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diff --git a/old/35926.txt b/old/35926.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..aad0736 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/35926.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8835 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Girl from Alsace, by Burton Egbert +Stevenson + + +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 Girl from Alsace + A Romance of the Great War, Originally Published under the Title of Little Comrade + + +Author: Burton Egbert Stevenson + + + +Release Date: April 21, 2011 [eBook #35926] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GIRL FROM ALSACE*** + + +E-text prepared by Suzanne Shell, Mary Meehan, and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made +available by Internet Archive/American Libraries +(http://www.archive.org/details/americana) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustration. + See 35926-h.htm or 35926-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/35926/35926-h/35926-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/35926/35926-h.zip) + + + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive/American Libraries. See + http://www.archive.org/details/girlfromalsacero00steviala + + + + + +THE GIRL FROM ALSACE + +A Romance of the Great War + +Originally Published under the title of LITTLE COMRADE + +by + +BURTON E. STEVENSON + + + + + + + +New York +Grosset & Dunlap +Publishers + +Copyright, 1914. +By Burton E. Stevenson + +Copyright, 1915. +By Henry Holt and Company + +Published March, 1915 + + + + +[Illustration: THERE WAS SOMETHING SINISTER AND THREATENING ABOUT THOSE +ROOFLESS BLACKENED WALLS.] + + + + +PUBLISHER'S NOTE + +The Story of THE GIRL FROM ALSACE + + +The book was originally published under the title of LITTLE COMRADE. It +has been changed to THE GIRL FROM ALSACE, as the publishers considered +that name as better descriptive of the character of the story. The +dramatic elements of the story led to its being put in play form, and it +became the theatrical success entitled ARMS AND THE GIRL, with Fay +Bainter and Cyril Scott playing the leading roles. It has also been +produced as a photo-play by the World Film Company under the title ON +DANGEROUS GROUND, featuring Carlyle Blackwell and Gail Kane, and is +being widely shown throughout the country. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + I. THE THIRTY-FIRST OF JULY + + II. THE FIRST RUMBLINGS + + III. "STATE OF WAR" + + IV. THE MYSTERY OF THE SATIN SLIPPERS + + V. ONE WAY TO ACQUIRE A WIFE + + VI. THE SNARE + + VII. IN THE TRAP + + VIII. PRESTO! CHANGE! + + IX. THE FRONTIER + + X. FORTUNE FROWNS + + XI. THE NIGHT ATTACK + + XII. AN ARMY IN ACTION + + XIII. THE PASSAGE OF THE MEUSE + + XIV. THE LAST DASH + + XV. DISASTER + + XVI. A TRUST FULFILLED + + XVII. "LITTLE COMRADE" + + + + +THE GIRL FROM ALSACE + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE THIRTY-FIRST OF JULY + + +"Let us have coffee on the terrace," Bloem suggested, and, as his +companion nodded, lifted a finger to the waiter and gave the order. + +Both were a little sad, for this was their last meal together. Though +they had known each other less than a fortnight, they had become fast +friends. They had been thrown together by chance at the Surgical +congress at Vienna, where Bloem, finding the American's German lame and +halting, had constituted himself a sort of interpreter, and Stewart had +reciprocated by polishing away some of the roughnesses and Teutonic +involutions of Bloem's formal English. + +When the congress ended, they had journeyed back together in leisurely +fashion through Germany, spending a day in medieval Nuremberg, another +in odorous Wuerzburg, and a third in mountain-shadowed Heidelberg, where +Bloem had sought out some of his old comrades and initiated his American +friend into the mysteries of an evening session in the Hirschgasse. Then +they had turned northward to Mayence, and so down the terraced Rhine to +Cologne. Here they were to part, Bloem to return to his work at +Elberfeld, Stewart for a week or two in Brussels and Paris, and then +home to America. + +Bloem's train was to leave in an hour, and it was the consciousness of +this that kept them silent until their waiter came to tell them that +their coffee was served. As they followed him through the hall, a tall +man in the uniform of a captain of infantry entered from the street. His +eyes brightened as he caught sight of Bloem. + +"_Ach_, Hermann!" he cried. + +Bloem, turning, stopped an instant for a burlesque salute, then threw +himself into the other's arms. A moment later, he was dragging him +forward to introduce him to Stewart. + +"My cousin," he cried, "Ritter Bloem, a soldier as you see--a great +fire-eater! Cousin, this is my friend, Dr. Bradford Stewart, whom I had +the good fortune to meet at Vienna." + +"I am pleased to know you, sir," said the captain, shaking hands and +speaking excellent English. + +"You must join us," Bloem interposed. "We are just going to have coffee +on the terrace. Come," and he caught the other by the arm. + +But the captain shook his head. + +"No, I cannot come," he said; "really I cannot, much as I should like to +do so. Dr. Stewart," he added, a little hesitatingly, "I trust you will +not think me discourteous if I take my cousin aside for a moment." + +"Certainly not," Stewart assured him. + +"I will join you on the terrace," said Bloem, and Stewart, nodding +good-by to the captain, followed the waiter, who had stood by during +this exchange of greetings, and now led the way to a little table at one +corner of the broad balcony looking out over the square. + +"Shall I pour the coffee, sir?" he asked, as Stewart sat down. + +"No; I will wait for my companion," and, as the waiter bowed and stepped +back, Stewart leaned forward with a deep breath of admiration. + +Below him lay the green level of the Domhof, its close-clipped trees +outlined stiffly against the lights behind them. Beyond rose the choir +of the great cathedral, with its fretted pinnacles, and flying +buttresses, and towering roof. By day, he had found its exterior +somewhat cold and bare and formal, lacking somehow the subtle spirit of +true Gothic; but nothing could be more beautiful than it was now, +shimmering in the moonlight, bathed in luminous shadow, lace-like and +mysterious. + +He was still absorbed in this fairy vision when Bloem rejoined him. Even +in the half-light of the terrace, Stewart could see that he was deeply +moved. His face, usually glowing with healthy color, was almost haggard; +his eyes seemed dull and sunken. + +"No bad news, I hope?" Stewart asked. + +Without answering him, Bloem signaled the waiter to pour the coffee, and +sat watching him in silence. + +"That will do," he said in German; "we will ring if we have need of +you." Then, as the waiter withdrew, he glanced nervously about the +terrace. It was deserted save for a noisy group around a table at the +farther end. "There is very bad news, my friend," he added, almost in a +whisper. "There is going to be--war!" + +Stewart stared for an instant, astonished at the gravity of his tone. +Then he nodded comprehendingly. + +"Yes," he said; "I had not thought of it; but I suppose a war between +Austria and Servia _will_ affect Germany more or less. Only I was hoping +the Powers would interfere and stop it." + +"It seems it cannot be stopped," said Bloem, gloomily. "Russia is +mobilizing to assist Servia. Austria is Germany's ally, and so Germany +must come to her aid. Unless Russia stops her mobilization, we shall +declare war against her. Our army has already been called to the +colors." + +Stewart breathed a little deeper. + +"But perhaps Russia will desist when she realizes her danger," he +suggested. "She must know she is no match for Germany." + +"She does know it," Bloem agreed; "but she also knows that she will not +fight alone. It is not against Russia we are mobilizing--it is against +France." + +"Against France?" echoed the other. "But surely----" + +"Do not speak so loud, I beg of you," Bloem cautioned. "What I am +telling you is not yet generally known--perhaps the dreadful thing we +fear will not happen, after all. But France is Russia's ally--she will +be eager for war--for forty years she has been preparing for this +moment." + +"Yes," agreed Stewart, smiling, "I have heard of '_la revanche_'; I have +seen the mourning wreaths on the Strassburg monument. I confess," he +added, "that I sympathize with France's dream of regaining her lost +provinces. So do most Americans. We are a sentimental people." + +"I, too, sympathize with that dream," said Bloem, quickly, "or at least +I understand it. So do many Germans. We have come to realize that the +seizure of Alsace and Lorraine, however justified by history, was in +effect a terrible mistake. We should have been generous in our hour of +triumph--that way lay a chance of friendship with a people whose pride +remained unbroken by disaster. Instead, we chose to heap insults upon a +conquered foe, and we have reaped a merited reward of detestation. +Ironically enough, those provinces which cost us so much have been to us +a source of weakness, not of strength. We have had to fortify them, to +police them, to hold them in stern repression. Even yet, they must be +treated as conquered ground. You do not know--you cannot realize--what +that means!" He stared out gloomily into the night. "I have served +there," he added, hoarsely. + +There was something in his tone which sent a shiver across Stewart's +scalp, as though he had found himself suddenly at the brink of a +horrible abyss into which he dared not turn his eyes. He fancied he +could see in his companion's somber face the stirring of ghastly +memories, of tragic experience---- + +"But since France has not yet declared war," he said at last, "surely +you will wait----" + +"Ah, my friend," Bloem broke in, "we cannot afford to wait. We must +strike quickly and with all our strength. There is no secret as to +Germany's plan--France must be crushed under a mighty blow before she +can defend herself; after that it will be Russia's turn." + +"And after that?" + +"After that? After that, we shall seize more provinces and exact more +huge indemnities--and add just so much to our legacy of fear and hatred! +We are bound to a wheel from which we cannot escape." + +Stewart looked dazedly out over the lighted square. + +"I can't understand it," he said, at last. "I don't understand how such +things can be. They aren't possible. They're too terrible to be true. +This is a civilized world--such things can never happen--humanity won't +endure it!" + +Bloem passed a trembling hand before his eyes, as a man awaking from a +horrid dream. + +"Let us hope so, at least," he said. "But I am afraid; I shake with +fear! Europe is topheavy under the burden of her awful armaments; now, +or at some future time, she must come tumbling down; she must--she +must--" he paused, searching for a word--"she must crumble. Perhaps that +time has come." + +"I don't believe it," Stewart protested, stoutly. "Some day she will +realize the insane folly of this armament, and it will cease." + +"I wish I could believe so," said Bloem, sadly; "but you do not know, my +friend, how we here in Germany, for example, are weighed down by +militarism. You do not know the arrogance, the ignorance, the +narrow-mindedness of the military caste. They do nothing for +Germany--they add nothing to her art, her science, or her +literature--they add nothing to her wealth--they destroy rather than +build up--and yet it is they who rule Germany. We are a pacific people, +we love our homes and a quiet life; we are not a military people, and +yet every man in Germany must march to war when the word is given. We +ourselves have no voice in the matter. We have only to obey." + +"Obey whom?" asked Stewart. + +"The Emperor," answered Bloem, bitterly. "With all our progress, my +friend, with all our development in science and industry, with all our +literature and art, with all our philosophy, we still live in a medieval +State, ruled by a king who believes himself divinely appointed, who can +do no wrong, and who, in time of war at least, has absolute power over +us. And the final decision as to war or peace is wholly in his hands. +Understand I do not complain of the Emperor; he has done great things +for Germany; he has often cast his influence for peace. But he is +surrounded by aristocrats intent only on maintaining their privileges, +who are terrified by the growth of democratic ideas; who believe that +the only way to checkmate democracy is by a great war. It is they who +preach the doctrine of blood and iron; who hold that Caesar is +sacrosanct. The Emperor struggles against them; but some day they will +prove too strong for him. Besides, he himself believes in blood and +iron; he hates democracy as bitterly as anyone, for it denies the divine +right of kings!" He stopped suddenly, his finger to his ear. "Listen!" +he said. + +Down the street, from the direction of the river, came a low, continuous +murmur, as of the wind among the leaves of a forest; then, as it grew +clearer, it resolved itself into the tramp, tramp of iron-shod feet. +Bloem leaned far forward staring into the darkness; and suddenly, at the +corner, three mounted officers appeared; then a line of soldiers wheeled +into view; then another and another and another, moving as one man. The +head of the column crossed the square, passed behind the church and +disappeared, but still the tide poured on with slow and regular +undulation, dim, mysterious, and threatening. At last the rear of the +column came into view, passed, disappeared; the clatter of iron on stone +softened to a shuffle, to a murmur, died away. + +With a long breath, Bloem sat erect and passed his handkerchief across +his shining forehead. + +"There is one battalion," he said; "one unit composed of a thousand +lesser units--each unit a man with a soul like yours and mine; with +hopes and ambitions; with women to love him; and now marching to death, +perhaps, in the ranks yonder without in the least knowing why. There are +four million such units in the army the Emperor can call into the field. +I am one of them--I shall march like the rest!" + +"You!" + +"Yes--I am a private in the Elberfeld battalion." He spread out his +delicate, sensitive, surgeon's hands and looked at them. "I was at one +time a sergeant," he added, "but my discipline did not satisfy my +lieutenant and I was reduced to the ranks." + +Stewart also stared at those beautiful hands, so expressive, so expert. +How vividly they typified the waste of war! + +"But it's absurd," he protested, "that a man like you--highly-trained, +highly-educated, a specialist--should be made to shoulder a rifle. In +the ranks, you are worth no more than the most ignorant peasant." + +"Not so much," corrected Bloem. "Our ideal soldier is one whose +obedience is instant and unquestioning." + +"But why are you not placed where you would be most efficient--in the +hospital corps, perhaps?" + +"There are enough old and middle-aged surgeons for that duty. Young men +must fight! Besides, I am suspected of having too many ideas!" + +He sat for a moment longer staring down at his hands--staring too, +perhaps, at his career so ruthlessly shattered--then he shook himself +together and glanced across at his companion with a wry little smile. + +"You will think me a great croaker!" he said. "It was the first +shock--the thought of everything going to pieces. In a day or two, I +shall be marching as light-heartedly as all the others--knowing only +that I am fighting the enemies of my country--and wishing to know no +more!" + +But Stewart did not answer the smile. Confused thoughts were flying +through his head--thoughts which he struggled to compose into some order +or sequence. + +Bloem looked at him for a moment, and his smile grew more ironic. + +"I can guess what is in your mind," he said. "You are wondering why we +march at all--why we offer ourselves as cannon-fodder, if we do not wish +to do so. You are thinking of defiances, of revolutions. But there will +never be a revolution in Germany--not in this generation." + +"Yes, I was thinking something like that," Stewart agreed. "Why will +there be no revolution?" + +"Because we are too thoroughly drilled in the habit of obedience. That +habit is grooved deep into our brains. Were any of us so rash as to +start a revolution, the government could stop it with a single word." + +"A single word?" + +"Yes--'_verboten_'!" retorted Bloem, with a short laugh. Then he pushed +back his chair and rose abruptly. "I must say good-by. My orders are +awaiting me at Elberfeld." + +Stewart rose too, his face still mazed with incredulity. + +"You really mean----" + +"I mean," Bloem broke in, "that to-morrow I go to my depot, hang about +my neck the metal tag stamped with my number, put on my uniform and +shoulder my rifle. I cease to be an individual--I become a soldier. +Good-by, my friend," he added, his voice softening. "Think of me +sometimes, in that far-off, sublime America of yours. One thing more--do +not linger in Germany--things will be very different here under martial +law. Get home as quickly as you can; and, in the midst of your peace and +happiness, pity us poor blind worms who are forced to slay each other!" + +"But I will go with you to the station," Stewart protested. + +"No, no," said Bloem; "you must not do that. I am to meet my cousin. +Good-by. _Lebe wohl!_" + +"Good-by--and good luck!" and Stewart wrung the hand thrust into his. +"You have been most kind to me." + +Bloem answered only with a little shake of the head; then turned +resolutely and hastened from the terrace. + +Stewart sank back into his seat more moved than he would have believed +possible by this parting from a man whom, a fortnight before, he had not +known at all. Poor Bloem! To what fate was he being hurried! A cultured +man graded down to the level of the hind; a gentleman set to the task of +slaughter; a democrat driven to fight in defense of the divine right of +kings! But could such a fight succeed? Was any power strong enough to +drag back the hands of time---- + +And then Stewart started violently, for someone had touched him on the +shoulder. He looked up to find standing over him a tall man in dark blue +uniform and wearing a spiked helmet. + +"Your pardon, sir," said the man in careful English; "I am an agent of +the police. I must ask you certain questions." + +"Very well," agreed Stewart with a smile. "Go ahead--I have nothing to +conceal. But won't you sit down?" + +"I thank you," and the policeman sat down heavily. "You are, I believe, +an American." + +"Yes." + +"Have you a passport?" + +"Yes--I was foolish enough to get one before I left home. All my friends +laughed at me and told me I was wasting a dollar!" + +"I should like to see it." + +Stewart put his hand into an inner pocket, drew out the crackling +parchment and passed it over. The other took it, unfolded it, glanced at +the red seal and at the date, then read the very vague description of +its owner, and finally drew out a notebook. + +"Pease sign your name here," he said, and indicated a blank page. + +Stewart wrote his name, and the officer compared it with the signature +at the bottom of the passport. Then he nodded, folded it up, and handed +it back across the table. + +"It is quite regular," he said. "For what time have you been in +Germany?" + +"About two weeks. I attended the surgical congress at Vienna." + +"You are a surgeon by profession?" + +"Yes." + +"You are now on your way home?" + +"Yes." + +"When will you leave Germany?" + +"I am going from here to Aix-la-Chapelle in the morning, and expect to +leave there for Brussels to-morrow afternoon or Sunday morning at the +latest." + +The officer noted these details in his book. + +"At what hotel will you stay in Aachen?" he asked. + +"I don't know. Is there a good one near the station?" + +"The Koelner Hof is near the station. It is not large, but it is very +good. It is starred by Baedeker." + +"Then I will go there," said Stewart. + +"Very good," and the officer wrote, "Koelner Hof, Aachen," after +Stewart's name, closed his notebook and slipped it into his pocket. "You +understand, sir, that it is our duty to keep watch over all strangers, +as much for their own protection as for any other reason." + +"Yes," assented Stewart, "I understand. I have heard that there is some +danger of war." + +"Of that I know nothing," said the other coldly, and rose quickly to his +feet. "I bid you good-night, sir." + +"Good-night," responded Stewart, and watched the upright figure until it +disappeared. + +Then, lighting a fresh cigar, he gazed out at the great cathedral, +nebulous and dream-like in the darkness, and tried to picture to himself +what such a war would mean as Bloem had spoken of. With men by the +million dragged into the vast armies, who would harvest Europe's grain, +who would work in her factories, who would conduct her business? Above +all, who would feed the women and children? + +And where would the money come from--the millions needed daily to keep +such armies in the field? Where could it come from, save from the sweat +of inoffensive people, who must be starved and robbed and ground into +the earth until the last penny was wrung from them? Along the line of +battle, thousands would meet swift death, and thousands more would +struggle back to life through the torments of hell, to find themselves +maimed and useless. But how trivial their sufferings beside the slow, +hopeless, year-long martyrdom of the countless thousands who would never +see a battle, who would know little of the war--who would know only that +never thereafter was there food enough, warmth enough---- + +Stewart started from his reverie to find the waiter putting out the +lights. Shivering as with a sudden chill, he hastily sought his room. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE FIRST RUMBLINGS + + +As Stewart ate his breakfast next morning, he smiled at his absurd fears +of the night before. In the clear light of day, Bloem's talk of war +seemed mere foolishness. War! Nonsense! Europe would never be guilty of +such folly--a deliberate plunge to ruin. + +Besides, there were no evidences of war; the life of the city was moving +in its accustomed round, so far as Stewart could see; and there was vast +reassurance in the quiet and orderly service of the breakfast-room. No +doubt the Powers had bethought themselves, had interfered, had stopped +the war between Austria and Servia, had ceased mobilization--in a word, +had saved Europe from an explosion which would have shaken her from end +to end. + +But when Stewart asked for his bill, the proprietor, instead of +intrusting it as usual to the headwaiter, presented it in person. + +"If Herr Stewart would pay in gold, it would be a great favor," he said. + +Like all Americans, Stewart, unaccustomed to gold and finding its weight +burdensome, carried banknotes whenever it was possible to do so. +Emptying his pockets now, he found, besides a miscellaneous lot of +silver and nickel and copper, a single small gold coin, value ten marks. + +"But I have plenty of paper," he said, and, producing his pocket-book, +spread five notes for a hundred marks each before him on the table. +"What's the matter with it?" + +"There is nothing at all the matter with it, sir," the little fat German +hastened to assure him; "only, just at present, there is a preference +for gold. I would advise that you get gold for these notes, if +possible." + +"I have a Cook's letter of credit," said Stewart. "They would give me +gold. Where is Cook's office here?" + +"It is but a step up the street, sir," answered the other eagerly. +"Come, I will show you," and, hastening to the door, he pointed out the +office at the end of a row of buildings jutting out toward the +cathedral. + +Stewart, the banknotes in his hand, hastened thither, and found quite a +crowd of people drawing money on traveler's checks and letters of +credit. He noticed that they were all being paid in gold. They, too, it +seemed, had heard rumors of war, had been advised to get gold; but most +of them treated the rumors as a joke and were heeding the advice only +because they needed gold to pay their bills. + +Even if there was war, they told each other, it could not affect them. +At most, it would only add a spice of excitement and adventure to the +remainder of their European tour; what they most feared was that they +would not be permitted to see any of the fighting! A few of the more +timid shamefacedly confessed that they were getting ready to turn +homeward, but by far the greater number proclaimed the fact that they +had made up their minds not to alter their plans in any detail. So much +Stewart gathered as he stood in line waiting his turn; then he was in +front of the cashier's window. + +The cashier looked rather dubious when Stewart laid the banknotes down +and asked for gold. + +"I am carrying one of your letters of credit," Stewart explained, and +produced it. "I got these notes on it at Heidelberg just the other day. +Now it seems they're no good." + +"They are perfectly good," the cashier assured him; "but some of the +tradespeople, who are always suspicious and ready to take alarm, are +demanding gold. How long will you be in Germany?" + +"I go to Belgium to-night or to-morrow." + +"Then you can use French gold," said the cashier, with visible relief. +"Will one hundred marks in German gold carry you through? Yes? I think I +can arrange it on that basis;" and when Stewart assented, counted out +five twenty-mark pieces and twenty-four twenty-franc pieces. "I think +you are wise to leave Germany as soon as possible," he added, in a low +tone, as Stewart gathered up this money and bestowed it about his +person. "We do not wish to alarm anyone, and we are not offering advice, +but if war comes, Germany will not be a pleasant place for strangers." + +"Is it really coming?" Stewart asked. "Is there any news?" + +"There is nothing definite--just a feeling in the air--but I believe +that it is coming," and he turned to the next in line. + +Stewart hastened back to the hotel, where his landlord received with +reiterated thanks the thirty marks needed to settle the bill. When that +transaction was ended, he glanced nervously about the empty office, and +then leaned close. + +"You leave this morning, do you not, sir?" he asked, in a tone +cautiously lowered. + +"Yes; I am going to Aix-la-Chapelle." + +"Take my advice, sir," said the landlord earnestly, "and do not stop +there. Go straight on to Brussels." + +"But why?" asked Stewart. "Everybody is advising me to get out of +Germany. What danger can there be?" + +"No danger, perhaps, but very great annoyance. It is rumored that the +Emperor has already signed the proclamation declaring Germany in a state +of war. It may be posted at any moment." + +"Suppose it is--what then? What difference can that make to me--or to +any American?" + +"I see you do not know what those words mean," said the little landlord, +leaning still closer and speaking with twitching lips. "When Germany is +in a state of war, all civil authority ceases; the military authority is +everywhere supreme. The state takes charge of all railroads, and no +private persons will be permitted on them until the troops have been +mobilized, which will take at least a week; even after that, the trains +will run only when the military authorities think proper, and never past +the frontier. The telegraphs are taken and will send no private +messages; no person may enter or leave the country until his identity is +clearly established; every stranger in the country will be placed under +arrest, if there is any reason to suspect him. All motor vehicles are +seized, all horses, all stores of food. Business stops, because almost +all the men must go to the army. I must close my hotel because there +will be no men left to work for me. Even if the men were left, there +would be no custom when travel ceases. Every shop will be closed which +cannot be managed by women; every factory will shut, unless its product +is needed by the army. Your letter of credit will be worthless, because +there will be no way in which our bankers can get gold from America. +No--at that time, Germany will be no place for strangers." + +Stewart listened incredulously, for all this sounded like the wildest +extravagance. He could not believe that business and industry would fall +to pieces like that--it was too firmly founded, too strongly built. + +"What I have said is true, sir, believe me," said the little man, +earnestly, seeing his skeptical countenance. "One thing more--have you a +passport?" + +"Yes," said Stewart, and tapped his pocket. + +"That is good. That will save you trouble at the frontier. Ah, here is +your baggage. Good-by, sir, and a safe voyage to your most fortunate +country." + +A brawny porter shouldered the two suit-cases which held Stewart's +belongings, and the latter followed him along the hall to the door. As +he stepped out upon the terrace, he saw drawn up there about twenty +men--some with the black coats of waiters, some with the white caps of +cooks, some with the green aprons of porters--while a bearded man in a +spiked helmet was checking off their names in a little book. At the +sound of Stewart's footsteps, he turned and cast upon him the cold, +impersonal glance of German officialdom. Then he looked at the porter. + +"You will return as quickly as possible," he said gruffly in German to +the latter, and returned to his checking. + +As they crossed the Domhof and skirted the rear of the cathedral, +Stewart noticed that many of the shops were locked and shuttered, and +that the street seemed strangely deserted. Only as they neared the +station did the crowd increase. It was evident that many tourists, +warned, perhaps, as Stewart had been, had made up their minds to get out +of Germany; but the train drawn up beside the platform was a long one, +and there was room for everybody. It was a good-humored crowd, rather +inclined to laugh at its own fears and to protest that this journey was +entirely in accordance with a pre-arranged schedule; but it grew quieter +and quieter as moment after moment passed and the train did not start. + +That a German train should not start precisely on time was certainly +unusual; that it should wait for twenty minutes beyond that time was +staggering. But the station-master, pacing solemnly up and down the +platform, paid no heed to the inquiries addressed to him, and the guards +answered only by a shake of the head which might mean anything. Then, +quite suddenly, above the noises of the station, menacing and insistent +came the low, ceaseless shuffle of approaching feet. + +A moment later the head of an infantry column appeared at the station +entrance. It halted there, and an officer, in a long, gray cape that +fell to his ankles, strode toward the station-master, who hastened to +meet him. There was a moment's conference, and then the station-master, +saluting for the tenth time, turned to the expectant guards. + +"Clear the train!" he shouted in stentorian German, and the guards +sprang eagerly to obey. + +The scene which followed is quite indescribable. All the Germans in the +train hastened to get off, as did everybody else who understood what was +demanded and knew anything of the methods of militarism. But many did +not understand; a few who did made the mistake of standing upon what +they conceived to be their rights and refusing to be separated from +their luggage--and all alike, men, women, and children, were yanked from +their seats and deposited upon the platform. Some were deposited upon +their feet--but not many. Women screamed as rough and seemingly hostile +hands were laid upon them; men, red and inarticulate with anger, +attempted ineffectually to resist. In a moment one and all found +themselves shut off by a line of police which had suddenly appeared from +nowhere and drawn up before the train. + +Then a whistle sounded and the soldiers began to file into the carriages +in the most systematic manner. Twenty-four men entered each +compartment--ten sitting down and fourteen standing up or sitting upon +the others' laps. Each coach, therefore, held one hundred and +forty-four; and the battalion of seven hundred and twenty men exactly +filled five coaches--just as the General Staff had long ago figured that +it should. + +Stewart, after watching this marvel of organization for a moment, +realized that, if any carriages were empty, it would be the ones at the +end of the train, and quietly made his way thither. At last, in the rear +coach, he came to a compartment in which sat one man, evidently a +German, with a melancholy bearded face. Before the door stood a guard +watching the battalion entrain. + +"May one get aboard?" Stewart inquired, in his best German. + +The guard held up his hand for an instant; then the gold-braided +station-master shouted a sentence which Stewart could not distinguish; +but the guard dropped his hand and nodded. + +Looking back, the American saw a wild mob charging down the platform +toward him, and hastily swung himself aboard. As he dropped into his +seat, he could hear the shrieks and oaths of the melee outside, and the +next moment, a party of breathless and disheveled women were storming +the door. They were panting, exhausted, inarticulate with rage and +chagrin; they fell in, rolled in, stumbled in, until the compartment was +jammed. + +Stewart, swept from his seat at the first impact, but rallying and doing +what he could to bring order out of chaos, could not but admire the +manner in which his bearded fellow-passenger clung immovably to his seat +until the last woman was aboard, and then reached quickly out, slammed +shut the door, and held it shut, despite the entreaties of the lost +souls who drifted despairingly past along the platform, seemingly blind, +deaf, and totally uninterested in what was passing around him. + +Then Stewart looked at the women. Nine were crowded into the seats; +eight were standing; all were red and perspiring; and most of them had +plainly lost their tempers. Stewart was perspiring himself, and he got +out his handkerchief and mopped his forehead; then he ventured to speak. + +"Well," he said; "so this is war! I have always heard it was warm work!" + +Most of the women merely glared at him and went on adjusting their +clothing, and fastening up their hair, and straightening their hats; but +one, a buxom woman of forty-eight or fifty, who was crowded next to him, +and who had evidently suffered more than her share of the general +misfortune, turned sharply. + +"Are you an American?" she demanded. + +"I am, madam." + +"And you stand by and see your countrywomen treated in this perfectly +outrageous fashion?" + +"My dear madam," protested Stewart, "what could one man--even an +American--do against a thousand?" + +"You could at least----" + +"Nonsense, mother," broke in another voice, and Stewart turned to see +that it was a slim, pale girl of perhaps twenty-two who spoke. "The +gentleman is quite right. Besides, I thought it rather good fun." + +"Good fun!" snapped her mother. "Good fun to be jerked about and +trampled on and insulted! And where is our baggage? Will we ever see it +again?" + +"Oh, the baggage is safe enough," Stewart assured her. "The troops will +detrain somewhere this side the frontier, and we can all take our old +seats." + +"But why should they travel by this train? Why should they not take +another train? Why should they----" + +"Are we all here?" broke in an anxious voice. "Is anyone missing?" + +There was a moment's counting, then a general sigh of relief. The number +was found correct. + +From somewhere up the line a whistle sounded, and the state of the +engine-driver's nerves could be inferred from the jerk with which he +started--quite an American jerk. All the women who were standing, +screamed and clutched at each other and swayed back and forth as if +wrestling. Stewart found himself wrestling with the buxom woman. + +"I cannot stand!" she declared. "It is outrageous that I should have to +stand!" and she fixed glittering eyes upon the bearded stranger. "No +American would remain seated while a woman of my age was standing!" + +But the bearded stranger gazed blandly out of the window at the passing +landscape. + +There was a moment's silence, during which everyone looked at the +heartless culprit. Stewart had an uneasy feeling that, if he were to do +his duty as an American, he would grab the offender by the collar and +hurl him through the window. Then the woman next to the stranger bumped +resolutely into him, pressed him into the corner, and disclosed a few +inches of the seat. + +"Sit here, Mrs. Field," she said. "We can all squeeze up a little." + +The pressure was tremendous when Mrs. Field sat down; but the carriage +was strongly built and the sides held. The slender girl came and stood +by Stewart. + +"What's it all about?" she asked. "Has there been a riot or something?" + +"There is going to be a most awful riot," answered Stewart, "unless all +signs fail. Germany is mobilizing her troops to attack France." + +"To attack France! How outrageous! It's that Kaiser Wilhelm, I suppose! +Well, I hope France will simply clean him up!" + +"So do I!" cried her mother. "The Germans are not gentlemen. They do not +know how to treat women!" + +"'_Kochen, Kirche und Kinder!_'" quoted somebody, in a high voice. + +"But see here," protested Stewart, with a glance at the bearded +stranger, who was still staring steadily out of the window, "if I were +you, I'd wait till I was out of Germany before saying so. It would be +safer!" + +"Safer!" echoed an elderly woman with a high nose. "I should like to see +them harm an American!" + +Stewart turned away to the window with a gesture of despair, and caught +the laughing eyes of the girl who stood beside him. + +"Don't blame them too much," she said. "They're not themselves. Usually +they are all quite polite and well-behaved; but now they are perfectly +savage. And I don't blame them. I didn't mind so much, because I'm slim +and long-legged and not very dignified; but if I were a stout, elderly +woman, rather proud of my appearance, I would bitterly resent being +yanked out of a seat and violently propelled across a platform by a +bearded ruffian with dirty hands. Wouldn't you?" + +"Yes," agreed Stewart, laughing; "I should probably kick and bite and +behave in a most undignified manner." + +The girl leaned closer. + +"Some of them did!" she murmured. + +Stewart laughed again and looked at her with fresh interest. It was +something to find a woman who could preserve her sense of humor under +such circumstances. + +"You have been doing the continent?" he asked. + +"Yes, seventeen of us; all from Philadelphia." + +"And you've had a good time, of course?" + +"We'd have had a better if we had brought a man along. I never realized +before how valuable men are. Women aren't fitted by nature to wrestle +with time-tables and cabbies and hotel-bills and headwaiters. This trip +has taught me to respect men more than I have ever done." + +"Then it hasn't been wasted. But you say you're from Philadelphia. I +know some people in Philadelphia--the Courtlandt Bryces are sort of +cousins of mine." + +But the girl shook her head. + +"That sort of thing happens only in novels," she said. "But there is no +reason I shouldn't tell you my name, if you want to know it. It is +Millicent Field, and its possessor is very undistinguished--just a +school-teacher--not at all in the same social circle as the Courtlandt +Bryces." + +Stewart colored a little. + +"My name is Bradford Stewart," he said, "and I also am very +undistinguished--just a surgeon on the staff at Johns Hopkins. Did you +get to Vienna?" + +"No; that was too far for us." + +"There was a clinic there; I saw some wonderful things. These German +surgeons certainly know their business." + +Miss Field made a little grimace. + +"Perhaps," she admitted. "But do you know the impression of Germany that +I am taking home with me? It is that Germany is a country run solely in +the interests of the male half of creation. Women are tolerated only +because they are necessary in the scheme of things." + +Stewart laughed. + +"There was a book published a year or two ago," he said, "called +'Germany and the Germans.' Perhaps you read it?" + +"No." + +"I remember it for one remark. Its author says that Germany is the only +country on earth where the men's hands are better kept than the +women's." + +Miss Field clapped her hands in delight. + +"Delicious!" she cried. "Splendid! And it is true," she added, more +seriously. "Did you see the women cleaning the streets in Munich?" + +"Yes." + +"And harvesting the grain, and spreading manure, and carrying great +burdens--doing all the dirty work and the heavy work. What are the men +doing, I should like to know?" + +"Madam," spoke up the bearded stranger by the window, in a deep voice +which made everybody jump, "I will tell you what the men are doing--they +are in the army, preparing themselves for the defense of their +fatherland. Do you think it is of choice they leave the harvesting and +street-cleaning and carrying of burdens to their mothers and wives and +sisters? No; it is because for them is reserved a greater task--the task +of confronting the revengeful hate of France, the envious hate of +England, the cruel hate of Russia. That is their task to-day, madam, and +they accept it with light hearts, confident of victory!" + +There was a moment's silence. Mrs. Field was the first to find her +voice. + +"All the same," she said, "that does not justify the use of cows as +draft animals!" + +The German stared at her an instant in astonishment, then turned away to +the window with a gesture of contempt, as of one who refuses to argue +with lunatics, and paid no further heed to the Americans. + +With them, the conversation turned from war, which none of them really +believed would come, to home, for which they were all longing. Home, +Stewart told himself, means everything to middle-aged women of fixed +habits. It was astonishing that they should tear themselves away from +it, even for a tour of Europe, for to them travel meant martyrdom. Home! +How their eyes brightened as they spoke the word! They were going +through to Brussels, then to Ostend, after a look at Ghent and Bruges, +and so to England and their boat. + +"I intend to spend the afternoon at Aix-la-Chapelle," said Stewart, "and +go on to Brussels to-night or in the morning. Perhaps I shall see you +there." + +Miss Field mentioned the hotel at which the party would stop. + +"What is there at Aix-la-Chapelle?" she asked. "I suppose I ought to +know, but I don't." + +"There's a cathedral, with the tomb of Charlemagne, and his throne, and +a lot of other relics. I was always impressed by Charlemagne. He was the +real thing in the way of emperors." + +"I should like to see his tomb," said Miss Field. "Why can't we stop at +Aix-la-Chapelle, mother?" + +But Mrs. Field shook her head. + +"We will get out of Germany as quickly as we can," she said, and the +other members of the party nodded their hearty agreement. + +Meanwhile the train rolled steadily on through a beautiful and peaceful +country, where war seemed incredible and undreamed of. White villas +dotted the thickly-wooded hillsides; quaint villages huddled in the +valleys. And finally the train crossed a long viaduct and rumbled into +the station at Aix-la-Chapelle. + +The platform was deserted, save for a few guards and porters. Stewart +opened the door and was about to step out, when a guard waved him +violently back. Looking forward, he saw that the soldiers were +detraining. + +"Good!" he said. "You can get your old seats again!" and, catching the +eye of the guard, gave him a nod which promised a liberal tip. + +That worthy understood it perfectly, and the moment the last soldier was +on the platform, he beckoned to Stewart and his party, assisted them to +find their old compartments, ejected a peasant who had taken refuge in +one of them, assured the ladies that they would have no further +inconvenience, and summoned a porter to take charge of Stewart's +suit-cases. In short, he did everything he could to earn the shining +three-mark piece which Stewart slipped into his hand. + +And then, after receiving the thanks of the ladies and promising to look +them up in Brussels, Stewart followed his porter across the platform to +the entrance. + +Millicent Field looked after him a little wistfully. + +"How easy it is for a man to do things!" she remarked to nobody in +particular. "Never speak to me again of woman suffrage!" + + + + +CHAPTER III + +"STATE OF WAR" + + +Stewart, following his porter, was engulfed in the human tide which had +been beating clamorously against the gates, and which surged forward +across the platform as soon as they were opened. There were tourists of +all nations, alarmed by the threat of war, and there were also many +people who, to Stewart at least, appeared to be Germans; and all of them +were running toward the train, looking neither to the right nor left, +dragging along as much luggage as they could carry. + +As he stepped aside for a moment out of the way of this torrent, Stewart +found himself beside the bearded stranger who had waxed eloquent in +defense of Germany. He was watching the crowd with a look at once +mocking and sardonic, as a spider might watch a fly struggling vainly to +escape from the web. He glanced at Stewart, then turned away without any +sign of recognition. + +"Where do you go, sir?" the porter asked, when they were safely through +the gates. + +"To the Koelner Hof." + +"It is but a step," said the porter, and he unhooked his belt, passed it +through the handles of the suit-cases, hooked it together again and +lifted it to his shoulder. "This way, sir, if you please." + +The Koelner Hof proved to be a modest inn just around the corner, where +Stewart was received most cordially by the plump, high-colored landlady. +Lunch would be ready in a few minutes; meanwhile, if the gentleman would +follow the waiter, he would be shown to a room where he could remove the +traces of his journey. But first would the gentleman fill in the blank +required by the police? + +So Stewart filled in the blank, which demanded his name, his +nationality, his age, his business, his home address, the place from +which he had come to Aix-la-Chapelle and the place to which he would go +on leaving it, handed it back to the smiling landlady, and followed an +ugly, hang-dog waiter up the stair. + +The room into which he was shown was a very pleasant one, scrupulously +clean, and as he made his toilet, Stewart reflected how much more of +comfort and how much warmer welcome was often to be had at the small +inns than at the big ones, and mentally thanked the officer of police +who had recommended this one. He found he had further reason for +gratitude when he sat down to lunch, served on a little table set in one +corner of a shady court--the best lunch he had eaten for a long time, as +he told the landlady when she came out presently, knitting in hand, and +sat down near him. She could speak a little English, it appeared, and a +little French, and these, with Stewart's little German, afforded a +medium of communication limping, it is true, but sufficient. + +She received the compliments of her guest with the dignity of one who +knew them to be deserved. + +"I do what I can to please my patrons," she said; "and indeed I have had +no cause to complain, for the season has been very good. But this +war--it will ruin us innkeepers--there will be no more travelers. +Already, I hear, Spa, Ostend, Carlsbad, Baden--such places as those--are +deserted just when the season should be at its best. What do you think +of it--this war?" + +"Most probably it is just another scare," said Stewart. "War seems +scarcely possible in these days--it is too cruel, too absurd. An +agreement will be reached." + +"I am sure I hope so, sir; but it looks very bad. For three days now our +troops have been passing through Aachen toward the frontier." + +"How far away is the frontier?" + +"About ten miles. The customhouse is at Herbesthal." + +"Ten miles!" echoed Stewart in surprise. "The frontier of France?" + +"Oh, no--the frontier of Belgium." + +"But why should they concentrate along the Belgian frontier?" Stewart +demanded. + +"Perhaps they fear an attack from that direction. Or perhaps," she +added, calmly, "they are preparing to seize Belgium. I have often heard +it said that Belgium should belong to Germany." + +"But look here," protested Stewart, hotly, "Germany can't seize a +country just because it happens to be smaller and weaker than she is!" + +"Can't she?" inquired the landlady, seemingly astonished at his +indignation. "Why is that?" + +Her eyes were shining strangely as she lowered them to her knitting; and +there was a moment's silence, broken only by the rapid clicking of her +needles. For Stewart found himself unable to answer her question. Ever +since history began, big countries had been seizing smaller ones, and +great powers crushing weaker ones. If Austria might seize Bosnia and +Italy Tripoli, why might not Germany seize Belgium? And he suddenly +realized that, in spite of protests and denials and hypocrisies, between +nation and nation the law of the jungle was, even yet, often the only +law! + +"At any rate," pursued the landlady, at last, "I have heard that great +intrenchments are being built all along there, and that supplies for a +million men have been assembled. There has been talk of war many times +before, and nothing has come of it; but there have never been such +preparations as these." + +"Let us hope it is only the Kaiser rattling his sword again--a little +louder than usual. I confess," he added more soberly, "that as an +American I haven't much sympathy with Prussian militarism. I have +sometimes thought that a war which would put an end to it once for all +would be a good thing." + +The woman shot him a glance surprisingly quick and piercing. + +"That is also the opinion of many here in Germany," she said in a low +voice; "but it is an opinion which cannot be uttered." She checked +herself quickly as the ugly waiter approached. "How long will the +gentleman remain in Aachen?" she asked, in another tone. + +"I am going on to Brussels this evening. There is a train at six +o'clock, is there not?" + +"At six o'clock, yes, sir. It will be well for the gentleman to have a +light dinner before his departure. The train may be delayed--and the +journey to Brussels is of seven hours." + +"Very well," agreed Stewart, rising. "I will be back about five. How +does one get to the cathedral?" + +"Turn to your right, sir, as you leave the hotel. The first street is +the Franzstrasse. It will lead you straight to the church." + +Stewart thanked her and set off. The Franzstrasse proved to be a wide +thoroughfare, bordered by handsome shops, but many of them were closed +and the street itself was almost deserted. It opened upon a narrower +street, at the end of which Stewart could see the lofty choir of the +minster. + +Presently he became aware of a chorus of high-pitched voices, which grew +more and more distinct as he advanced. It sounded like a lot of women in +violent altercation, and then in a moment he saw what it was, for he +came out upon an open square covered with market-stalls, and so crowded +that one could scarcely get across it. Plainly the frugal wives of +Aachen were laying in supplies against the time when all food would grow +scarce and dear, and from the din of high-pitched bargaining it was +evident that the crafty market-people had already begun to advance their +prices. + +Stewart paused for a while to contemplate this scene, far more violent +and war-like than any he had yet witnessed; then, edging around the +crowd, he arrived at the cathedral, the most irregular and eccentric +that he had ever seen--a towering Gothic choir attached to an octagonal +Byzantine nave. But that nave is very impressive, as Stewart found when +he stepped inside it; and then, on a block of stone in its pavement, he +saw the words, "Carlo Magno," and knew that he was at the tomb of the +great Emperor. + +It is perhaps not really the tomb, but for emotional purposes it answers +very well, and there can be no question about the marble throne and +other relics which Stewart presently inspected, under the guidance of a +black-clad verger. Then, as there was a service in progress in the +choir, he sat down, at the verger's suggestion, to wait till it was +over. + +In a small chapel at his right, a group of candles glowed before an +altar dedicated to the Virgin, and here, on the low benches, many women +knelt in prayer. More and more slipped in quietly--young women, old +women, some shabby, some well-clad--until the benches were full; and +after that the newcomers knelt on the stone pavement and besought the +Mother of Christ to guard their sons and husbands and sweethearts, +summoned to fight the battles of the Emperor. Looking at them--at their +bowed heads, their drawn faces, their shrinking figures--Stewart +realized for the first time how terrible is the burden which war lays on +women. To bear sons, to rear them--only to see them march away when the +dreadful summons came; to bid good-by to husband or to lover, crushing +back the tears, masking the stricken heart; and then to wait, day after +dreary day, in agony at every rumor, at every knock, at every passing +footstep, with no refuge save in prayer---- + +But such thoughts were too painful. To distract them, he got out his +Baedeker and turned its pages absently until he came to Aachen. First +the railway stations--there were four, it seemed; then the hotels--the +Grand Monarque, the Nuellens, the Hotel de l'Empereur, the du +Nord--strange that so many of them should be French, in name at +least!--the Monopol, the Imperial Crown--but where was the Koelner Hof? +He ran through the list again more carefully--no, it was not there. And +yet that police-officer at Cologne had asserted not only that it was in +Baedeker, but that it was honored with a star! Perhaps in the German +edition---- + +A touch on the arm apprised him that the verger was ready to take him +through the choir, where the service was ended, and Stewart slipped his +book back into his pocket and followed him. It is a lovely choir, +soaring toward the heavens in airy beauty, but Stewart had no eyes for +it. He found suddenly that he wanted to get away. He was vaguely uneasy. +The memory of those kneeling women weighed him down. For the first time +he really believed that war might come. + +So he tipped the verger and left the church and came out into the +streets again, to find them emptier than ever. Nearly all the shops were +closed; there was no vehicle of any kind; there were scarcely any +people. And then, as he turned the corner into the wide square in front +of the town-hall, he saw where at least some of the people were, for a +great crowd had gathered there--a crowd of women and children and old +men--while from the steps before the entrance an official in gold-laced +uniform and cocked hat was delivering a harangue. + +At first, Stewart could catch only a word here and there, but as he +edged closer, he found that the speech was a eulogy of the Kaiser--of +his high wisdom, his supreme greatness, his passionate love for his +people. The Kaiser had not sought war, he had strained every nerve for +peace; but the jealous enemies who ringed Germany round, who looked with +envy upon her greatness and dreamed only of destroying her, would not +give her peace. So, with firm heart and abiding trust in God, the +Emperor had donned his shining armor and unsheathed his sword, confident +that Germany would emerge from the struggle greater and stronger than +ever. + +Then the speaker read the Emperor's address, and reminded his hearers +that all they possessed, even to their lives and the lives of their +loved ones, belonged to their Fatherland, to be yielded ungrudgingly +when need arose. He cautioned them that the military power was now +supreme, not to be questioned. It would brook no resistance nor +interference. Disobedience would be severely dealt with. It was for each +of them to go quietly about his affairs, trusting in the Emperor's +wisdom, and to pray for victory. + +There were some scattered cheers, but the crowd for the most part stood +in dazed silence and watched two men put up beside the entrance to the +rathaus the proclamation which declared Germany in a state of war. Down +the furrowed cheeks of many of the older people the hot tears poured in +streams, perhaps at remembrance of the horrors and suffering of +Germany's last war with France, and some partial realization that far +greater horrors and suffering were to come. Then by twos and threes they +drifted away to their homes, talking in bated undertone, or shuffling +silently along, staring straight before them. In every face were fear +and grief and a sullen questioning of fate. + +Why had this horror been decreed for them? What had they done that this +terrible burden should be laid upon them? What could war bring any one +of them but sorrow and privation? Was there no way of escape? Had they +no voice in their own destiny? These were the questions which surged +through Stewart's mind as he slowly crossed the square and made his way +along the silent streets back toward his hotel. At almost every corner a +red poster stared at him--a poster bearing the Prussian eagle and the +Kaiser's name. "The sword has been thrust into our hands," the Kaiser +wrote. "We must defend our Fatherland and our homes against the assaults +of our enemies. Forward with God, who will be with us, as He was with +our fathers!" + +Sad as he had never been before, Stewart walked on. Something was +desperately wrong somewhere; this people did not want war--most probably +even the Kaiser did not want war. Yet war had come; the fate of Europe +was trembling in the balance; millions of men were being driven to a +detested task. Caught up in mighty armies by a force there, was no +resisting, they were marching blindly to kill and be killed---- + +A sudden outbreak of angry voices in the street ahead startled Stewart +from his thoughts. A section of soldiers was halted before a house at +whose door a violent controversy was in progress between their sergeant +and a wrinkled old woman. + +"I tell you we must have him," the sergeant shouted, as though for the +twentieth time. + +"And I tell you his wife is dying," shrieked the woman. "He has +permission from his captain." + +"I know nothing about that. My orders are to gather in all stragglers." + +"It is only a question of a few hours." + +"He must come now," repeated the sergeant, doggedly. "Those are the +orders. If he disobeys them--if I am compelled to use force--he will be +treated as a deserter. Will you tell him, or must I send my men in to +get him?" + +The sunken eyes flamed with rage, the wrinkled face was contorted with +hate--but only for an instant. The flame died; old age, despair, the +habit of obedience, reasserted themselves. A tear trickled down the +cheek--a tear of helplessness and resignation. + +"I will tell him, sir," she said, and disappeared indoors. + +The sergeant turned back to his men, cursing horribly to himself. +Suddenly he spat upon the pavement in disgust. + +"A devil's job!" he muttered, and took a short turn up and down, without +looking at his men. In a moment the old woman reappeared in the door. +"Well, mother?" he demanded, gruffly. + +"I have told him. He will be here at once." + +As she spoke, a fair-haired youth of perhaps twenty appeared on the +threshold and saluted. His eyes were red with weeping, but he held +himself proudly erect. + +"Hermann Gronau?" asked the sergeant. + +"Yes." + +"Fall in!" + +With a shriek of anguish, the woman threw her arms about him and +strained him close. + +"My boy!" she moaned. "My youngest one--my baby--they are taking you +also!" + +"I shall be back, mother, never fear," he said, and loosened her arms +gently. "You will write me when--when it is over." + +"Yes," she promised, and he took his place in the ranks. + +"March!" cried the sergeant, and the section tramped away with Gronau in +its midst. At the corner, he turned and waved his hand in farewell to +the old woman. For a moment longer she stood clutching at the door and +staring at the place where he had vanished, then turned slowly back into +the house. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE MYSTERY OF THE SATIN SLIPPERS + + +Stewart, awakening from the contemplation of this poignant drama--one of +thousands such enacting at that moment all over Europe--realized that he +was lingering unduly and hastened his steps. At the end of five minutes, +he was again in the wide Franzstrasse, and, turning the last corner, saw +his landlady standing at her door, looking anxiously up and down the +street. + +Her face brightened with relief when she saw him--a relief so evidently +deep and genuine that Stewart was a little puzzled by it. + +"But I am glad to see you!" she cried as he came up, her face wreathed +in smiles. "I was imagining the most horrible things. I feared I know +not what! But you are safe, it seems." + +"Quite safe. In fact, I was never in any danger." + +"I was foolish, no doubt, to have fear. But in times like these, one +never knows what may happen." + +"True enough," Stewart agreed. "Still, an American with a passport in +his pocket ought to be safe anywhere." + +"Ah; you have a passport--that is good. That will simplify matters. The +police have been here to question you. They will return presently." + +"The police?" + +"There have been some spies captured, it seems. And there are many who +are trying to leave the country. So everyone is suspected. You are not +German-born, I hope? If you were, I fear not even your passport would be +of use." + +They had walked back together along the hall as they talked, and now +stopped at the foot of the stair. The landlady seemed very nervous--as +was perhaps natural amid the alarms of war. She scarcely listened to his +assurance that he was American by birth. Little beads of perspiration +stood out across her forehead---- + +"The police visited your room," she rattled on. "You will perhaps find +your baggage disarranged." + +Stewart smiled wryly. + +"So it seems they really suspect me?" + +"They suspect everyone," the landlady repeated. + +She was standing with her back toward the door, and Stewart wondered why +she should watch his face so closely. + +Suddenly, over her shoulder, he saw the ugly waiter with the hang-dog +air approaching along the hall. + +"Such anxiety is quite natural," said the landlady rapidly in German, +raising her voice a little. "I can understand it. But it is not +remarkable that you should have missed her--the trains are so irregular. +I will send her to you the moment she arrives. Ah, Hans," she added, +turning at the sound of the waiter's footsteps, "so you are back at +last! You will take up some hot water to the gentleman at once. And now +you will excuse me, sir; I have the dinner to attend to," and she +hurried away, carrying the waiter with her. + +Stewart stood for an instant staring after her; then he turned and +mounted slowly to his room. But what had the woman meant? Why should he +be anxious? Who was it he had missed? "I will send her to you the moment +she arrives." No--she could not have said that--it was impossible that +she should have said that. He must have misunderstood; his German was +very second-rate, and she had spoken rapidly. But what _had_ she said? + +He was still pondering this problem, when a knock at the door told him +that the hot water had arrived. As he opened the door, the landlady's +voice came shrilly up the stair. + +"Hans!" she called. "There is something wrong with the stove. Hasten! +Hasten!" + +Stewart took the can which was thrust hastily into his hand, turned back +into the room, and proceeded to make a leisurely toilet. If the landlady +had not told him, he would never have suspected that his baggage had +been searched by the police, for everything seemed to be where he had +left it. But then he was a hasty and careless packer, by no means +precise---- + +That vague feeling of uneasiness which had shaken him in the church +swept over him again, stronger than before; there was something wrong +somewhere; the meshes of an invisible net seemed closing about him. More +than once he caught himself standing quite still, in an attitude of +profound meditation, though he was not conscious that he had really been +thinking of anything. Evidently the events of the day had shaken him +more deeply than he had realized. + +"Come, old man," he said at last, "this won't do. Pull yourself +together." + +And then a sudden vivid memory rose before him of those praying women, +of that wrinkled mother gazing despairingly after her youngest born as +he was marched away perhaps forever, of the set faces of the crowd +shuffling silently homeward---- + +He had been absently turning over the contents of one of his bags, +searching for a necktie, when he found himself staring at a pair of +satin ball-slippers, into each of which was stuffed a blue silk +stocking. For quite a minute he stared, doubting his own senses; then he +picked up one of the slippers and looked at it. + +It was a tiny affair, very delicate and beautiful--a real jewel in +footwear, such as Stewart, with his limited feminine experience, had +never seen before. Indeed, he might have doubted that they were intended +for actual service, but for the slight discoloration inside the heel, +which proved that these had been worn more than once. Very deliberately +he drew out the stocking, also a jewel in its way, of a texture so +diaphanous as to be almost cobweblike. Then he picked up the other +slipper and held them side by side. Yes, they were mates---- + +"But where on earth could I have picked them up?" he asked himself. "In +what strange fit of absent-mindedness could I have packed them with my +things? But I couldn't have picked them up--I never saw them before----" + +He sat down suddenly, a slipper in either hand. They must have come from +somewhere--they could not have concealed themselves among his things. If +he had not placed them there, then someone else had. But who? And for +what purpose? The police? His landlady had said that they had searched +his luggage; but what possible object could they have had for increasing +it by two satin slippers and a pair of stockings? Such an action was +farcical--French-farcical!--but he could not be incriminated in such a +way. He had no wife to be made jealous! And even if he had---- + +"This is the last straw!" he muttered to himself. "Either the world has +gone mad, or I have." + +Moving as in a dream, he placed the slippers side by side upon the +floor, contemplated them for a moment longer, and then proceeded slowly +with his dressing. He found an unaccustomed difficulty in putting his +buttons in his cuffs, and then he remembered that it was a tie he had +been looking for when he found the slippers. The slippers! He turned and +glanced at them. Yes--they were still there--they had not vanished. Very +coquettish they appeared, standing there side by side, as though waiting +for their owner. + +And suddenly Stewart smiled a crooked smile. + +"Only one thing is necessary to complete this pantomime," he told +himself, "and that is that the Princess should suddenly appear and claim +them. Well, I'm willing! A woman with a foot like that----" + +There was a knock at the door. + +"In a moment!" he called. + +"But it is I!" cried a woman's voice in English--a sweet, high-pitched +voice, quivering with excitement. "It is I!" and the door was flung open +with a crash. + +A woman rushed toward him--he saw vaguely her vivid face, her shining +eyes; behind her, more vaguely still, he saw the staring eyes of the +hang-dog waiter. Then she was upon him. + +"At last!" she cried, and flung her arms about him and kissed him on the +lips--kissed him closely, passionately, as he had never been kissed +before. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +ONE WAY TO ACQUIRE A WIFE + + +Stewart, standing petrified, collar in hand, thrilling with the warmth +of that caress, was conscious that his free arm had dropped about the +woman's waist, and that she was cuddling to him, patting him excitedly +on the cheek and smiling up into his eyes. Then, over her shoulder, he +caught a glimpse of the sardonic smile on the ugly face of the waiter as +he withdrew and closed the door. + +"But how glad I am!" the woman rattled on, at the top of her voice. "And +what a journey! I am covered with dirt! I shall need gallons of water!" + +She walked rapidly to the door, opened it, and looked out. Then she +closed and locked it, and, to his amazement, caught up one of his +handkerchiefs and hung it over the knob so that it masked the keyhole. + +"They will not suspect," she said, in a lower tone, noticing his look. +"They will suppose it is to conceal our marital endearments! Now we can +talk. But we will keep to English, if you do not mind. Someone might +pass. Is everything arranged? Is the passport in order?" + +Her eyes were shining with excitement, her lips were trembling. As he +still stood staring, she came close to him and shook his arm. + +"Can it be that you do not know English?" she demanded. "But that would +be too stupid! You understand English, do you not?" + +"Yes, madam," stammered Stewart. "At least, I have always thought so." + +"Then why do you not answer? Is anything wrong? You look as though you +did not expect me." + +"Madam," answered Stewart, gravely, "will you kindly pinch me on the +arm--here in the tender part? I have been told that is a test." + +She nipped him with a violence that made him jump. + +"Do not tell me that you are drunk!" she hissed, viciously. "That would +be too much! Drunk at such a moment!" + +But Stewart had begun to pull himself together. + +"No, madam, I am not drunk," he assured her; "and your pinch convinces +me that I am not dreaming." He rubbed his arm thoughtfully. "There +remains only one hypothesis--that I have suddenly gone mad. And yet I +have never heard of any madness in my family, nor until this moment +detected any symptoms in myself." + +"Is this a time for fooling?" she snapped. "Tell me at once--" + +"There is, of course, another hypothesis," went on Stewart, calmly, "and +that is that it is you who are mad--" + +"Were you not expecting me?" she repeated. + +Stewart's eyes fell upon the satin slippers, and he smiled. + +"Why, certainly I was expecting you," he answered. "I was just saying to +myself that the only thing lacking in this fairy-tale was the beautiful +Cinderella--and presto; there you were!" + +She looked at him wildly, her eyes dark with fear. Suddenly she caught +her lower lip between the thumb and little finger of her left hand, and +stood a moment expectantly, holding it so and staring up at him. Then, +as he stared back uncomprehendingly, she dropped into a chair and burst +into a flood of tears. + +Now a pretty woman in tears is, as everyone knows, a sight to melt a +heart of stone, especially if that heart be masculine. This woman was +extremely pretty, and Stewart's heart was very masculine, with nothing +granitic about it. + +"Oh, come," he protested, "it can't be so bad as that! Let us sit down +and talk this thing out quietly. Evidently there is a mistake +somewhere." + +"Then you did not expect me?" she demanded, mopping her eyes. + +"Expect you? No--except as the fulfillment of a fairy-tale." + +"You do not know who I am?" + +"I haven't the slightest idea." + +"Nor why I am here?" + +"No." + +"_Ah, ciel!_" she breathed, "then I am lost!" and she turned so pale +that Stewart thought she was going to faint. + +"Lost!" he protested. "In what way lost? What do you mean?" + +By a mighty effort she fought back the faintness and regained a little +of her self-control. + +"At this hotel," she explained, in a hoarse voice, "I was to have met a +man who was to accompany me across the frontier. He had a passport for +both of us--for himself and for his wife." + +"You were to pass as his wife?" + +"Yes." + +"But you did not know the man?" + +"Evidently--or I should not have--" + +She stopped, her face crimson with embarrassment. + +"H-m!" said Stewart, reflecting that he, at least, had no reason to +regret the mistake. "Perhaps this unknown is in some other room." + +"No; you are the only person in the hotel." + +"Evidently, then, he has not arrived." + +"Evidently," she assented, and stared moodily at the floor, twisting her +handkerchief in nervous, trembling hands. + +Stewart rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he looked at her. She seemed not +more than twenty, and she was almost startlingly beautiful, with that +peculiar lustrous duskiness of skin more common among the Latin races +than with us. Slightly built, she yet gave the impression of having in +reserve unusual nervous energy, which would brace her to meet any +crisis. + +But what was she doing here? Why should she be driven to leave Germany +as the wife of a man whom she had never seen? Or was it all a lie--was +she merely an adventuress seeking a fresh victim? + +Stewart looked at her again, then he put that thought away, definitely +and forever. He had had enough experience of women, as surgeon in a +public clinic, to tell innocence from vice; and he knew that it was +innocence he was facing now. + +"You say you can't leave Germany without a passport?" he asked at last. + +"No one can leave Germany without a passport." She sat up suddenly and +looked at him, a new light in her eyes. "Is it possible," she demanded, +with trembling lips, "can it be possible that you possess a passport?" + +"Why, yes," said Stewart, "I have a passport. Unfortunately, it is for +myself alone. Never having had a wife----" + +But she was standing before him, her hands outstretched, tremulous with +eagerness. + +"Let me see it!" she cried. "Oh, let me see it!" + +He got it out, gave it to her, and watched her as she unfolded it. Here +was a woman, he told himself, such as he had never met before--a woman +of verve, of fire---- + +She was looking up at him with flaming eyes. + +"Mr. Stewart," she said, in a low voice, "you can save me, if you will." + +"Save you?" echoed Stewart. "But how?" + +She held the open passport toward him. + +"See, here, just below your name, there is a blank space covered with +little parallel lines. If you will permit me to write in that space the +words 'accompanied by his wife,' I am saved. The passport will then be +for both of us." + +"Or would be," agreed Stewart, dryly, "if you were my wife. As it +happens, you are not!" + +"It is such a little thing I ask of you," she pleaded. "We go to the +station together--we take our seats in the train--at the frontier you +show your passport. An hour later we shall be at Liege, and there our +ways will part; but you will have done a noble action." + +There was witchery in her eyes, in her voice. Stewart felt himself +slipping--slipping; but he caught himself in time. + +"I am afraid," he said, gently, "that you will have to tell me first +what it is all about." + +"I can tell you in a word," she answered, drawing very near to him, and +speaking almost in a whisper. "I am a Frenchwoman." + +"But surely," Stewart protested, "the Germans will not prevent your +return to France! Why should they do that?" + +"It is not a question of returning, but of escaping. I am an Alsatian. I +was born at Strassburg." + +"Oh," said Stewart, remembering the tone in which Bloem had spoken of +Alsace-Lorraine and beginning vaguely to understand. "An Alsatian." + +"Yes; but only Alsatians understand the meaning of that word. To be an +Alsatian is to be a slave, is to be the victim of insult, oppression, +tyranny past all belief. My father was murdered by the Germans; my two +brothers have been dragged away into the German army and sent to fight +the Russians, since Germany knows well that no Alsatian corps would +fight the French! Oh, how we have prayed and prayed for this war of +restitution--the war which will give us back to France!" + +"Yes; I hope it will," agreed Stewart, heartily. + +"Of a certainty you do!" she said, eagerly. "All Americans do. Not one +have I ever known who took the German side. How could they? How could +any American be on the side of despotism? Oh, impossible! America is on +our side! And you, as an American, will assist me to escape my enemies." + +"Your enemies?" + +"I will not deceive you," she said, earnestly. "I trust you. I have +lived all my life at Strassburg and at Metz, those two outposts against +France--those two great fortresses of cities which the Germans have done +their utmost to make impregnable, but which are not impregnable if +attacked in a certain way. They have their weak spot, just as every +fortress has. I have dissembled, I have lied--I have pretended to admire +the gold-laced pigs--I have permitted them to kiss my hand--I have +listened to their confidences, their hopes and fears--I have even joined +in their toast 'The Day!' Always, always have I kept my eyes and ears +open. Bit by bit, have I gathered what I sought--a hint here, a hint +there.... I must get to France, my friend, and you must help me! Surely +you will be glad to strike a blow at these braggart Prussians! It is not +for myself I ask it--though, if I am taken, there will be for me only +one brief moment, facing a file of soldiers; I ask it for France--for +your sister Republic!" + +If it had been for France alone, Stewart might still have hesitated; but +as he gazed down into that eloquent face, wrung with desperate anxiety, +he seemed to see, as in a vision, a file of soldiers in spiked helmets +facing a wall where stood a lovely girl, her eyes flaming, her head +flung back, smiling contemptuously at the leveled rifles; he saw again +the flickering candles at the Virgin's feet---- + +"Very well," he said, abruptly--almost harshly. "I consent." + +Before he could draw back, she had flung herself on her knees before +him, had caught his hand, and was covering it with tears and kisses. + +"Come, come, my dear," he said. "That won't do!" And he bent over her +and raised her to her feet. + +She was shaken with great sobs, and as she turned her streaming eyes up +to him, her lips moving as if in prayer, Stewart saw how young she was, +how lonely, how beautiful, how greatly in need of help. She had been +fighting for her country with all her strength, with every resource, +desperately, every nerve a-strain--and victory had been too much for +her. But in a moment she had back her self-control. + +"There, it is finished!" she said, smiling through her tears. "But the +joy of your words was almost too great. I shall not behave like that +again. And I shall not try to thank you. I think you understand--I +cannot thank you--there are no words great enough." + +Stewart nodded, smilingly. + +"Yes; I understand," he said. + +"We have many things to do," she went on, rapidly, passing her +handkerchief across her eyes with the gesture of one who puts sentiment +aside. "First, the passport," and she caught it up from the chair on +which she had laid it. + +"I would point out to you," said Stewart, "that there may be a certain +danger in adding the words you mentioned." + +"But it is precisely for those words this blank space has been left." + +"That may be true; but unless your handwriting is identical with that on +the rest of the passport, and the ink the same, the first person who +looks at it will detect the forgery." + +"Trust me," she said, and drawing a chair to the table, laid the +passport before her and studied it carefully. From the little bag she +had carried on her arm, she took a fountain-pen. She tested it on her +finger-nail, and then, easily and rapidly, wrote "accompanied by his +wife" across the blank space below Stewart's name. + +Stewart, staring down over her shoulder, was astonished by the +cleverness of the forgery. It was perfect. + +"There," she added, "let it lie for five minutes and no one on earth can +tell that those words were not written at the same time and by the same +hand as all the others." + +A sudden doubt shook her hearer. Where had she learned to forge like +that? Perhaps, after all---- + +She read his thought in his eyes. + +"To imitate handwriting is something which every member of the secret +service must learn to do. This, on your passport, is a formal hand very +easily imitated. But I must rid myself of this pen." + +She glanced quickly about the room, went to the open fireplace and threw +the pen above the bricks which closed it off from the flue. Then she +came back, motioned him to sit down, and drew a chair very close to his. + +"Now we have certain details to arrange," she said. "Your name is +Bradford Stewart?" + +"Yes." + +"Have you a sobriquet?" + +"A what?" + +"A name of familiarity," she explained, "used only by your family or +your friends." + +"Oh, a nickname! Well," he admitted, unwillingly, "my father always +called me Tommy." + +"Tommy! Excellent! I shall call you Tommy!" + +"But I detest Tommy," he objected. + +"No matter!" she said, peremptorily. "It will have to do. What is your +profession?" + +"I am a surgeon." + +"Where do you live in America?" + +"At Baltimore, in the State of Maryland." + +"Where have you been in Europe?" + +"To a clinical congress at Vienna, and then back through Germany." + +"Perfect! It could not be better! Now, listen most carefully. The name +of your wife is Mary. You have been married four years." + +"Any children?" asked Stewart. + +"Please be serious!" she protested, but from the sparkle in her eye +Stewart saw that she was not offended. + +"I should have liked a boy of three and a girl of two," he explained. +"But no matter--go ahead." + +"While you went to Vienna to attend your horrible clinic and learn new +ways of cutting up human bodies, your wife remained at Spa, because of a +slight nervous affection----" + +"From which," said Stewart, "I am happy to see that she has entirely +recovered." + +"Yes," she agreed; "she is quite well again. Spa is in Belgium, so the +Germans cannot disprove the story. We arranged to meet here and to go on +to Brussels together. Do you understand?" + +"Perfectly," said Stewart, who was thoroughly enjoying himself. "By the +way, Mary," he added, "no doubt it was your shoes and stockings I found +in my grip awhile ago," and he pointed to where the slippers stood side +by side. + +His companion stared at them for an instant in amazement, then burst +into a peal of laughter. + +"How ridiculous! But yes--they were intended for mine." + +"How did they get into my luggage?" + +"The woman who manages this inn placed them there. She is one of us." + +"But what on earth for?" + +"So that the police might find them when they searched your bags." + +"Why should they search my bags?" + +"There is a certain suspicion attaching to this place. It is impossible +altogether to avoid it--so it is necessary to be very careful. The +landlady thought that the discovery of the slippers might, in a measure, +prepare the police for the arrival of your wife." + +"Then she knew you were coming?" + +"Certainly--since last night." + +"And when the man who was to meet you did not arrive, she decided that I +would do?" + +"I suppose so." + +"But how did she know I had a passport?" + +"Perhaps you told her." + +Yes, Stewart reflected, he had told her, and yet he was not altogether +satisfied. When had he told her? Surely it was not until he returned +from his tour of the town; then there was not time---- + +"Here is your passport," said his companion, abruptly breaking in upon +his thoughts. "Fold it up and place it in your pocket. And do not find +it too readily when the police ask for it. You must seem not to know +exactly where it is. Also pack your belongings. Yes, you would better +include the slippers. Meanwhile I shall try to make myself a little +presentable," and she opened the tiny bag from which she had produced +the pen. + +"It seems to me," said Stewart, as he proceeded to obey, "that one pair +of slippers and one pair of stockings is rather scanty baggage for a +lady who has been at Spa for a month." + +"My baggage went direct from Spa to Brussels," she answered from before +the mirror, "in order to avoid the customs examination at the frontier. +Have you any other questions?" + +"Only the big one as to who you really are, and where I'm going to see +you again after you have delivered your report--and all that." + +His back was toward her as he bent over his bags, and he did not see the +quick glance she cast at him. + +"It is impossible to discuss that now," she said, hastily. "And I would +warn you that the servant, Hans, is a spy. Be very careful before +him--be careful always, until we are safe across the frontier. There +will be spies everywhere--a false word, a false movement, and all may be +lost. Are you ready?" + +Stewart, rising from buckling the last strap, found himself confronting +the most adorable girl he had ever seen. Every trace of the journey had +disappeared. Her cheeks were glowing, her eyes were shining, and when +she smiled, Stewart noticed a dimple set diagonally at the corner of her +mouth--a dimple evidently placed just there to invite and challenge +kisses. + +The admiration which flamed into his eyes was perhaps a trifle too +ardent, for, looking at him steadily, she took a quick step toward him. + +"We are going to be good friends, are we not?" she asked. "Good +comrades?" + +And Stewart, looking down at her, understood. She was pleading for +respect; she was telling him that she trusted him; she was reminding him +of the defenselessness of her girlhood, driven by hard necessity into +this strange adventure. And, understanding, he reached out and caught +her hand. + +"Yes," he agreed. "Good comrades. Just that!" + +She gave his fingers a swift pressure. + +"Thank you," she said. "Now we must go down. Dinner will be waiting. +Fortunately the train is very late." + +Stewart, glancing at his watch, saw that it was almost six o'clock. + +"You are sure it is late?" he asked. + +"Yes; at least an hour. We will send someone to inquire. Remember what I +have told you about the waiter--about everyone. Not for an instant must +we drop the mask, even though we may think ourselves unobserved. You +will remember?" + +"I will try to," Stewart promised. "But don't be disappointed if you +find me a poor actor. I am not in your class at all. However, if you'll +give me the cue, I think I can follow it." + +"I know you can. Come," and she opened the door, restoring him the +handkerchief which she had hung over the knob. + +As they went down the stair together, Stewart saw the landlady waiting +anxiously at the foot. One glance at them, and her face became radiant. + +"Ah, you are late!" she cried, shaking a reproving finger. "But I +expected it. I would not permit Hans to call you. When husband and wife +meet after a long separation, they do not wish to be disturbed--not even +for dinner. This way! I have placed the table in the court--it is much +pleasanter there when the days are so warm," and she bustled before them +to a vine-shaded corner of the court, where a snowy table awaited them. + +A moment later Hans entered with the soup. Stewart, happening to meet +his glance, read the suspicion there. + +"Well," he said, breaking off a piece of the crisp bread, "this is +almost like home, isn't it? I can't tell you, Mary, how glad I am to +have you back again," and he reached out and gave her hand a little +squeeze. "Looking so well, too. Spa was evidently just the place for +you." + +"Yes--it was very pleasant and the doctor was very kind. But I am glad +to get back to you, Tommy," she added, gazing at him fondly. "I could +weep with joy just to look at that honest face of yours!" + +Stewart felt his heart skip a beat. + +"You will make me conceited, if you don't take care, old lady!" he +protested. "And surely I've got enough cause for conceit already, with +the most beautiful woman in the world sitting across from me, telling me +she loves me. Don't blame me if I lose my head a little!" + +The ardor in his tone brought the color into her cheeks. + +"You must not look at me like that!" she reproved. "People will think we +are on our moon of--our honeymoon," she corrected, hastily. + +"Instead of having been married four years! I wonder how John and Sallie +are getting along? Aren't you just crazy to see the kids!" + +She choked over her soup, but managed to nod mutely. Then, as Hans +removed the plates and disappeared in the direction of the kitchen, he +added in a lower tone, "You must allow me the children. I find I can't +be happy without them!" + +"Very well," she agreed, the dimple sparkling. "You have been so kind +that it is impossible for me to refuse you anything!" + +"There is one thing I can't understand. Your English astonishes me. +Where did you learn to speak it so perfectly?" + +"Ah, that is a long story! Perhaps I shall one day tell it to you--if we +ever meet again." + +"We must! I demand that as my reward!" + +She held up a warning finger as steps sounded along the passage; but it +was only the landlady bringing the wine. That good woman was +exuberant--a trifle too exuberant, as Stewart's companion told her with +a quick glance. + +The dinner proceeded from course to course. Stewart had never enjoyed a +meal more thoroughly. What meal, he asked himself, could possibly be +commonplace, shared by such a woman? + +The landlady presently dispatched Hans to the station to inquire about +the train, while she herself did the serving, and the two women ventured +to exchange a few words concerning their instructions. Stewart, +listening, caught a glimpse of an intricate system of espionage +extending to the very heart of Germany. But he asked no questions; +indeed, some instinct held him back from wishing to know more. "Spy" is +not a pretty word, nor is a spy's work pretty work; he refused to think +of it in connection with the lovely girl opposite him. + +"We shall have the police with us soon," said the landlady, in a low +tone. "Hans will run at once to tell them of Madame's arrival." + +"Why do you keep him?" Stewart asked. + +"It is by keeping him that I avert suspicion. If there was anything +wrong here, the police tell themselves, this spy of theirs would +discover it. Knowing him to be a spy, I am on my guard. Besides, he is +very stupid. But there--I will leave you. He may be back at any moment." + +He came back just in time to serve the coffee, with the information that +their train would not arrive until seven-thirty; then he stood watching +them and listening to their talk of home and friends and plans for the +future. + +Stewart began to be proud of his facility of invention, and of his +abilities as an actor. But he had to admit that he was the merest +bungler compared with his companion. Her mental quickness dazzled him, +her high spirits were far more exhilarating than the wine. He ended by +forgetting that he was playing a part. This woman was really his wife, +they were going on together---- + +Suddenly Hans stirred in his corner. Heavy steps were coming toward the +court along the sanded floor of the corridor. In a moment three men in +spiked helmets stepped out into the fading light of the evening. + +"The police to speak to you, sir," said Hans, and Stewart, turning, +found himself looking into three faces, in which hostility and suspicion +were only too apparent. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE SNARE + + +As the three men advanced to the table, Stewart saw that each of them +carried a heavy pistol in a holster at his belt. + +"You speak German?" one of them asked, gruffly. + +"A little. But I would prefer to speak English," answered Stewart. + +"We will speak German. What is your nationality?" + +"I am an American." + +"Were you born in America?" + +"Yes." + +"Have you a passport?" + +"Yes." + +"Let me see it." + +Stewart was about to reach into his pocket and produce it, when he +remembered his companion's suggestion. So he felt in one pocket after +another without result, while the Germans shifted impatiently from foot +to foot. + +"It must be in my other coat," he said, half to himself, enjoying the +situation immensely. "But no; I do not remember changing it. Ah, here it +is!" and he drew it forth and handed it to the officer. + +The latter took it, unfolded it, and stepped out into the court where +the light was better. He read it through carefully, compared the +description point by point with Stewart's appearance, and then came back +to the table. + +"Who is this person?" he asked, and nodded toward the girl. + +"She is my wife," answered Stewart, with a readiness which astonished +himself. + +"She did not arrive here with you." + +"No," and he told the story of how he had left her at Spa to recuperate +from a slight nervous attack, while he himself went on to Vienna. He +omitted no detail--even added a few, indeed, in the fervor of +creation--and with his limited German, which his hearers regarded with +evident contempt, the story took some time to tell. + +The police listened attentively to every word, without the slightest +sign of impatience, but long before it was ended, the lady in question +was twisting nervously in her seat. + +"What is the matter, Tommy?" she demanded, petulantly. "Are you relating +to them the story of your life?" + +"No," he explained, blandly, venturing at last to look at her, "I was +just telling them how it was that you and I had arranged to meet at this +hotel." + +"Well--now tell them to go away. They are ugly and they annoy me." + +"What does she say?" asked the officer. + +Stewart was certain that at least one of them knew English, so he judged +it best to translate literally. + +"She wants to know what is the matter," he answered. "She asks me to +tell you to go away--that you annoy her." + +The officer smiled grimly. + +"She does not understand German?" + +"Not a word," lied Stewart, glibly. + +"What is her name?" + +"Mary." + +"Her maiden name?" + +"Mary Agnes Fleming," answered Stewart, repeating the first name that +occurred to him, and thanking his stars the next instant that the +officer could scarcely be acquainted with the lesser lights of English +fiction. + +"Is that correct?" asked the officer, suddenly turning upon her. + +Stewart's heart gave a leap of fear; but after a stare at the officer, +she turned to her companion. + +"Was he speaking to me, Tommy?" she asked; and it was only by a heroic +effort that Stewart choked back the sudden snort of laughter that rose +in his throat. + +"Yes," he managed to answer; "he wants to know your maiden name." + +"Why should he wish to know that?" + +"I give it up; but you'd better tell him." + +"My maiden name was Mary Agnes Fleming," she said, looking at the +officer with evident disapprobation. "Though what concern it is of yours +I cannot see." + +"What does she say?" demanded the officer, and again Stewart translated +literally. + +The officer stood staring intently at both of them, till the lady, with +a flash of indignation, turned her back. + +"Really, Tommy," she said, over her shoulder, "if you do not at once get +rid of this brute, I shall never speak to you again!" + +"He is a policeman, dear," Stewart explained, "and imagines that he is +doing his duty. I suppose they _do_ have to be careful in war-time. We +must be patient." + +"I will look at her passport," said the German, suddenly, and held out +his hand. + +"My passport is for both of us," Stewart explained. "Those words +'accompanied by his wife,' make it inclusive." + +The officer went out into the light again and examined the words with +minute attention. + +"I find no description of her," he said, coming back. + +"There is none," assented Stewart, impatiently; "but there is a +description of me, as you see. The passport adds that I am accompanied +by my wife. I tell you that this lady is my wife. That is sufficient." + +The officer glanced at his companions uncertainly. Then he slowly folded +up the passport and handed it back. + +"When do you depart from Aachen?" he asked. + +"By the first train for Brussels. I am told that it will arrive in about +half an hour." + +"Very well," said the other. "I regret if I have seemed insistent, but +the fact that the lady did not arrive with you appeared to us singular. +I will report your explanation to my chief," and he turned on his heel +and stalked away, followed by his men. + +Stewart drew a deep breath. + +"Well," he began, when he was stopped by a sharp tap from his +companion's foot. + +"Such impudence!" she cried. "I was astonished at your patience, Tommy! +You, an American, letting a Prussian policeman intimidate you like that! +I am ashamed of you!" + +Glancing around, Stewart saw the hang-dog Hans hovering in the doorway. + +"He was a big policeman, my dear," he explained, laughing. "I shouldn't +have had much of a chance with him, to say nothing of his two men. If we +want to get to Brussels, the safest plan is to answer calmly all the +questions the German police can think of. But it is time for us to be +going. There will be no reserved seats on this train!" + +"You are right," agreed his companion; "I am quite ready." + +So he asked for the bill, paid it, sent Hans up for the luggage, and +presently they were walking toward the station, with Hans staggering +along behind. + +Stewart, looking down at his companion, felt more and more elated over +the adventure. He had never passed a pleasanter evening--it had just the +touch of excitement needed to give it relish. Unfortunately, its end was +near; an hour or two in a crowded railway carriage, and--that was all! + +She glanced up at him and caught his eyes. + +"What is it, my friend?" she asked. "You appear sad." + +"I was just thinking," answered Stewart, "that I do not even know your +name!" + +"Speak lower!" she said, quickly. "Or, better still, do not say such +things at all. Do not drop the mask for an instant until we are out of +Germany." + +"Very well," Stewart promised. "But once we are across the border, I +warn you that I intend to throw the mask away, and that I shall have +certain very serious things to say to you." + +"And I promise to listen patiently," she answered, smiling. + +At the entrance to the station, they were stopped by a guard, who +demanded their tickets. Stewart was about to produce his, when his +companion touched him on the arm. + +"Hasten and get them, Tommy," she said. "I will wait here." + +And Stewart, as he hurried away, trembled to think how nearly he had +blundered. For how could he have explained to the authorities the fact +that he was traveling with a book of Cook's circular tickets, while his +wife was buying her tickets from station to station? + +There was a long line of people in front of the ticket-office, and their +progress was slow, for two police officers stood at the head of the line +and interrogated every applicant for a ticket before they would permit +it to be given him. Stewart, as he moved slowly forward, saw two men +jerked violently out of the line and placed under arrest; he wondered +uncomfortably if the officers had any instructions with regard to him, +but, when his turn came, he faced them as unconcernedly as he was able. +He explained that he and his wife were going to Brussels, showed his +passport, and finally hastened away triumphant with the two precious +bits of pasteboard. It seemed to him that the last difficulty had been +encountered and overcome, and it was only by an effort that he kept +himself from waving the tickets in the air as he rejoined his companion. +In another moment, they were past the barrier. Hans was permitted to +enter with them, and mounted guard over the luggage. + +The platform was thronged with a motley and excited crowd, among whom +were many officers in long gray coats and trailing swords, evidently on +their way to join their commands. They were stalking up and down, with a +lofty disregard for base civilians, talking loudly, gesticulating +fiercely, and stopping ever and anon to shake hands solemnly. Stewart +was watching them with an amusement somewhat too apparent, for his +companion suddenly passed her arm through his. + +"I should like to walk a little," she said. "I have been sitting too +long." Then, in a lower tone, as they started along the platform, "It +would be more wise not to look at those idiots. They would seek a +quarrel with you in an instant if they suspected it was at them you were +smiling." + +"You are right," Stewart agreed; "besides, there is someone else whom I +think much better worth looking at! The officers seem to share my +opinion," he added, for more than one head was turned as they walked +slowly down the platform. "I shall be jealous in a moment!" + +"Do not talk nonsense! Nothing is so absurd as for a man to make love to +his wife in public!" + +Stewart would have liked to retort that he had, as yet, had mighty few +opportunities in private, but he judged it best to save that remark for +the other side of the frontier. + +"Just the same," she rattled on, "it was good of you to write so +regularly while you were at Vienna. I am sure your letters helped with +my cure. But you have not told me--have you secured our passage?" + +"I will know when we get to Brussels. Cook is trying to get us an +outside room on the _Adriatic_." + +"Do we go back to England?" + +"Not unless we wish to. We can sail from Cherbourg." + +They had reached the end of the platform, and, as they turned, Stewart +found himself face to face with a bearded German who had been close +behind them, and who shot a sharp glance at him and his companion before +stepping aside with a muttered apology. Not until they had passed him +did Stewart remember that he had seen the man before. It was the surly +passenger in the crowded compartment on the journey from Cologne. + +His companion had not seemed to notice the fellow, and went on talking +of the voyage home and how glad she would be to get there. Not until +they turned again at the farther end, and found the platform for a +moment clear around them, did she relax her guard. + +"That man is a spy," she whispered, quickly. + +"We are evidently still suspected. What sort of railroad ticket have +you?" + +"A book of Cook's coupons." + +"I feared as much. You must rid yourself of it--it is quite possible +that you will be searched at the frontier. No, no," she added, as +Stewart put his hand to his pocket. "Not here! You would be +seen--everything would be lost. I will devise a way." + +Stewart reflected with satisfaction that only a few coupons were left in +the book. But why should he be searched? He had thought the danger over; +but he began uneasily to suspect that it was just beginning. Well, it +was too late to draw back, even had he wished to do so; and most +emphatically he did not. He was willing to risk a good deal for another +hour of this companionship--and then there was that explanation at the +end--his reward---- + +There was a sharp whistle down the line, and the train from Cologne +rolled slowly in. + +"First class," said Stewart to Hans, as the latter picked up the +luggage; and then he realized that they would be fortunate if they got +into the train at all. The first five carriages were crowded with +soldiers; then there were two carriages half-filled with officers, upon +whom no one ventured to intrude. The three rear carriages were already +crowded with a motley throng of excited civilians, and Stewart had +resigned himself to standing up, when Hans shouted, "This way, sir; this +way!" and started to run as fast as the heavy suit-cases would permit. + +Stewart, staring after him, saw that an additional carriage was being +pushed up to be attached to the train. + +"That fellow has more brains than I gave him credit for," he said. "Come +along!" + +Before the car had stopped, Hans, with a disregard of the regulations +which proved how excited he was, had wrenched open the door of the first +compartment and clambered aboard. By the time they reached it, he had +the luggage in the rack and sprang down to the platform with a smile of +triumph. + +"Good work!" said Stewart. "I didn't think you had it in you!" and he +dropped a generous tip into the waiting hand. "Come, my dear," and he +helped his companion aboard. Hans slammed the door shut after them, +touched his cap, and hurried away. "Well, that was luck!" Stewart added, +and dropped to the seat beside his companion. "But look out for the +deluge in another minute!" + +She was looking out of the window at the excited mob sweeping along the +platform. + +"The crowd is not coming this way," she said, after a moment. "A line of +police is holding it back. I think this carriage is intended for the +officers." + +Stewart groaned. + +"Then we shall have to get out! Take my advice and don't wait to be +asked twice!" + +"Perhaps they will not need this corner. In any case, we will stay until +they put us out. If you are wise, you will forget all the German you +know and flourish your passport frequently. Germans are always impressed +by a red seal!" + +But, strangely enough, they were not disturbed. A number of officers +approached the carriage, and, after a glance at its inmates, passed on +to the other compartments. Stewart, putting his head out of the window, +saw that the line of police were still keeping back the crowd. + +"Really," he said, "this seems too good to be true. It looks as if we +were going to have this compartment to ourselves." + +He turned smilingly to glance at her, and the smile remained frozen on +his lips. For her face was deathly pale, her eyes were staring, and she +was pressing her hands tight against her heart. + +"You're not ill?" he asked, genuinely startled. + +"Only very tired," she answered, controlling her voice with evident +difficulty. "I think I shall try to rest a little," and she settled +herself more comfortably in her corner. "The journey from Spa quite +exhausted me." Then with her lips she formed the words "Be careful!" + +"All right," said Stewart. "Go to sleep if you can." + +She gave him a warning glance from under half-closed lids, then laid her +head back against the cushions and closed her eyes. + +Stewart, after a last look along the platform, raised the window +half-way to protect his companion from the draft, then dropped into the +corner opposite her and got out a cigar and lighted it with studied +carelessness--though he was disgusted to see that his hand was +trembling. He was tingling all over with the sudden sense of +danger--tingling as a soldier tingles as he awaits the command to +charge. + +But what danger could there be? And then he thrilled at a sudden +thought. Was this compartment intended as a trap? Had they been guided +to it and left alone here in the hope that, thrown off their guard, they +would in some way incriminate themselves? Was there an ear glued to some +hole in the partition--the ear of a spy crouching in the next +compartment? + +Stewart pulled his hat forward over his eyes as though to shield them +from the light. Then he went carefully back over the sequence of events +which had led them to this compartment. It was Hans who had brought them +to it--and Hans was a spy. It was he who had selected it, who had stood +at the door so that they would go no farther. It was he who had slammed +the door. + +Was the door locked? Stewart's hand itched to try the handle; but he did +not dare. Someone was perhaps watching as well as listening. But that +they should be permitted to enter a carriage reserved for +officers--that, on a train so crowded, they should be undisturbed in the +possession of a whole compartment--yes, it was proof enough! + +The station-master's whistle echoed shrilly along the platform, and the +train glided slowly away. + +Darkness had come, and as the train threaded the silent environs of the +town, Stewart wondered why the streets seemed so gloomy. Looking again, +he understood. Only a few of the street lights were burning. Already the +economies of war had begun. + +The train entered a long tunnel, at whose entrance a file of soldiers +with fixed bayonets stood on guard. At regular intervals, the light from +the windows flashed upon an armed patrol. Farther on, a deep valley was +spanned by a great viaduct, and here again there was a heavy guard. The +valley widened, and suddenly as they swept around a curve, Stewart saw a +broad plain covered with flaring lights. They were the lights of +field-kitchens; and, looking at them, Stewart realized that a mighty +army lay encamped here, ready to be hurled against the French frontier. + +And then he remembered that this was not the French frontier, but the +frontier of Belgium. Could the landlady of the Koelner Hof have been +mistaken? To make sure, he got out his Baedeker and looked at the map. +No; the French frontier lay away to the south. There was no way to reach +it from this point save across Belgium. It was at Belgium, then, that +the first blow was aimed--Belgium whose neutrality and independence had +been guaranteed by all the Powers of Europe! + +He put the book away and sat gazing thoughtfully out into the night. As +far as the eye could reach gleamed the fires of the mighty bivouac. The +army itself was invisible in the darkness, for the men had not thought +it worth while to put up their shelter tents on so fine a night; but +along the track, from time to time, passed a shadowy patrol; once, as +the train rolled above a road, Stewart saw that it was packed with +transport wagons. + +Then, suddenly, the train groaned to a stop. + +"The frontier!" said Stewart to himself, and glanced at his companion, +but she, to all appearance, was sleeping peacefully. "We shall be +delayed here," he thought, "for the troops to detrain," and he lowered +the window and put out his head to watch them do it. + +The train had stopped beside a platform, and Stewart was astonished at +its length. It stretched away and away into the distance, seemingly +without end. And it was empty, save for a few guards. + +The doors behind him were thrown open and the officers sprang out and +hurried forward. From the windows in front of him, Stewart could see +curious heads projecting; but the forward coaches gave no sign of life. +Not a door was opened; not a soldier appeared. + +"Where are we? What has happened?" asked his companion's voice, and he +turned to find her rubbing her eyes sleepily. + +"We are at the frontier, I suppose," he answered. "No doubt we shall go +on as soon as the troops detrain." + +"I hope they will not be long." + +"They haven't started yet, but of course--by George!" he added, in +another tone, "they aren't getting out! The guards are driving the +people out of the cars ahead of us!" + +The tumult of voices raised in angry protest drew nearer. Stewart could +see that the carriages were being cleared, and in no gentle manner. +There was no pause for explanation or argument--just a terse order +which, if not instantly obeyed, was followed by action. Stewart could +not help smiling, for, in that Babel of tongues, he distinguished a lot +of unexpurgated American! + +"There's no use getting into a fight with them," he said, +philosophically, as he turned back into the compartment and lifted down +his suit-cases. "We might as well get out before we're put out," and he +tried to open the door. + +It was locked. + +The certainty that they were trapped turned him a little giddy. + +"Who the devil could have locked this door?" he demanded, shaking the +handle savagely. + +"Seat yourself, Tommy," his companion advised. "Do not excite +yourself--and have your passport ready. Perhaps they will not put us +off." + +And then a face, crowned by the ubiquitous spiked helmet, appeared at +the window. + +"You will have to get out," said the man in German, and tried to open +the door. + +Stewart shook his head to show that he didn't understand, and produced +his passport. + +The man waved it impatiently away, and wrenched viciously at the door, +purple with rage at finding it locked. Then he shouted savagely at +someone farther up the platform. + +"I have always been told that the Germans were a phlegmatic people," +observed Stewart; "but as a matter of fact, they blow up quicker and +harder than anybody I ever saw. Look at that fellow, now----" + +But at that moment a guard came running up, produced a key, and opened +the door. + +"Come, get out!" said the man, with a gesture there was no mistaking, +and Stewart, picking up his bags, stepped out upon the platform and +helped his companion to alight. + +"How long will we be detained here?" he asked in English; but the man, +with a contemptuous shrug, motioned him to stand back. + +Looking along the platform, Stewart saw approaching the head of an +infantry column. In a moment, the soldiers were clambering into the +coaches, with the same mathematical precision he had seen before. But +there was something unfamiliar in their appearance; and, looking more +closely, Stewart saw that their spiked helmets were covered with gray +cloth, and that not a button or bit of gilt glittered anywhere on the +gray-green field uniforms. Wonderful forethought, he told himself. By +night these troops would be quite invisible; by day they would be merged +indistinguishably with the brown soil of the fields, the gray trunks of +trees, the green of hedges. + +The train rolled slowly out of the station, and Stewart saw that on the +track beyond there was another, also loaded with troops. In a moment, it +started westward after the first; and beyond it a third train lay +revealed. + +Stewart, glancing at his companion, was startled by the whiteness of her +face, the steely glitter of her eyes. + +"It looks like a regular invasion," he said. "But let us find out what's +going to happen to us. We can't stand here all night. Good heavens--what +is that?" + +From the air above them came the sudden savage whirr of a powerful +engine, and, looking up, they saw a giant shape sweep across the sky. It +was gone in an instant. + +"A Zeppelin!" said Stewart, and felt within himself a thrill of wonder +and exultation. Oh, this would be a great war! It would be like no other +ever seen upon this earth. It would be fought in the air, as well as on +the land; in the depths of the ocean, as well as on its surface. At last +all theories were to be put to the supreme test! + +"You will come with me," said the man in the helmet, and Stewart, with a +nod, picked up his grips again before he remembered that he was supposed +to be ignorant of German. + +"Did you say there was another train?" he asked. "Shall we be able to +get away?" + +The man shook his head and led the way along the platform, without +glancing to the right or left. As they passed the bare little station, +they saw that it was jammed to the doors with men and women and +children, mixed in an indiscriminate mass, and evidently most +uncomfortable. But their guide led them past it without stopping, and +Stewart breathed a sigh of relief. Anything would be better than to be +thrust into that crowd! + +Again he had cause to wonder at the length of that interminable +platform; but at last, near its farther end, their guide stopped before +a small, square structure, whose use Stewart could not even guess, and +flung open the door. + +"You will enter here," he said. + +"But look here," Stewart protested, "we are American citizens. You have +no right----" + +The man signed to them to hurry. There was something in the gesture +which stopped the words on Stewart's lips. + +"Oh, damn the fool!" he growled, swallowing hard. "Come along, my dear; +there's no use to argue," and, bending his head at the low door, he +stepped inside. + +In an instant, the door was slammed shut, and the snap of a lock told +them that they were prisoners. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +IN THE TRAP + + +As Stewart set down his bags, still swearing softly to himself, he heard +behind him the sound of a stifled sob. + +"There! there!" he said. "We'll soon be all right!" and as he turned +swiftly and reached out his arms to grope for her, it seemed to him that +she walked right into them. + +"Oh, oh!" she moaned, and pressed close against him. "What will they do +to us? Why have they placed us here?" And then he felt her lips against +his ear. "Be careful!" she whispered in the merest breath. "There is an +open window!" + +Stewart's heart was thrilling. What a woman! What an actress! Well, he +would prove that he, too, could play a part. + +"They will do nothing to us, dear," he answered, patting her shoulder. +"They will not dare to harm us! Remember, we are Americans!" + +"But--but why should they place us here?" + +"I don't know--I suppose they have to be careful. I'll appeal to our +ambassador in the morning. He'll soon bring them to their senses. So +don't worry!" + +"But it is so dark!" she complained. "And I am so tired. Can we not seat +ourselves somewhere?" + +"We can sit on our bags," said Stewart. "Wait!" In a moment he had found +them and placed them one upon the other. "There you are. Now let us see +what sort of a place we've come to." + +He got out his match-box and struck a light. The first flare almost +blinded him; then, holding the match above his head, he saw they were in +a brick cubicle, about twenty feet square. There was a single small +window, without glass but heavily barred. The place was empty, save for +a pile of barrels against one end. + +"It's a store-house of some kind," he said, and then he sniffed sharply. +"Gasoline! I'd better not strike any more matches." + +He sat down beside her and for some moments they were silent. Almost +unconsciously, his arm found its way about her waist. She did not draw +away. + +"Do you suppose they will keep us here all night?" she asked, at last. + +"Heaven knows! They seem capable of any folly!" + +And then again he felt her lips against his ear. + +"We must destroy your ticket," she breathed. "Can you find it in the +dark?" + +"I think so." He fumbled in an inside pocket and drew it out. "Here it +is." + +Her groping hand found his and took the ticket. + +"Now talk to me," she said. + +Stewart talked at random, wondering how she intended to destroy the +ticket. Once he fancied he heard the sound of soft tearing; and once, +when she spoke in answer to a question, her voice seemed strange and +muffled. + +"It is done," she whispered at last. "Place these in your pocket and +continue talking." + +Her groping hand touched his and he found himself grasping two minute +objects whose nature he could not guess, until, feeling them carefully, +he found them to be the small wire staples which had held the coupons of +the ticket together. He slipped them into his waistcoat pocket; and +then, as he began to tell her about the women from Philadelphia and the +journey from Cologne, he was conscious that she was no longer beside +him. But at the end of a moment she was back again. + +"That girl was perfectly right," she said. "Women are very silly to try +to travel about Europe without a man as escort. Consider how I should +feel at this moment if I did not have you!" + +But in spite of themselves, the conversation lagged; and they finally +sat silent. + +How strange a thing was chance, Stewart pondered. Here was he who, until +to-day, had seen his life stretching before him ordered and prosaic, +cast suddenly into the midst of strange adventure. Here was this girl, +whom he had known for only a few hours and yet seemed to have known for +years--whom he certainly knew better than he had ever known any other +woman. There was Bloem--he had been cast into adventure, too. Was he +outside somewhere, among all those thousands, gazing up at the stars and +wondering at Fate? And the thousands themselves--the millions mustering +at this moment into the armies of Europe--to what tragic adventure were +they being hurried! + +A quick step came along the platform and stopped at the door; there was +the snap of a lock, and the door swung open. + +"You will come out," said a voice in English. + +Against the lights of the station, Stewart saw outlined the figure of a +man in uniform. He rose wearily. + +"Come, dear," he said, and helped her to her feet; "it seems we are to +go somewhere else." Then he looked down at the heavy bags. "I can't +carry those things all over creation," he said; "what's more, I won't." + +"I will attend to that," said the stranger, and put a whistle to his +lips and blew a shrill blast. Two men came running up. "You will take +those bags," he ordered. "Follow me," he added to Stewart. + +They followed him along the platform, crossed the track to another, and +came at last to a great empty shed with a low table running along one +side. The men placed the bags upon this table and withdrew. + +"I shall have to search them," said the officer. "Are they locked?" + +He stood in the glare of a lamp hanging from the rafters, and for the +first time, Stewart saw his face. The man smiled at his start of +surprise. + +"I see you recognize me," he said. "Yes--I was in your compartment +coming from Cologne. We will speak of that later. Are your bags locked?" + +"No," said Stewart. + +He watched with affected listlessness as the officer undid the straps +and raised the lids. But his mind was very busy. Had he said anything +during that ride from Cologne which he would now have reason to regret? +Had he intimated that he was unmarried? He struggled to recall the +conversation, sentence by sentence, but could remember nothing that was +actually incriminating. And yet, in mentioning his intended stop at +Aix-la-Chapelle, he had not added that he was to meet his wife there, +and he had made a tentative arrangement to see Miss Field again in +Brussels. The talk, in other words, had been carried on from the angle +of a bachelor with no one to think of but himself, and not from that of +a married man with a wife to consider. + +It was certainly unfortunate that the man who had happened to overhear +that conversation should be the one detailed here to examine his +luggage. How well did he know English? Was he acute enough to catch the +implications of the conversation, or would a disregard of one's wife +seem natural to his Teutonic mind? Stewart glanced at him covertly; and +then his attention was suddenly caught and held by the extreme care with +which the man examined the contents of the bags. + +He shook out each garment, put his hand in every pocket, examined the +linings with his finger-tips, ripped open one where he detected some +unusual thickness only to discover a strip of reenforcement, opened and +read carefully every letter and paper, turned the Baedeker page by page +to be sure that nothing lay between them. He paused over the satin shoes +and stockings, but put them down finally without comment. At last the +bags were empty, and, taking up his knife, he proceeded to rip open the +linen linings and look under them. Then, with equal care, he returned +each article to its place, examining it a second time with the same +intent scrutiny. + +All this took time, and long before it was over, Stewart and his +companion had dropped upon a bench which ran along the wall opposite the +table. Stewart was so weary that he began to feel that nothing mattered +very much, and he could see that the girl also was deadly tired. But at +last the search was finished and the bags closed and strapped. + +"I should like to see the small bag which Madame carries on her arm," +said the officer, and, without a word, the girl held it out to him. + +He examined its contents with a minuteness almost microscopic. Nothing +was too small, too unimportant, to escape the closest attention. +Stewart, marveling at this exhibition of German thoroughness, watched +him through half-closed eyes, his heart beating a little faster. Would +he find some clew, some evidence of treachery? + +There were some handkerchiefs in the bag, and some small toilet +articles; a cake of soap in a case, a box of powder, a small purse +containing some gold and silver, a postcard, two or three letters, and +some trivial odds and ends such as every woman carries about with her. +The searcher unfolded each of the handkerchiefs and held it against the +light, he cut the cake of soap into minute fragments; he emptied the box +of powder and ran an inquiring finger through its contents; he turned +out the purse and looked at every coin it contained; then he sat down +and read slowly and gravely the postcard and each of the letters and +examined their postmarks, and finally he took one of the closely-written +sheets, mounted on his chair, and held the sheet close against the +chimney of the lamp until it was smoking with the heat, examining it +with minute attention as though he rather expected to make some +interesting discovery. As a finish to his researches, he ripped open the +lining of the bag and turned it inside out. + +"Where did you buy this bag, madame?" he asked. + +"In Paris, a month ago." + +"These handkerchiefs are also French." + +"Certainly. French handkerchiefs are the best in the world." + +He compressed his lips and looked at her. + +"And that is a French hat," he went on. + +"Good heavens!" cried the girl. "One would think I was passing the +customs at New York. Certainly it is French. So is my gown--so are my +stockings--so is my underwear. For what else does an American woman come +abroad?" + +He looked at her shoes. She saw his glance and understood it. + +"No; my shoes are American. The French do not know how to make shoes." + +"But the slippers are French." + +"Which slippers?" + +"The ones in your husband's bag." + +She turned laughingly to Stewart. + +"Have you been carrying a pair of my slippers all around Europe, Tommy?" +she asked. "How did that happen?" + +"I don't know. I packed in rather a hurry," answered Stewart, +sheepishly. + +"Where is the remainder of your baggage, madame?" asked the officer. + +"At Brussels--at least, I hope so. I sent it there direct from Spa." + +"Why did you do that?" + +"In order to avoid the examination at the frontier." + +"Why did not you yourself go direct to Brussels?" + +"I wished to see my husband. I had not seen him for almost a month," and +she cast Stewart a fond smile. + +"Have you been recently married?" + +"We have been married four years," the girl informed him, with dignity. + +Stewart started to give some additional information about the family, +but restrained himself. + +The inspector looked at them both keenly for a moment, scratching his +bearded chin reflectively. Then he took a rapid turn up and down the +shed, his brow furrowed in thought. + +"I shall have to ask you both to disrobe," he said, at last, and as +Stewart started to his feet in hot protest, he added, quickly, "I have a +woman who will disrobe Madame." + +"But this is an outrage!" protested Stewart, his face crimson. "This +lady is my wife--I won't stand by and see her insulted. I warn you that +you are making a serious mistake." + +"She shall not be insulted. Besides, it is necessary." + +"I don't see it." + +"That is for me to decide," said the other bluntly, and he put his +whistle to his lips and blew two blasts. + +A door at the farther end of the shed opened and a woman entered. She +was a matronly creature with a kind face, and she smiled encouragingly +at the shrinking girl. + +"Frau Ritter," said the officer in German, "you will take this lady into +the office and disrobe her. Bring her clothing to me here--all of it." + +Again Stewart started to protest, but the officer silenced him with a +gesture. + +"It is useless to attempt resistance," he said, sharply. "I must do my +duty--by force if necessary. It will be much wiser to obey quietly." + +The girl rose to her feet, evidently reassured by the benevolent +appearance of the woman. + +"Do not worry, Tommy," she said. "It will be all right. It is of no use +to argue with these people. There is nothing to do but submit." + +"So it seems," Stewart muttered, and watched her until she disappeared +through the door. + +"Now, sir," said the officer, sharply, "your clothes." + +Crimson with anger and humiliation, Stewart handed them over piece by +piece, saw pockets turned out, linings loosened here and there, the +heels of his shoes examined, his fountain-pen unscrewed and emptied of +its ink. At last he stood naked under the flaring light, feeling +helpless as a baby. + +"Well, I hope you are satisfied," he said, vindictively. + +With a curt nod, the officer handed him back his underwear. + +"I will keep these for the moment," he said, indicating the little pile +of things taken from the pockets. "You may dress. _Your_ clothes, at +least, are American!" + +As he spoke, the woman entered from the farther door, with a bundle of +clothing in her arms. Stewart turned hastily away, struggling into his +trousers as rapidly as he could, and cursing the careless immodesty of +these people. Sullenly he laced his shoes, and put on his collar, noting +wrathfully that it was soiled. He kept his back to the man at the +table--he felt that it would be indecent to watch him scrutinizing those +intimate articles of apparel. + +"You have examined her hair?" he heard the man ask. + +"Yes, Excellency." + +"Very well; you may take these back." + +Not until he heard the door close behind her did Stewart turn around. +The officer was lighting a cigarette. The careless unconcern of the act +added new fuel to the American's wrath. + +"Perhaps you will tell me the meaning of all this?" he demanded. "Why +should my wife and I be compelled to submit to these indignities?" + +"We are looking for a spy," replied the other imperturbably, and +addressed himself to an examination of the things he had taken from +Stewart's pockets--his penknife, his watch, the contents of his purse, +the papers in his pocket-book. He even placed a meditative finger for an +instant on the two tiny metal clips which had come from the Cook ticket. +But to reconstruct their use was evidently too great a task even for a +German police agent, for he passed on almost at once to something else. +"Very good," he said at last, pushed the pile toward its owner, and +opened the passport, which he had laid to one side. + +"That passport will tell you that I am not a spy," said Stewart, putting +his things angrily back into his pockets. "That, it seems to me, should +be sufficient." + +"As far as you are concerned, it is entirely sufficient," said the +other. "One can see at a glance that you are an American. But the +appearance of Madame is distinctly French." + +"Americans are of every race," Stewart pointed out. "I have seen many +who look far more German than you do." + +"That is true; but it so happens that the spy we are looking for is a +woman. I cannot tell you more, except that it is imperative she does not +escape." + +"And you suspect my wife?" Stewart demanded. "But that is absurd!" + +He was proud of the fact that he had managed to maintain unaltered his +expression of virtuous indignation, for a sudden chill had run down his +spine at the other's careless words. Evidently the situation was far +more dangerous than he had suspected! Then he was conscious that his +hands were trembling slightly, and thrust them quickly into his pockets. + +"The fact that she joined you at Aachen seemed most suspicious," the +inspector pointed out. "I do not remember that you mentioned her during +your conversation with the ladies in the train." + +"Certainly not. Why should I have mentioned her?" + +"There was perhaps no reason for doing so," the inspector admitted. +"Nevertheless, it seemed to us unusual that she should have come back +from Spa to Aachen to meet you, when she might, so much more +conveniently, have gone direct to Brussels and awaited you there." + +"She has explained why we made that arrangement." + +"Yes," and through half-closed eyes he watched the smoke from his +cigarette circle upwards toward the lamp. "Conjugal affection--most +admirable, I am sure! It is unfortunate that Madame's appearance should +answer so closely to that of the woman for whom we are searching. It was +also unfortunate that you should have met at the Koelner Hof. That hotel +has not a good reputation--it is frequented by too many French whose +business is not quite clear to us. How did it happen that you went +there?" + +"Why," retorted Stewart hotly, glad of the chance to return one of the +many blows which had been rained upon him, "one of your own men +recommended it." + +"One of my own men? I do not understand," and the officer looked at him +curiously. + +"At least one of the police. He came to me at the Hotel Continental at +Cologne to examine my passport. He asked me where I was going from +Cologne, and I told him to Aix-la-Chapelle. He asked at which hotel I +was going to stay, and I said I did not know. He said he would like to +have that information for his report, and added that the Koelner Hof was +near the station and very clean and comfortable. I certainly found it +so." + +The officer was listening with peculiar intentness. + +"Why were you not at the station to meet your wife?" he asked. + +"I did not know when she would arrive; I was told that the trains were +all running irregularly," answered Stewart, prouder of his ability to +lie well and quickly than he had ever been of anything else in his life. + +"But how did she know at which hotel to find you?" inquired the officer, +and negligently flipped the ash from his cigarette. + +Stewart distinctly felt his heart turn over as he saw the abyss at his +feet. How would she have known? How _could_ she have known? What would +he have done if he had really had a wife waiting at Spa? These questions +flashed through his head like lightning. + +"Why, I telegraphed her, of course," he said; "and to make assurance +doubly sure, I sent her a postcard." And then his heart fell again, for +he realized that the police had only to wire to Cologne to prove that no +such message had been filed there. + +But the officer tossed away his cigarette with a little gesture of +satisfaction. + +"It was well you took the latter precaution, Mr. Stewart," he said, and +Stewart detected a subtle change in his tone--it was less cold, more +friendly. "The wires were closed last night to any but official +business, and your message could not possibly have got through. I am +surprised that it was accepted." + +"I gave it to the porter at the hotel," Stewart explained. "Perhaps it +wasn't accepted, and he just kept the money." + +"That may be. But your postcard got through, as you no doubt know. It +evidently caught the night mail and was delivered to Madame this +morning." + +"Really," stammered Stewart, wondering desperately if this was another +trap, "I didn't know--I didn't think to ask----" + +"Luckily Madame brought it with her in her hand-bag," explained the +other. "It offers a convincing confirmation of your story--the more +convincing perhaps since you seem surprised that she preserved it. Ah, +here she is now," and he arose as the door opened and the girl came in. +"Will you not sit down, madame?" he went on, courteously. "I pray that +both of you will accept my sincere apologies for the inconvenience I +have caused you. Believe me, it was one of war's necessities." + +The girl glanced at the speaker curiously, his tone was so warm, so full +of friendship; then she glanced at Stewart---- + +And Stewart, catching that glance, was suddenly conscious that his mouth +was open and his eyes staring and his whole attitude that of a man +struck dumb by astonishment. Hastily he bent over to re-tie a +shoestring. But really, he told himself, he could not be blamed for +being disconcerted--anybody would be disconcerted to be told suddenly +that his most desperate lie was true! But how could it be true? How +could there be any such postcard as the German had described? Was it +just another trap? + +"We understand, of course, that you were merely doing your duty," the +girl's voice was saying; "what seemed unfair was that we should be the +victims. Do I understand that--that you no longer suspect us?" + +"Absolutely not; and I apologize for my suspicions." + +"Then we are at liberty to proceed?" + +"You cannot in any event proceed to-night. I will pass you in the +morning. And I hope you will not think that any discourtesy was intended +to you as Americans. Germany is most anxious to retain the good-will of +America. It will mean much to us in this struggle." + +"Most Americans are rather sentimental over Alsace-Lorraine," said +Stewart, who had recovered his composure, and he fished for a cigar and +offered one to the officer, who accepted it with a bow of thanks. + +"That is because they do not understand," said the other, quickly. +"Alsace and Lorraine belong of right to Germany. Of that there can be no +question." + +"But haven't you been rather harsh with them?" + +"We have not been harsh enough. Had we done our duty, we would have +stamped out without mercy the treason which is still rampant in many +parts of those provinces. Instead, we have hesitated, we have +temporized--and now, too late, we realize our mistake. The spy for whom +we are searching at this moment comes from Strassburg." + +Stewart started at the words; but the girl threw back her head and burst +into delighted laughter. + +"So you took us for spies!" she cried. "What a tale to tell, Tommy, when +we get home!" + +"There is but one spy, madame," said the officer; "a woman young and +beautiful like yourself--accomplished, distinguished, a great linguist, +a fine musician, of good family, and moving in the highest society in +Alsace. She was on terms of intimacy with many of our officers; they did +not hesitate to talk freely to her. Some of them, fascinated by her wit +and beauty and wishing to prove their own importance, told her things +which they had no right to tell. More than that, at the last moment she +succeeded in getting possession for a time of certain confidential +documents. But she had gone too far--she was suspected--she fled--and +she has not yet been captured. But she cannot escape--we cannot permit +her to escape. We know that she is still somewhere in Germany, and we +have made it impossible for her to pass the frontier. A person who knows +her is to be stationed at every post, and no woman will be permitted to +pass until he has seen her. The man to be stationed here will arrive +from Strassburg in an hour. As a final precaution, madame," he added, +smiling, "and because my orders are most precise and stringent, I shall +ask you and your husband to remain here at Herbesthal until morning. As +I have said, you could not, in any event, go on to-night, for the +frontier is closed. In the morning, I will ask my man from Strassburg to +look at you, and will then provide you with a safe-conduct, and see that +every possible facility is given you to get safely across the frontier." + +"Thank you," she said; "you are most kind. That is why you are keeping +all those people shut up in the station?" + +"Yes, madame. They cannot pass until my man has seen them." + +"But you are not searching them?" + +"No; with most of them, the detention is a mere matter of obeying +orders--one can tell their nationality at a glance. But to look at you, +madame, I should never have supposed you to be an American--I should +have supposed you to be French." + +"My grandmother was French," explained the girl, composedly, "and I am +said to resemble her very closely. I must also warn you that my +sympathies are French." + +The officer shrugged his shoulders with a smile. + +"That is a great misfortune. Perhaps when you see how our army fights, +we may claim some of your sympathy--or, at least, your admiration." + +"It will fight well, then?" + +"It will fight so well--it will prove so irresistible--that our General +Staff has been able to prepare in advance the schedule for the entire +campaign. This is the first of August. On the fifth we shall capture +Lille, on the ninth we shall cross the Marne, and on the eleventh we +shall enter Paris. On the evening of the twelfth, the Emperor will dine +the General Staff at the Ritz." + +Stewart stared in astonishment, not knowing whether to laugh or to be +impressed. But there was no shadow of a smile on the bearded face of the +speaker. + +"You are not in earnest!" Stewart protested. + +"Thoroughly in earnest. We know where we shall be at every hour of every +day. There are at present living in France many Germans who are +reservists in our army. Not one of these has been required to return to +Germany. On the contrary, each of them has been instructed to report at +a point near his place of residence at a certain hour of a certain day, +where he will find his regiment awaiting him. For example, all German +reservists living at Lille, or in the neighborhood, will report at noon +of Wednesday next in the Place de la Republique in front of the +prefecture, where the German administration will have been installed +during the morning." + +Stewart opened his lips to say something, but no words came. He felt +intimidated and overborne. + +But it was not at Stewart the officer was looking so triumphantly, it +was at the girl. Perhaps he also, yielding to a subtle fascination, was +telling things he had no right to tell in order to prove his importance! + +The girl returned his gaze with a look of astonishment and admiration. + +"How wonderful!" she breathed. "And it is really true?" + +"True in every detail, madame." + +"But this Lille of which you have spoken--is it a fortress?" + +"A great fortress, madame." + +"Will it not resist?" + +"Not for long--perhaps not at all. If it does resist, it will fall like +a house of cards. The whole world will be astonished, madame, when it +learns the details of that action. We have a great surprise in store for +our enemies!" + +Stewart, glancing at his companion, noted with alarm the flash of +excitement in her eyes. Would she push her questioning too far--would +she be indiscreet; but the next instant he was reassured. + +"It is most fascinating,--this puzzle!" she laughed. "I shall watch the +papers for the fall of Lille. But I am very ignorant--I do not even know +where Lille is." + +"It is in the northwest corner of France, madame, just south of the +Belgian frontier." + +The girl looked at him perplexedly. + +"But how can you reach it," she asked, slowly, "without crossing +Belgium?" + +"We cannot reach it without crossing Belgium." + +From the expression of her face, she might have been a child shyly +interrogating an indulgent senior. + +"I know I am stupid," she faltered, "but it seems to me I have read +somewhere--perhaps in Baedeker--that all the Powers had agreed that +Belgium should always be a neutral country." + +"So they did--Germany as well as the others. But such agreements are +mere scraps of paper. The first blast of war blows them away. France has +built along her eastern border a great chain of forts which are almost +impregnable. Therefore it is necessary for us to strike her from the +north through Belgium. Regretfully, but none the less firmly, we have +warned Belgium to stand aside." + +"Will she stand aside?" + +The officer shrugged his shoulders. + +"She must, or risk annihilation. She will not dare oppose us. If she +does, we shall crush her into the dust. She will belong to us, and we +will take her. Moreover, we shall not repeat the mistake we made in +Alsace-Lorraine. There will be no treason in Belgium!" + +Stewart felt a little shiver of disgust sweep over him. So this was the +German attitude--treaties, solemn agreements, these were merely "scraps +of paper" not worth a second thought; a small nation had no rights worth +considering, since it lacked the power to defend them. Should it try to +do so, it would "risk annihilation!" + +He did not feel that he could trust himself to talk any longer, and rose +suddenly to his feet. + +"What are we going to do to-night?" he asked. "Not sit here in this +shed, surely!" + +"Certainly not," and the officer rose too. "I have secured a lodging for +you with the woman who searched Madame. You will find it clean and +comfortable, though by no means luxurious." + +"That is very kind of you," said Stewart, with a memory of the rabble he +had seen crowded into the waiting-room. And then he looked at his +luggage. "I hope it isn't far," he added. "I've carried those bags about +a thousand miles to-day." + +"It is but a step--but I will have a man carry your bags. Here is your +passport, sir, and again permit me to assure you of my regret. You also, +madame!" and he bowed ceremoniously above her fingers. + +Three minutes later, Stewart and his companion were walking down the +platform beside the pleasant-faced woman, who babbled away amiably in +German, while a porter followed with the bags. As they passed the +station, they could see that it was still jammed with a motley crowd, +while a guard of soldiers thrown around it prevented anyone leaving or +entering. + +"How fortunate that we have escaped that!" said Stewart. "Even at the +price of being searched!" + +"This way, sir," said the woman, in German, and motioned off into the +darkness to the right. + +They made their way across a net-work of tracks, which seemed to Stewart +strangely complicated and extensive for a small frontier station, and +then emerged into a narrow, crooked street, bordered by mean little +houses. In front of one of these the woman stopped and unlocked the door +with an enormous key. The porter set the bags inside, received his tip, +and withdrew, while their hostess struck a match and lighted a candle, +disclosing a narrow hall running from the front door back through the +house. + +"You will sleep here, sir," she said, and opened a door to the left. + +They stepped through, in obedience to her gesture, and found themselves +in a fair-sized room, poorly furnished and a little musty from disuse, +but evidently clean. Their hostess hastened to open the window and to +light another candle. Then she brought in Stewart's bags. + +"You will find water there," and she pointed to the pitcher on the +wash-stand. "I cannot give you hot water to-night--there is no fire. +Will these towels be sufficient? Yes? Is there anything else? No? Then +good-night, sir, and you also, my lady." + +"Good-night," they answered; and for a moment after the door closed, +stood staring at it as though hypnotized. + +Then the girl stepped to the window and pulled together the curtains of +white cotton. As she turned back into the room, Stewart saw that her +face was livid. + +His eyes asked the question which he did not dare speak aloud. + +She drew him back into the corner and put her lips close against his +ear. + +"There is a guard outside," she whispered. "We must be very careful. We +are prisoners still." + +As Stewart stood staring, she took off her hat and tossed it on a chair. + +"How tired I am!" she said, yawning heavily, and turning back to the +window, she began to take down her hair. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +PRESTO! CHANGE! + + +The vision of that dark hair rippling down as she drew out pin after pin +held Stewart entranced. And the curve of her uplifted arms was also a +thing to be remembered! But what was it she proposed to do? Surely---- + +"If you are going to wash, you would better do it, Tommy," she said, +calmly. "I shall be wanting to in a minute." + +Mechanically, Stewart slipped out of his coat, undid his tie, took off +his collar, pulled up his sleeves, and fell to. He was obsessed by a +feeling of unreality which even the cold water did not dissipate. It +couldn't be true--all this---- + +"I wish you would hurry, Tommy," said a voice behind him. "I am waiting +for you to unhook my bodice." + +Stewart started round as though stung by an adder. His companion's hair +fell in beautiful dark waves about her shoulders, and he could see that +her bodice was loosened. + +"There are two hooks I cannot reach," she explained, in the most +matter-of-fact tone. "I should think you would know that by this time!" + +"Oh, so it's _that_ bodice!" said Stewart, and dried his hands +vigorously, resolved to play the game to the end, whatever it might be. +"All right," and as she turned her back toward him, he began gingerly +searching for the hooks. + +"Come a little this way," she said; "you can see better," and, glancing +up, Stewart suddenly understood. + +They were standing so that their shadows fell upon the curtain. The +comedy was being played for the benefit of the guard in the street +outside. + +The discovery that it _was_ a comedy gave him back all his aplomb, and +he found the hooks and disengaged them with a dexterity which no real +husband could have improved upon. + +"There," he said; "though why any woman should wear a gown so fashioned +that she can neither dress nor undress herself passes my comprehension. +Why not put the hooks in front?" + +"And spoil the effect? Impossible! The hooks must be in the back," and +still standing before the window, she slowly drew her bodice off. + +Stewart had seen the arms of many women, but never a pair so rounded and +graceful and beautiful as those at this moment disclosed to him. +Admirable too was the way in which the head was set upon the lovely +neck, and the way the neck itself merged into the shoulders--the +masterpiece of a great artist, so he told himself. + +"I wonder if there is a shutter to that window?" she asked, suddenly, +starting round toward it. "If there is, you would better close it. +Somebody might pass--besides, I do not care to sleep on the ground-floor +of a strange house in a strange town, with an open window overlooking +the street!" + +"I'll see," said Stewart, and pulling back the curtains, stuck out his +head. "Yes--there's a shutter--a heavy wooden one." He pulled it shut +and pushed its bolt into place. "There; now you're safe!" + +She motioned him quickly to lower the window, and this he did as +noiselessly as possible. + +"Was there anyone outside?" she asked, in a low tone. + +He shook his head. The narrow street upon which the window opened had +seemed quite deserted--but the shadows were very deep. + +"I wish you would open the bags," she said, in her natural voice. "I +shall have to improvise a night-dress of some sort." + +Although he knew quite well that the words had been uttered for foreign +consumption, as it were, Stewart found that his fingers were trembling +as he undid the straps and threw back the lids, for he was quite unable +to guess what would be the end of this strange adventure or to what +desperate straits they might be driven by the pressure of circumstance. + +"There you are," he said, and sat down and watched her. + +She knelt on the floor beside the bags and turned over their contents +thoughtfully, laying to one side a soft outing shirt, a traveling cap, a +lounging coat, a pipe and pouch of tobacco, a handful of cigars, a pair +of trousers, a belt, three handkerchiefs, a pair of scissors. She paused +for a long time over a pair of Stewart's shoes, but finally put them +back with a shake of the head. + +"No," said Stewart, "I agree with you. Shoes are not necessary to a +sleeping costume. But then neither is a pipe." + +She laughed. + +"You will find that the pipe is very necessary," she said, and rising +briskly, stepped to the wash-stand and gave face and hands and arms a +scrubbing so vigorous that she emerged, as it seemed to Stewart, more +radiant than ever. Then she glanced into the pitcher with an exclamation +of dismay. "There! I have used all the water! I wonder if our landlady +has gone to bed?" + +Catching up the pitcher, she crossed rapidly to the door and opened it. +There was no one there, and Stewart, following with the candle, saw that +the hall was empty. They stood for a moment listening, but not a sound +disturbed the stillness of the house. + +The girl motioned him back into the room and closed the door softly. +Then, replacing the pitcher gently, she caught up a pile of Stewart's +socks and stuffed them tightly under the door. Finally she set a chair +snugly against it--for there was no lock--and turned to Stewart with a +little sigh of relief. + +"There," she said in a low tone; "no one can see our light nor overhear +us, if we are careful. Perhaps they really do not suspect us--but we +must take no chances. What hour have you?" + +Stewart glanced at his watch. + +"It is almost midnight." + +"There is no time to lose. We must make our plans. Sit here beside me," +and she sat down in one corner against the wall. "We must not waste our +candle," she added. "Bring it with you, and we will blow it out until we +need it again." + +Stewart sat down beside her, placed the candle on the floor and leaned +forward and blew it out. + +For a moment they sat so, quite still, then Stewart felt a hand touch +his. He seized it and held it close. + +"I am very unhappy, my friend," she said, softly, "to have involved you +in all this." + +"Why, I am having the time of my life!" Stewart protested. + +"If I had foreseen what was to happen," she went on, "I should never +have asked you to assist me. I would have found some other way." + +"The deuce you would! Then I'm glad you didn't foresee it." + +"It is good of you to say so; but you must not involve yourself +further." + +"What do you mean by that?" + +"I am in great danger. It is absolutely necessary that I escape. I +cannot remain till morning. I cannot face that inspection. I should be +denounced." + +"Yes," agreed Stewart; "that's clear enough." + +"Well, I will escape alone. When the police come for us, they will find +only you." + +"And will probably back me against a wall and shoot me out of hand." + +"Oh, no; they will be rough and angry, but they will not dare to harm +you. They know that you are an American--they cannot possibly suspect +you of being a spy. You can prove the truth of all your statements." + +"Not quite all," Stewart corrected. + +"Of your statements, at least, so far as they concern yourself." + +"Yes--but I will have considerable difficulty explaining my connection +with you." + +"Oh, no," said the girl, in a low voice; "that can be easily explained." + +"How?" + +"You will say," she answered, her voice lower still, "that you met me at +the Koelner Hof, that I made advances, that you found me attractive, and +that I readily agreed to accompany you to Paris. You can say that it was +I who suggested altering your passport--that you saw no harm in it--and +that you knew absolutely nothing about me except that I was a--a loose +woman." + +Stewart's lips were trembling so that it was a moment before he could +control his voice. + +"And do you really think I would say that, little comrade?" he asked, +hoarsely. "Do you really think anything on earth could compel me to say +that!" + +He heard the quick intake of her breath; then she raised his hand to her +cheek and he felt the hot tears upon it. + +"Don't you understand," he went on earnestly, "that we are in this +together to the end--the very end? I know I'm not of much use, but I am +not such a coward as you seem to think me, and----" + +She stopped him with a quick pressure of the fingers. + +"Don't!" she breathed. "You are cruel!" + +"Not half so cruel as you were a moment ago," he retorted. + +"Forgive me, my friend," she pleaded, and moved a little nearer. "I did +not know--I am but a girl--I thought perhaps you would wish to be rid of +me." + +"I don't want ever to be rid of you," began Stewart, brokenly, drawing +her closer. "I don't want ever----" + +She yielded for an instant to his arm; for the fraction of an instant +her head was upon his breast; then she drew herself away, and silenced +him with a tap upon the lips. + +"Not now!" she said, and her voice, too, was hoarse. "All we must think +of now is to escape. Afterwards, perhaps----" + +"I shall hold you to that!" said Stewart, and released her. + +But again for an instant she bent close. + +"You are a good man!" she whispered. + +"Oh, no!" Stewart protested, though he was shaken by the words. "No +better than the average!" + +And then he suddenly found himself unable to go on, and there was a +moment's silence. When he spoke again, he had regained his self-control. + +"Have you a plan?" he asked. + +"Yes," she said, and drew a quick breath, as of one shaking away some +weakness. "The first part is that you should sit quite still until I +tell you to light the candle." + +"But what----" + +"A good soldier does not ask questions." + +"All right, general," said Stewart, and settled back against the wall, +completely, ineffably happy. Never before, he told himself, had he known +what happiness was; never before had the mere joy of living surged +through his veins as it was doing now. Little comrade! But what was she +doing? + +He could hear her moving softly about the room; he could hear the rustle +of what he took to be the bed-clothes; then the bed creaked as she sat +down upon it. What was she doing? Why should she work in the dark, +alone, without asking him to help? Was it because he could not help--was +of so little use---- + +"You may light the candle now, my friend," she said, in a low voice. + +Stewart had a match ready--had had it ready for long minutes!--and in a +trice the wick was alight and the flame shot up clear and steady. + +After one glance, he sprang in amazement to his feet, for there before +him stood a youth--the handsomest he had ever seen--Peter Pan come to +earth again!--his hand at the visor of his traveling-cap in mock salute. + +"Well!" said Stewart, after a moment of amazed and delighted silence. "I +believe you are a witch! Let me look at you!" and he caught up the +candle and held it above his head. + +The face upturned to his flamed crimson at the wonder and admiration in +his eyes, but the dimple was sparkling at the corner of her mouth as she +turned obediently before him and stepped slowly across the room. There +is at the heart of every woman, however virginal and innocent, a subtle +delight in knowing that men find her beautiful, and there could be no +question of what Stewart thought at this moment. + +At last she came to a stop facing him. + +"Well?" she asked. "Will I do?" + +"Will you do?" Stewart echoed, and Meredith's phrase recurred to +him--"an imp in porcelain"--how perfectly it described her! "You are +entirely, absolutely, impeccably--oh, I haven't adjectives enough! Only +I wish I had a hundred candles instead of one!" + +"But the clothes," she said, and looked doubtfully down at them. "Do I +look like a boy?" + +"Not in the least!" he answered, promptly. + +Her face fell. + +"But then----" + +"Perhaps it is just because I know you're not one," he reassured her. +"Let me see if I can improve matters. The trousers are too large, +especially about the waist. They seem in danger of--hum!" and indeed she +was clutching them desperately with one hand. "We will make another hole +in that belt about three inches back," and he got out his knife and +suited the action to the word. "There--that's better--you can let go of +them now! And we'll turn up the legs about four inches--no, we'd better +cut them off." He set the candle on the floor, picked up the scissors, +and carefully trimmed each leg. "But those feet are ridiculous," he +added, severely. "No real boy ever had feet like that!" + +She stared down at them ruefully. + +"They will seem larger when I get them full of mud," she pointed out. "I +thought of putting on a pair of your shoes, but gave it up, for I am +afraid I could not travel very far in them. Fortunately these are very +strong!" + +He sniffed skeptically, but had to agree with her that his shoes were +impossible. + +"There is one thing more," and she lifted her cap and let her tucked-up +hair fall about her shoulders. "This must be cut off." + +"Oh, no," protested Stewart, drawing back in horror. "That would be +desecration--why, it's the most beautiful hair in the world!" + +"Nonsense! In any case, it will grow again." + +"Why not just tie it up under your cap?" + +But she shook her head. + +"No--it must come off. I might lose the cap--you see it is too +large--and my hair would betray us. Cut it off, my friend--be quick." + +She was right, of course, and Stewart, with a heavy heart, snipped away +the long tresses. Then he trimmed the hair as well as he was able--which +was very badly indeed. Finally he parted it rakishly on one side--and +only by a supreme effort restrained himself from taking her in his arms +and kissing her. + +"Really," he said, "you're so ridiculously lovely that I'm in great +danger of violating our treaty. I warn you it is extremely dangerous to +look at me like that!" + +She lowered her eyes instantly, but she could not restrain the dimple. +Luckily, in the shadow, Stewart did not see it. + +"We must make my clothing into a bundle," she said, sedately. "I may +need it again. Besides, these people must not suspect that I have gone +away disguised like this. That will give us a great advantage. Yes, +gather up the hair and we will take it too--it would betray us. Put the +cigars in your pocket. I will take the pipe and tobacco." + +"Do you expect to smoke? I warn you that that pipe is a seasoned one!" + +"I may risk a puff or two. I have been told there is no passport like a +pipe of tobacco. No--do not shut the bags. Leave them open as though we +had fled hurriedly. And," she added, crimsoning a little, "I think it +would be well to disarrange the bed." + +Stewart flung back the covers and rolled upon it, while his companion +cast a last look about the room. Then she picked up her little bag and +took out the purse and the two letters. + +"Which pocket of a man's clothes is safest?" she asked. + +"The inside coat pocket. There are two inside pockets in the coat you +have on. One of them has a flap which buttons down. Nothing could get +out of it." + +She took the coins from the purse, dropped them into the pocket, and +replaced the purse in the bag. Then she started to place the letters in +the pocket, but hesitated, looking at him searchingly, her lips +compressed. + +"My friend," she said, coming suddenly close to him and speaking in the +merest breath, "I am going to trust you with a great secret. The +information I carry is in these letters--apparently so innocent. If +anything should happen to me----" + +"Nothing is going to happen to you," broke in Stewart, roughly. "That is +what I am for!" + +"I know--and yet something may. If anything should, promise me that you +will take these letters from my pocket, and by every means in your +power, seek to place them in the hands of General Joffre." + +"General Joffre?" repeated Stewart. "Who is he?" + +"He is the French commander-in-chief." + +"But what chance would I have of reaching him? I should merely be +laughed at if I asked to see him!" + +"Not if you asked in the right way," and again she hesitated. Then she +pressed still closer. "Listen--I have no right to tell you what I am +about to tell you, and yet I must. Do you remember at Aix, I looked at +you like this?" and she caught her lower lip for an instant between the +thumb and little finger of her left hand. + +"Yes, I remember; and you burst into tears immediately afterward." + +"That was because you did not understand. If, in answer, you had passed +your left hand across your eyes, I should have said, in French, 'Have we +not met before?' and if you had replied, 'In Berlin, on the +twenty-second,' I should have known that you were one of ours. Those +passwords will take you to General Joffre himself." + +"Let us repeat them," Stewart suggested. In a moment he knew them +thoroughly. "And _that's_ all right!" he said. + +"You consent, then?" she asked, eagerly. + +"To assist you in every way possible--yes." + +"To leave me, if I am not able to go on; to take the letters and press +on alone," she insisted, her eyes shining. "Promise me, my friend!" + +"I shall have to be governed by circumstances," said Stewart, +cautiously. "If that seems the best thing to do--why, I'll do it, of +course. But I warn you that this enterprise would soon go to pieces if +it had no better wits than mine back of it. Why, in the few minutes they +were searching you back there at the station, I walked straight into a +trap--and with my eyes wide open, too--at the very moment when I was +proudly thinking what a clever fellow I was!" + +"What was the trap?" she asked, quickly. + +"I was talking to that officer, and babbled out the story of how I came +to go to the Koelner Hof, and he seemed surprised that a member of the +police should have recommended it--which seems strange to me, too," he +added, "now that I think of it. Then he asked me suddenly how you knew I +was there." + +"Yes, yes; and what did you say?" + +"I didn't say anything for a minute--I felt as though I were falling out +of a airship. But after I had fallen about a mile, I managed to say that +I had sent you a telegram and also a postcard." + +"How lucky!" breathed the girl. "How shrewd of you!" + +"Shrewd? Was it? But that shock was nothing to the jolt I got the next +minute when he told me that you had brought the postcard along in your +bag! It was a good thing you came in just then, or he would have seen by +the way I sat there gaping at him that the whole story was a lie!" + +"I should have told you of the postcard," she said, with a gesture of +annoyance. "It is often just some such tiny oversight which wrecks a +whole plan. One tries to foresee everything--to provide for +everything--and then some little, little detail goes wrong, and the +whole structure comes tumbling down. It was chance that saved us--but in +affairs of this sort, nothing must be left to chance! If we had failed, +it would have been my fault!" + +"But how could there have been a postcard?" demanded Stewart. "I should +like to see it." + +Smiling, yet with a certain look of anxiety, she stepped to her bag, +took out the postcard, and handed it to him. On one side was a picture +of the cathedral at Cologne; on the other, the address and the message: + + Cologne, July 31, 1914. + + Dear Mary-- + + Do not forget that it is to-morrow, Saturday, you are to meet + me at Aix-la-Chapelle, from where we will go on to Brussels + together, as we have planned. If I should fail to meet you at + the train, you will find me at a hotel called the Koelner Hof, + not far from the station. + + With much love, + + BRADFORD STEWART. + +Stewart read this remarkable message with astonished eyes, then, holding +the card close to the candle, he stared at it in bewilderment. + +"But it is my handwriting!" he protested. "At least, a fairly good +imitation of it--and the signature is mine to a dot." + +"Your signature was all the writer had," she explained. "Your +handwriting had to be inferred from that." + +"Where did you get my signature? Oh, from the blank I filled up at Aix, +I suppose. But no," and he looked at the card again, "the postmark shows +that it was mailed at Cologne last night." + +"The postmark is a fabrication." + +"Then it was from the blank at Aix?" + +"No," she said, and hesitated, an anxiety in her face he did not +understand. + +"Then where _did_ you get it?" he persisted "Why shouldn't you tell me?" + +"I will tell you," she answered, but her voice was almost inaudible. "It +is right that you should know. You gave the signature to the man who +examined your passport on the terrace of the Hotel Continental at +Cologne, and who recommended you to the Koelner Hof. He also was one of +ours." + +Stewart was looking at her steadily. + +"Then in that case," he said, and his face was gray and stern, "it was +I, and no one else, you expected to meet at the Koelner Hof." + +"Yes," she answered with trembling lips, but meeting his gaze +unwaveringly. + +"And all that followed--the tears, the dismay--was make-believe?" + +"Yes. I cannot lie to you, my friend." + +Stewart passed an unsteady hand before his eyes. It seemed that +something had suddenly burst within him--some dream, some vision---- + +"So I was deliberately used," he began, hoarsely; but she stopped him, +her hand upon his arm. + +"Do not speak in that tone," she pleaded, her face wrung with anguish. +"Do not look at me like that--I did not know--I had never seen you--it +was not my plan. We were face to face with failure--we were +desperate--there seemed no other way." She stopped, shuddering slightly, +and drew away from him. "At least, you will say good-by," she said, +softly. + +Dazedly Stewart looked at her--at her eyes dark with sadness, at her +face suddenly so white---- + +She was standing near the window, her hand upon the curtain. + +"Good-by, my friend," she repeated. "You have been very good to me!" + +For an instant longer, Stewart stood staring--then he sprang at her, +seized her---- + +"Do you mean that you are going to leave me?" he demanded, roughly. + +"Surely that is what you wish!" + +"What I wish? No, no! What do I care--what does it matter!" The words +were pouring incoherently from his trembling lips. "I understand--you +were desperate--you didn't know me; even if you had, it would make no +difference. Don't you understand--nothing can make any difference now!" + +She shivered a little; then she drew away, looking at him. + +"You mean," she stammered; "you mean that you still--that you still----" + +"Little comrade!" he said, and held out his arms. + +She lifted her eyes to his--wavered toward him---- + +"Halt!" cried a voice outside the window, and an instant later there +came a heavy hammering on the street door. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE FRONTIER + + +The knocking seemed to shake the house, so violent it was, so insistent; +and Stewart, petrified, stood staring numbly. But his companion was +quicker than he. In an instant she had run to the light and blown it +out. Then she was back at his side. + +"The moment they are in the house," she said, "raise the window as +silently as you can and unbolt the shutter." + +And then she was gone again, and he could hear her moving about near the +door. + +Again the knocking came, louder than before. It could mean only one +thing, Stewart told himself--their ruse had been discovered--a party of +soldiers had come to arrest them---- + +He drew a quick breath. What then? He closed his eyes dizzily--what had +she said? "A file of soldiers in front, a wall behind!" But that should +never be! They must kill him first! And then he sickened as he realized +how puny he was, how utterly powerless to protect her---- + +He heard shuffling footsteps approach along the hall, and a glimmer of +light showed beneath the door. For an instant Stewart stared at it +uncomprehending--then he smiled to himself. The girl, quicker witted +than he, had pulled away the things that had been stuffed there. + +"Who is it?" called the voice of their landlady. + +"It is I, Frau Ritter," answered the voice of the police agent. "Open +quickly." + +A key rattled in a lock, the door was opened, and the party stepped +inside. + +Stewart, at the window, raised the sash and pulled back the bolt. He +could hear the confused murmur of voices--men's voices---- + +Then he felt a warm hand in his and lips at his ear. + +"It is the person from Strassburg," she breathed. "He has been brought +here for the night. There is no danger. Bolt the shutter again--but +softly." + +She was gone again, and Stewart, with a deep breath that was almost a +sob, thrust home the bolt. The voices were clearer now--or perhaps it +was the singing of his blood that was stilled--and he could hear their +words. + +"You will give this gentleman a room," said the secret agent. + +"Yes, Excellency." + +"How are your other guests?" + +"I have heard nothing from them, Excellency, since they retired." + +Suddenly Stewart felt his hat lifted from his head and a hand rumpling +his hair. + +"Take off your coat," whispered a voice. "Open the door a little and +demand less noise. Say that I am asleep!" + +It was a call to battle, and Stewart felt his nerves stiffen. Without a +word he threw off his coat and tore off his collar. Then he moved away +the chair from before the door, opened it, and put one eye to the crack. +There were five people in the hall--the woman, the secret agent, two +soldiers, and a man in civilian attire. + +"What the deuce is the matter out there?" he demanded. + +It did his heart good to see how they jumped at the sound of his voice. + +"Your pardon, sir," said the officer, stepping toward him. "I hope we +have not disturbed you." + +"Disturbed me? Why, I thought you were knocking the house down!" + +"Frau Ritter is a heavy sleeper," the other explained with a smile. "You +will present my apologies to Madame." + +"My wife is so weary that even this has not awakened her, but I +hope----" + +"What is it, Tommy?" asked a sleepy voice from the darkness behind him. +"To whom are you talking out there?" + +"Your pardon, madame," said the officer, raising his voice, and +doubtless finding a certain piquancy in the situation. "You shall not be +disturbed again--I promise it," and he signed for his men to withdraw. +"Good-night, sir." + +"Good-night!" answered Stewart, and shut the door. + +He was so shaken with mirth that he scarcely heard the outer door close. +Then he staggered to the bed and collapsed upon it. + +"Oh, little comrade!" he gasped. "Little comrade!" and he buried his +head in the clothes to choke back the hysterical shouts of laughter +which rose in his throat. + +"Hush! Hush!" she warned him, her hand on his shoulder. "Get your coat +and hat. Be quick!" + +The search for those articles of attire sobered him. He had never before +realized how large a small room may become in the dark! His coat he +found in one corner; his hat miles away in another. His collar and tie +seemed to have disappeared utterly, and he was about to abandon them to +their fate, when his hand came into contact with them under the bed. He +felt utterly exhausted, and sat on the floor panting for breath. Then +somebody stumbled against him. + +"Where have you been?" her voice demanded impatiently. "What have you +been doing?" + +"I have been around the world," said Stewart. "And I explored it +thoroughly." + +Her hand found his shoulder and shook it violently. + +"Is this a time for jesting? Come!" + +Stewart got heavily to his feet. + +"Really," he protested, "I wasn't jesting----" + +"Hush!" she cautioned, and suddenly Stewart saw her silhouetted against +the window and knew that it was open. Then he saw her peer cautiously +out, swing one leg over the sill, and let herself down outside. + +"Careful!" she whispered. + +In a moment he was standing beside her in the narrow street. She caught +his hand and led him away close in the shadow of the wall. + +The night air and the movement revived him somewhat, and by a desperate +effort of will he managed to walk without stumbling; but he was still +deadly tired. He knew that he was suffering from the reaction from the +manifold adventures and excitements of the day, more especially the +reaction from despair to hope of the last half hour, and he tried his +best to shake it off, marveling at the endurance of this slender girl, +who had borne so much more than he. + +She went straight on along the narrow street, close in the shadow of the +houses, pausing now and then to listen to some distant sound, and once +hastily drawing him deep into the shadow of a doorway as a patrol passed +along a cross-street. + +Then the houses came to an end, and Stewart saw that they were upon a +white road running straight away between level fields. Overhead the +bright stars shone as calmly and peacefully as though there were no such +thing as war in the whole universe, and looking up at them, Stewart felt +himself tranquilized and strengthened. + +"Now what?" he asked. "I warn you that I shall go to sleep on my feet +before long!" + +"We must not stop until we are across the frontier. It cannot be farther +than half a mile." + +Half a mile seemed an eternity to Stewart at that moment; besides, which +way should they go? He gave voice to the question, after a helpless look +around, for he had completely lost his bearings. + +"Yonder is the Great Bear," said the girl, looking up to where that +beautiful constellation stretched brilliantly across the sky. "What is +your word for it--the Ladle, is it not?" + +"The Dipper," Stewart corrected, reflecting that this was the first time +she had been at loss for a word. + +"Yes--the Dipper. It will help us to find our way. All I know of +astronomy is that a line drawn through the two stars of the bowl points +to the North Star. So that insignificant little star up yonder must be +the North Star. Now, what is the old formula--if one stands with one's +face to the north----" + +"Your right hand will be toward the east and your left toward the west," +prompted Stewart. + +"So the frontier is to our left. Come." + +She released his hand, leaped the ditch at the side of the road, and set +off westward across a rough field. Stewart stumbled heavily after her; +but presently his extreme exhaustion passed, and was followed by a sort +of nervous exhilaration which enabled him easily to keep up with her. +They climbed a wall, struggled through a strip of woodland--Stewart had +never before realized how difficult it is to go through woods at +night!--passed close to a house where a barking dog sent panic terror +through them, and came at last to a road running westward, toward +Belgium and safety. Along this they hastened as rapidly as they could. + +"We must be past the frontier," said Stewart, half an hour later. "We +have come at least two miles." + +"Let us be sure," gasped the girl. "Let us take no chance!" and she +pressed on. + +Stewart reflected uneasily that they had encountered no outposts, and +surely there would be outposts at the frontier to maintain its +neutrality and intercept stragglers; but perhaps that would be only on +the main-traveled roads; or perhaps the outposts were not yet in place; +or perhaps they might run into one at any moment. He looked forward +apprehensively, but the road lay white and empty under the stars. + +Suddenly the girl stumbled and nearly fell. His arm was about her in an +instant. He could feel how her body drooped against him in utter +weariness. She had reached the end of her strength. + +"Come," he said; "we must rest," and he led her unresisting to the side +of the road. + +They sat down close together with their backs against the wall, and her +head for an instant fell upon his shoulder. By a supreme effort, she +roused herself. + +"We cannot stay here!" she protested. + +"No," Stewart agreed. "Do you think you can climb this wall? We may find +cover on the other side." + +"Of course I can," and she tried to rise, but Stewart had to assist her. +"I do not know what is the matter," she panted, as she clung to him. "I +can scarcely stand!" + +"It's the reaction," said Stewart. "It was bound to come, sooner or +later. I had my attack back there on the road. Now I am going to lift +you on top of the wall." + +She threw one leg over it and sat astride. + +"Oh, I have dropped the bundle," she said. + +"Have you been carrying it all this time?" Stewart demanded. + +"Why, of course. It weighs nothing." + +Stewart, groping angrily along the base of the wall, found it, tucked it +under his arm, scrambled over, and lifted her down. + +"Now, forward!" he said. + +At the second step, they were in a field of grain as high as their +waists. They could feel it brushing against them, twining about their +ankles; they could glimpse its yellow expanse stretching away into the +night. + +"Splendid!" cried Stewart. "There could be no better cover!" and he led +her forward into it. "Now," he added, at the end of five minutes, "stand +where you are till I get things ready for you," and with his knife he +cut down great handfuls of the grain and piled them upon the ground. +"There's your bed," he said, placing the bundle of clothing at one end +of it; "and there's your pillow." + +She sat down with a sigh of relief. + +"Oh, how heavenly!" + +"You can go to sleep without fear. No one can discover us here, unless +they stumble right over us. Good-night, little comrade." + +"But you?" + +"Oh, I am going to sleep, too. I'll make myself a bed just over here." + +"Good-night, my friend!" she said, softly, and Stewart, looking down at +her, catching the starry sheen of her uplifted eyes, felt a wild desire +to fling himself beside her, to take her in his arms---- + +Resolutely he turned away and piled his own bed at a little distance. It +would have been safer, perhaps, had they slept side by side; but there +was about her something delicate and virginal which kept him at a +distance--and yet held him too, bound him powerfully, led him captive. + +He was filled with the thought of her, as he lay gazing up into the +spangled heavens--her beauty, her fire, her indomitable youth, her +clear-eyed innocence which left him reverent and trembling. What was her +story? Where were her people that they should permit her to take such +desperate risks? Why had this great mission been confided to her--to a +girl, young, inexperienced? And yet, the choice had evidently been a +wise one. She had proved herself worthy of the trust. No one could have +been quicker-witted, more ready of resource. + +Well, the worst of it was over. They were safe out of Germany. It was +only a question now of reaching a farmhouse, of hiring a wagon, of +driving to the nearest station---- + +He stirred uneasily. That would mean good-by. But why should he go to +Brussels? Why not turn south with her to France? + +Sleep came to him as he was asking himself this question for the +twentieth time. + +It was full day when he awoke. He looked about for a full minute at the +yellow grain, heavy-headed and ready for the harvest, before he +remembered where he was. Then he rubbed his eyes and looked again--the +wheat-field, certainly--that was all right; but what was that insistent +murmur which filled his ears, which never ceased? He sat hastily erect +and started to his feet--then as hastily dropped to his knees again and +peered cautiously above the grain. + +Along the road, as far in either direction as the eye could see, passed +a mighty multitude, marching steadily westward. Stewart's heart beat +faster as he ran his eyes over that great host--thousands and tens of +thousands, clad in greenish-gray, each with his rifle and blanket-roll, +his full equipment complete to the smallest detail--the German army +setting forth to war! Oh, wonderful, astounding, stupendous!--a myriad +of men, moving as one man, obeying one man's bidding, marching out to +kill and to be killed. + +And marching willingly, even eagerly. The bright morning, the sense of +high adventure, the exhilaration of marching elbow to elbow with a +thousand comrades--yes, and love of country, the thought that they were +fighting for their Fatherland--all these uplifted the heart and made the +eye sparkle. Forgotten for the moment were poignant farewells, the tears +of women and of children. The round of daily duties, the quiet of the +fireside, the circle of familiar faces--all that had receded far into +the past. A new life had begun, a larger and more glorious life. They +felt that they were men going forward to men's work; they were drinking +deep of a cup brimming with the joy of supreme experience! + +There were jests and loud laughter; there were snatches of song; and +presently a thousand voices were shouting what sounded to Stewart like a +mighty hymn--shouting it in slow and solemn unison, marked by the tramp, +tramp of their feet. Not until he caught the refrain did he know what it +was--"_Deutschland, Deutschland, ueber alles!_"--the German battle-song, +fit expression of the firm conviction that the Fatherland was first, was +dearest, must be over all! And as he looked and listened, he felt his +own heart thrill responsively, and a new definition of patriotism +grouped itself in his mind. + +Then suddenly he remembered his companion, and, parting the wheat, he +crawled hastily through into the little amphitheater where he had made +her bed. She was still asleep, her head pillowed on the bundle of +clothing, one arm above her eyes, shielding them from the light. He sat +softly down beside her, his heart very tender. She had been so near +exhaustion; he must not awaken her---- + +A blare of bugles shrilled from the road, and from far off rose a roar +of cheering, sweeping nearer and nearer. + +The girl stirred, turned uneasily, opened her eyes, stared up at him for +a moment, and then sat hastily erect. + +"What is it?" she asked. + +"The German army is advancing." + +"Yes--but the cheering?" + +"I don't know." + +Side by side, they peered out above the grain. A heavy motor-car was +advancing rapidly from the east along the road, the troops drawing aside +to let it pass, and cheering--cheering, as though mad. + +Inside the car were three men, but the one who acknowledged the salutes +of the officers as he passed was a tall, slender young fellow in a long, +gray coat. His face was radiant, and he saluted and saluted, and once or +twice rose to his feet and pointed westward. + +"The Crown Prince!" said the girl, and watched in heavy silence until +the motor passed from sight and the host took up its steady march again. +"Ah, well, he at least has realized his ambition--to lead an army +against France!" + +"It seems to be a devoted army," Stewart remarked. "I never heard such +cheering." + +"It is a splendid army," and the girl swept her eyes back and forth over +the marching host. + +"France will have no easy task--but she is fighting for her life, and +she will win!" + +"I hope so," Stewart agreed; but his heart misgave him as he looked at +these marching men, sweeping on endlessly, irresistibly, in a torrent +which seemed powerful enough to engulf everything in its path. + +He had never before seen an army, even a small one, and this mighty host +unnerved and intimidated him. It was so full of vigor, so +self-confident, so evidently certain of victory! It was so sturdy, so +erect, so proud! There was about it an electric sense of power; it +almost strutted as it marched! + +"There is one thing certain," he said, at last, "and that is that our +adventures are not yet over. With our flight discovered, and Germans in +front of us and behind us and probably on either side of us, our +position is still decidedly awkward. I suppose their outposts are +somewhere ahead." + +"Yes, I suppose so," she agreed. "Along the Meuse, perhaps." + +"And I am most awfully hungry. Aren't you?" + +"Yes, I am." + +"I have heard that whole wheat makes a delicious breakfast dish," said +Stewart, who felt unaccountably down-hearted and was determined not to +show it. "Shall we try some?" + +She nodded, smiling, then turned back to watch the Germans, as though +fascinated by them. Stewart broke off a dozen heads of yellow grain, +rubbed them out between his hands, blew away the chaff, and poured the +fat kernels into her outstretched palm. Then he rubbed out a mouthful +for himself. + +"But that they should invade Belgium!" she said, half to herself. "Did +you hear what that man said last night--that a treaty was only a scrap +of paper--that if Belgium resisted, she would be crushed?" + +"Yes," nodded Stewart, "and it disgusted me!" + +"But of course France has expected it--she has prepared for it!" went on +the girl, perhaps to silence her own misgivings. "She will not be taken +by surprise!" + +"You don't think, then, that the Kaiser will dine in Paris on the +twelfth?" + +"Nonsense--that was only an empty boast!" + +"Well, I hope so," said Stewart. "And wherever he dines, I hope that he +has something more appetizing than whole wheat _au naturel_. I move we +look for a house and try to get some real food that we can put our teeth +into. Also something to drink." + +"Yes, we must be getting forward," she agreed. + +Together they peered out again above the grain. The massed column was +still passing, shimmering along the dusty road like a mighty green-gray +serpent. + +"Isn't there any end to these fellows?" Stewart asked. "We must have +seen about a million!" + +"Oh, no; this is but a single division--and there are at least a hundred +divisions in the German army! No doubt there is another division on each +of the roads leading into Belgium. We shall have to keep away from the +roads. Let us work our way back through the grain to that strip of +woodland. No," she added, as Stewart stooped to pick up the bundle of +clothing, "we must leave that. If we should happen to be stopped, it +would betray us. What are you doing?" + +Without replying, Stewart opened the bundle, thoughtfully selected a +strand of the beautiful hair inside it and placed the lock carefully in +a flapped compartment of his pocket-book. Then he re-tied the bundle and +threw over it some of the severed stalks. + +"It seems a shame to leave it," he said. "That is a beautiful gown--and +the hair! Think of those barbarians opening the bundle and finding that +lovely hair!" + +The girl, who had been watching him with brilliant eyes, laughed a +little and caught his hand. + +"How foolish! Come along! I think I shall let you keep that lock of +hair!" she added, thoughtfully. + +Stewart looked at her quickly and saw that the dimple was visible. + +"Thank you!" he said. "Of course I should have asked. Forgive me!" + +She gave him a flashing little smile, then, bending low, hurried forward +through the grain. Beyond the field lay a stretch of woodland, and +presently they heard the sound of running water, and came to a brook +flowing gently over a clean and rocky bed. + +With a cry of delight, the girl dropped to her knees beside it, bent far +over and drank deep; then threw off her coat, pushed her sleeves above +her elbows, and laved hands and face in the cool water. + +"How fortunate my hair is short!" she said, contemplating her +reflection. "Otherwise it would be a perfect tangle. I make a very nice +boy, do you not think so?" + +"An adorable boy!" agreed Stewart, heartily. + +She glanced up at him. + +"Thank you! But are you not going to wash?" + +"Not until you have finished. You are such a radiant beauty, that it +would be a sin to miss an instant of you. My clothes are even more +becoming to you than your own!" + +She glanced down over her slender figure, so fine, so delicately +rounded, then sprang quickly to her feet and snatched up the coat. + +"I will reconnoiter our position while you make your toilet," she said, +and slipped out of sight among the trees. + +Ten minutes later, Stewart found her seated on a little knoll at the +edge of the wood, looking out across the country. + +"There is a house over yonder," she said, nodding to where the corner of +a gable showed among the trees. "But it may be dangerous to approach +it." + +"We can't starve," he pointed out. "And we seem to be lucky. Suppose I +go on ahead?" + +"No; we will go together," and she sprang to her feet. + +The way led over a strip of rocky ground, used evidently as a pasture, +but there were no cattle grazing on it; then along a narrow lane between +low stone walls. Presently they reached the house, which seemed to be +the home of a small farmer, for it stood at the back of a yard with +stables and sheds grouped about it. The gate was open and there was no +sign of life within. Stewart started to enter, but suddenly stopped and +looked at his companion. + +"There is something wrong here," he said, almost in a whisper. "I feel +it." + +"So do I," said the girl, and stared about at the deserted space, +shivering slightly. Then she looked upward into the clear sky. "It was +as if a cloud had come between me and the sun," she added. + +"Perhaps it is just that everything seems so deserted," said Stewart, +and stepped through the gate. + +"No doubt the people fled when they saw the Germans," she suggested; "or +perhaps it was just a rumor that frightened them away." + +Stewart looked about him. It was not only people that were missing from +this farmyard, he told himself; there should have been pigs in the sty, +chickens scratching in the straw, pigeons on the roof, a cat on the +door-step. + +"We must have food," he said, and went forward resolutely to the door, +which stood ajar. + +There was something vaguely sinister in the position of the door, +half-open and half-closed, but after an instant's hesitation, he knocked +loudly. A minute passed, and another, and there was no response. Nerving +himself as though for a mighty effort, he pushed the door open and +looked into the room beyond. + +It was evidently the living-room and dining-room combined, and it was in +the wildest disorder. Chairs were overturned, a table was lying on its +side with one leg broken, dishes lay smashed upon the floor. + +Summoning all his resolution, Stewart stepped inside. What frightful +thing had happened here? From the chairs and the dishes, it looked as if +the family had been surprised at breakfast. But where was the family? +Who had surprised them? What had---- + +And then his heart leaped sickeningly as his eyes fell upon a huddled +figure lying in one corner, close against the wall. It was the body of a +woman, her clothing disordered, a long, gleaming bread-knife clutched +tightly in one hand; and as Stewart bent above her, he saw that her head +had been beaten in. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +FORTUNE FROWNS + + +One look at that disfigured countenance imprinted it indelibly on +Stewart's memory--the blue eyes staring horribly upward from under the +shattered forehead, the hair matted with blood, the sprawling body, the +gleaming knife caught up in what moment of desperation! Shaking with +horror, he seized his companion's hand and led her away out of the +desecrated house, out of the silent yard, out into the narrow lane where +they could breathe freely. + +"The Uhlans have passed this way," said the girl, staring up and down +the road. + +"But," stammered Stewart, wiping his wet forehead, "but I don't +understand. Germany is a civilized nation--war is no longer the brutal +thing it once was." + +"War is always brutal, I fear," said the girl, sadly; "and of course, +among a million men, there are certain to be some--like that! I am no +longer hungry. Let us press on." + +Stewart, nodding, followed along beside her, across fields, over little +streams, up and down stretches of rocky hillside, always westward. But +he saw nothing; his mind was full of other things--of the gray-clad +thousands singing as they marched; of the radiant face of the Crown +Prince; of that poor murdered woman, who had risen happily this Sunday +morning, glad of a day of rest, and looked up to see strange faces at +the door---- + +And this was war. A thousand other women would suffer the same fate; +thousands and thousands more would be thrown stripped and defenseless on +the world, to live or die as chance might will; a hundred thousand +children would be fatherless; a hundred thousand girls, now ripening +into womanhood, would be denied their rightful destiny of marriage and +children of their own---- + +Stewart shook the thought away. The picture his imagination painted was +too horrible; it could never come true--not all the emperors on earth +could make it come true! + +He looked about him at the mellow landscape. Nowhere was there a sign of +life. The yellow wheat stood ripe for the harvest. The pastures +stretched lush and green--and empty. Here and there above the trees he +caught a glimpse of farmhouse chimneys, but no reassuring smoke floated +above then. A peaceful land, truly, so he told himself--peaceful as +death! + +Gradually the country grew rougher and more broken, and ahead of them +they could see steep and rocky hillsides, cleft by deep valleys and +covered by a thick growth of pine. + +"We must find a road," said Stewart at last; "we can't climb up and down +those hills. And we must find out where we are. There is a certain risk, +but we must take it. It is foolish to stumble forward blindly." + +"You are right," his companion agreed, and when presently, far below +them at the bottom of a valley, they saw a white road winding, they made +their way down to it. Almost at once they came to a house, in whose door +stood a buxom, fair-haired woman, with a child clinging to her skirts. + +The woman watched them curiously as they approached, and her face seemed +to Stewart distinctly friendly. + +"Good-morning," he said, stopping before the door-step and lifting his +hat--an unaccustomed salutation at which the woman stared. "We seem to +have lost our way. Can you tell us----" + +The woman shook her head. + +"My brother and I have lost our way," said his companion, in rapid +French. "We have been tramping the hills all morning. How far is it to +the nearest village?" + +"The nearest village is Battice," answered the woman in the same +language. "It is three kilometers from here." + +"Has it a railway station?" + +"But certainly. How is it you do not know?" + +"We come from the other direction." + +"From Germany?" + +"Yes," answered the girl, after an instant's scrutiny of the woman's +face. + +"Then you are fugitives? Ah, do not fear to tell me," she added, as the +girl hesitated. "I have no love for the Germans. I have lived near them +too long!" + +There could be no doubting the sincerity of the words, nor the grimace +of disgust which accompanied them. + +"Yes," assented the girl, "we are fugitives. We are trying to get to +Liege. Have the Germans been this way?" + +"No; I have seen nothing of them, but I have heard that a great army has +passed along the road through Verviers." + +"Where is your man?" + +"He has joined the army, as have all the men in this neighborhood." + +"The German army?" + +"Oh, no; the Belgian army. It is doing what it can to hold back the +Germans." + +The girl's face lighted with enthusiasm. + +"Oh, how splendid!" she cried. "How splendid for your brave little +country to defy the invader! Bravo, Belgium!" + +The woman smiled at her enthusiasm, but shook her head doubtfully. + +"I do not know," she said, simply. "I do not understand these things. I +only know that my man has gone, and that I must harvest our grain and +cut our winter wood by myself. But will you not enter and rest +yourselves?" + +"Thank you. And we are very hungry. We have money to pay for food, if +you can let us have some." + +"Certainly, certainly," and the good wife bustled before them into the +house. + +An hour later, rested, refreshed, with a supply of sandwiches in their +pockets, and armed with a rough map drawn from the directions of their +hostess, they were ready to set out westward again. She was of the +opinion that they could pass safely through Battice, which was off the +main road of the German advance, and that they might even secure there a +vehicle of some sort to take them onward. The trains, she understood, +were no longer running. Finally they thanked her for the twentieth time +and bade her good-by. She wished them God-speed, and stood watching them +from the door until they disappeared from view. + +They pushed forward briskly, and presently, huddled in the valley below +them, caught sight of the gabled roofs of the village. A bell was +ringing vigorously, and they could see the people--women and children +for the most part--gathering in toward the little church, crowned by its +gilded cross. Evidently nothing had occurred to disturb the serenity of +Battice. + +Reassured, the two were about to push on down the road, when suddenly, +topping the opposite slope, they saw a squadron of horsemen, perhaps +fifty strong. They were clad in greenish-gray, and each of them bore +upright at his right elbow a long lance. + +"Uhlans!" cried the girl, and the fugitives stopped short, watching with +bated breath. + +The troop swung down the road toward the village at a sharp trot, and +presently Stewart could distinguish their queer, flat-topped helmets, +reminding him of the mortar-board of his university days. Right at the +edge of the village, in the shadow of some trees, the horsemen drew rein +and waited until the bell ceased ringing and the last of the +congregation had entered the church; then, at the word of command, they +touched spur to flank and swept through the empty street. + +A boy saw them first and raised a shout of alarm; then a woman, hurrying +toward the church, heard the clatter of hoofs, cast one glance behind +her, and ran on, screaming wildly. The screams penetrated the church, +and in a moment the congregation came pouring out, only to find +themselves hemmed in by a semicircle of lowered lances. + +The lieutenant shouted a command, and four of his men threw themselves +from the saddle and disappeared into the church. They were back in a +moment, dragging between them a white-haired priest clad in stole and +surplice, and a rosy-faced old man, who, even in this trying situation, +managed to retain his dignity. + +The two were placed before the officer, and a short conference followed, +with the townspeople pressing anxiously around, listening to every word. +Suddenly there was an outburst of protest and despair, which the priest +quieted with a motion of his hand, and the conference was resumed. + +"What is it the fellow wants?" asked Stewart. + +"Money and supplies, I suppose." + +"Money and supplies? But that's robbery!" + +"Oh, no; it is a part of the plan of the German General Staff. How many +times have I heard Prussian officers boast that a war would cost Germany +nothing--that her enemies would be made to bear the whole burden! It has +all been arranged--the indemnity which each village, even the smallest, +must pay--the amount of supplies which each must furnish, the ransom +which will be assessed on each individual. This lieutenant of Uhlans is +merely carrying out his instructions!" + +"Who is the old man?" + +"The burgomaster, doubtless. He and the priest are always the most +influential men in a village." + +The conference was waxing warmer, the lieutenant was talking in a loud +voice, and once he shook his fist menacingly; again there was a wail of +protest from the crowd--women were wringing their hands---- + +"He is demanding more than the village can supply," remarked the girl. +"That is not surprising," she added, with a bitter smile. "They will +always demand more than can be supplied. But come; we must be getting +on." + +Stewart would have liked to see the end of the drama, but he followed +his companion over the wall at the side of the road, and then around the +village and along the rough hillside. Suddenly from the houses below +arose a hideous tumult--shouts, curses, the smashing of glass--and in a +moment, a flood of people, wailing, screaming, shaking their fists in +the air, burst from the town and swept along the road in the direction +of Herve. + +"They would better have given all that was demanded," said the girl, +looking down at them. "Now they will be made to serve as an example to +other villages--they will lose everything--even their houses--see!" + +Following the direction of her pointing finger, Stewart saw a black +cloud of smoke bulging up from one end of the village. + +"But surely," he gasped, "they're not burning it! They wouldn't dare do +that!" + +"Why not?" + +"Isn't looting prohibited by the rules of war?" + +"Certainly--looting and the destruction of property of non-combatants." + +"Well, then----" + +But he stopped, staring helplessly. The cloud of smoke grew in volume, +and below it could be seen red tongues of flame. There before him was +the hideous reality--and he suddenly realized how futile it was to make +laws for anything so essentially lawless as war, or to expect niceties +of conduct from men thrown back into a state of barbarism. + +"What do the rules of war matter to a nation which considers treaties +mere scraps of paper?" asked the girl, in a hard voice. "Their very +presence here in Belgium is a violation of the rules of war. Besides, it +is the German theory that war should be ruthless--that the enemy must be +intimidated, ravaged, despoiled in every possible way. They say that the +more merciless it is, the briefer it will be. It is possible that they +are not altogether wrong." + +"True," muttered Stewart. "But it is a heartless theory." + +"War is a heartless thing," commented his companion, turning away. "It +is best not to think too much about it. Come--we must be going on." + +They pushed forward again, keeping the road, with its rabble of frenzied +fugitives, at their right. It was a wild and beautiful country, and +under other circumstances, Stewart would have gazed in admiring wonder +at its rugged cliffs, its deep precipitous valleys, its thickly-wooded +hillsides; but now these appeared to him only as so many obstacles +between him and safety. + +At last the valley opened out, and below them they saw the clustered +roofs of another village, which could only be Herve. Around it were +broad pastures and fields of yellow grain, and suddenly the girl caught +Stewart by the arm. + +"Look!" she said, and pointed to the field lying nearest them. + +A number of old men, women, and children were cutting the grain, tying +it into sheaves, and piling the sheaves into stacks, under the +supervision of four men. Those four men were clothed in greenish-gray +and carried rifles in their hands! The invaders were stripping the grain +from the fields in order to feed their army! + +As he contemplated this scene, Stewart felt, mixed with his horror and +detestation, a sort of unwilling admiration. Evidently, as his companion +had said, when Germany made war, she made war. She was ruthlessly +thorough. She allowed no sentiment, no feeling of pity, no weakening +compassion, to interfere between her and her goal. She went to war with +but one purpose: to win; and she was determined to win, no matter what +the cost! Stewart shivered at the thought. Whether she won or lost, how +awful that cost must be! + +The fugitives went on again at last, working their way around the +village, keeping always in the shelter of the woods along the hillsides, +and after a weary journey, came out on the other side above the line of +the railroad. A sentry, with fixed bayonet, stood guard over a solitary +engine; except for him, the road seemed quite deserted. For half a mile +they toiled along over the rough hillside above it without seeing anyone +else. + +"We can't keep this up," said Stewart, flinging himself upon the ground. +"We shall have to take to the road if we are to make any progress. Do +you think we'd better risk it?" + +"Let us watch it for a while," the girl suggested, so they sat and +watched it and munched their sandwiches, and talked in broken snatches. +Ten minutes passed, but no one came in sight. + +"It seems quite safe," she said at last, and together they made their +way down to it. + +"The next village is Fleron," said Stewart, consulting his rough map. +"It is apparently about four miles from here. Liege is about ten miles +further. Can we make it to-night?" + +"We must!" said the girl, fiercely. "Come!" + +The road descended steadily along the valley of a pretty river, closed +in on either side by densely-wooded hills. Here and there among the +trees, they caught glimpses of white villas; below them, along the +river, there was an occasional cluster of houses; but they saw few +people. Either the inhabitants of this land had fled before the enemy, +or were keeping carefully indoors out of his way. + +Once the fugitives had an alarm, for a hand-car, manned by a squad of +German soldiers, came spinning past; but fortunately Stewart heard it +singing along the rails in time to pull his companion into a clump of +underbrush. A little later, along the highway by the river, they saw a +patrol of Uhlans riding, and then they came to Fleron and took to the +hills to pass around it. Here, too, clouds of black smoke hung heavy +above certain of the houses, which, for some reason, had been made the +marks of German reprisals; and once, above the trees to their right, +they saw a column of smoke drifting upward, marking the destruction of +some isolated dwelling. + +The sun was sinking toward the west by the time they again reached the +railroad, and they were both desperately weary; but neither had any +thought of rest. The shadows deepened rapidly among the hills, but the +darkness was welcome, for it meant added safety. By the time they +reached Bois de Breux, night had come in earnest, so they made only a +short detour, and were soon back on the railroad again, with scarcely +five miles to go. For an hour longer they plodded on through the +darkness, snatching a few minutes' rest once or twice; too weary to +talk, or to look to right or left. + +Then, as they turned a bend in the road, they drew back in alarm; for +just ahead of them, close beside the track, a bright fire was burning, +lighting up the black entrance of a tunnel, before which stood a sentry +leaning on his rifle. Five or six other soldiers, wearing flat fatigue +caps, were lolling about the fire, smoking and talking in low tones. + +Stewart surveyed them curiously. They were big, good-humored-looking +fellows, fathers of families doubtless--honest men with kindly hearts. +It seemed absurd to suppose that such men as these would loot villages +and burn houses and outrage women; it seemed absurd that anyone should +fear them or hide from them. Stewart, with a feeling that all this +threat of war was a chimera, had an impulse to go forward boldly and +join them beside the fire. He was sure they would welcome him, make a +place for him---- + +"_Wer da?_" called, sharply, a voice behind him, and he spun around to +find himself facing a leveled rifle, behind which he could see dimly the +face of a man wearing a spiked helmet--a patrol, no doubt, who had seen +them as they stood carelessly outlined against the fire, and who had +crept upon them unheard. + +"We are friends," Stewart answered, hastily. + +The soldier motioned them forward to the fire. The men there had caught +up their rifles at the sound of the challenge, and stood peering +anxiously out into the darkness. But when the two captives came within +the circle of light cast by the fire, they stacked their guns and sat +down again. Evidently they saw nothing threatening in the appearance of +either Stewart or his companion. + +Their captor added his gun to the stack and motioned them to sit down. +Then he doffed his heavy helmet with evident relief and hung it on his +rifle, got out a soft cap like the others', and finally sat down +opposite his prisoners and looked at them closely. + +"What are you doing here?" he demanded in German. + +"We are trying to get through to Brussels," answered Stewart, in the +best German he could muster. "I have not much German. Do you speak +English?" + +"No. Are you English?" And the blue eyes glinted with an unfriendly +light which Stewart was at a loss to understand. + +"We are Americans," and Stewart saw with relief that the man's face +softened perceptibly. On the chance that, if the soldier could not speak +English, neither could he read it, he impressively produced his +passport. "Here is our safe-conduct from our Secretary of State," he +said. "You will see that it is sealed with the seal of the United +States. My brother and I were passed at Herbesthal, but could find no +conveyance and started to walk. We lost our way, but stumbled upon the +railroad some miles back and decided to follow it until we came to a +village. How far away is the nearest village?" + +"I do not know," said the man, curtly; but he took the passport and +stared at it curiously. Then he passed it around the circle, and it +finally came back to its owner, who placed it in his pocket. + +"You find it correct?" Stewart inquired. + +"I know nothing about it. You must wait until our officer arrives." + +Stewart felt a sickening sensation at his heart, but he managed to +smile. + +"He will not be long, I hope," he said. "We are very tired and hungry." + +"He will not be long," answered the other, shortly, and got out a long +pipe, but Stewart stopped him with a gesture. + +"Try one of these," he said, quickly, and brought out his handful of +cigars and passed them around. + +The men grinned their thanks, and were soon puffing away with evident +enjoyment. But to Stewart the single cigar he had kept for himself +seemed strangely savorless. He glanced at his companion. She was sitting +hunched up, her arms about her knees, staring thoughtfully at the fire. + +"This man says we must wait here until their officer arrives," he +explained in English. "My brother does not understand German," he added +to the men. + +"How stupid!" said the girl. "I am so tired and stiff!" + +"It is no use to argue with them, I suppose?" + +"No. They will refuse to decide anything for themselves. They rely +wholly upon their officers." + +She rose wearily, stretched herself, stamped her foot as if it were +asleep, and then sat down again and closed her eyes. She looked very +young and fragile, and was shivering from head to foot. + +"My brother is not strong," said Stewart to the attentive group. "I fear +all this hardship and exposure will be more than he can bear." + +One of the men, with a gesture of sympathy, rose, unrolled his blanket, +and spread it on the bank behind the fire. + +"Let the young man lie down there," he said. + +"Oh, thank you!" cried Stewart. "Come, Tommy," he added, touching the +girl on the arm. "Suppose you lie down till the officer comes." + +She opened her eyes, saw the blanket, nodded sleepily, and, still +shivering, followed Stewart to it, lay down, permitted him to roll her +in it, and apparently dropped off to sleep on the instant. Stewart +returned to the circle about the fire, nodding his satisfaction. They +all smiled, as men do who have performed a kind action. + +But Stewart, though doing his best to keep a placid countenance, was far +from easy in his mind. One thing was certain--they must escape before +the officer arrived. He, no doubt, would be able both to read and speak +English, and the passport would betray them at once. For without +question, a warning had been flashed from headquarters to every patrol +to arrest the holder of that passport, and to send him and his +companion, under close guard, back to Herbesthal. But how to escape! + +Stewart glanced carefully about him, cursing the carelessness that had +brought them into this trap, the imbecility which had held them staring +at this outpost, instead of taking instantly to the woods, as they +should have done. They deserved to be captured! Nevertheless---- + +The sentry was pacing slowly back and forth at the tunnel entrance, +fifteen yards away; the other men were lolling about the fire, +half-asleep. It would be possible, doubtless, to bolt into the darkness +before they could grab their rifles, so there was only the sentry to +fear, and the danger from him would not be very great. But it would be +necessary to keep to the track for some distance, because, where it +dropped into the tunnel, its sides were precipices impossible to scale +in the darkness. The danger, then, lay in the fact that the men might +have time to snatch up their rifles and empty them along the track +before the fugitives would be able to leave it. But it was a danger +which must be faced--there was no other way. Once in the woods, they +would be safe. + +Stewart, musing over the situation with eyes half-closed, recalled dim +memories of daring escapes from Indians and outlaws, described in detail +in the blood-and-thunder reading of his youth. There was always one ruse +which never failed--just as the pursuers were about to fire, the +fugitive would fling himself flat on his face, and the bullets would fly +harmlessly over him; then he would spring to his feet and go safely on +his way. Stewart smiled to remember how religiously he had believed in +that stratagem, and how he had determined to practice it, if ever need +arose! He had never contemplated the possibility of having to flee from +a squad of men armed with magazine rifles, capable of firing twenty-five +shots a minute! + +Then he shook these thoughts away; there was no time to be lost. He must +warn his companion, for they must make the dash at the same instant. He +glanced toward where she lay in the shadow of the cliff, and saw that +she was turning restlessly from side to side, as though fevered. With +real anxiety, he hastened to her, knelt beside her, and placed his hand +gently on her forehead. At the touch, she opened her eyes and stared +dazedly up at him. + +"Ask for some water," she said, weakly; and then, in the same tone, "we +must flee at the moment they salute their officer." + +Stewart turned to the soldiers, who were listening with inquiring faces. + +"My brother is feverish," he explained. "He asks for a drink of water." + +One of the men was instantly on his feet, unscrewing his canteen and +holding it to the eager lips while Stewart supported his comrade's head. +She drank eagerly and then dropped back with a sigh of satisfaction, and +closed her eyes. + +"He will go to sleep now," said Stewart. "Thank you," and he himself +took a drink from the proffered flask. + +He was surprised to find how cool and fresh the water tasted, and when +he looked at the flask more closely, he saw that it was made like a +Thermos bottle, with outer and inner shells. He handed it back to its +owner with a nod of admiration. + +"That is very clever," he said. "Everything seems to have been thought +of." + +"Yes, everything," agreed the other. "No army Is equipped like ours. I +am told that the French are in rags." + +"I don't know," said Stewart, cautiously, "I have never seen them." + +"And their army is not organized; we shall be in Paris before they can +mobilize. It will be 1870 over again. The war will be ended in two or +three months. It has been promised us that we shall be home again for +Christmas without fail." + +"I hope you will," Stewart agreed; and there was a moment's silence. +"How much longer shall we have to wait?" he asked, at last. + +"Our officer should be here at any moment." + +"It is absolutely necessary that we wait for him?" + +"Yes, absolutely." + +"We are very hungry," Stewart explained. + +The soldier pondered for a moment, and then rose to his feet. + +"I think I can give you food," he said. "It is permitted to give food, +is it not?" he asked his comrades; and when they nodded, he opened his +knapsack and took out a package of hard, square biscuits and a thick +roll of sausage. He cut the sausage into generous slices, while Stewart +watched with watering mouth, placed a slice on each of the biscuits, and +passed them over. + +"Splendid!" cried Stewart. "I don't know how to thank you. But at least +I can pay you," and he dove into his pocket and produced a ten-mark +piece--his last. The soldier shook his head. "It is for the whole +squad," added Stewart, persuasively. "You will be needing tobacco some +day, and this will come in handy!" + +The soldier smiled, took the little coin, and placed it carefully in his +pocket. + +"You are right about the tobacco," he said. "I thank you." + +He sat down again before the fire, while Stewart hastened to his +companion and dropped to his knees beside her. + +"See what I've got!" he cried. "Food!" + +She opened her eyes, struggled to a sitting posture, and held out an +eager hand. A moment later, they were both munching the sausage and +biscuits as though they had never tasted anything so delicious--as, +indeed, they never had! + +"Oh, how good that was!" she said, when the last crumb was swallowed, +and she waved her thanks to the watching group about the fire. +"Remember," she added, in a lower tone, as she sank back upon her elbow, +"the instant----" + +She stopped, staring toward the tunnel, one hand grasping the blanket. + +Stewart, following her look, saw the sentry stiffen, turn on his heel, +and hold his rifle rigidly in front of him, as a tall figure, clad in a +long gray coat and carrying an electric torch, stepped out of the +darkness of the tunnel. At the same instant, the men about the fire +sprang to their feet. + +"Now!" cried the girl, and threw back the blanket. + +In an instant, hand in hand, they had glided into the darkness. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE NIGHT ATTACK + + +A savage voice behind them shouted, "Halt!" and then a bullet sang past +and a rifle went off with a noise like a cannon--or so it seemed to +Stewart; then another and another. It was the sentry, of course, pumping +bullets after them. Stewart's flesh crept at the thought that any +instant might bring a volley, which would sweep the track with a storm +of lead. If he could only look back, if he only knew---- + +Suddenly the girl pulled him to the right, and he saw there was a cleft +in the steep bank. Even as they sprang into it, the volley came, and +then a second and a third, and then the sound of shouting voices and +running feet. + +Savagely the fugitives fought their way upward, over rocks, through +briars--scratched, torn, bleeding, panting for breath. Even in the +daytime it would have been a desperate scramble; now it soon became a +sort of horrid nightmare, which might end at any instant at the bottom +of a cliff. More than once Stewart told himself that he could not go on, +that his heart would burst if he took another step--and yet he _did_ go +on, up and up, close behind his comrade, who seemed borne on invisible +wings. + +At last she stopped and pressed close against him. He could feel how her +heart was thumping. + +"Wait!" she panted. "Listen!" + +Not a sound broke the stillness of the wood. + +"I think we are safe," she said. "Let us rest a while." + +They sat down, side by side, on a great rock. Gradually their gasping +breath slackened and the pounding of their hearts grew quieter. + +"I have lost my cap," she said, at last. "A branch snatched it off and I +did not dare to stop." + +Stewart put his hand to his head and found that his hat also was gone. +Until that instant he had not missed it. + +"I feel as if I had been flayed," he said. "Those briars were downright +savage. It was lucky we didn't break a leg--or stop a bullet." + +"We must not run such risks again. We must keep clear of roads--the +Germans seem to be everywhere. Let us keep on until we reach the crest +of this hill, and then we can rest till daylight." + +"All right," agreed Stewart. "Where thou goest, I will go. But please +remember I don't travel on angelic wings as you do, but on very human +legs! And they are very tired!" + +"So are mine!" she laughed. "But we cannot remain here, can we?" + +"No," said Stewart, "I suppose not," and he arose and followed her. + +The ground grew less rough as they proceeded, and at last they came to +the end of the wood. Overhead, a full moon was sinking toward the +west--a moon which lighted every rock and crevice of the rolling meadow +before them, and which seemed to them, after the darkness of the woods +and the valleys, as brilliant as the sun. + +"We must be nearly at the top," said the girl. "These hills almost all +have meadows on their summits where the peasants pasture their flocks." + +And so it proved, for beyond the meadow was another narrow strip of +woodland, and as they came to its farther edge, the fugitives stopped +with a gasp of astonishment. + +Below them stretched a broad valley, and as far as the eye could reach, +it was dotted with flaring fires. + +"The German army!" said the girl, and the two stood staring. + +Evidently a countless host lay camped below them, but no sound reached +them, save the occasional rumble of a train along some distant track. +The Kaiser's legions were sleeping until the dawn should give the signal +for the advance--an advance which would be as the sweep of an avalanche, +hideous, irresistible, remorseless, crushing everything in its path. + +"Oh, look, look!" cried the girl, and caught him by the arm. + +To the west, seemingly quite near, a flash of flame gleamed against the +sky, then another and another and another, and in a moment a savage +rumble as of distant thunder drifted to their ears. + +"What is it?" asked Stewart, staring at the ever-increasing bursts of +flame. "Not a battle, surely!" + +"It is the forts at Liege!" cried the girl, hoarsely. "The Germans are +attacking them, and they resist! Oh, brave little Belgium!" + +The firing grew more furious, and then a battery of searchlights began +to play over the hillside before the nearest fort, and they could dimly +see its outline on the hilltop--strangely like a dreadnaught, with its +wireless mast and its armored turrets vomiting flame. Above it, from +time to time, a shell from the German batteries burst like a +greenish-white rocket, but it was evident that the assailants had not +yet got their guns up in any number. + +Then, suddenly, amid the thunder of the cannon, there surged a vicious +undercurrent of sound which Stewart knew must be the reports of +machine-guns, or perhaps of rifles; and all along the slope below the +fort innumerable little flashes stabbed upward toward the summit. Surely +infantry would never attack such a position, Stewart told himself; and +then he held his breath, for, full in the glare of the searchlights, he +could see what seemed to be a tidal wave sweeping up the hill. + +A very fury of firing came from the fort, yet still the wave swept on. +As it neared the fort, what seemed to be another wave swept down to meet +it. The firing slackened, almost stopped, and Stewart, his blood +pounding in his temples, knew that the struggle was hand to hand, breast +to breast. It lasted but a minute; then the attacking tide flowed back +down the hill, and again the machine-guns of the fort took up that +deadly chorus. + +"They have been driven back!" gasped the girl. "Thank God! the Germans +have been driven back!" + +How many, Stewart wondered, were lying out there dead on the hillside? +How many homes had been rendered fatherless in those few desperate +moments? And this was but the first of a thousand such charges--the +first of a thousand such moments! There, before his eyes, men had killed +each other--for what? The men in the forts were defending their +Fatherland from invasion--they were fighting for liberty and +independence. That was understandable--it was even admirable. But those +others--the men in the spiked helmets--what were they fighting for? To +destroy liberty? To wrest independence from a proud little people? +Surely no man of honor would fight for that! No, it must be for +something else--for some ideal--for some ardent sense of duty, strangely +twisted, perhaps, but none the less fierce and urgent! + +Again the big guns in the armored turrets were bellowing forth their +wrath; and then the searchlights stabbed suddenly up into the sky, +sweeping this way and that. + +"They fear an airship attack!" breathed the girl, and she and Stewart +stood staring up into the night. + +Shells from the German guns began again to burst about the fort, but its +own guns were silent, and it lay there crouching as if in terror. Only +its searchlights swept back and forth. + +Suddenly a gun spoke--they could see the flash of its discharge, +seemingly straight up into the air; then a second and a third; and then +the searchlights caught the great bulk of a Zeppelin and held it clearly +outlined as it swept across the sky. There was a furious burst of +firing, but the ship sped on unharmed, passed beyond the range of the +searchlights, blotted out the setting moon for an instant, and was gone. + +"It did not dare pass over the fort," said the girl. "It was flying too +low. Perhaps it will come back at a greater altitude. I have seen them +at the maneuvers in Alsace--frightful things, moving like the wind." + +This way and that the searchlights swept in great arcs across the +heavens, in frenzied search for this monster of the air; but it did not +return. Perhaps it had been damaged by the gunfire--or perhaps, Stewart +told himself with a shiver, it was speeding on toward Paris, to rain +terror from the August sky! + +Gradually the firing ceased; but the more distant forts were using their +searchlights, too. Seeing them all aroused and vigilant, the Germans did +not attack again; their surprise had failed; now they must wait for +their heavy guns. + +"Well," asked Stewart, at last, "what now?" + +"I think it would be well to stay here till morning--then we can see how +the army is placed and how best to get past it. It is evident we cannot +go on to-night." + +"I'm deadly tired," said Stewart, looking about him into the darkness, +"but I should like a softer bed than the bare ground." + +"Let us go to the edge of this meadow," the girl suggested. "Perhaps we +shall find another field of grain." + +But luck was against them. Beyond the meadow the woods began again. + +"The meadow is better than the woods," said Stewart. "At least it has +some grass on it--the woods have nothing but rocks!" + +"Let us stay in the shelter of the hedge. Then, if a patrol happens into +the field before we are awake, it will not see us. Perhaps they will +attempt a pursuit in the morning. They will guess that we have headed +for the west." + +"I don't think there's much danger--it would be like hunting for a +needle in a haystack--in a dozen haystacks! But won't you be cold?" + +"Oh, no," she protested, quickly; "the night is quite warm. Good-night, +my friend." + +"Good-night," Stewart answered, and withdrew a few steps and made +himself as comfortable as he could. + +There were irritating bumps in the ground which seemed to come exactly +in the wrong place; but he finally adjusted himself, and lay and looked +up at the stars, and wondered what the morrow would bring forth. He was +growing a little weary of the adventure. He was growing weary of the +restraint which the situation imposed upon him. He was aching to take +this girl in his arms and hold her close, and whisper three words--just +three!--into her rosy ear--but to do that now, to do it until they were +in safety, until she had no further need of him, would be a cowardly +thing--a cowardly thing--a cowardly---- + +He was awakened by a touch on the arm, and opened his eyes to find the +sun high in the heavens and his comrade looking down at him with face +almost equally radiant. + +"I did not like to wake you," she said, "but it is getting late." + +Stewart sat up and rubbed his eyes and looked at her again. Her hair was +neatly combed, her face was fresh and shining, her hands showed some +ugly scratches but were scrupulously clean. Even her clothing, though +torn here and there, had evidently been carefully brushed. + +"What astounds me," said Stewart, deliberately, "is how you do it. You +spend the first half of the night scrambling over rocks and through +briars, and the second half sleeping on the bare ground, and you emerge +in the morning as fresh and radiant as though you had just stepped from +your boudoir. I wish I knew the secret." + +"Come and I will show you," she said, laughing gayly, and she led him +away into the wood. + +Presently he heard the sound of falling water, and his guide brought him +triumphantly to a brook gurgling over mossy rocks, at whose foot was a +shallow basin. + +"There is my boudoir," she said. "The secret of beauty is in the bath. I +will reconnoiter the neighborhood while you try it for yourself." + +Stewart flung off his clothes, splashed joyously into the cold, clear +water, and had perhaps the most delicious bath of his life. There was no +soap, to be sure, but much may be done by persistent rubbing; and there +were no towels, but the warm wind of the morning made them almost +unnecessary. He got back into his clothes again with a sense of +astonishing well-being--except for a most persistent gnawing at his +stomach. + +"I wonder where we shall breakfast to-day?" he mused as he laced his +shoes. "Nowhere, most probably! Oh, well, if that dear girl can stand +it, I oughtn't to complain!" + +And he fell to thinking of her, of her slim grace, of the curve of her +red lips---- + +"Confound it!" he said. "I can't stand it much longer. Friendship is all +very well, and the big brother act may do for a while--but I can't keep +it up forever, and what's more, I won't!" + +And then he heard her calling, in the clear, high voice he had grown to +love. + +"All right!" he shouted. "Come along!" + +Presently she appeared between the trees, and he watched her with +beating heart--so straight, so supple, so perfect in every line. + +"Did the magic work?" she inquired, gayly. + +"Partly; but it takes more than water to remove a two-days' growth of +beard," and Stewart ran a rueful finger over his stubbly chin. "But can +it be only two days since you burst into my room at the Koelner Hof, and +threw your arms around my neck and kissed me!" + +"Please do not speak of it!" she pleaded, with crimson cheeks. "It was +not an easy thing for a girl to do; but that spy was watching--so I +nerved myself, and----" + +"You did it very well, indeed," he said, reminiscently. "And to think +that not once since then----" + +"Once was quite enough." + +"Oh, I don't blame you; I know I'm not an attractive object. People will +be taking us for beauty and the beast." + +"Neither the one nor the other!" she corrected. + +"Well, I take back the beast; but not the beauty! You are the loveliest +thing I ever saw," he added, huskily. "The very loveliest!" + +She looked down at him for an instant, and her eyes were very tender; +then she looked hastily away. + +"There were to be no compliments until we were out of Germany," she +reminded him. + +"We are out of Germany," he said, and got slowly to his feet, his eyes +on fire. + +"No, no," she protested, backing hastily away from him. "This is German +ground--let me show you!" and she ran before him out into the meadow. +"Look down yonder!" + +Looking down, Stewart saw the mighty army which had been mustered to +crush France. + +As far as the eye could reach, and from side to side of the broad +valley, it stretched--masses of men and horses and wagons and +artillery--masses and masses--thousands upon thousands--mile upon mile. +A broad highway ran along either side of the river, and along each road +a compact host moved steadily westward toward Liege. + +Suddenly from the west came the thunder of heavy guns, and Stewart knew +that the attack had commenced again. Again men were being driven forward +to death, as they would be driven day after day, until the end, whatever +that might be. And whatever it was, not a single dead man could be +brought to life; not a single maimed man made whole; not a single dollar +of the treasure which was being poured out like a flood could be +recovered. It was all lost, wasted, worse than wasted, since it was +being used to destroy, not to create! Incredible--impossible--it could +not be! Even with that mighty army beneath his eyes, Stewart told +himself for the hundredth time that it could not be! + +The voice of his comrade broke in upon his thoughts. + +"We must work our way westward along the hills until we come to the +Meuse," she said. "This is the valley of the Vesdre, which flows into +the Meuse, so we have only to follow it." + +"Can't you prevail upon your fairy godmother to provide breakfast +first?" asked Stewart. "I'm sure you have only to wish for it, and the +table would appear laden with an iced melon, bacon and eggs, crisp +rolls, yellow butter, and a pot of coffee--I think I can smell the +coffee!" He closed his eyes and sniffed. "How perfect it would be to sit +right here and eat that breakfast and watch the Germans! Oh, well," he +added, as she turned away, "if not here, then somewhere else. Wait! +Isn't that a house over yonder?" + +It was indeed a tiny house whose gable just showed among the trees, and +they made their way cautiously toward it. It stood at the side of a +small garden, with two or three outbuildings about it, and it was +shielded on one side by an orchard. No smoke rose from the chimney, nor +was there any sign of life. + +And then Stewart, who had been crouching behind the hedge beside his +companion, looking at all this, rose suddenly to his feet and started +forward. + +"Come on," he cried; "the Germans haven't been this way--there's a +chicken," and he pointed to where a plump hen was scratching +industriously under the hedge. + +"Here is another sign," said the girl, as they crossed the garden, and +pointed to the ground. "The potatoes and turnips have not been dug." + +"It must be here we're going to have that breakfast!" cried Stewart, and +knocked triumphantly at the door. + +There was no response and he knocked again. Then he tried the door, but +it was locked. There was another door at the rear of the house, but it +also was locked. There were also three windows, but they were all +tightly closed with wooden shutters. + +"We've got to have something to eat, that's certain," said Stewart, +doggedly. "We shall have to break in," and he looked about for a weapon +with which to attack the door. + +"No, no," protested the girl, quickly. "That would be too like the +Uhlans! Let us see if there is not some other way!" + +"What other way can there be?" + +"Perhaps there is none," she answered; "and if there is not, we will go +on our way, and leave this house undamaged. You too seem to have been +poisoned by this virus of war!" + +"I only know I'm starving!" said Stewart. "If I've been poisoned by +anything, it's by the virus of appetite!" + +"If you were in your own country, and found yourself hungry, would you +break into the first house you came to in order to get food?" she +demanded. "Certainly not--you would do without food before you would do +that. Is it not so?" + +"Yes," said Stewart, in a low tone. "That is so. You are right." + +"Perhaps I can find something," she said, more gently. "At least I will +try. Remain here for a moment," and she hurried away toward the +outbuildings. + +Stewart stared out into the road and reflected how easy--how inevitable +almost--it was to become a robber among thieves, a murderer among +cut-throats. And he understood how it happens that in war even the +kindliest man may become blood-thirsty, even the most honest a looter of +defenseless homes. + +"See what I have found!" cried a voice, and he turned to see the girl +running toward him with hands outstretched. In each hand she held three +eggs. + +"Very well for a beginning," he commented. "Now for the melon, the +bacon, the rolls, the butter, and the coffee!" + +"I fear that those must wait," she said. "Here is your breakfast," and +she handed him three of the eggs. + +Stewart looked at them rather blankly. + +"Thanks!" he said. "But I don't quite see----" + +"Then watch!" + +Sitting down on the door-step, she cracked one of her eggs gently, +picked away the loosened bit of shell at its end, and put the egg to her +lips. + +"Oh!" he said. "So _that's_ it!" and sitting down beside her, he +followed her example. + +He had heard of sucking eggs, but he had never before tried it, and he +found it rather difficult and not particularly pleasant. But the first +egg undoubtedly did assuage the pangs of hunger; the second assuaged +them still more, and the third quite extinguished them. In fact, he felt +a little surfeited. + +"Now," she said, "for the dessert." + +"Dessert!" protested Stewart. "Is there dessert? Why didn't you tell me? +I never heard of dessert for breakfast, and I'm afraid I haven't room +for it!" + +"It will keep!" she assured him, and leading him around the larger of +the outbuildings, she showed him a tree hanging thick with ruddy apples. +"There are our supplies for the campaign!" she announced. + +"My compliments!" he said. "You would make a great general." + +They ate one or two apples and then filled their pockets. From one of +hers, the girl drew a pipe and pouch of tobacco. + +"Would you not like to smoke?" she asked. "I have been told that a pipe +is a great comfort in times of stress!" + +And Stewart, calling down blessings upon her head, filled up. Never had +tobacco tasted so good, never had that old pipe seemed so sweet, as when +he blew out the first puff upon the morning air. + +"Salvation Yeo was right," he said. "As a hungry man's food, a sad man's +cordial, a chilly man's fire, there's nothing like it under the canopy +of heaven! I only wish you could enjoy it too!" + +"I can enjoy your enjoyment!" she laughed as they set happily off +together. + +At the corner of the wood, Stewart turned for a last look at the house. + +"How glad I am I didn't break in!" he said. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +AN ARMY IN ACTION + + +The sound of cannonading grew fiercer and fiercer, as they advanced, and +the undertone of rifle fire more perceptible. It was evident that the +Germans were rapidly getting more and more guns into action, and that +the infantry attack was also being hotly pressed. Below them in the +valley, they caught glimpses from time to time, as the trees opened out +a little, of the gray-clad host marching steadily forward, as though to +overwhelm the forts by sheer weight of numbers; and then, as they came +out above a rocky bluff, they saw a new sight--an earnest that the +Belgians were fighting to some purpose. + +In a level field beside the road a long tent had been pitched, and above +it floated the flag of the Red Cross. Toward it, along the road, came +slowly a seemingly endless line of motor ambulances. Each of them in +turn stopped opposite the tent, and white-clad assistants lifted out the +stretchers, each with its huddled occupant, and carried them quickly, +yet very carefully, inside the tent. In a moment the bearers were back +again, pushed the empty stretchers into place, and the ambulance turned +and sped swiftly back toward the battlefield. Here, too, it was evident +that there was admirable and smoothly-working system--a system which +alleviated, so far as it was possible to do so, the horror and the +suffering of battle. + +Stewart could close his eyes and see what was going on inside that tent. +He could set the stripping away of the clothing, the hasty examination, +the sterilization of the wound, and then, if an operation was necessary, +the quick preparation, the application of the ether-cone and the swift, +unerring flash of the surgeon's knife. + +"That's where I should be," he said, half to himself, "I might be of +some use there!" And then he turned his eyes eastward along the road. +"Great heavens! Look at that gun." + +Along the road below them came a monstrous cannon, mounted on a low, +broad-wheeled truck, and drawn by a mighty tractor. It was of a girth so +huge, of a weight evidently so tremendous, that it seemed impossible it +could be handled at all, and yet it rolled along as smoothly as though +it were the merest toy. Above it stretched the heavy crane which would +swing it into the air and place it gently on the trunnions of its +carriage. Drawn by another tractor, the carriage itself came close +behind--more huge, more impressive if possible, than the gun itself. Its +tremendous wheels were encircled with heavy blocks of steel, linked +together and undulating along the road for all the world like a monster +caterpillar; its massive trail seemed forged to withstand the shock of +an earthquake. + +"So that is the surprise!" murmured the girl beneath her breath. + +And she was right. This was the surprise which had been kept so +carefully concealed--the Krupp contribution to the war--the largest +field howitzer ever built, hurling a missile so powerful that neither +steel nor stone nor armored concrete could stand against it. + +In awed silence, the two fugitives watched this mighty engine of +destruction pass along the road to its appointed task. Behind it came a +motor truck carrying its crew, and then a long train of ammunition carts +filled with what looked like wicker baskets--but within each of those +baskets lay a shell weighing a thousand pounds! And as it passed, the +troops, opening to right and left, cheered it wildly, for to them it +meant more than victory--it meant that they would, perhaps, be spared +the desperate charge with its almost certain death. + +Scarcely had the first gone by, when a second gun came rolling along the +road, followed by its crew and its ammunition-train; and then a third +appeared, seemingly more formidable than either of the others. + +"These Germans are certainly a wonderful people," said Stewart, +following the three monsters with his eyes as they dwindled away +westward along the road. "They may be vain and arrogant and +self-confident; apparently they haven't much regard for the rights of +others. But they are thorough. We must give them credit for that! They +are prepared for everything." + +"Yes," agreed his companion; "for everything except one thing." + +"And that?" + +"The spirit of a people who love liberty. Neither cannon nor armies can +conquer that! The German Staff believed that Belgium would stand aside +in fear." + +"Surely you don't expect Belgium to win?" + +"Oh, no! But every day she holds the German army here is a battle won +for France. Oh, France will honor Belgium now! See--the army has been +stopped. It is no longer advancing!" + +What was happening to the westward they could not see, or even guess, +but it was true that the helmeted host had ceased its march, had broken +ranks, and was stacking arms and throwing off its accouterments in the +fields along the road. The halt was to be for some time, it seemed, for +everywhere camp-kitchens were being hauled into place, fires started, +food unloaded. + +"Come on! come on!" urged the girl. "We must reach the Meuse before this +tide rolls across it." + +They pressed forward again along the wooded hillside. Twice they had to +cross deep valleys which ran back into the mountain, and once they had a +narrow escape from a cavalry patrol which came cantering past so close +upon their heels that they had barely time to throw themselves into the +underbrush. They could see, too, that even in the hills caution was +necessary, for raiding parties had evidently struck up into them, as was +proved by an occasional column of smoke rising from a burning house. +Once they came upon an old peasant with a face wrinkled like a withered +apple, sitting staring down at the German host, so preoccupied that he +did not even raise his eyes as they passed. And at last they came out +above the broad plain where the Vesdre flows into the Meuse. + +Liege, with its towers and terraced streets, was concealed from them by +a bend in the river and by a bold bluff which thrust out toward it from +the east--a bluff crowned by a turreted fortress--perhaps the same they +had seen the night before--which was vomiting flame and iron down into +the valley. + +The trees and bushes which clothed its sides concealed the infantry +which was doubtless lying there, but in the valley just below them they +could see a battery of heavy guns thundering against the Belgian fort. +So rapidly were they served that the roar of their discharge was almost +continuous, while high above it rose the scream of the shells as they +hurtled toward their mark. There was something fascinating in the +precise, calculated movement of the gunners--one crouching on the trail, +one seated on either side of the breech, four others passing up the +shells from the caisson close at hand. Their officer was watching the +effect of the fire through a field-glass, and speaking a word of +direction now and then. + +Their fire was evidently taking effect, for it was this battery which +the gunners in the fort were trying to silence--trying blindly, for the +German guns were masked by a high hedge and a strip of orchard, and only +a tenuous, quickly-vanishing wisp of white smoke marked the discharge. +So the Belgian gunners dropped their shells hither and yon, hoping that +chance might send one of them home. + +They did not find the battery, but they found other marks--a beautiful +white villa, on the first slope of the hillside, was torn asunder like a +house of cards and a moment later was in flames; a squad of cavalry, +riding gayly back from a reconnoissance down the river, was violently +scattered; a peasant family, father and mother and three children, +hastening along the road to a place of safety, was instantly blotted +out. + +It was evident now that the Meuse was the barrier which had stopped the +army. Far up toward Liege were the ruins of a bridge, and no doubt all +the others had been blown up by the Belgians. + +Down by the river-bank a large force of engineers were working like mad +to throw a pontoon across the swift current. The material had already +been brought up--heavy, flat-bottomed boats, carried on wagons drawn by +motor-tractors, great beams and planks, boxes of bolts--everything, in a +word, needed to build this bridge just here at a point which had no +doubt been selected long in advance! The bridge shot out into the river +with a speed which seemed to Stewart almost miraculous. Boat after boat +was towed into place and anchored firmly; great beams were bolted into +position, each of them fitting exactly; and then the heavy planks were +laid with the precision and rapidity of a machine. Indeed, Stewart told +himself, it was really a machine that he was watching--a machine of +flesh and blood, wonderfully trained for just such feats as this. + +"Look! look!" cried the girl, and Stewart, following her pointing +finger, saw an aeroplane sweeping toward them from the direction of the +city. Evidently the defenders of the fort, weary of firing blindly at a +battery they could not see, were sending a scout to uncover it. + +The aeroplane flew very high at first--so high that the two men in it +appeared the merest specks, but almost at once two high-angle guns were +banging away at it, though the shells fell far short. Gradually it +circled lower and lower, as if quite unconscious of the marksmen in the +valley, and as it swept past the hill, Stewart glimpsed the men quite +plainly--one with his hands upon the levers, the other, with a pair of +glasses to his eyes, eagerly scanning the ground beneath. + +And then Stewart, happening to glance toward the horizon, was held +enthralled by a new spectacle. High over the hills to the east flew a +mammoth shape, straight toward the fort. Its defenders saw their danger +instantly, and hastily elevating some of their guns, greeted the +Zeppelin with a salvo. But it came straight on with incredible speed, +and as it passed above the fort, a terrific explosion shook the mountain +to its base. Stewart, staring with bated breath, told himself that that +was the end, that not one stone of that great fortress remained upon +another; but an instant later, another volley sent after the fleeing +airship told that the fort still stood--that the bomb had missed its +mark. + +The aeroplane scouts, their vision shadowed by the broad wings of their +machine, had not seen the Zeppelin until the explosion brought them +sharp round toward it. Then, with a sudden upward swoop, they leaped +forward in pursuit. But nothing could overtake that monster,--it was +speeding too fast, it was already far away, and in a moment disappeared +over the hills to the west. So, after a moment's breathless flight, the +biplane turned, circled slowly above the fort, and dropped down toward +the town behind it. + +Five minutes later, a high-powered shell burst squarely in the midst of +the German battery, disabling two of the guns. At once the horses were +driven up and the remaining guns whirled away to a new emplacement, +while a passing motor ambulance was stopped to pick up the wounded. + +Stewart, who had been watching all this with something of the feelings +of a spectator at some tremendous panorama, was suddenly conscious of a +mighty stream of men approaching the river from the head of the valley. +A regiment of cavalry rode in front, their long lances giving them an +appearance indescribably picturesque; behind them came column after +column of infantry, moving like clock-work, their gray uniforms blending +so perfectly with the background that it was difficult to tell where the +columns began or where they ended. Their passage reminded Stewart of the +quiver of heat above a sultry landscape--a vibration of the air scarcely +perceptible. + +All the columns were converging on the river, and looking toward it, +Stewart saw that the bridge was almost done. As the last planks were +laid, a squadron of Uhlans, which had been held in readiness, dashed +across, and deploying fanshape, advanced to reconnoiter the country on +the other side. + +"That looks like invasion in earnest!" said Stewart. + +The girl nodded without replying, her eyes on the advancing columns. The +cavalry was the first to reach the bridge, and filed rapidly across to +reenforce their comrades; then the infantry pressed forward in solid +column. Stewart could see how the boats settled deep in the water under +the tremendous weight. + +High above all other sounds, came the hideous shriek of a great shell, +which flew over the bridge and exploded in the water a hundred yards +below it. A minute later, there came another shriek, but this time the +shell fell slightly short. But the third shell--the third shell! + +Surely, Stewart told himself, the bridge will be cleared; that +close-packed column will not be exposed to a risk so awful. But it +pressed on, without a pause, without a break. What must be the soldiers' +thoughts, as they waited for the third shell! + +Again that high, hideous, blood-curdling shriek split through the air, +and the next instant a shell exploded squarely in the middle of the +bridge. Stewart had a moment's vision of a tangle of shattered bodies, +then he saw that the bridge was gone and the river filled with drowning +men, weighed down by their heavy accouterments. He could hear their +shrill cries of terror as they struggled in the current; then the cries +ceased as the river swept most of them away. Only a very few managed to +reach the bank. + +Stewart hid his face in his trembling hands. It was too hideous! It +could not be! He could not bear it--the world would not bear it, if it +knew! + +A sharp cry from his companion told him that the awful drama was not yet +played to an end. She was pointing beyond the river, where the cavalry +and the small body of infantry which had got across seemed thrown into +sudden confusion. Horses reared and fell, men dropped from their +saddles. The infantry threw themselves forward upon their faces; and +then to Stewart's ears came the sharp rattle of musketry. + +"The Belgians are attacking them!" cried the girl. "They are driving +them back!" + +But that cavalry, so superbly trained, that infantry, so expertly +officered, were not to be driven back without a struggle. The Uhlans +formed into line and swept forward, with lances couched, over the ridge +beyond the river and out of sight, in a furious charge. But the Belgians +must have stood firm, for at the end of a few moments, the troopers +straggled back again, sadly diminished in numbers, and rode rapidly away +down the river, leaving the infantry to its fate. + +Meanwhile, on the eastern bank of the river, a battery of quick-firers +had already been swung into position, and was singing its deadly tune to +hold the Belgians back. Already the men of that little company on the +farther side had found a sort of refuge behind a line of hummocks. +Already some heavier guns were being hurried into position to defend the +bridge which the engineers began at once to rebuild farther down the +stream, where it would be better masked from the fort's attack. + +Evidently the Belgians did not intend to enter that deadly zone of fire, +and the fight settled down to a dogged, long-distance one. + +"We cannot get across here," said the girl at last. "We shall have to +work our way downstream until we are past the Germans. If we can join +the Belgians, we are safe." + +But to get past the Germans proved a far greater task than they had +anticipated. There seemed to be no end to the gray-clad legions. Brigade +after brigade packed the stretch of level ground along the river, while +the road was crowded with an astounding tangle of transport wagons, cook +wagons, armored motors, artillery, tractors, ambulances, and automobiles +of every sort, evidently seized by the army in its advance. + +As he looked at them, Stewart could not but wonder how on earth they had +ever been assembled here, and, still more, how they were ever going to +be got away again. Also, he thought, how easily might they be cut to +pieces by a few batteries of machine-guns posted on that ridge across +the river! Looking across, he saw that the army chiefs had foreseen that +danger and guarded against it, for a strong body of cavalry had been +thrown across the river to screen the advance, while along the bank, +behind hasty but well-built intrenchments, long lines of artillery had +been massed to repel any attack from that direction. + +But no attack came. The little Belgian army evidently had its hands full +elsewhere, and was very busy indeed, as the roar of firing both up and +down the river testified. And then, as the fugitives walked on along the +hillside, they saw that one avenue of advance would soon be open, for a +company of engineers, heavily guarded by cavalry, and quick-firers, was +repairing a bridge whose central span had been blown up by the Belgians +as they retreated. + +The bridge had connected two little villages, that on the east bank +dominated by a beautiful white chateau placed at the edge of a cliff. Of +the villages little remained but smoking ruins, and a flag above the +chateau showed that it had been converted into a staff headquarters. + +Where was the owner of the chateau, Stewart wondered, looking up at it. +Where were the women who had sat and gossiped on its terrace? Where were +all the people who had lived in those two villages? Wandering somewhere +to the westward, homeless and destitute, every one of them--haggard +women and hungry children and tottering old men, whose quiet world had +turned suddenly to chaos. + +"Well," he said, at last, "it looks as if we shall have to wait until +these fellows clear out. We can't get across the river as long as there +is a line like that before it." + +"Perhaps when they begin to advance, they will leave a break in the line +somewhere," his companion suggested. "Or perhaps we can slip across in +the darkness. Let us wait and see." + +So they sat down behind the screen of a clump of bushes, and munched +their apples, while they watched the scene below. Stewart even ventured +to light his pipe again. + +A flotilla of boats of every shape and size, commandeered, no doubt, all +up and down the river, plied busily back and forth, augmenting the +troops on the other side as rapidly as possible; and again Stewart +marveled at the absolute order and system preserved in this operation, +which might so easily have become confused. There was no crowding, no +overloading, no hurrying, but everywhere a calm and efficient celerity. +A certain number of men entered each of the boats,--leading their horses +by the bridle, if they were cavalry,--and the boats pushed off. +Reluctant horses were touched with a whip, but most of them stepped down +into the water quietly and without hesitation, showing that they had +been drilled no less than their masters, and swam strongly along beside +the boat. On the other shore, the disembarkation was conducted in the +same unhurried fashion, and the boat swung back into the stream again +for another load. + +But a great army cannot be conveyed across a river in small boats, and +it was not until mid-afternoon, when the repairs on the bridge were +finished, that the real forward movement began. From that moment it +swept forward like a flood--first the remainder of the cavalry, then the +long batteries of quick-firers, then regiment after regiment of +infantry, each regiment accompanied by its transport. Looking down at +the tangle of wagons and guns and motors, Stewart saw that it was not +really a tangle, but an ordered arrangement, which unrolled itself +smoothly and without friction. + +The advance was slow, but it was unceasing, and by nightfall at least +fifteen thousand men had crossed the river. Still the host encamped +along it seemed as great as ever. As one detachment crossed, another +came up from somewhere in the rear to take its place. Stewart's brain +reeled as he gazed down at them and tried to estimate their number; and +this was only one small corner of the Kaiser's army. For leagues and +leagues to north and south it was pressing forward; no doubt along the +whole frontier similar hosts were massed for the invasion. It was +gigantic, incredible--that word was in his thoughts more frequently than +any other. He could not believe his own eyes; his brain refused to +credit the evidence of his senses. + +Each unit of this great array, each company, each squad, seemed to live +its own life and to be sufficient unto itself. Stewart could see the +company cooks preparing the evening meal; the heavy, wheeled camp-stoves +were fired up, great kettles of soup were set bubbling, broad loaves of +dark bread were cut into thick slices; and finally, at a bugle call, the +men fell into line, white-enameled cups in hand, and received their +rations. It seemed to Stewart that he could smell the appetizing odor of +that thick soup--an odor of onions and potatoes and turnips. + +"Doesn't it make you ravenous?" he asked. "Wouldn't you like to have +some real solid food to set your teeth into? Raw eggs and apples--ugh!" + +"Yes, it does," said the girl, who had been contemplating the scene with +dreamy eyes, scarcely speaking all the afternoon. "The French still wear +the uniform of 1870," she added, half to herself; "a long bulky blue +coat and red trousers." + +"Visible a mile away--while these fellows melt into the ground at a +hundred yards! If Germany wins, it will be through forethought!" + +"But she cannot win!" protested the girl, fiercely. "She must not win!" + +"Well, all I can say is that France has a big job ahead!" + +"France will not stand alone! Already she has Russia as an ally; Belgium +is doing what it can; Servia has a well-tried army. Nor are those all! +England will soon find that she cannot afford to stand aside, and if +there is need, other nations will come in--Portugal, Rumania, even +Italy!" + +Stewart shook his head, skeptically. + +"I don't know," he said, slowly. "I know nothing about world-politics, +but I don't believe any nation will come in that doesn't have to!" + +"That is it--all of them will find that they have to, for Prussian +triumph means slavery for all Europe--for the Germans most of all. It is +for them as much as for herself that France is fighting--for human +rights everywhere--for the poor people who till the fields, and toil in +the factories, and sweat in the mines! And civilization must fight with +her against this barbarian state ruled by the upturned mustache and +mailed fist, believing that might makes right and that she can do no +wrong! That is why you and I are fighting on France's side!" + +"If nobody fights any harder than I----" + +She stopped him with a hand upon his arm. + +"Ah, but you are fighting well! One can fight in other ways than with a +rifle--one can fight with one's brains." + +"It is your brains, not mine, which have done the fighting in this +campaign," Stewart pointed out. + +"Where should I have been but for you? Dead, most probably, my message +lost, my life-work shattered!" + +He placed his hand quietly over hers and held it fast. + +"Let us be clear, then," he said. "It is not for freedom, or for any +abstract ideal I am fighting. It is for you--for your friendship, for +your----" + +"No, it is for France," she broke in. "I am not worth fighting for--I am +but one girl among many millions. And if we win--if we get through----" + +She paused, gazing out through the gathering darkness with starry eyes. + +"Yes--if we get through," he prompted. + +"It will mean more to France than many regiments!" and she struck the +pocket which contained the letters. "Ah, we must get through--we must +not fail!" + +She rose suddenly and stretched her arms high above her head. + +"Dear God, you will not let us fail!" she cried. Then she turned and +held out a hand to him. "Come," she said, quietly; "if we are to get +across, it must be before the moon rises." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE PASSAGE OF THE MEUSE + + +The mist of early evening had settled over the river and wiped away +every vestige of the army, save the flaring lights of the camp-kitchens +and the white lamps of the motors; but the creaking of wheels, the +pounding of engines, and the regular tramp of countless feet told that +the advance had not slackened for an instant. + +On the uplands there was still a little light, and Stewart and his +companion picked their way cautiously down through a belt of woodland, +across a rough field, and over a wall, beyond which they found an uneven +path, made evidently by a vanished herd as it went back and forth to its +pasture. They advanced slowly and silently, every sense on the alert, +but seemingly no pickets had been posted on this side, from which there +was no reason to fear an attack, and they were soon down amid the mist, +at the edge of the encampment. + +Here, however, there were sentries--a close line of them; the fugitives +could see them dimly outlined against the fires, and could hear their +occasional interchange of challenges. + +"It is impossible to get through here," whispered the girl. "Let us go +on until we are below the bridge. Perhaps we shall find a gap there." + +So, hand in hand lest they become separated in the darkness, they worked +their way cautiously downstream, just out of sight of the line of +sentries. + +"Wait!" whispered Stewart, suddenly. "What is that ahead?" + +Something tall and black and vaguely menacing loomed above them into the +night. + +"The church tower!" breathed the girl, after a moment. "See--there are +ruins all about it--it is the village they burned." + +They hesitated. Should they enter it, or try to go around? There was +something sinister and threatening about these roofless, blackened walls +which had once been homes; but to go around meant climbing cliffs, meant +breathless scrambling--above all, meant loss of time. + +"We must risk it," said the girl, at last. "We can come back if the +place is guarded." + +Their hands instinctively tightened their clasp as they stole forward +into the shadow of the houses, along what had once been a street, but +was now littered and blocked with fallen walls and debris of every kind, +some of it still smouldering. Everywhere there was the stench of +half-burned wood, and another stench, more penetrating, more nauseating. + +Stewart was staring uneasily about him, telling himself that that stench +could not possibly be what it seemed, when his companion's hand squeezed +his and dragged him quickly aside against a wall. + +"Down, down!" she breathed, and they cowered together behind a mass of +fallen masonry. + +Then Stewart peered out, cautiously. Yes, there was someone coming. Far +down the street ahead of them a tiny light flashed, disappeared, flashed +again, and disappeared. + +Crowding close together, they buried themselves deeper in the ruins and +waited. + +At last they could hear steps--slow, cautious steps, full of fear--and +the light appeared again, dancing from side to side. It seemed to be a +small lantern, carefully shaded, so that only a narrow beam of light +escaped; and that beam was sent dancing from side to side along the +street, in dark corners, under fallen doorways. + +Suddenly it stopped, and Stewart's heart leaped sickeningly as he saw +that the beam rested on a face--a white face, staring up with sightless +eyes. + +The light approached, hung above it--a living hand caught up the dead +one, on which there was the gleam of gold, a knife flashed---- + +And then, from the darkness almost beside them, four darts of flame +stabbed toward the kneeling figure, and the ruins rocked with a great +explosion. + +When Stewart opened his eyes again, he saw a squad of soldiers, each +armed with an electric torch, standing about the body of the robber of +the dead, while their sergeant emptied his pockets. There were +rings--one still encircling a severed finger--money, a watch, trinkets +of every sort, some of them quite worthless. + +The man was in uniform, and the sergeant, ripping open coat and shirt, +drew out the little identifying tag of metal which hung about his neck, +broke it from its string, and thrust it into his pocket. Then he +gathered the booty into his handkerchief, tied the ends together with a +satisfied grunt, and gave a gruff command. The lights vanished and the +squad stumbled ahead into the darkness. + +There was a moment's silence. Stewart's nerves were quivering so that he +could scarcely control them--he could feel his mouth twitching, and put +his hand up to stop it. + +"We can't go on," he muttered. "We must go back. This is too +horrible--it is unbearable!" + +Together they stole tremblingly out of the ruin, along the littered +street, past the church-tower, across the road, over the wall, back into +the clean fields. There they flung themselves down gaspingly, side by +side. + +How sweet the smell of the warm earth, after the stench of the looted +town! How calm and lovely the stars. + +Stewart, staring up at them, felt a great serenity descend upon him. +After all, what did it matter to the universe--this trivial disturbance +upon this tiny planet? Men might kill each other, nations disappear; but +the stars would swing on in their courses, the constellations go their +predestined ways. Of what significance was man in the great scheme of +things? How absurd the pomp of kings and kaisers, how grotesque their +assumption of greatness! + +A stifled sob startled him. He groped quickly for his comrade, and found +her lying prone, her face buried in her arms. He drew her close and held +her as he might have held a child. After all, she was scarcely more than +that--a child, delicate and sensitive. As a child might, she pillowed +her head upon his breast and lay there sobbing softly. + +But the sobs ceased presently; he could feel how she struggled for +self-control; and at last she turned in his arms and lay staring up at +the heavens. + +"That's right," he said. "Look up at the stars! That helps!" and it +seemed to him, in spite of the tramp of feet and the rattle of wheels +and curses of savage drivers, that they were alone together in the midst +of things, and that nothing else mattered. + +"How sublime they are!" she whispered. "How they calm and strengthen +one! They seem to understand!" She turned her face and looked at him. +"You too have understood!" she said, very softly; then gently disengaged +his arms and sat erect. + +"Do you know," said Stewart, slowly, "what we saw back there has revived +my faith in human nature--and it needed reviving! Those men must have +seen that that scoundrel was a soldier like themselves, yet they didn't +hesitate to shoot. Justice still lives, then; a sense of decency can +survive, even in an army. I had begun to doubt it, and I am glad to know +that I was wrong." + +"The tenderest, noblest gentleman I ever knew," she answered, softly, +"was a soldier." + +"Yes," Stewart agreed; "I have known one or two like that." + +War was not wholly bad, then. Its fierce flame blasted, blackened, +tortured--but it also refined. It had its brutal lusts--but it had also +its high heroisms! + +The girl at his side stirred suddenly. + +"We must be going," she said. + +"You're sure you are all right again?" + +"Yes," and she rose quickly. "We must go back the way we came." + +They set out again along the edge of the army, stumbling across rough +fields, crouching behind hedges, turning aside to avoid a lighted house +where some officers were making merry. For perhaps a mile they pressed +on, with a line of sentries always at their right, outlined against the +gleam of scattered lights. Then, quite suddenly, there were no more +lights, and they knew that they had reached the limit of the encampment. + +Had they also reached the limit of the line of sentries? There was no +way to make sure; but they crept forward to the wall along the highway +and peered cautiously over. The road seemed empty. They crossed it as +swiftly and silently as shadows, and in a moment were safe behind the +wall on the other side. + +Beyond it lay the yard of an iron foundry, with great piles of castings +scattered about and a tall building looming at their left. In front of +it they caught the gleam of a sentry's rifle, so they bore away to the +right until they reached the line of the railway running close along the +river bank. There were sentries here, too, but they were stationed far +apart and were apparently half-asleep, and the fugitives had no +difficulty in slipping between them. A moment later, they had scrambled +down a steep bank and stood at the edge of the river. + +"And now," whispered Stewart, "to get over." + +He looked out across the water, flowing strong and deep, mysterious and +impressive in the darkness, powerful, unhurried, alert--as if grimly +conscious of its task, and rejoicing in it; for this stream which was +holding the Germans back had its origin away southward in the heart of +France. He could not see the other bank, but he knew that it was at +least two hundred yards away. + +"If we could find a boat!" he added. "We saw plenty of them this +afternoon." + +"We dare not use a boat," the girl objected. "We should be seen and +fired upon." + +"Do you mean to swim?" Stewart demanded. + +"Be more careful!" she cautioned. "Someone may hear us," and she drew +him down into the shadow of the bank. "Unfortunately, I cannot swim, but +no doubt you can." + +"I'm not what would be called an expert, but I think I could swim across +this river. However, I absolutely refuse to try to take you over. It +would be too great a risk." + +"If we had a plank or log, I could hold to it while you pushed it along. +If you grew tired, you could rest and drift for a time." + +Stewart considered the plan. It seemed feasible. A drifting plank would +attract no attention from the shore--the river was full of debris from +the operations around Liege--and, whether they got across or not, there +would be no danger of either of them drowning. And they ought to get +over, for it would be no great task to work a plank across the stream. + +"Yes, I think I could do that," he said at last. "Let us see if we can +find a plank." + +There was nothing of the sort along the shore, though they searched it +for some distance; but opposite the foundry they came upon a pile of the +square wooden sand-boxes in which castings are made. Stewart, when he +saw them, chuckled with satisfaction. + +"Just the thing!" he said. "Providence is certainly on our side +to-night!" + +"I hope so!" breathed the girl, and between them they carried one of the +boxes down to the edge of the water. + +Then, after a moment's hesitation, Stewart sat down and began to take +off his shoes. + +"We shall have to get rid of our clothing," he said, in the most +matter-of-fact tone he could muster. "There is nothing heavier than +clothes when they get water-soaked. Besides, we've got to keep them dry +if we can. If we don't, we shall nearly freeze to death after we leave +the water--and they'll betray us a mile off!" + +The girl stood for a moment staring out across the river. Then she sat +down with her back to him. + +"You are quite right," she agreed, quietly, and bent above her shoes. + +"We'll turn the box upside down and put our clothes upon it," went on +Stewart, cheerfully. "They will keep dry there. The water isn't very +cold, probably, but we shall be mighty glad to have some dry things to +get into once we are out of it." + +She did not reply, and Stewart went rapidly on with his undressing. When +that was finished, he rolled his trousers, shoes and underclothing into +a compact bundle inside his coat, and tied the sleeves together. + +"Now I'm going to launch the raft," he said. "Roll your clothes up +inside your coat, so that nothing white will show, and wade out to me as +soon as you are ready." + +"Very well," she answered, in a low tone. + +With his bundle under one arm, Stewart turned the box over and dragged +it into the water. He had been shivering in the night air, but the water +was agreeably warm. Placing his bundle upon the top of the box, he +pushed it before him out into the stream, and was soon breast-deep. +Then, holding the box against the current, he waited. + +Minute after minute passed, but she did not come. He could not see the +shore, but he strained his eyes toward it, wondering if he should go +back, if anything had happened. So quiet and unquestioning had been her +acceptance of his plan that he did not suspect the struggle waging there +on the bank between girlish modesty and grim necessity. + +But, at last, from the mist along the shore, a white figure emerged, dim +and ghostlike in the darkness, and he heard a gentle splashing as she +came toward him through the water. He raised his arm, to make certain +that she saw him, then turned his head away. + +Near and nearer came the splashing; then the box rocked gently as she +placed her clothing on it. + +"All right?" he asked, softly. + +"Yes," she answered. + +He turned to find her looking up at him from the level of the stream, +which came just beneath her chin. The light of the stars reflected on +the water crowned her with a misty halo, and again he read in her face +that sweet and tremulous appeal for respect and understanding which had +so moved him once before. It moved him far more deeply now; but he +managed to bite back the words which leaped to his lips and to speak +almost casually--as though situations such as this were the most +ordinary in the world. + +"Have you got a firm grip of the handle?" + +"Yes." + +He assured himself that both bundles of clothing were secure. + +"All ready, then," he said. "Just hold on and let your body float out in +the water. Don't hold your head too high, and if you feel your hands +slipping call me at once. I don't want to lose you, little comrade!" + +"I will remember," she promised, smiling gratefully up at him. + +"Then here we go," and he pushed the box slowly out into the stream. + +In a moment the water was at his chin. + +"All right?" he asked again. + +"Yes." + +He took another step forward, the current caught him and lifted him off +his feet, and he began to swim easily and slowly. He was not sure of his +strength, it was a long time since he had done any serious swimming, and +he knew that he must husband himself. Then, too, the current was +stronger than it had seemed from the shore, and he found that he could +make head against it but slowly, for the box was of an awkward shape and +the girl's body trailing behind it so much dead weight. + +"Slow but sure," he said, reassuringly, resting a moment. "You're quite +all right?" + +"Yes. You must not worry about me." + +He glanced back at the shore, where the lights of the camp shone dimly +through the mist. + +"We're going to drift right past the camp," he said; "but they can't see +us, and it will make our landing safer if we come out below the troops. +It would be rather embarrassing, wouldn't it, if we found a patrol +waiting for us on the bank? Now for another swim!" + +He pushed ahead until he found himself beginning to tire, then stopped +and looked around. + +"There's the bridge!" he said, suddenly. + +And, sure enough, just ahead, they could see its dim shape spanning the +stream. A cold fear gripped Stewart's heart. Suppose they should be +swept against one of the abutments! + +"Take tight hold with both hands," he commanded. "Don't let go, whatever +happens!" + +He swung himself round to the front of the box and tried to pierce the +gloom ahead. The center of the stream would be clear, he told himself, +and they must be nearly in the center. Then he heard the confused tread +of many feet, the current seemed to quicken, and he glanced up to see +that they were almost beneath the bridge. Yes, the stream ahead was +clear; but what were those lights down along the water? + +And then he saw that a boat was moored there, and that a squad of men +were strengthening the supports with which the engineers had hastily +repaired the shattered abutment. + +With frenzied energy, he pulled the box around so that his companion's +head was hidden behind it; then, with only his nose out, he floated +silently on. They would not see him, he told himself; they were too +busily at work. Even if they did, they could make nothing of this rough +shape drifting down the river. + +Nevertheless, as they swept within the circle of light cast by the +flaring torches, Stewart, taking a deep breath, let himself sink below +the surface; and not until the blood was singing in his ears did he come +up again. + +They had passed! They were safe! He drew a deep breath. Then he peered +around the box. + +"Are you there? Are you all right?" + +"Yes," came the soft answer. "Never tell me again that you are not a +fighter!" + +"Compliments are barred until we are safe in Belgium!" he reminded her +gayly. "But it's clear sailing now!" + +He struck out again, pushing diagonally forward toward the bank which he +could not see, but which could not be far away. This was not going to +prove such a desperate adventure, after all. The worst was over, for, +once on land, far below the German troops, they had only to push forward +to find themselves among friends. + +Then his heart stood still as a shrill scream rent the night--a woman's +scream of deadly horror--and he jerked his head around to find that his +comrade was no longer there. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE LAST DASH + + +Never will Stewart forget the stark horror of that instant; never +afterward did he think of it without a shudder. It was one of those +instants--fortunately few--which stamp themselves indelibly upon the +brain, which penetrate the spirit, which leave a mark not to be effaced. + +It was the flash of her white arm, as she sank for the second time, that +saved her. Instinctively Stewart clutched at it, seized it, regained the +box at a vigorous stroke, threw one arm across a handle, and raised her +head above the water. + +Her face was white as death, her eyes were closed, she hung a dead +weight upon his arm--and yet, Stewart told himself, she could not have +drowned in so short a time. She had been under water only a few seconds. +Perhaps she had been wounded--but he had heard no shot. His teeth +chattered as he looked at her, she lay so still, so deathlike. + +And then he remembered that shrill scream of utter horror. Why had she +screamed? What was it had wrung from her that terrible cry? Had some +awful thing touched her, seized her, tried to drag her down? + +Shivering with fear, Stewart looked out across the water. Was there +something lurking in those depths--some horror--some unthinkable +monster---- + +He shook himself impatiently; he must not give way to his nerves. +Holding her face back, he splashed some water into it, gently at first, +then more violently. She was not dead--she had only fainted. A touch on +her temple assured him that her heart was beating. + +He must have been unconsciously paddling against the current, for +something touched him gently on the shoulder--a piece of driftwood, +perhaps; and then he was suddenly conscious that it was not +driftwood--that it was soft, hairy---- + +He spun around, to find himself staring down into a pair of unseeing +eyes, set in a face so puffed and leprous as to be scarcely human. + +How he repressed the yell of terror that rose in his throat he never +knew; but he _did_ repress it somehow, and creeping with horror, pushed +the box quickly to one side. But the bloated body, caught in the swirl +of his wake, turned and followed, with an appearance of malignant +purpose which sent a chill up Stewart's spine. Kicking frenziedly, he +held the box back against the current, and for an instant fancied that +his hideous pursuer was holding back also. But, after what seemed like a +moment's hesitation, it drifted on down the stream and vanished in the +darkness. + +For a moment longer, Stewart stared after it, half-expecting it to +reappear and bear down upon him. Then, with an anguished breath of +relief, he stopped swimming and looked down at the face upon his arm. So +that was the horror which had beset her. She had felt it nuzzling +against her, had turned as he had done! No wonder she had screamed! + +He felt her bosom rise and fall with a quick gasp; then her eyes opened +and gazed up at him. For an instant they gazed vacantly and wildly, then +a flood of crimson swept from chin to brow, and she struggled to free +herself from his encircling arm. + +"Easy now!" Stewart protested. "Are you sure you're all right? Are you +sure you're strong enough to hold on?" + +"Yes, yes!" she panted. "Let me go!" + +He guided her fingers to the handles, assured himself that she grasped +them firmly, then released her and swam to his old position on the other +side of the box. For a moment they floated on in silence. + +"How foolish of me!" she said, at last, in a choking voice. "I suppose +you saved my life!" + +"Oh, I just grabbed you by the arm and held on to you till you came to." + +"Did I scream?" + +"I should rather think so! Scared me nearly to death!" + +"I could not help it! I was frightened. It was--it was----" + +"I know," said Stewart, quickly. "I saw it. Don't think about it--it has +gone on downstream." + +"It--it seemed to be following me!" she gasped. + +"Yes--I had the same feeling; but it's away ahead of us now. Now, if +you're all right, we'll work in toward the bank--it can't be far off. +Hullo! What's that?" + +A shadowy shape emerged from the darkness along the eastern shore, and +they caught the rattle of oars in row-locks. + +"They heard you scream," whispered Stewart. "They've sent out a patrol +to investigate," and with all his strength he pushed on toward the +farther bank. + +Suddenly a shaft of light shot from the bow of the boat out across the +water, sweeping up and down, dwelling upon this piece of driftwood and +upon that. With a gasp of apprehension, Stewart swung the box around so +that it screened them from the searchlight, and kept on swimming with +all his strength. + +"If they spot those bundles," he panted, "they'll be down upon us like a +load of brick! Ah!" + +The light was upon them. Above their heads the bundles of clothing stood +out as if silhouetted against the midday sky. Stewart cursed his folly +in placing them there; surely wet clothes were preferable to capture! He +should not have taken the risk--he should have put the clothing inside +the box and let it take its chance. But it was too late now. In another +moment---- + +The light swept on. + +From sheer reaction, Stewart's body dropped limply for an instant +through the water, and then rebounded as from an electric shock. + +"I can touch bottom!" he said, hoarsely. "We'll get there yet. Hold +fast!" + +Setting his teeth, digging his toes into the mud, he dragged the box +toward the shore with all his strength. In a moment, the water was only +to his shoulders--to his chest--he could see that his comrade was +wading, too. + +He stopped, peering anxiously ahead. There was no light anywhere along +the shore, and no sound broke the stillness. + +"It seems all right," he whispered. "I will go ahead and make sure. If +it is safe, you will hear me whistle. Keep behind the box, for fear that +searchlight will sweep this way again, and when I whistle, come straight +out. You understand?" + +"Yes." + +"Good-by, then, for a moment, little comrade!" + +"Good-by." + +With one look deep into her eyes, he snatched up the bundle containing +his clothing, and crouching as low in the water as he could, set off +cautiously toward the shore. There was a narrow strip of gravel just +ahead, and behind that a belt of darkness which, he told himself, was a +wood. He could see no sign of any sentry. + +As he turned at the water's edge, he noticed a growing band of light +over the hills to the east, and knew that the moon was rising. There was +no time to lose! He whistled softly and began hastily to dress. + +Low as the whistle was, it reached the boat--or perhaps it was mere +chance that brought the searchlight sweeping round just as the girl rose +in the water and started toward the shore. The light swept past her, +swept back again, and stopped full upon the flying figure, as slim and +graceful as Diana's. + +There was a hoarse shout from the boat, and the splash of straining +oars; and then Stewart was dashing forward into the water, was by her +side, had caught her hand and was dragging her toward the bank. + +"Go on! Go on!" he cried, and paused to pick up his shoes, for the sharp +gravel warned him, that, with unprotected feet, flight would be +impossible. His coat lay beside them and he grabbed that too. Then he +was up again and after her, across the cruel stones of the shore, toward +the darkness of the wood and safety--one yard--two yards---- + +And always the searchlight beat upon them mercilessly. + +There came a roar of rifles from the river, a flash of flame, the +whistle of bullets about his ears. + +And then they were in the wood and he had her by the hand. + +"Not hurt?" he gasped. + +"No, no!" + +"Thank heaven! We are safe for a moment. Get on some clothes--especially +your shoes. We can't run barefooted!" + +He was fumbling with his own shoes as he spoke--managed to thrust his +bruised feet into them--stuffed his socks into the pocket of his coat +and slipped into it. + +"Ready?" he asked. + +"In a moment!" + +And then he felt her hand in his. + +"Which way?" + +He glanced back through the trees. The boat was at the bank; its +occupants were leaping out, rifles in hand; the searchlight swept up and +down. + +"This way, I think!" and he guided her diagonally to the right. "Go +carefully! The less noise we make the better. But as long as those +fellows keep on shooting, they can't hear us." + +Away they went, stumbling, scrambling, bending low to escape the +overhanging branches, saving each other from some ugly falls--up a long +incline covered by an open wood, across a little glade, over a wall, +through another strip of woodland, into a road, over another wall--and +then Stewart gave a gasp of relief, for they were in a field of grain. + +"We shall be safe here," he said, as they plunged into it. "I will +watch, while you finish dressing," and he faced back toward the way they +had come. + +The full moon was sailing high above the eastern hills, and he could see +distinctly the wall they had just crossed, with the white road behind +it, and beyond that the dense shadow of the wood. It was on the strip of +road he kept his eyes, but no living creature crossed it and at last he +felt a touch upon his arm. + +"My turn now!" the girl whispered. + +Stewart sat down upon the ground, wiped the mud from his feet, shook the +gravel from his shoes, drew on his socks and laced his shoes properly. +As he started to get up, he felt a sudden sharp twinge in his shoulder. + +"What is it?" asked the girl, quickly, for an exclamation of pain had +burst from him before he could choke it back. + +"Nothing at all!" he said, and rose, gingerly. "I touched a raw place, +where a briar scratched me. I seem to be composed largely of raw +places--especially as to my feet. How are yours?" + +"One of them hurts a little--not enough to mention." + +"You're sure you can walk?" + +"Certainly--or run, if need be." + +"Then we had better push on a little farther. The Germans are still too +close for comfort. Keep your back to the moon--I'll act as rear-guard." + +For a moment she looked up questioningly into his face. + +"You are sure you are not hurt?" she asked. + +"Perfectly sure." + +"I was afraid you had been shot--I saw how you placed yourself between +me and the river!" + +"The merest accident," he assured her. "Besides, those fellows couldn't +shoot!" + +She gazed up at him yet a moment, her lips quivering; then she turned +and started westward through the field. + +Falling in behind, Stewart explored his wounded shoulder cautiously with +his fingers. He could feel that his shirt was wet with blood, but the +stabbing pain had been succeeded by a sharp stinging which convinced him +that it was only a flesh-wound. Folding his shirt back, he found it at +last, high in the shoulder above the collar-bone. + +"That was lucky!" he told himself, as he pressed his handkerchief over +it, rebuttoned his shirt, and pushed on after his comrade. "Half an inch +lower and the bone would have been smashed!" + +Away to the south, they could hear the thunder of the Liege forts, and +Stewart, aching from his own slight injury, thought with a shudder of +the poor fellows who had to face that deadly fire. No doubt it was to +this fresh attack the troops had been marched which they had seen +crossing the river. It was improbable that the invaders would risk +pushing westward until the forts were reduced; and so, when the +fugitives came presently to a road which ran northwestwardly, they +ventured to follow it. + +"We would better hide somewhere and rest till daylight," Stewart +suggested, at last. "We have had a hard day." + +He himself was nearly spent with fatigue and hunger, and his shoulder +was stiff and sore. + +"Very well," the girl agreed. "I too am very tired. Where shall we go?" + +Stewart stopped and looked about him. + +On one side of the road was a level pasture affording no shelter; on the +other side, a rolling field mounted to a strip of woodland. + +"At the edge of those trees would be the best place," he decided, and +the girl agreed with a nod. + +Laboriously they clambered over the wall beside the road and set off +toward this refuge. The field was very rough and seemed interminable, +and more than once Stewart thought that he must drop where he stood; but +they reached the wood at last and threw themselves down beneath the +first clump of undergrowth. + +Stewart was asleep almost before he touched the ground; but the girl lay +for a long time with eyes open, staring up into the night. Then, very +softly, she crawled to Stewart's side, raised herself on one elbow and +looked down into his face. + +It was not at all the face of the man she had met at the Koelner Hof two +days before. It was thinner and paler; there were dark circles of +exhaustion under the eyes; a stubbly beard covered the haggard cheeks, +across one of which was an ugly scratch. Yet the girl seemed to find it +beautiful. Her eyes filled with tears as she gazed at it; she brushed +back a lock of hair that had fallen over the forehead, and bent as +though to press a kiss there--but stopped, with a quick shake of the +head, and drew away. + +"Not yet!" she whispered. "Not yet!" and crawling a little way apart, +she lay down again among the bushes. + + * * * * * + +Again Stewart awoke with the sun in his eyes, and after a moment's +confused blinking, he looked around to find himself alone. + +The dull pain in his shoulder as he sat up reminded him of his wound. +Crawling a little distance back among the bushes, he slipped out of his +coat. His shirt was soaked with blood half-way down the right side--a +good sign, Stewart told himself. He knew how great a show a little blood +can make, and he was glad that the wound had bled freely. He unbuttoned +his shirt and gingerly pulled it back from the shoulder, for the blood +had dried in places and stuck fast; then he removed the folded +handkerchief, and the wound lay revealed. + +He could just see it by twisting his head around, and he regarded it +with satisfaction, for, as he had thought, it was not much more than a +scratch. A bullet had grazed the shoulder-bone, plowed through the +muscle and sped on its way, leaving behind, as the only sign of its +passage, a tiny black mark. + +"You are wounded!" cried a strangled voice, and in an instant his +comrade was on her knees beside him, her face pale, her lips working. +"And you did not tell me! Oh, cruel, cruel!" + +There was that in the voice, in the eyes, in the trembling lips which +sent Stewart's heart leaping into his throat. But, by a mighty effort, +he kept his arms from around her. + +"Nonsense!" he said, as lightly as he could. "That's not a wound--it is +just a scratch. This one across my cheek hurts a blamed sight worse! If +I could only wash it----" + +"There is a little stream back yonder," she said, and sprang to her +feet. "Come! Or perhaps you cannot walk!" and she put her arms around +him to help him up. + +He rose with a laugh. + +"Really," he protested, "I don't see how a scratch on the shoulder could +affect my legs!" + +But she refused to make a jest of it. + +"The blood--it frightens me. Are you very weak?" she asked, anxiously, +holding tight to him, as though he might collapse at any instant. + +"If I am," said Stewart, "it is from want of food, not from loss of +blood. I haven't lost a spoonful. Ah, here's the brook!" + +He knelt beside it, while she washed the blood from his handkerchief and +tenderly bathed the injured shoulder. Stewart watched her with +fast-beating heart. Surely she cared; surely there was more than +friendly concern in that white face, in those quivering lips. Well, very +soon now, he could put it to the touch. He trembled at the thought: +would he win or lose? + +"Am I hurting you?" she asked, anxiously, for she had felt him quiver. + +"Not a bit--the cool water feels delightful. You see it is only a +scratch," he added, when the clotted blood had been cleared away. "It +will be quite well in two or three days. I sha'n't even have a scar! I +think it might have left a scar! What's the use of being wounded, if one +hasn't a scar to show for it? And I shall probably never be under fire +again!" + +She smiled wanly, and a little color crept back into her face. + +"How you frightened me!" she said. "I came through the bushes and saw +you sitting there, all covered with blood! You might have told me--it +was foolish to lie there all night without binding it up. Suppose you +had bled to death!" and she wrung out the handkerchief, shook it out in +the breeze until it was nearly dry, and bound it tightly over the wound. +"How does that feel?" + +"It feels splendid! Really it does," he added, seeing that she regarded +him doubtfully. "If I feel the least little twinge of pain, I will +notify you instantly. I give you my word!" + +They sat for a moment silent, gazing into each other's eyes. It was the +girl who stirred first. + +"I will go to the edge of the wood and reconnoiter," she said, rising a +little unsteadily, "while you wash your hands and face. Or shall I stay +and help?" + +"No," said Stewart, "thank you. I think I am still able to wash my own +face--that is, if you think it's any use to wash it!" and he ran his +fingers along his stubbly jaws. "Do you think you will like me with a +beard?" + +"With a beard or without one, it is all the same!" she answered, softly, +and slipped quickly away among the trees, leaving Stewart to make what +he could of this cryptic utterance. + +Despite his gnawing hunger, despite his stiff shoulder and sore muscles, +he was very, very happy as he bent above the clear water and drank deep, +and bathed hands and face. How good it was to be alive! How good it was +to be just here this glorious morning! With no man on earth would he +have changed places! + +He did not linger over his toilet. Every moment away from his comrade +was a moment lost. He found her sitting at the edge of the wood, gazing +down across the valley, her hair stirring slightly in the breeze, her +whole being radiant with youth. He looked at her for a moment, and then +he looked down at himself. + +"What a scarecrow I am," he said, and ruefully contemplated a long tear +in his coat--merely the largest of half a dozen. "And I lost my collar +in that dash last night--I left it on the bank, and didn't dare stop to +look for it. Even if we met the Germans now, there would be no +danger--they would take us for tramps!" + +"I know I look like a scarecrow," she laughed; "but you might have +spared telling me!" + +"You!" cried Stewart. "A scarecrow! Oh, no; you would attract the birds. +They would find you adorable!" + +His eyes added that not alone to the birds was she adorable. + +She cast one glance at him--a luminous glance, shy yet glad; abashed yet +rejoicing. Then she turned away. + +"There is a village over yonder," she said. "We can get something to eat +there, and find out where we are. Listen! What is that?" + +Away to the south a dull rumbling shook the horizon--a mighty shock as +of an earthquake. + +"The Germans have got their siege-guns into position," he said. "They +are attacking Liege again." + +Yes, there could be no doubt of it; murder and desolation were stalking +across the country to the south. But nothing could be more peaceful than +the fields which stretched before them. + +"There is no danger here," said Stewart, and led the way down across the +rough pasture to the road. + +As he mounted the wall, moved by some strange uneasiness, he stopped to +look back toward the east; but the road stretched white and empty until +it plunged into a strip of woodland a mile away. + +Somehow he was not reassured. With that strange uneasiness still +weighing on him, a sense of oppression as of an approaching storm, he +sprang down beside the girl, and they set off westward side by side. At +first they could not see the village, which was hid by a spur of rising +ground; then, at a turn of the road, they found it close in front of +them. + +But the road was blocked with fallen trees, strung with barbed wire--and +what was that queer embankment of fresh, yellow earth which stretched to +right and left? + +"The Belgians!" cried the girl. "Come! We are safe at last!" and she +started to run forward. + +But only for an instant. As though that cry of hers was an awaited +signal, there came a crash of musketry from the wooded ridge to the +right, and an answering crash from the crest of the embankment; and +Stewart saw that light and speeding figure spin half round, crumple in +upon itself, and drop limply to the road. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +DISASTER + + +He was beside her in an instant, his arm around her, raising her. He +scarcely heard the guns; he scarcely heard the whistle of the bullets; +he knew only, as he knelt there in the road, that his little comrade had +been stricken down. + +Where was she wounded? + +Not in the head, thank God! Not in the throat, so white and delicate. +The breast, perhaps, and with trembling fingers he tore aside the coat. + +She opened her eyes and looked dazedly up at him. + +"_Qu'y a-t-il?_" she murmured. Then her vision cleared. "What is the +matter?" she asked in a stronger voice. + +"You've been hit," he panted. "Do you feel pain?" + +She closed her eyes for an instant. + +"No," she answered; "but my left leg is numb, as if----" + +"Pray heaven it is only in the leg! I must get you somewhere out of +this." He raised his head to look around, and was suddenly conscious of +the banging guns. "Damn these lunatics! Oh, damn them!" + +The ridges on either side were rimmed with fire. He cast a glance behind +him and his heart stood still, for a troop of cavalry was deploying into +the road. Forward, then, to the village, since that was the only way. + +He stooped to lift her. + +"I may hurt you a little," he said. + +"What are you going to do?" + +"I'm going to carry you to the village. Here, wave your handkerchief to +show them that we are friends," and he drew it from her pocket and +thrust it into her hand. "Now, your arm about my neck." + +She obeyed mutely; then, as he straightened up, she saw, over his +shoulder, the cavalry forming for the charge. + +"No, no!" she cried. "Put me down. Here are the letters! See, I am +placing them in your pocket! Now, put me down and save yourself!" + +He was picking his way forward over the barbed wire. He dared not lift +his eyes from the road even for a glance at her. + +"Be still!" he commanded. "Don't struggle so! I will not put you down! +Wave the handkerchief!" + +"There is cavalry down yonder," she protested, wildly. "It will charge +in a moment!" + +"I know it! That's one reason I will not put you down!" + +He was past the wire; he could look at her for an instant--into her +eyes, so close to his; deep into her eyes, dark with fear and pain. + +"Another reason is," he said, deliberately, "that I love you! I am +telling you now because I want you to know, if this should be the end! I +love you, love you, love you!" + +He was forced to look away from her, for there were fallen trees in +front, but he felt the arm around his neck tighten. + +And then he bent his head and kissed her. + +"Like that!" he said, hoarsely. "Only a thousand times more than that--a +million times more than that!" + +She pulled herself up until her cheek was pressed to his; and her eyes +were like twin stars. + +"And I!" she whispered. "A million times more than that. Oh, my prince, +my lover!" + +Stewart's veins ran fire. His fatigue dropped from him. He trod on air. +He threw back his head proudly, for he felt himself invincible. He was +contemptuous of fate--it could not harm him now! + +"And yet you wanted me to put you down!" he mocked. + +She snuggled against him, warm and womanly; she gave herself to him. + +"Oh, hold me close!" she seemed to say. "Hold me close, close! I am +yours now!" + +"Wave the handkerchief!" he added. "We're getting near the barricade. +Life is too sweet to end just yet!" + +She smiled up into his eyes, and waved the handkerchief at arm's length +above their heads. Stewart, glancing up, saw a row of faces crowned by +queer black shakos peering curiously down from the top of the barricade. + +"They have seen us!" he said. "They're not firing! They understand that +we are friends! Courage, little comrade!" + +"I am not afraid," she smiled. "And I love that name--little comrade!" + +"Here are the last entanglements--and then we're through. What is that +cavalry doing?" + +She gave a little cry as she looked back along the road. At the same +instant, Stewart heard the thunder of galloping hoofs. + +"They are coming!" she screamed. "Oh, put me down! Put me down!" + +"Not I!" gasped Stewart between his teeth, and glanced over his +shoulder. + +The Uhlans were charging in solid mass, their lances couched. + +There was just one chance of escape--Stewart saw it instantly. Holding +the girl close, he leaped into the ditch beside the road and threw +himself flat against the ground, shielding her with his body. + +In an instant the thunder of the charge was upon him. Then, high above +the rattle of guns, rose the shouts of men, the screams of horses, the +savage shock of the encounter. Something rolled upon him,--lay quivering +against him--a wounded man--a dead one, perhaps--in any event, he told +himself, grimly, so much added protection. Pray heaven that a maddened +horse did not tramp them down! + +The tumult died, the firing slackened. What was that? A burst of +cheering? + +Stewart ventured to raise his head and look about him; then, with a +gasp, he threw off the weight, caught up his companion and staggered to +his feet. Yes; it was a body which had fallen upon him. It rolled slowly +over on its back as he arose, and he saw a ghastly wound between the +eyes. + +"They have been repulsed!" he panted. "Wave the handkerchief!" With his +heart straining in his throat, he clambered out of the ditch and +staggered on. "Don't look!" he added, for the road was strewn with +horrors. "Don't look!" + +She gazed up at him, smiling calmly. + +"I shall look only at you, my lover!" she said, softly, and Stewart +tightened his grip and held her close! + +There was the barricade, with cheering men atop it, exposing themselves +with utter recklessness to the bullets which still whistled from right +and left. Stewart felt his knees trembling. Could he reach it? Could he +lift his foot over this entanglement? Could he possibly step across this +body? + +Suddenly he felt his burden lifted from him and a strong arm thrown +about his shoulders. + +"Friends!" he gasped. "We're friends!" + +Then he heard the girl's clear voice speaking in rapid French, and men's +voices answering eagerly. The mist cleared a little from before his +eyes, and he found that the arm about his shoulders belonged to a stocky +Belgian soldier who was leading him past one end of the barricade, close +behind another who bore the girl in his arms. + +At the other side an officer stopped them. + +"Who are you?" he asked in French. "From where do you come?" + +"We are friends," said the girl. "We have fled from Germany. We have +both been wounded." + +"Yes," said Stewart, and showed his blood-stained shirt. "Mine is only a +scratch, but my comrade needs attention." + +A sudden shout from the top of the barricade told that the Uhlans were +re-forming. + +"You must look out for yourselves," said the officer. "I will hear your +story later," and he bounded back to his place beside his men. + +The soldier who was carrying the girl dropped her abruptly into +Stewart's arms and followed his captain. In an instant the firing +recommenced. + +Stewart looked wildly about him. He was in a village street, with +close-built houses on either side. + +"I must find a wagon," he gasped, "or something----" + +His breath failed him, but he staggered on. The mist was before his eyes +again, his tongue seemed dry and swollen. + +Suddenly the arm about his neck relaxed, the head fell back---- + +He cast one haggard glance down into the white face, then turned through +the nearest doorway. + +Perhaps she was wounded more seriously than he had thought--perhaps she +had not told him. He must see--he must make sure---- + +He found himself in a tiled passage, opening into a low-ceilinged room +lighted by a single window. For an instant, in the semi-darkness, he +stared blindly; then he saw a low settle against the farther wall, and +upon this he gently laid his burden. + +Before he could catch himself, he had fallen heavily to the floor, and +lay there for a moment, too weak to rise. But the weakness passed. With +set teeth, he pulled himself to his knees, got out his knife, found, +with his fingers, the stain of blood above the wound in the leg, and +quickly ripped away the cloth. + +The bullet had passed through the thickness of the thigh, leaving a tiny +puncture. With a sob of thankfulness, he realized that the wound was not +dangerous. Blood was still oozing slowly from it--it must be washed and +dressed. + +He found a pail of water in the kitchen, snatched a sheet from a bed in +another room, and set to work. The familiar labor steadied him, the +mists cleared, his muscles again obeyed his will, the sense of +exhaustion passed. + +"It is only a scratch!" whispered a voice, and he turned sharply to find +her smiling up at him. "It is just a scratch like yours!" + +"It is much more than a scratch!" he said, sternly. "You must lie still, +or you will start the bleeding." + +"Tyrant!" she retorted, and then she raised her head and looked to see +what he was doing. "Oh! is it there?" she said, in surprise. "I didn't +feel it there!" + +"Where did you feel it?" Stewart demanded. "Not in the body? Tell me the +truth!" + +"It seemed to me to be somewhere below the knee. But how savage you +are!" + +"I'm savage because you are hurt. I can't stand it to see you suffer!" +and with lips compressed, he bandaged the wound with some strips torn +from the sheet. Then he ran his fingers down over the calf, and brought +them away stained with blood. He caught up his knife and ripped the +cloth clear down. + +"Really," she protested, "I shall not have any clothing left, if you +keep on like that! I do not see how I am going to appear in public as it +is!" + +He grimly washed the blood away without replying. On either side of the +calf, he found a tiny black spot where the second bullet had passed +through. + +"These German bullets seem to be about the size of peas," he remarked, +as he bandaged the leg; then he raised his head and listened, as the +firing outside rose to a furious crescendo. "They're at it again!" he +added. "We must be getting out of this!" + +She reached up, caught him by the coat, and drew him down to her. + +"Listen," she said. "The letters are in your pocket. Should we be +separated----" + +"We will not be separated," he broke in, impatiently. "Do you suppose I +would permit anything to separate us now?" + +"I know, dear one," she said, softly. "But if we should be, you will +carry the letters to General Joffre? Oh, do not hesitate!" she cried. +"Promise me! They mean so much to me--my life's work--all my +ambitions--all my hopes----" + +"Very well," he said. "I promise." + +"You have not forgotten the sign and the formula?" + +"No." + +She passed an arm about his neck and drew him still closer. + +"Kiss me!" she whispered. + +And Stewart, shaken, transported, deliriously happy, pressed his lips to +hers in a long, close, passionate embrace. + +At last she drew her arm away. + +"I am very tired," she whispered, smiling dreamily up at him; "and very, +very happy. I do not believe I can go on, dear one." + +"I will get a wagon of some kind--a hand-cart, if nothing better. There +must be ambulances somewhere about----" + +He paused, listening, for the firing at the barricade had started +furiously again. + +"I will be back in a moment," he said, and ran to the street door and +looked out. As he did so, a wounded soldier hobbled past, using his +rifle as a crutch. + +"How goes it?" Stewart inquired, in French. + +"We hold them off," answered the soldier, smiling cheerfully, though his +face was drawn with pain. + +"Will they break through?" + +"No. Our reenforcements are coming up," and the little soldier hobbled +away down the street. + +"I should have asked him where the ambulances are," thought Stewart. He +glanced again toward the barricade. The firing had slackened; evidently +the assailants had again been repulsed. Yes, there was time, and he +darted down the street after the limping soldier. He was at his side in +a moment. "Where are the ambulances?" he asked. + +The soldier, turning to reply, glanced back along the street and his +face went livid. + +"Ah, good God!" he groaned. "Look yonder!" + +And, looking, Stewart beheld a gray-green flood pouring over the +barricade, beheld the flash of reddened bayonets, beheld the little band +of Belgians swept backward. + +With a cry of anguish, he sprang back along the street, but in an +instant the tide was upon him. He fought against it furiously, striking, +cursing, praying---- + +And suddenly he found himself face to face with the Belgian officer, +blood-stained, demoniac, shouting encouragement to his men. His eyes +flashed with amazement when he saw Stewart. + +"Go back! Go back!" he shouted. + +"My comrade is back there!" panted Stewart, and tried to pass. + +But the officer caught his arm. + +"Madman!" he cried. "It is death to go that way!" + +"What is that to me?" retorted Stewart, and wrenched his arm away. + +The officer watched him for an instant, then turned away with a shrug. +After all, he reflected, it was none of his affair; his task was to hold +the Germans back, and he threw himself into it. + +"Steady, men!" he shouted. "Steady! Our reserves are coming!" + +And his men cheered and held a firm front, though it cost them dear--so +firm and steady that Stewart found he could not get past it, but was +carried back foot by foot, too exhausted to resist, entangled hopelessly +in the retreat. The Germans pressed forward, filling the street from +side to side, compact, irresistible. + +And then the Belgians heard behind them the gallop of horses, the roll +of heavy wheels, and their captain, glancing back, saw that a +quick-firer had swung into position in the middle of the street. + +"Steady, men!" he shouted. "We have them now! Steady till I give the +word!" He glanced back again and caught the gun-captain's nod. "Now! To +the side and back!" he screamed. + +The men, with a savage cheer, sprang to right and left, into doorways, +close against the walls, and the gun, with a purr of delight, let loose +its lightnings into the advancing horde. + +Stewart, who had been swept aside with the others without understanding +what was happening, gasping, rubbing his eyes, staring down the street, +saw the gray line suddenly stop and crumple up. Then, with a savage +yell, it dashed forward and stopped again. He saw an officer raise his +sword to urge them on, then fall crashing to the street; he saw that +instant of indecision which is fatal to any charge; and then stark +terror ran through the ranks, and they turned to flee. + +But the pressure from the rear cut off escape in that direction, and the +human flood burst into the houses on either side, swept through them, +out across the fields, and away. And steadily the little gun purred on, +as though reveling in its awful work, until the street was clear. + +But the Germans, though they had suffered terribly, were not yet routed. +A remnant of them held together behind the houses at the end of the +street, and still others took up a position behind the barricade and +swept the street with their rifles. + +The little officer bit his lip in perplexity as he looked about at his +company, so sadly reduced in numbers. Should he try to retake the +barricade with a rush, or should he wait for reenforcements? He loved +his men--surely, they had more than played their part. Then his eye was +caught by a bent figure which dodged from doorway to doorway. + +"That madman again!" he muttered, and watched, expecting every instant +to see him fall. + +For Stewart had not waited for the captain's decision. Almost before the +Germans turned to flee, he was creeping low along the wall, taking +advantage of such shelter as there was. The whistle of the machine-gun's +bullets filled the street. One nipped him across the wrist, another +grazed his arm, and then, as the Germans rallied, he saw ahead of him +the vicious flashes of their rifles. + +He was not afraid; indeed, he was strangely calm. He was quite certain +that he would not be killed--others might fall, but not he. Others--yes, +here they were; dozens, scores, piled from wall to wall. For here was +where the machine-gun had caught the German advance and smote it down. +They lay piled one upon another, young men, all of them; some lying with +arms flung wide, staring blindly up at the sky; a few moaning feebly, +knowing only that they suffered; two or three trying to pull themselves +from beneath the heap of dead; one coward burrowing deeper into it! He +could hear the thud, thud of the bullets from either end of the street +as they struck the mass of bodies, dead and wounded alike, until there +were no longer any wounded; until even the coward lay still! + +Sick and dizzy, he pushed on. Was this the house? The door stood open +and he stepped inside and looked around. No, this was not it. + +The next one, perhaps--all these houses looked alike from the street. As +he reached the door, a swirl of acrid smoke beat into his face. He +looked out quickly. The barricade was obscured by smoke; dense masses +rolled out of the houses on either side. The Germans had fired the +village! + +Into the next house Stewart staggered--vainly; and into the next. He +could hear the crackling of the flames; the smoke grew thicker---- + +Into the next! + +He knew it the instant he crossed the threshold; yes, this was the +entry, this was the room, there was the settle---- + +He stopped, staring, gasping---- + +The settle was empty. + +Slowly he stepped forward, gazing about him. Yes, there was the bucket +of water on the floor, just as he had left it; there were the +blood-stained rags; there was the torn sheet. + +But the settle was empty. + +He threw himself beside it and ran his hands over it, to be sure that +his eyes were not deceiving him. + +No; the settle was empty. + +He ran into the next room and the next. He ran all through the house +calling, "Comrade! Little comrade!" + +But there was no reply. The rooms were empty, one and all. + +Half-suffocated, palsied with despair, he reeled back to the room where +he had left her, and stared about it. Could he be mistaken? No; there +was the bucket, the bandages---- + +But what was that dark stain in the middle of the white, sanded floor. +He drew close and looked at it. It was blood. + +Still staring, he backed away. Blood--whose blood? Not hers! Not his +little comrade's! + +And suddenly his strength fell from him; he staggered, dropped to his +knees---- + +This was the end, then--this was the end. There on the settle was where +she had lain; it was there she had drawn him down for that last caress; +and the letters,--ah, they would never be delivered now! But at least he +could die there, with his head where hers had been. + +Blinded, choking, he dragged himself forward--here was the place! + +"Little comrade!" he murmured. "Little comrade!" + +And he fell forward across the settle, his face buried in his arms. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +A TRUST FULFILLED + + +When Stewart opened his eyes again it was to find himself looking up +into a good-humored face, which he did not at first recognize. It was +brown and dirty, there was a three-days' growth of beard upon cheeks and +chin, and a deep red scratch across the forehead, but the eyes were +bright and the lips smiling, as of a man superior to every fortune--and +then he recognized the little Belgian captain whose troops had defended +the village. + +Instantly memory surged back upon him--memory bitter and painful. He +raised his head and looked about him. He was lying under a clump of +trees not far from the bank of a little stream, along which a company of +Belgian soldiers were busy throwing up intrenchments. + +"Ah, so you are better!" said the captain, in his clipped French, his +eyes beaming with satisfaction. "That is good! A little more of that +smoke, and it would have been all over with you!" and he gestured toward +the eastern horizon, above which hung a black and threatening cloud. + +Stewart pulled himself to a sitting posture and stared for a moment at +the cloud as it billowed in the wind. Then he passed his hand before his +eyes and stared again. And suddenly all his strength seemed to go from +him and he lay quietly down again. + +"So bad as that!" said the officer, sympathetically, struck by the +whiteness of his face. "And I have nothing to give you--not a swallow of +wine--not a sip!" + +"It will pass," said Stewart, hoarsely. "I shall be all right presently. +But I do not understand French very well. Do you speak English?" + +"A lit-tle," answered the other, and spoke thereafter in a mixture of +French and English, which Stewart found intelligible, but which need not +be indicated here. + +"Will you tell me what happened?" Stewart asked, at last. + +"Ah, we drove them out!" cried the captain, his face gleaming. "My men +behaved splendidly--they are brave boys, as you yourself saw. We made +it--how you say?--too hot for the Germans; but we could not remain. They +were pushing up in force on every side, and they had set fire to the +place. So we took up our wounded and fell back. At the last moment, I +happen to remember that I had seen you dodging along the street in face +of the German fire, so I look for you in this house and in that. At last +I find you in a room full of smoke, lying across a bench, and I bring +you away. Now we wait for another attack. It will come soon--our scouts +have seen the Germans preparing to advance. Then we fight as long as we +can and kill as many as we can, and then give back to a new position. +That, over and over again, will be our part in this war--to hold them +until France has time to strike. But I pity my poor country," and his +face grew dark. "There will be little left of her when those barbarians +have finished. They are astounded that we fight, that we dare oppose +them; they are maddened that we hold them back, for time means +everything to them. They revenge themselves by burning our villages and +killing defenseless people. Ah, well, they shall pay! Tell me, my +friend," he added, in another tone, "why did you risk death in that +reckless fashion? Why did you kneel beside that bench?" + +"It was there I left my comrade," Stewart answered, brokenly, his face +convulsed. "She was wounded--she could not walk--I was too exhausted to +carry her--I went to look for a cart--for an ambulance--I had scarcely +taken a step, when the Germans swept over the barricade and into the +town. When I got back to the house where I had left her, she was not +there." + +"Ah," said the other, looking down at Stewart, thoughtfully. "It was a +woman, then?" + +"Yes." + +"Your wife?" + +"She had promised to become my wife," and Stewart looked at the other, +steadily. + +"You are an American, are you not?" + +"Yes--I have my passport." + +"And Madame--was she also an American?" + +"No--she was a Frenchwoman. She was shot twice in the leg as we ran +toward your barricade--seriously--it was quite impossible for her to +walk. But when I got back to the house, she was not there. What had +happened to her?" + +His companion gazed out over the meadows and shook his head. + +"You looked in the other rooms?" he asked. + +"Everywhere--all through the house--she was not there! Ah, and I +remember now," he added, struggling to a sitting posture, his face more +livid, if possible, than it had been before. "There was a great +bloodstain on the floor that was not there when I left her. How could it +have got there? I cannot understand!" + +Again the officer shook his head, his eyes still on the billowing smoke. + +"It is very strange," he murmured. + +"I must go back!" cried Stewart. "I must search for her!" and he tried +to rise. + +The other put out a hand to stop him, but drew it back, seeing it +unnecessary. + +"Impossible!" he said. "You see, you cannot even stand!" + +"I have had nothing to eat since yesterday," Stewart explained. "Then +only some eggs and apples. If I could get some food----" + +He broke off, his chin quivering helplessly, as he realized his +weakness. He was very near to tears. + +"Even if you could walk," the other pointed out, "even if you were quite +strong, it would still be impossible. The Germans have burned the +village; they are now on this side of it. If Madame is still alive, she +is safe. Barbarians as they are, they would not kill a wounded woman!" + +"Oh, you don't know!" groaned Stewart. "You don't know! They would kill +her without compunction!" and weakness and hunger and despair were too +much for him. He threw himself forward on his face, shaken by great +sobs. + +The little officer sat quite still, his face very sad. There was no +glory about war--that was merely a fiction to hold soldiers to their +work; it was all horrible, detestable, inhuman. He had seen brave men +killed, torn, mutilated; he had seen inoffensive people driven from +their homes and left to starve; he had seen women weeping for their +husbands and children for their fathers; he had seen terror stalk across +the quiet countryside--famine, want, despair---- + +The paroxysm passed, and Stewart gradually regained his self-control. + +"You will, of course, do as you think best," said his companion, at +last; "but I could perhaps be of help if I knew more. How do you come to +be in these rags? Why was Madame dressed as a man? Why should the +Germans kill her? These are things that I should like to know--but you +will tell me as much or as little as you please." + +Before he was well aware of it, so hungry was he for comfort, Stewart +found himself embarked upon the story. It flowed from his lips so +rapidly, so brokenly, as poignant memory stabbed through him, that more +than once his listener stopped him and asked him to repeat. For the +rest, he sat staring out at the burning village, his eyes bright, his +hands clenched. + +And when the story was over, he arose, faced the east, and saluted +stiffly. + +"_Madame!_" he said--and so paid her the highest tribute in a soldier's +power. + +Then he sat down again, and there was a moment's silence. + +"What you have told me," he said, slowly, at last, "moves me beyond +words! Believe me, I would advance this instant, I would risk my whole +command, if I thought there was the slightest chance of rescuing that +intrepid and glorious woman. But there is no chance. That village is +held by at least a regiment." + +"What could have happened?" asked Stewart, again. "Where could she have +gone?" + +"I cannot imagine. I can only hope that she is safe. Most probably she +has been taken prisoner. Even in that case, there is little danger that +she will ever be recognized." + +"But why should they take prisoner a wounded civilian?" Stewart +persisted. "I cannot understand it--unless----" + +His voice died in his throat. + +"Unless what?" asked the officer, turning on him quickly. "What is it +you fear?" + +"Unless she _was_ recognized!" cried Stewart, hoarsely. + +But the other shook his head. + +"If she had been recognized--which is most improbable--she would not +have been taken prisoner at all. She would have been shot where she +lay." + +And then again that dark stain upon the floor flashed before Stewart's +eyes. Perhaps that had really happened. Perhaps that blood was hers! + +"It is the suspense!" he groaned. "The damnable suspense!" + +"I know," said the other, gently. "It is always the missing who cause +the deepest anguish. One can only wait and hope and pray! That is all +that you can do--that and one other thing." + +"What other thing?" Stewart demanded. + +"She intrusted you with a mission, did she not?" asked the little +captain, gently. "Living or dead, she would be glad to know that you +fulfilled it, for it was very dear to her. You still have the letters?" + +Stewart thrust his hand into his pocket and brought them forth. + +"You are right," he said, and rose unsteadily. "Where will I find +General Joffre?" + +The other had risen, too, and was supporting him with a strong hand. + +"That I do not know," he answered; "somewhere along the French frontier, +no doubt, mustering his forces." + +Stewart looked about him uncertainly. + +"If I were only stronger," he began. + +"Wait," the little officer broke in. "I think I have it--I am expecting +instructions from our headquarters at St. Trond--they should arrive at +any moment--and I can send you back in the car which brings them. At +headquarters they will be able to tell you something definite, and +perhaps to help you." He glanced anxiously toward the east and then cast +an appraising eye over the intrenchments his troops had dug. "We can +hold them back for a time," he added, "but we need reenforcements badly. +Ah, there comes the car!" + +A powerful gray motor spun down the road from the west, kicking up a +great cloud of dust, and in a moment the little captain had received his +instructions. He tore the envelope open and read its contents eagerly. +Then he turned to his men, his face shining. + +"The Sixty-third will be here in half an hour!" he shouted. "We will +give those fellows a hot dose this time!" + +His men cheered the news with waving shakos, then, with a glance +eastward, fell to work again on their trenches, which would have to be +extended to accommodate the reenforcements. Their captain stepped close +to the side of the purring car, made his report to an officer who sat +beside the driver, and then the two carried on for a moment a low-toned +conversation. More than once they glanced at Stewart, and the +conversation ended with a sharp nod from the officer in the car. The +other came hurrying back. + +"It is all right," he said. "You will be at St. Trond in half an hour," +and he helped him to mount into the tonneau. + +For an instant Stewart stood there, staring back at the cloud of smoke +above the burning village; then he dropped into the seat and turned to +say good-by to the gallant fellow who had proved so true a friend. + +The little soldier was standing with heels together, head thrown back, +hand at the visor of his cap. + +"_Monsieur!_" he said, simply, as his eyes met Stewart's, and then the +car started. + +Stewart looked back through a mist of tears, and waved his hand to that +martial little figure, so hopeful and indomitable. Should he ever see +that gallant friend again? Chance was all against it. An hour hence, he +might be lying in the road, a bullet through his heart; if not an hour +hence, then to-morrow or next day. And before this war was over, how +many others would be lying so, arms flung wide, eyes staring at the +sky--just as those young Germans had lain back yonder! + +He thrust such thoughts away. They were too bitter, too terrible. But as +his vision cleared, he saw on every hand the evidence of war's +desolation. + +The road was thronged with fugitives--old men, women, and +children--fleeing westward away from their ruined homes, away from the +plague which was devastating their land. Their faces were vacant with +despair, or wet with silent tears. For whither could they flee? Where +could they hope for food and shelter? How could their journey end, save +at the goal of death? + +The car threaded its way slowly among these heart-broken people, passed +through silent and deserted villages, by fields of grain that would +never be harvested, along quiet streams which would soon be red with +blood; and at last it came to St. Trond, and stopped before the +town-hall, from whose beautiful old belfry floated the Belgian flag. + +"If you will wait here, sir," said the officer, and jumped to the +pavement and hurried up the steps. + +So Stewart waited, an object of much curiosity to the passing crowd. +Other cars dashed up from time to time, officers jumped out with +reports, jumped in again with orders and dashed away. Plainly, Belgium +was not dismayed even in face of this great invasion. She was fighting +coolly, intelligently, with her whole strength. + +And then an officer came down the steps, sprang to the footboard of the +machine, and looked at Stewart. + +"I am told you have a message," he said. + +"Yes." + +"I am a member of the French staff. Can you deliver it to me?" + +"I was told to deliver it only to General Joffre." + +"Ah! in that case----" + +The officer caught his lower lip between the thumb and little finger of +his left hand, as if in perplexity. So naturally was it done that for an +instant Stewart did not recognize the sign; then, hastily, he passed his +left hand across his eyes. + +The officer looked at him keenly. + +"Have we not met before?" he asked. + +"In Berlin; on the twenty-second," Stewart answered. + +The officer's face cleared, and he stepped over the door into the +tonneau. + +"I am at your service, sir," he said. "First you must rest a little, and +have some clean clothes, and a bath and food. I can see that you have +had a hard time. Then we will set out." + +An hour later, more comfortable in body than it had seemed possible he +could ever be again, Stewart lay back among the deep cushions of a +high-powered car, which whizzed southward along a pleasant road. He did +not know his destination. He had not inquired, and indeed he did not +care. But had he known Belgium, he would have recognized Landen and +Ramillies; he would have known that those high white cliffs ahead +bordered the Meuse; he would have seen that this pinnacled town they +were approaching was Namur. + +The car was stopped at the city gate by a sentry, and taken to the +town-hall, where the chauffeur's papers were examined and verified. Then +they were off again, across the placid river and straight southward, +close beside its western bank. Stewart had never seen a more beautiful +country. The other shore was closed in by towering rugged cliffs, with a +white villa here and there squeezed in between wall and water or perched +on a high ledge. Sometimes the cliffs gave back to make room for a tiny, +red-roofed village; again they were riven by great fissures or pitted +with yawning chasms. + +Evening came, and still the car sped southward. There were no evidences +here of war. As the calm stars came out one by one, Stewart could have +fancied that it was all a dream, but for that dull agony of the spirit +which he felt would never leave him--and for that strand of lustrous +hair which now lay warm above his heart--and which, alas! was all he had +of her! + +Yes--there were the two letters which rustled under his fingers as he +thrust them into his pocket. He had looked at them more than once during +the afternoon, delighting to handle them because they had been hers, +imagining that he could detect on them the faint aroma of her presence. +He had turned them over and over, had slipped out the sheets of +closely-written paper, and read them through and through, hoping for +some clew to the identity of the woman he had lost. It was an added +anguish that he did not even know her name! + +The letters did not help him. They contained nothing but innocent, +careless, light-hearted, impersonal gossip, written apparently by one +young woman to another. "My dear cousin," they were addressed, and +Stewart could have wept at the irony which denied him even her first +name. They were in English--excellent English--a little stiff, +perhaps--just such English as she had spoken--and the envelopes bore the +superscription, "Mrs. Bradford Stewart, Spa, Belgium." But so far as he +could see they had nothing to do with her--they were just a part of the +elaborate plot in which he had been entangled. + +But what secret could they contain? A code? If so, it was very perfect, +for nothing could be more simple, more direct, more unaffected than the +letters themselves. A swift doubt swept over him. Perhaps, once in the +presence of the general, he would find that he had played the fool--that +there was nothing in these letters. + +And yet a woman had risked her life for them. Face to face with death, +she had made him swear to deliver them. Well, he would keep his oath! + +He was still very tired, and at last he lay back among the cushions and +closed his eyes and tried to sleep. + +"_Halte la!_" cried a sharp voice. + +The brakes squeaked and groaned as they were jammed down. Stewart, +shaken from his nap, sat up and looked about him. Ahead gleamed the +lights of a town; he could hear a train rumbling past along the river +bank. + +There was a moment's colloquy between the chauffeur and a man in +uniform; a paper was examined by the light of an electric torch; then +the man stepped to one side and the car started slowly ahead. + +The rumbling train came to a stop, and Stewart, rubbing his eyes, saw a +regiment of soldiers leaping from it down to a long, brilliantly-lighted +platform. They wore red trousers and long blue coats folded back in +front--and with a shock, Stewart realized that they were French--that +these were the men who were soon to face those gray-clad legions back +yonder. Then, above the entrance to the station, its name flashed into +view,--"Givet." They had passed the frontier--they were in France. + +The car rolled on, crossed the river by a long bridge, and finally came +to a stop before a great, barn-like building, every window of which +blazed with light, and where streams of officers were constantly +arriving and departing. + +At once a sentry leaped upon the footboard; again the chauffeur produced +his paper, and an officer was summoned, who glanced at it, and +immediately stepped back and threw open the door of the tonneau. + +"This way, sir, if you please," he said to Stewart. + +As the latter rose heavily, stiff with long sitting, the officer held +out his arm and helped him to alight. + +"You are very tired, is it not so?" he asked, and still supporting him, +led the way up the steps, along a hall, and into a long room where many +persons were sitting on benches against the walls or slowly walking up +and down. "You will wait here," added his guide. "It will not be long," +and he hurried away. + +Stewart dropped upon a bench and looked about him. There were a few +women in the room--and he wondered at their presence there--but most of +its occupants were men, some in uniform, others in civilian dress of the +most diverse kinds, of all grades of society. Stewart was struck at once +by the fact that they were all silent, exchanging not a word, not even a +glance. Each kept his eyes to himself as if it were a point of honor so +to do. + +Suddenly Stewart understood. These were agents of the secret service, +waiting to report to their chief or to be assigned to some difficult and +dangerous task. One by one they were summoned, disappeared through the +door, and did not return. + +At last it was to Stewart the messenger came. + +"This way, sir," he said. + +Stewart followed him out into the hall, through a door guarded by two +sentries, and into a little room beyond a deep ante-chamber, where a +white-haired man sat before a great table covered with papers. The +messenger stood aside for Stewart to pass, then went swiftly out and +closed the door. + +The man at the table examined his visitor with a long and penetrating +glance, his face cold, impassive, expressionless. + +"You are not one of ours," he said, at last, in English. + +"No, I am an American." + +"So I perceived. And yet you have a message?" + +"Yes." + +"How came you by it?" + +"It was intrusted to me by one of your agents who joined me at +Aix-la-Chapelle." + +A sudden flame of excitement blazed into the cold eyes. + +"May I ask your name?" + +"Bradford Stewart." + +The man snatched up a memorandum from the desk and glanced at it. Then +he sprang to his feet. + +"Your pardon, Mr. Stewart," he said. "I did not catch your name--or, if +I did, my brain did not supply the connection, as it should have done. +My only excuse is that I have so many things to think of. Pray sit +down," and he drew up a chair. "Where is the person who joined you at +Aix?" + +"I fear that she is dead," answered Stewart, in a low voice. + +"Dead!" echoed the other, visibly and deeply moved. "Dead! But no, that +cannot be!" He passed his hand feverishly before his eyes. "I will hear +your story presently--first, the message. It is a written one?" + +"Yes, in the form of two letters." + +"May I see them?" + +Stewart hesitated. + +"I promised to deliver them only to General Joffre," he explained. + +"I understand. But the general is very busy. I must see the letters for +a moment before I ask him for an audience." + +Without a word, Stewart passed them over. He saw the flush of excitement +with which the other looked at them; he saw how his hand trembled as he +drew out the sheets, glanced at them, thrust them hastily back, and +touched a button on his desk. + +Instantly the door opened and the messenger appeared. + +"Inquire of General Joffre if he can see me for a moment on a matter of +the first importance," said the man. The messenger bowed and withdrew. +"Yes, of the first importance," he added, turning to Stewart, with +shining eyes. "Here are the letters--I will not deprive you, sir, of the +pleasure of yourself placing them in our general's hands. And it is to +him you shall tell your story." + +The door opened and the messenger appeared. + +"The general will be pleased to receive Monsieur at once," he said, and +stood aside for them to pass. + +At the end of the hall was a large room crowded with officers. Beyond +this was a smaller room where six men, each with his secretary, sat +around a long table. At its head sat a plump little man, with white hair +and bristling white mustache, which contrasted strongly with a face +darkened and reddened by exposure to wind and rain, and lighted by a +pair of eyes incredibly bright. + +He was busy with a memorandum, but looked up as Stewart and his +companion entered. + +"Well, Fernande?" he said; but Stewart did not know till afterward that +the man at his side was the famous head of the French Intelligence +Department, the eyes and ears of the French army--captain of an army of +his own, every member of which went daily in peril of a dreadful death. + +"General," said Fernande, in a voice whose trembling earnestness caused +every man present suddenly to raise his head, "I have the pleasure of +introducing to you an American, Mr. Bradford Stewart, who, at great +peril to himself, has brought you a message which I believe to be of the +first importance." + +General Joffre bowed. + +"I am pleased to meet Mr. Stewart," he said. "What is this message?" + +"It is in these letters, sir," said Stewart, and placed the envelopes in +his hand. + +The general glanced at them, then slowly drew out the enclosures. + +"We shall need a candle," said Fernande; "also a flat dish of water." + +One of the secretaries hastened away to get them. He was back in a +moment, and Fernande, having lighted the candle, took from his waistcoat +pocket a tiny phial of blue liquid, and dropped three drops into the +dish. + +"Now we are ready, gentlemen," he said. "You are about to witness a most +interesting experiment." + +He picked up one of the sheets, dipped it into the water, then held it +close to the flame of the candle. + +Stewart, watching curiously, saw a multitude of red lines leap out upon +the sheet--lines which zigzagged this way and that, apparently without +meaning. + +But to the others in the room they seemed anything but meaningless. As +sheet followed sheet, the whole staff crowded around the head of the +table, snatching them up, holding them to the light, bending close to +decipher minute writing. Their eyes were shining with excitement, their +hands were trembling; they spoke in broken words, in bits of sentences. + +"The enceinte----" + +"Oh, a new bastion here at the left----" + +"I thought so----" + +"Three emplacements----" + +"But this wall is simply a mask--it would present no difficulties----" + +"This position could be flanked----" + +It was the general himself who spoke the final word. + +"This is the weak spot," he pointed out, his finger upon the last sheet +of all. Then he turned to Stewart, his eyes gleaming. "Monsieur," he +said, "I will not conceal from you that these papers are, as Fernande +guessed, of the very first importance. Will you tell us how they came +into your possession?" + +And Stewart, as briefly as might be, told the story--the meeting at Aix, +the arrest at Herbesthal, the flight over the hills, the passage of the +Meuse, the attack on the village--his voice faltering at the end despite +his effort to control it. + +At first, the staff had kept on with its examination of the plans, but +first one and then another laid them down and listened. + +For a moment after he had finished, they sat silent, regarding him. Then +General Joffre rose slowly to his feet, and the members of his staff +rose with him. + +"Monsieur," he said, "I shall not attempt to tell you how your words +have moved me; but on behalf of France I thank you; on her behalf I give +you the highest honor which it is in her power to bestow." His hand went +to his buttonhole and detached a tiny red ribbon. In a moment he had +affixed it to Stewart's coat. "The Legion, monsieur!" he said, and he +stepped back and saluted. + +Stewart, a mist of tears before his eyes, his throat suddenly +contracted, looked down at the decoration, gleaming on his lapel like a +spot of blood. + +"It is too much," he protested, brokenly. "I do not deserve----" + +"It is the proudest order in the world, monsieur," broke in the general, +"but it is not too much. You have done for France a greater thing than +you perhaps imagine. Some day you will know. Not soon, I fear," and his +face hardened. "We have other work to do before we can make use of these +sheets of paper. You saw the German army?" + +"Yes, sir; a part of it." + +"It is well equipped?" + +"It seemed to me irresistible," said Stewart. "I had never imagined such +swarms of men, such tremendous cannon----" + +"We have heard something of those cannon," broke in the general. "Are +they really so tremendous?" + +"I know nothing about cannon," answered Stewart; "but----" and he +described as well as he could the three monsters he had seen rolling +along the road toward Liege. + +His hearers listened closely, asked a question or two---- + +"I thank you again," said the general, at last. "What you tell us is +most interesting. Is there anything else that I can do for you? If there +is, I pray you to command me." + +Stewart felt himself shaken by a sudden convulsive trembling. + +"If I could get some news," he murmured, brokenly, "of--of my little +comrade." + +General Joffre shot him a quick glance. His face softened, grew tender +with comprehension. + +"Fernande," he said. + +Fernande bowed. + +"Everything possible shall be done, my general," he said. "I promise it. +We shall not be long without tidings." + +"Thank you," said Stewart. "That is all, I think." + +"And you?" + +"I? Oh, what does it matter!" And then he turned, fired by a sudden +remembrance of a great white tent, of loaded ambulances. "Yes--there is +something I might do. I am a surgeon. Will France accept my services?" + +"She is honored to do so," said the general, quickly. "I will see that +it is done. Until to-morrow--I will expect you," and he held out his +hand, while the staff came to a stiff salute. + +"Until to-morrow," repeated Stewart, and followed Fernande to the door. + +As he passed out, he glanced behind him. The members of the staff were +bending above those red-lined sheets, their faces shining with +eagerness---- + +The officers in the outer room, catching sight of the red ribbon, +saluted as he passed. The sentry in the hall came stiffly to attention. + +But Stewart's heart was bitter. Honor! Glory! What were they worth to +him alone and desolate---- + +"Monsieur!" It was Fernande's voice, low, vibrant with sympathy. "You +will pardon me for what I am about to say--but I think I understand. It +was not alone for France you did this thing--it was for that 'little +comrade,' as you have called her, so brave, so loyal, so indomitable +that my heart is at her feet. Is it not so?" + +He came a step nearer and laid a tender hand on Stewart's arm. + +"Do not despair, I beg of you, my friend. She is not dead--it is +impossible that she should be dead! Fate could not be so cruel. With her +you shared a few glorious days of peril, of trial, and of ecstasy--then +you were whirled apart. But only for a time. Somewhere, sometime, you +will find her again, awaiting you. I know it! I feel it!" + +But it was no longer Fernande that Stewart heard--it was another voice, +subtle, delicate, out of the unknown---- + +His bosom lifted with a deep, convulsive breath. + +"You are right!" he whispered. "I, too, feel it! +Sometime--somewhere----" + +And his trembling fingers sought that tress of lustrous hair, warm above +his heart. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +"LITTLE COMRADE" + + +In the first flush of the August dawn, Stewart opened his eyes and gazed +vacantly about the room of the little inn to which he had been assigned. +Then memory returned, and he groaned and closed his eyes and turned his +face to the wall. But only for a moment. Perhaps there was some +news--something he could do---- + +He started to spring out of bed, only to sink wearily back again. What +was there he could possibly do? And news--news was to be dreaded rather +than desired. So long as he did not know--well, he could still hope, and +that was something! However faintly, however unreasonably, he could +still hope! + +So he lay back against his pillows and closed his eyes, and lived over +again those shining days, those radiant hours. How happy he had been! +And that, too, was something. Whatever the future might bring, it could +not rob him of the past. It could not rob him of those last delirious +moments--her lips on his--her arms about him.... + +A tap on the door startled him out of his thoughts. News.... + +"Come in!" he shouted. + +But it was only the landlady. She entered with smiling face, a can of +steaming water in her hand. + +"Good-morning, monsieur," she said. "I hope monsieur has slept well. +Will monsieur have his coffee before rising?" + +"No, no," said Stewart. "I will come down." + +"Very well, monsieur," and she placed the can upon the wash-stand and +closed the door. + +If it were not that the movements of the toilet are largely automatic, +Stewart would never have finished his, but he was washed and dressed at +last, and descended to the cafe which served also as the dining-room. It +was crowded to the doors with vociferous French soldiers, very weary and +very dirty, and all clamoring to be served at once. Their claims were +greater than his, Stewart thought, and after all it wouldn't harm him to +go breakfastless; but just then the landlady appeared again, and drew +him through a door opening behind the bar. + +"This way, monsieur," she said. "I have a little table for you here in +the court." + +A spasm of memory clutched Stewart's heart as he saw the snowy table set +in a shady corner, and he drank his coffee and ate his rolls and honey +like a man in a dream. + +"Monsieur Stewart?" asked a voice. + +He looked up to find a French officer standing at his elbow. + +"Yes," he said. "Pardon me; I did not see you." + +"Monsieur was distrait," said the other, with a smile. "I have a +message," and he held out a large, square envelope. + +With a hand whose trembling he could not control, Stewart tore open the +envelope and unfolded the note within. It was very brief: + + Dear Monsieur Stewart: + + There is a distressing lack of surgeons at the Belgian front, + and we are sending all that we can. I remember your generous + offer of your services, and if I may command them I trust that + you will join the party which is leaving at once. + + Faithfully yours, + + Fernande. + +No news, then! But here was something he could do--wounds to +dress--suffering to relieve. + +"I am ready," he said, and rapped for his bill. + +Half an hour later he was speeding northward again along the valley of +the Meuse toward Namur, in company with two other surgeons, Frenchmen, +who seemed very thoughtful and depressed. Stewart, who had expected to +find the roads crowded with _materiel_ and troop-train after troop-train +rolling northward to the aid of struggling Belgium, was astonished to +perceive no evidences of war whatever--just the same peaceful +countryside he had passed through the day before. Something had gone +wrong, then; and he turned to his companions for information, but they +only shrugged their shoulders gloomily and shook their heads. + +At Namur they left the car, and the orderly, who had told Stewart that +his destination was Landen, some distance farther on, came back to sit +with him in the tonneau, evidently welcoming the opportunity to talk to +some one. He had spent two or three years as a clerk in an uncle's silk +house in Boston, and so spoke English fluently. He too was gloomy about +the immediate outlook. The French, it seemed, had been caught off their +guard--or, rather, while guarding themselves from the only blow which +could legitimately be struck at them by mobilizing along the eastern +frontier, had been stabbed in the back by the German attack through +Belgium. + +The orderly said frankly that the situation was serious--and was certain +to become more serious before it could improve. The mobilization of a +million men was an intricate task; it would take time to swing the army +around from the east to the north--a week at least. And it would be +impossible to give the Belgians any real assistance before that time. +And that would probably be too late. + +"Too late?" said Stewart, in surprise. "Aren't the Belgians holding?" + +"Oh, yes, they are holding," his companion answered. "They are fighting +gallantly. The forts at Liege even have not yet fallen--but it can be +only a matter of hours until they do. Then the flood will be let loose, +and all the little Belgian army can hope to do is to fight delaying +rear-guard actions as it retreats." + +"Perhaps the English can get in," Stewart suggested. + +"The English? But England has no army--or, at best, a mere handful of +regulars. Perhaps in two years she will be able to do something." + +"Two years?" echoed Stewart, staring at his companion to see if he was +in earnest. "Do you really think this war can last that long?" + +"It will last longer than that," the other answered composedly. "It will +last until Germany is totally defeated--it will last till she is freed +from slavery to the military caste--until the Hohenzollerns are driven +from the throne. And that will take a long time." + +"Yes," agreed Stewart. "From what I have seen of the German army, I +should say it would!" + +The Frenchman looked at him quickly. + +"You have seen the German army?" + +"Yes," and Stewart told something of his experience, while the other +listened intently. + +"It is this first onslaught--this first rush--which is dangerous," said +the Frenchman, when he had finished. "Germany has staked everything upon +that--upon catching us unawares and winning the war with one swift, +terrible blow. If we can escape that--if we can ward it off--we shall +win. If not--well, it will be for England and America to free the +world." + +"America?" echoed Stewart. "Surely...." + +"You in America do not understand," broke in his companion, "as we in +Europe understand--but you will before this war is very old." + +"Understand what?" + +"That this is not a war of nations, but a war of ideals. It is the +last desperate struggle of medieval despotism to save itself and to +enslave the world. If it succeeds, democracy will vanish. Every free +nation will go in fear, and one by one will perish. But it will not +succeed--humanity cannot permit it to succeed. Before this war is +finished, all the free peoples of the earth will be banded together in a +league of brotherhood--America with all the others--at the head of all +the others. She will be fighting for her freedom as truly as in her War +of Independence--and for the freedom of all mankind as well. She will +realize this--she will realize what this black menace of autocracy means +for the world--and she will come in. She will be with us, hand in +hand--shoulder to shoulder." + +"Pray God it may be so!" said Stewart, in a low voice, but his heart +misgave him. + +How could America--that great, inchoate country, that ferment of all the +nations of the world, aloof from Europe, guarded by three thousand miles +of sea--be made to understand? How could she be made to see that this +was her fight--specially and peculiarly her fight? How could she be made +to realize that Germany's ruthless sword was slashing, not at Belgium or +France or England, but at the ideals, the principles, the very +foundation stones of the American Republic? + +It seemed too much to hope for; but perhaps, some day.... + +And then he realized that they were nearing the place where the first +skirmish of the great battle for human freedom was being fought, for the +road became so thronged with fugitives that the car was forced to slow +down and almost burrow a path through the forlorn and panic-stricken +people toiling eastward--eastward--they knew not where--anywhere away +from the stark horror behind them! They were of all sorts--young and +old, rich and poor--and many of them moved as in a trance, unable to +understand the disaster which had befallen them. + +At last Stewart saw ahead the red roofs of a little town. + +"Landen," said his companion. "It has a very large convent, which has +been turned into a hospital for this whole section of the front. All our +ambulances now discharge there, and naturally the place is very crowded. +The nuns have been wonderful, but you have some hard work ahead." + +"That's what I want," said Stewart, with a nod. + +The car was bumping over the cobbles of the town, and in a moment +stopped before a great, barrack-like building, covering an entire block. +An ambulance was unloading at the door, and Stewart caught a glimpse of +a livid, anguished face.... + +Yes, here was something he could do; and he followed his companion up +the steps. At the top a black-coifed nun awaited them. + +"This is Doctor Stewart," said the orderly, and added a sentence in +French so rapid that Stewart could not follow it. But the nun understood +and smiled warmly and held out her hand. + +"I am glad to see you, sir," she said, in careful English. "If you will +follow me," and she led the way along a white-washed corridor. "Perhaps +you will wish to rest and refresh yourself before----" + +"No," Stewart broke in. "Let me get to work at once." + +The nun smiled again, and opened the door into a little room with a +single snowy bed. + +"If you will wait here a moment," she said, and as Stewart entered, +closed the door after him. + +Not until he was inside the room did he realize that the bed had an +occupant. Instinctively he turned toward the door. + +"Oh, do not go!" said a voice. + +He stopped, trembling; turned slowly, incredulously.... + +Those luminous eyes--that glowing face--those outstretched arms.... + +"Little Comrade!" + +And he was on his knees beside the bed, holding her close--close.... + + +THE END + + + + +ZANE GREY'S NOVELS + + +THE LIGHT OF WESTERN STARS + +A New York society girl buys a ranch which becomes the center of +frontier warfare. Her loyal superintendent rescues her when she is +captured by bandits. A surprising climax brings the story to a +delightful close. + + +THE RAINBOW TRAIL + +The story of a young clergyman who becomes a wanderer in the great +western uplands--until at last love and faith awake. + + +DESERT GOLD + +The story describes the recent uprising along the border, and ends with +the finding of the gold which two prospectors had willed to the girl who +is the story's heroine. + + +RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE + +A picturesque romance of Utah of some forty years ago when Mormon +authority ruled. The prosecution of Jane Withersteen is the theme of the +story. + + +THE LAST OF THE PLAINSMEN + +This is the record of a trip which the author took with Buffalo Jones, +known as the preserver of the American bison, across the Arizona desert +and of a hunt in "that wonderful country of deep canons and giant +pines." + + +THE HERITAGE OF THE DESERT + +A lovely girl, who has been reared among Mormons, learns to love a young +New Englander. The Mormon religion, however, demands that the girl shall +become the second wife of one of the Mormons--Well, that's the problem +of this great story. + + +THE SHORT STOP + +The young hero, tiring of his factory grind, starts out to win fame and +fortune as a professional ball player. His hard knocks at the start are +followed by such success as clean sportsmanship, courage and honesty +ought to win. + + +BETTY ZANE + +This story tells of the bravery and heroism of Betty, the beautiful +young sister of old Colonel Zane, one of the bravest pioneers. + + +THE LONE STAR RANGER + +After killing a man in self defense, Buck Duane becomes an outlaw along +the Texas border. In a camp on the Mexican side of the river, he finds a +young girl held prisoner, and in attempting to rescue her, brings down +upon himself the wrath of her captors and henceforth is hunted on one +side by honest men, on the other by outlaws. + + +THE BORDER LEGION + +Joan Randle, in a spirit of anger, sent Jim Cleve out to a lawless +Western mining camp, to prove his mettle. Then realizing that she loved +him--she followed him out. On her way, she is captured by a bandit band, +and trouble begins when she shoots Kells, the leader--and nurses him to +health again. Here enters another romance--when Joan, disguised as an +outlaw, observes Jim, in the throes of dissipation. A gold strike, a +thrilling robbery--gambling and gun play carry you along breathlessly. + + +THE LAST OF THE GREAT SCOUTS + +By Helen Cody Wetmore and Zane Grey + +The life story of Colonel William F. Cody, "Buffalo Bill," as told by +his sister and Zane Grey. It begins with his boyhood in Iowa and his +first encounter with an Indian. We see "Bill" as a pony express rider, +then near Fort Sumter as Chief of the Scouts, and later engaged in the +most dangerous Indian campaigns. There is also a very interesting +account of the travels of "The Wild West" Show. No character in public +life makes a stronger appeal to the imagination of America than "Buffalo +Bill," whose daring and bravery made him famous. + + + + +JACK LONDON'S NOVELS + + +JOHN BARLEYCORN. Illustrated by H. T. Dunn. + +This remarkable book is a record of the author's own amazing +experiences. This big, brawny world rover, who has been acquainted with +alcohol from boyhood, comes out boldly against John Barleycorn. It is a +string of exciting adventures, yet it forcefully conveys an unforgetable +idea and makes a typical Jack London book. + + +THE VALLEY OF THE MOON. Frontispiece by George Harper. + +The story opens in the city slums where Billy Roberts, teamster and +ex-prize fighter, and Saxon Brown, laundry worker, meet and love and +marry. They tramp from one end of California to the other, and in the +Valley of the Moon find the farm paradise that is to be their salvation. + + +BURNING DAYLIGHT. Four illustrations. + +The story of an adventurer who went to Alaska and laid the foundations +of his fortune before the gold hunters arrived. Bringing his fortunes to +the States he is cheated out of it by a crowd of money kings, and +recovers it only at the muzzle of his gun. He then starts out as a +merciless exploiter on his own account. Finally he takes to drinking and +becomes a picture of degeneration. About this time he falls in love with +his stenographer and wins her heart but not her hand and then--but read +the story! + + +A SON OF THE SUN. Illustrated by A. O. Fischer and C. W. Ashley. + +David Grief was once a light-haired, blue-eyed youth who came from +England to the South Seas in search of adventure. Tanned like a native +and as lithe as a tiger, he became a real son of the sun. The life +appealed to him and he remained and became very wealthy. + + +THE CALL OF THE WILD. Illustrations by Philip R. Goodwin and Charles +Livingston Bull. Decorations by Charles E. Hooper. + +A book of dog adventures as exciting as any man's exploits could be. +Here is excitement to stir the blood and here is picturesque color to +transport the reader to primitive scenes. + + +THE SEA WOLF. Illustrated by W. J. Aylward. + +Told by a man whom fate suddenly swings from his fastidious life into +the power of the brutal captain of a sealing schooner. A novel of +adventure warmed by a beautiful love episode that every reader will hail +with delight. + + +WHITE FANG. Illustrated by Charles Livingston Bull. + +"White Fang" is part dog, part wolf and all brute, living in the frozen +north; he gradually comes under the spell of man's companionship, and +surrenders all at the last in a fight with a bull dog. Thereafter he is +man's loving slave. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GIRL FROM ALSACE*** + + +******* This file should be named 35926.txt or 35926.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/5/9/2/35926 + + + +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. 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