning into the road by which they had +come to the chateau he ran down it. He ran because he wanted motion, +because he wished to reach the French army as quickly as he could, and +help Lannes organize for the rescue of Julie. + +He ran a long distance, because his excitement waned slowly, and because +the severe exercise made the blood course rapidly through his veins, +counteracting the effects of his cold and wetting. When he began to feel +weary he turned out of the road, knowing that it was safer in the +fields. He had the curious belief or impression now that the black +shower was all arranged for his benefit. Providence was merely making +things even. The soldiers had been brought upon him when the chances +were a hundred to one against him, and then the shower had been sent to +cover him, when the chances were a hundred to one against that, too. + +He saw far to the south a sudden faint radiance and he knew that it was +the last of the lightning. The little feathery clouds, which looked so +friendly and pleasant against the blue of the sky, came back and the +moaning on the western horizon toward which he was traveling was wholly +that of the guns. + +He heard a noise over his head, a mixture of a whistle and a scream, and +he knew that a shell was passing high. He walked on, and heard another. +But they could not be firing at him. He was still that mere mote in the +infinite darkness, but, looking back for the bursting of the shells, he +saw a blaze leap up near the point from which he had come. + +A cold shiver seized him. The range was that of the chateau, and Julie +was there. The French gunners could have no knowledge that their own +people were prisoners in the building, and if one of those huge shells +burst in it, ruin and destruction would follow. The conservatory had +been a silent witness of what flying metal could do. He stopped, +appalled. He had been wrong to leave without Julie, and yet he could +have done nothing else. It was impossible to foresee a shelling of the +chateau by the French themselves. + +The screaming and whistling came again, but he did not see any +explosion near the chateau. One could not tell much from such a swift +and passing sound, but he concluded that it was a German shell replying. +He had seen a German battery near the house and it would not remain +quiet under bombardment. + +He had no doubt that the French gunners, having got the range, would +keep it. Somebody, perhaps an aeroplane or an officer with flags in a +tree, was signaling. It was horrible, this murderous mechanism by which +men fired at targets miles away, targets which they could not see, but +which they hit nevertheless. Every pulse beating hard, John shook his +fist at the invisible German guns and the invisible French guns alike. + +Then he recovered himself with an angry shake and began to run again. He +knew now that he must go forward and secure a French force for rescue. +But no matter how much he urged himself on, a great power was pulling at +him, and it was Julie Lannes, a prisoner of the Germans in the chateau. +Often he stopped and looked back, always in the same direction. Twice +more he saw shells burst in the neighborhood of the house, and then his +heart would beat hard, but after brief hesitation he would always pursue +his course once more toward the French army. + +He did not know the time, but he believed it to be well past midnight. +He had his watch, but his immersion in the fish pond had caused it to +stop. Still, the feel of the air made him believe that he was in the +morning hours. Shells continued to pass over his head, and now they +came from many points. He had seen or heard so much firing in the last +eight or ten days that the world, he felt, must be turned into a huge +ammunition factory to feed all the guns. He laughed to himself at his +own grim joke. He was overstrained and he began to see everything +through a red mist. + +His clothing was drying fast, but his throat was very hot from +excitement and exertion. He came to a little brook, and kneeling down, +drank greedily. Then he bathed his face and felt stronger and better. +His nerves also grew steadier. There was not so much luminous mist in +the atmosphere. Ahead of him the crash of the guns was much louder, and +he knew that he had already come a long distance. It seemed that the +passing of the storm had renewed the activity of the gunners. The mutter +had become rolling thunder, and both to north and south the searchlights +flared repeatedly. + +He heard the beat of hoofs, and he hoped that they were French cavalry +on patrol, but they proved to be German Hussars, Bavarians he judged by +the light blue uniforms, and they were coming from the direction of the +French lines. They had been scouting there, he had no doubt, but they +passed in a few moments, and, leaving his hedge, he resumed his own +rapid flight, continually hoping that he would meet some French force, +scouting also. + +But he was doomed to a long trial of patience. Twice he saw Germans and +hid until they had gone by. They seemed to be scouting in the night +almost to the mouths of the French guns, and he admired their energy +although it stood in the way of his own plans. He came to a second +brook, drank again, and then took a short cut through a small wood. He +had marked the reports of guns from a hill about two miles in front of +him, and he was sure that a French battery must be posted there. He +reckoned that he could reach it in a half hour, if he exerted himself. + +Half way through the wood and human figures rose up all about him. +Strong hands seized his arms and an electric torch flashed in his face. + +"Who are you?" came the fierce question in French. + +But it was not necessary for John to answer. The man who held the torch +was short, but very muscular and strong, his face cut in the antique +mold, his eyes penetrating and eager. It was Bougainville and John gave +a gasp of joy. Then he straightened up and saluted: + +"Colonel Bougainville," he said, "I see that you know me! I have just +escaped from the enemy for the second time. There is a house in that +direction, and it is occupied by the Prince of Auersperg, one of the +German generals." + +He pointed where the chateau lay, and Bougainville uttered a shout: + +"Ah!" + +"He holds there a prisoner, Mademoiselle Julie Lannes, the sister of the +great Philip Lannes, the aviator; and other Frenchwomen." + +"Ah!" said Bougainville again. + +"You will help rescue them, will you not?" + +Bougainville smiled slightly. + +"An army can't turn aside for the rescue of women," he replied, "but it +happens that this brigade, under General Vaugirard is marching forward +now to find, if possible, an opening between the German armies, and +you're the very man to lead it." + +John's heart bounded with joy. He would be again with the general whom +he admired and trusted, and he would certainly guide the brigade +straight to the chateau. + +"Is General Vaugirard near?" he asked. + +"Just over the brow of this hill, down there where the dim light is +visible among the trees." + +"Then take me to him at once." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE RESCUE + + +Escorted by Bougainville, John went down a little slope to a point where +several officers stood talking earnestly. The central figure was that of +a huge man who puffed out his cheeks as he spoke, and whose words and +movements were alive with energy. Even had he seen but a dim outline, +John would have recognized him with no difficulty as General Vaugirard, +and beside him stood de Rougemont. + +Bougainville saluted and said; + +"The American, John Scott, sir. He has just escaped from the enemy and +he brings important information." + +Vaugirard puffed out his great cheeks and whistled with satisfaction. + +"Ah, my young Yankee!" he said. "They cannot hold you!" + +"No, my general," replied John, "I've come back again to fight for +France." + +General Vaugirard looked at him keenly. + +"You're exhausted," he said. "You've been under tremendous pressure." + +"But I can guide you. I want neither sleep nor rest." + +"You need both, as I can see with these two old eyes of mine. Sleep you +can't have now, but rest is yours. You go with me in my automobile, +which this war has trained to climb mountains, jump rivers, and crash +through forests. The motor has become a wonderful weapon of battle." + +"May I ask one question, General?" said John. + +"A dozen." + +"Do you know where the aviator, Philip Lannes, is? His sister is held a +prisoner by a German general in a chateau toward which we will march, +and doubtless he would wish to go at once to her rescue." + +"He is not here, but his friend, Caumartin, is only a half-mile away. +I'll send a man at once with a message to him to find Lannes, who will +surely follow us, if he can be found. And now, my brave young Yankee, +here is my machine. Into it, and we'll lead the way." + +John sprang into the automobile, and sank down upon the cushions. He had +a vast sense of ease and luxury. He had not known until then, the extent +of his mental and physical overstrain, but de Rougemont, who was also in +the machine, observed it and gave him a drink from a flask, which +revived him greatly. + +Then the automobile turned into the road and moved forward at a slow +gait, puffing gently like a monster trying to hold in his breath. From +the wood and the fields came the tread of many thousand men, marching +to the night attack. Behind their own automobile rose the hum of +motors, bearing troops also, and dragging cannon. + +John felt that he was going back in state, riding by the side of a +general and at the head of an army. He found both pride and exultation +in it. Sleep was far from his eyes. How could one think of sleep at such +a moment? But youth, the restorer, was bringing fresh strength to his +tired muscles and he was never more alert. + +At one point they stopped while the general examined the dusky horizon +through his glasses, and a company of men with faces not French marched +past them. They were John's own Strangers, and despite the presence of +General Vaugirard both Wharton and Carstairs reached up and shook his +hand as they went by. + +"Welcome home," said Wharton. + +"See you again in the morning," said Carstairs. + +"God bless you both," said John with some emotion. + +Captain Daniel Colton nodded to him. They were not effusive, these men +of the Strangers, but their feelings were strong. When the automobile in +its turn passed them again and resumed its place at the head of the +column, they seemed to take no notice. + +No more shells passed over John's head. He knew that General Vaugirard +had sent back word for the batteries to cease firing in that direction, +but both to south and north of them the sullen thunder went on. The +night remained light, adorned rather than obscured by the little white +clouds floating against the sky. The only sound that John could hear was +the great hum and murmur of a moving army, a sound in which the puffing +of automobiles had introduced a new element. He wondered why they had +not roused up German skirmishers, but perhaps those vigilant gentlemen, +had grown weary at last. + +They reached the first brook, and, as they were crossing it, the rifle +fire expected so long began to crackle in front. Then the French +trumpets shrilled, and the whole force marched rapidly, rifles and field +guns opening in full volume. But the French had the advantage of +surprise. Their infantry advanced at the double quick, a powerful force +of cavalry on their right flank galloped to the charge, and +Bougainville's Paris regiment and the Strangers swept over the field. + +A heavy fire met them, but the general's automobile kept in front +puffing along the main road. General Vaugirard puffed with it, but now +and then he ceased his puffing to whistle. John knew that he was pleased +and that all was going well. The battle increased in volume, and their +whole front blazed with fire. The dark was thinning away in the east and +dawn was coming. + +"The chateau! The chateau!" cried John as a dark shape rose on the +horizon. Even as he looked a shell burst over it and it leaped into +flames. He cried aloud in fear, not for himself, but for those who were +there. But General Vaugirard was calmly examining the field and the +house through powerful glasses. + +"They're pouring from the building," he said, "and it's full time. Look +how the fire gains! What a pity that we should destroy the home of some +good Frenchman in order to drive out the enemy." + +"Faster, sir! Faster! Ah, I pray you go faster!" exclaimed John, whose +heart was eaten up with anxiety as he saw the chateau roaring with +flames. But he did not need the general's glasses now to see the people +stream from it, and then rush for refuge from the fire of the French. +The surprise had been so thorough that at this point the enemy was able +to offer little resistance, and, in a few moments more, the automobile +reached the grounds surrounding the burning chateau. + +John, reckless of commands and of everything else, leaped out of the +machine and ran forward. A gigantic man bearing a slender figure in his +arms emerged from the shrubbery. Behind him came a stalwart young woman, +grim of face. John shouted with joy. It was Picard, carrying Julie, and +the woman who followed was the faithful Suzanne. + +Picard put Julie down. She stood erect, pale as death. But the color +flooded into her face when she saw John, and uttering a cry of joy she +ran forward to meet him. She put her hands in his and said: + +"I knew that you would save me!" + +Time and place were extraordinary, and war, the great leveler, was once +more at work. + +"The chateau was set on fire by shells, Monsieur Scott," Picard said, +"and when the enemy saw the French force appearing across the fields +they took to flight. That dog of a prince, the Auersperg, tried to carry +off Mademoiselle Julie in his automobile, but the young prince +interfered and while they were quarreling I seized her and took her +away. All the other women have escaped too." + +"Thank God, Picard," exclaimed John, wringing the huge hand of the +peasant, who was at once a peasant and a prince too. + +"And look," said Carstairs, who with Wharton had approached unnoticed. +"An aeroplane comes like the flight of an eagle, and my guess is poor if +it is not our friend, the great Lannes." + +Caumartin in truth had found Philip, and he came like the lightning, +circling and swooping until he touched the ground almost at Julie's +feet. Brother and sister were united in a close embrace, and Lannes +turned to John. + +"I have heard from Caumartin that it was you who brought the word. We +can never repay you." + +"We'll wait and see," said John. + +Her brother did not see Julie flush rosily, as she turned her face away. + +"And now," said Lannes, "we go to Paris. My duties allow me enough time +for the flight. No, John, my friend, don't object. She's been up in the +_Arrow_ with me before. Picard, you and Suzanne can come later." + +The thunder of the battle rolling toward the east still reached them, +but Lannes quickly threw a coat around Julie, gave her a cap and huge +glasses to put on, and exclaimed: + +"Now we go." + +"But I must first thank Mr. Scott himself for saving me," she said. + +She put her hand, small and warm, in his, American fashion, and the two +palms met in a strong clasp. + +"Good-bye, Mr. Scott," she said. + +"Good-bye, but not forever. I'm coming back to Paris." + +"And it's my hope, too, that it's not forever." + +She and her brother took their seats in the _Arrow_. Carstairs, Wharton +and the others gave it a push, and it soared up into the fresh blue of +the dawn. An ungloved hand, white and small, reached over the side and +waved farewell, a farewell which John felt was for him. + +To the east the battle still rolled, but John had forgotten its +existence. Higher and higher rose the _Arrow_, flying toward Paris, +until it diminished to a mere dot in the sky, and then was gone. + + +THE END + + + + +BY JOSEPH A. ALTSHELER + + +_The Civil War Series_ + +In this series of stories Mr. Altsheler covers the principal battles of +the Civil War. In four of the volumes Dick Mason, who fights for the +North, is the leading character, and in the others, his cousin, Harry +Kenton, who joins the Confederate forces, takes the principal part. + +The Guns of Bull Run + +Harry Kenton follows the lead of his father and joins the Southern +forces. His cousin, Dick Mason, the hero, fights with the North. + +The Guns of Shiloh + +Dick takes part in the battle of Mill Spring, is captured but escapes. +The story gives a vivid account of the first defeat of the South. + +The Scouts of Stonewall + +Harry and some friends become aides of Stonewall Jackson. They follow +him through the campaign in the Valley of Virginia. + +The Sword of Antietam + +After engaging in the Battle of Shiloh, Dick gets into three big fights. +Antietam is the big battle described, with McClellan always in the +foreground. + +The Star of Gettysburg + +In this book Harry and his friends take part in the battles of +Fredericksburg, The Wilderness and finally Gettysburg. General Lee is a +central figure. + +The Rock of Chickamauga + +This volume deals with the crisis of the Union during the siege of +Vicksburg and the Battle of Chickamauga. Dick takes an active part. + +The Shades of the Wilderness + +The story opens with Lee's retreat after Gettysburg. Harry is sent to +Richmond and becomes involved in a dangerous situation with a spy. + +The Tree of Appomattox + +This description of the Battle of Appomattox has been written from the +account of an eyewitness. Dick plays an important part. The volume +closes with the blue and the gray turning toward a new day. + + +These Are Appleton Books +D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, New York + + + + +BY JOSEPH A. ALTSHELER + + +_The Texan Series_ + +Three stories telling of the Texan struggle for independence and the +events culminating in the capture of the erratic Santa Anna. + +The Texan Star + +Ned Fulton, the hero, is a prisoner in the city of Mexico. He makes an +exciting escape and sees the capture of San Antonio. + +The Texan Scouts + +Ned Fulton and his friends are right in the midst of exciting events +that keep the reader continually on edge. The battle of the Alamo is the +climax of the story. + +The Texan Triumph + +The duel of skill and courage between Ned and Urrea, his young Mexican +enemy, furnishes pages of excitement. The battle of San Jacinto, which +secured Texan Independence, and the capture of Santa Anna by five Texans +is vividly described. + + +_The World War Series_ + +Mr. Altsheler, who was in Vienna the day war was declared on Servia, in +Munich when war was declared against Russia, and in England when the +British forces were mobilising, has given in three volumes the +impressions he gained at the places of action during the world crisis. + +The Guns of Europe + +A young American, unable to reach home, enlists with the Allies where he +sees active service from the beginning. The story closes with the fierce +fighting which preceded the retreat of the Germans from Paris. + +The Forest of Swords + +The hero finds himself in Paris with Phillip Lannes, his friend, and the +Germans only fifteen miles away. Finally the enemy is turned back at the +Marne, a battle in which John and Phillip are actively engaged. + +The Hosts of the Air + +The pretty young sister of Phillip is seized by the enemy and carried +into Austria. John resolves to get her back and his adventures make a +wonderfully exciting story. + + +These Are Appleton Books +D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, New York + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Forest of Swords, by Joseph A. 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