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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..55b8c1e --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #51697 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/51697) diff --git a/old/51697-0.txt b/old/51697-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index bbea1af..0000000 --- a/old/51697-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7554 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Grace Harlowe with the American Army on the -Rhine, by Jessie Graham Flower - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Grace Harlowe with the American Army on the Rhine - -Author: Jessie Graham Flower - -Release Date: April 8, 2016 [EBook #51697] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GRACE HARLOWE WITH AMERICAN ARMY *** - - - - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Rod Crawford, Dave Morgan -and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - -Grace Harlowe with the American Army on the Rhine - - - - - [Illustration: The Visitor Was Captain Boucher. - _Frontispiece._] - - - - - Grace Harlowe with the - American Army on the Rhine - - By - JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A.M. - - Author of The Grace Harlowe High School Series, The Grace Harlowe - College Girls Series, Grace Harlowe’s Return to Overton Campus, - Grace Harlowe’s Problem, Grace Harlowe’s Golden Summer, - Grace Harlowe Overseas, Grace Harlowe with the Red - Cross in France, Grace Harlowe with the Marines at - Chateau Thierry, Grace Harlowe with the U. S. - Troops in the Argonne, Grace Harlowe with the - Yankee Shock Boys at St. Quentin, - etc., etc. - - Illustrated - - PHILADELPHIA - HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY - - - - - COPYRIGHTED, 1920, BY - HOWARD E. ALTEMUS - - - - -CONTENTS - - - PAGE - - CHAPTER I--ON THE MARCH TO THE RHINE 11 - Grace Harlowe looks for Hun treachery. “What I - have seen has chilled my very soul.” The supervisor - gives her orders. Elfreda sees a danger signal. “For - the love of Heaven, stop it!” A mighty crash and a - plunge into the river. - - CHAPTER II--“GRACE HARLOWE, TROUBLE-MAKER” 25 - Mrs. Chadsey Smythe gets a chilly bath. “Arrest - that woman!” Won Lue makes his bow. Grace gets - a warning. Overton girls billeted in a cellar. - Keeping house under difficulties. Summoned before - a superior officer. - - CHAPTER III--THE IRON HAND 38 - Grace resents an imputation on her honor. A serious - accusation. “The woman is an impertinent creature!” - “Captain” Grace is accused of trying to - drown her superior. Grace Harlowe’s dismissal - demanded. The Overton girl stands on her rights. - - CHAPTER IV--A TIMELY MEETING 44 - The mystery of three birds. J. Elfreda comes to - grief. Grace meets her friend the general. How - “Captain” Grace got even. The supervisor hears - some unpleasant truths. “Ridiculous!” exclaims - General Gordon. - - CHAPTER V--GRACE WINS AND IS SORRY 55 - “I don’t know what you are talking about, but I - agree with you.” Overton girls have supper behind - a smoke screen. An obliging Chinaman. Grace lays - down the law to Mrs. Smythe. “My orders are that - you get out of my sight instantly!” - - CHAPTER VI--MESSING WITH A BRIGADIER 64 - Overton girls left to walk. A grilling hike. The - general is not deceived. An invitation to visit - cloudland. “Captain” Grace gives the intelligence - officer some real intelligence. “Watch the skies - in the early morning.” - - CHAPTER VII--OFFICERS GET A SHOCK 76 - Grace tells of the flights of enemy war pigeons. - Captain Boucher asks for the Overton girl’s - assistance. Army officers prove charming hosts. - The Chinaman is on guard. “Captain” Grace uses a - cobblestone for a door-knocker. Military police - come up on a run. - - CHAPTER VIII--HUNLAND IS REACHED AT LAST 86 - “Captain” Grace barred from her billets. A soldier - policeman offers to break in the door. The girls - make their beds in an army truck. Leading a gypsy - life. Overton women placed under arrest. Grace and - Elfreda smash the door of their prison. - - CHAPTER IX--AN IRATE OFFICER 97 - On the enemy’s threshhold. The intelligence captain - smooths the way. Grace cooks mess at headquarters. - “Bacon in the chest and potatoes in the woodbox.” - Signed up for a voyage in the skies. Making their - beds in the kitchen. - - CHAPTER X--GRACE TAKES THE SKY ROUTE 105 - Taking no chances with the Hun. “Good luck, and - don’t fall out.” Elfreda has no desire to go skyward - on a bubble. Grace dons a flier’s harness. Lifted - cloudward by the big “sausage.” “One balloonatic - in the family is enough.” - - CHAPTER XI--ROUGH GOING IN CLOUDLAND 116 - The swaying basket arouses Grace’s apprehension. - Hearing miraculously restored. The Overton girl eats - her luncheon three thousand feet above the earth. - “Haul in, you idiots!” The balloon begins to buck. - “We are adrift!” announces the major. - - CHAPTER XII--A LEAP FROM THE SKIES 128 - The runaway balloon soars high. “We are in a fix!” - A cheerful outlook. Clouds blot out the earth. Grace - and her companion are buffeted back and forth by the - winds. Victims of Hun bullets. Grace Harlowe is - suspended between earth and sky. - - CHAPTER XIII--“CAPTAIN” GRACE INVADES GERMANY 137 - The major shakes the Overton girl loose. How it feels - to fall a mile through space. The officer floats into - view like a giant spider. “My, but the earth does - look good.” Grace partially wrecks a German vineyard. - - CHAPTER XIV--A GUEST OF THE HUNS 146 - Grace Harlowe awakens in an unfamiliar place and - overhears an enlightening conversation. The German - woman seeks information. “Captain” Grace finds - herself a prisoner in a German castle. Signals for - assistance. A night prowler in her room. - - CHAPTER XV--AN INTERRUPTED INTERVIEW 159 - The inquisitive frau gets a terrible fright. “You - shall suffer for this!” Morning brings more trouble. - Discovered! A Hun threat. A demonstration of Hun - “kultur.” Safe in the American lines. The intelligence - officer is aroused. - - CHAPTER XVI--ELFREDA HAS A SUSPICION 170 - Yvonne names the yellow cat. How Hippy cured - Nora’s admirer. Molly Marshall open to suspicion. - Billeted in a German home. “There’s a real mystery - for you.” An explosion wrecks the canteen. - - CHAPTER XVII--THE TREACHERY OF THE HUN 182 - Grace rescues the major. The ammunition dump - furnishes fireworks. Mrs. Smythe is shaken with - fear. “Captain” Grace refuses to obey an order. - “Something queer about that man.” The Overton - girl has bad dreams. - - CHAPTER XVIII--GRACE GETS A CLUE 193 - “You are the quickest-witted person I ever knew.” - “Captain” Grace “savvies” Yat Sen. The voice - from the cellar. The doctor has a visitor. A house - of mystery. “I am right or else I am terribly - wrong,” mutters Grace Harlowe. - - CHAPTER XIX--A VOICE AND A FACE 200 - “I must see who comes out of that house.” Grace - shatters the doctor’s argument. “The Germans are - unsportsmanlike losers.” Checkmated! Rebuked by - the supervisor. Grace meets a suspected person - and smiles a gentle greeting. - - CHAPTER XX--IN A MAZE OF MYSTERIES 211 - Won “savvies” too much talk. Playing the game - both ways. Molly leads the supervisor from the - canteen. Complaint is lodged against “Captain” - Grace. Suspicions confirmed. The Overton girl - makes a discovery. Grace gives a warning and - borrows an auger. - - CHAPTER XXI--A MOUSE IN THE TRAP 224 - Grace bores a hole through the floor of her room. - The German maid refuses a tip. When conversation - ran wild. “Planning to shoot up our friends across - the Rhine.” Grace Harlowe is amazed at what she - overhears. - - CHAPTER XXII--“CAPTAIN” GRACE DECIDES TO ACT 233 - Elfreda is taken into the secret. “I never dreamed - of anything so terrible as this.” Grace suspects - that she is being watched. The intelligence officer - gets an unusual invitation. The mine is laid. - - CHAPTER XXIII--A DESPERATE PLOT REVEALED 242 - Captain Boucher makes his call through a window. - “Should any one knock, crawl under the bed.” The - intelligence officer forgets his boots. A strange - scene in the Overton girls’ quarters. - - CHAPTER XXIV--THE TRAP IS SPRUNG 246 - A signal that was instantly obeyed. Ordered to - headquarters. Army officers get a genuine surprise. - Grace Harlowe reveals a deep-laid Hun plot. The - fight and the capture in the Overton girls’ billets. - Heroes who work in the shadows. - - - - -GRACE HARLOWE WITH THE AMERICAN ARMY ON THE RHINE - -CHAPTER I - -ON THE MARCH TO THE RHINE - - -“Here is where we take on our load,” observed Grace Harlowe, backing -her car up to the door of a peasant cottage. - -“Never was a truer word spoken,” agreed J. Elfreda Briggs. “Chad of her -own sweet self is considerable of a load.” Miss Briggs reached back -and threw open the door of the army automobile, to be ready for their -passenger who had not yet appeared. “Baggage, some would characterize -her,” added the girl. - -“She is our superior, Elfreda,” reminded Grace. “One always must -preserve a certain respect for one’s superior, else discipline in the -army will quickly go to pieces. While Mrs. Smythe plainly is not all -that we wish she were, she is our superior officer whom we must both -respect and obey.” - -“Ever meet her?” questioned Elfreda. - -“Once. I was not favorably impressed with her, though I did not see -enough of her to form an opinion worth while. That she was fat and -rather fair, I recall quite distinctly.” - -“Know anything about her, Grace?” - -“Nothing beyond the fact that she is said to be the wife of a wealthy -Chicago meat-packer, and that Mrs. Meat Packer wishes every one to know -that she is a rich woman and an influential one.” - -“She must be to get here, Grace. What I cannot understand is how she -ever got into army welfare work, especially how she came to be assigned -to join out with this American Third Army’s march to the Rhine.” - -“Perhaps influence, perhaps her money; perhaps a little of both,” -nodded Grace. “You know as much about it as I do.” - -“And that much, little as it is, is too much,” declared J. Elfreda -Briggs. “I should characterize her as an inordinately vain woman, one -of the newly rich, who, clothed with a little authority, would be a -mighty uncomfortable companion. The girls at the hospital who have -worked under her say she is a regular martinet. How does it come that -she has been unloaded on us?” - -“I am sure I do not know, J. Elfreda. I do not even know with whom she -came through last night when we started out on our march to the Rhine. -I was ordered to pick her up and take her through in our automobile -to-day, together with two other women who accompany her. However, this -march to the River Rhine having only just begun, we haven’t yet settled -down to a routine.” - -“Neither has the enemy,” observed Elfreda. - -Grace nodded reflectively. - -“He has signed the armistice, but knowing the Hun as I do, I know that, -if he thinks he can safely do so, he will play a scurvy trick on us. I -hardly think we shall be attacked, however, but, J. Elfreda, take my -word for it, there are many deep and dark Hun plots being hatched in -this victorious army at this very moment,” she declared. - -“What do you mean?” - -“Hun treachery, Elfreda.” - -“You know something, Grace Harlowe?” - -“No, not in the way you mean. I know the animal and its ways; that’s -all. Look at that line of observation balloons of ours floating in the -sky to our rear, and moving forward as we move forward. Know what they -are doing?” - -“Watching the Boches.” - -“Exactly. Were the Boche a worthy foe, a foe who would respect his -agreements, the need for watching him would not exist. But a foe who -has broken his word, his bond and all the ten commandments is not to -be trusted. I suppose I shouldn’t feel that way, but I have lived at -the front for many months, Elfreda, and what I have seen has chilled my -very soul. It behooves us Sammies to watch our steps and keep our hands -on our guns,” she added after an interval of reflection. “I think our -passenger is approaching.” - -Mrs. Chadsey Smythe, clad in a suit of tight-fitting khaki, which -accentuated her stoutness, was walking stiffly down the path from the -cottage, followed by two welfare workers, discreetly keeping to the -rear of their superior. The face of the meat-packer’s wife wore an -expression of austerity which Grace told herself had been borrowed from -some high army officer, an officer with a grouch of several years’ -standing. Mrs. Smythe halted, eyeing first the car itself, then the two -young women on the front seat, both of whom were gazing stolidly ahead. - -“Are you the chauffeur?” she demanded, addressing Grace. - -“I am Mrs. Grace Gray, Madame. I am driving this car through,” replied -Grace courteously. - -“A car, did you say? No, this is not a car, it is a truck, and a very -dirty truck. I venture to say that it has not been washed in some -time,” observed the welfare supervisor sarcastically. - -“Quite probable, Mrs. Smythe. This is wartime, you know.” - -“That is not an excuse. The war is ended. Hereafter you will see that -the car is clean when you start out in the morning.” - -“Yes, Madame.” - -“Another thing, driver, I do not brook impertinence from my -subordinates. No matter how slack this department may have been carried -on in the past, henceforth military form must be observed.” - -“Yes, Madame,” replied Grace meekly. - -“If proper for a superior to do so, I would ask if it is customary for -a private to remain seated when such superior approaches to speak to -the private?” - -“When driving, yes.” - -“It is not! Hereafter, driver, when a superior officer comes up to you, -you will step down, hold the car door open and stand at salute, if you -know how to salute, until the officer is seated. Am I clear?” - -“Perfectly so, Madame.” Grace repressed a hot retort, and Elfreda’s -face burned with indignation. She found herself wondering how her -companion could keep her self-control under the insulting tone of the -welfare supervisor. - -“It is quite apparent, driver, that you are new to the army and its -ways.” - -“Oh!” exclaimed J. Elfreda. - -“What is that?” demanded Mrs. Smythe. - -“I--I think I pinched my finger in the door,” stammered Elfreda. - -“Driver, step down. There is nothing like making a right start.” - -Without an instant’s hesitation, Grace sprang out, grasped the door of -the car, and, standing very erect, held it until Mrs. Smythe and her -two “aides” had entered and taken their seats. Grace Harlowe closed the -door, clicked her heels together and gave her superior a snappy salute -that even a freshly made second lieutenant could not have improved upon. - -“Oh, you can at least salute, I see,” observed the passenger. “I -sincerely hope, however, that you are a better driver than you are -a soldier. I wish a fast driver, but not a careless one. If you are -afraid to drive fast I will request the colonel to give me a driver who -is not.” - -“Yes, Madame.” - -There was mischief in the eyes of Grace Harlowe as she climbed into -the driver’s seat, an expression that J. Elfreda understood full well -was a sure forecast of trouble to come. - -The road was greatly congested, and for a time the driver worked her -way cautiously along at a rate of speed of not more than ten miles an -hour. - -“Faster! Are you too timid to drive?” cried the passenger. - -At this juncture an opening presented itself, a narrow space between -two army trucks, and an officer’s car tearing along behind her at a -terrific pace was reaching for the opening. Grace opened up and hurled -her car at the opening as if it were a projectile on its way to the -enemy lines. The two cars touched hubs. Grace fed a little more gas and -went into the opening a winner. - -“Stop it!” shouted Mrs. Chadsey Smythe. - -Ahead there were open spots and Grace made for them, dodging, swerving, -the car careening, the horn sounding until the drivers ahead, thinking -a staff officer was coming, made all the room they could for the -charging army automobile. Madame was expostulating, threatening, -jouncing about until speech became an unintelligible stutter. Reaching -a clear stretch of road, by clever manipulation Grace sent the car -into a series of skids that would have excited the envy of a fighting -aviator. That it did not turn over was because there was no obstruction -in the road to catch the tires and send the car hurtling into the ditch. - -“For the love of Heaven, stop it, Grace Harlowe!” gasped Miss Briggs. -“I’m on the verge of nervous prostration. You’ll have us all in the -hospital or worse.” - -Grace grinned but made no reply. She straightened up a little as the -officer’s car finally shot past her, and it was then that she saw she -had been racing with a general, though she did not know who the general -might be. She hoped he did not know who it was that had cut him off, -but of course he could not expect her to look behind her when driving -in that tangle of traffic. That was good logic, so she devoted her -attention and thought wholly to the work in hand, and, putting on more -speed, rapidly drew up on the charging automobile ahead, reasoning that -the general would have a fairly clear road, which road would be hers -provided she were able to keep up with him. - -Ahead of them a short distance she espied a concrete bridge. There -was a concrete barrier on either side of the bridge, but the bridge -was amply wide to permit two vehicles to pass. The general’s car took -the bridge at high speed, army trucks drawing to their right so as -to leave him plenty of room. Grace followed, driving at the bridge at -top speed, but when within a few yards of the structure a truck driver -swayed over past the center of the span, evidently not having heard her -horn. - -The girl thought she could still go through, but discovered too late -that the truck was too far over to permit her passing. The emergency -brakes went on and the horn shrieked, but too late. The truck driver, -losing his head, swung further to the left instead of to the right -as he should have done, thus crowding Grace further over toward the -concrete wall-railing. - -“Hold fast!” shouted Grace. - -Ere the passengers could “hold fast” the car met the end of the -concrete railing head-on with a mighty crash, the rear of the car shot -up into the air and the passengers were hurled over the dash. They -cleared the obstruction and went hurtling into the river, disappearing -beneath its surface. The car lurched sideways until half its length -hung over, threatening any moment to slip down after them into the -stream. Harlowe luck had not improved. This time Grace had overreached -the mark. - -Those readers who have followed Grace through the eventful years from -her exciting days in the Oakdale High School have learned to love -her for her gentle qualities and to admire her for her pluck and -achievements, for the sterling qualities that from her early school -days drew to her so many loyal friends. - -It was in “GRACE HARLOWE’S PLEBE YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL” that the readers -of this series first became acquainted with her. They followed her -through her high school course as told in “GRACE HARLOWE’S SOPHOMORE -YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL,” “GRACE HARLOWE’S JUNIOR YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL” -and “GRACE HARLOWE’S SENIOR YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL,” in which those dear -friends of her girlhood days, Nora O’Malley, Anne Pierson and Jessica -Bright--the Original Four--shared her joys and her sorrows. - -After high school came college, Grace and Anne going to Overton, -Nora and Jessica choosing for their further education an eastern -conservatory of music. At Overton new friends rallied to Grace’s -colors, such as Elfreda Briggs, Arline Thayer, Emma Dean, Mabel Ashe -and many others. Four eventful years were spent at old Overton, the -experiences of those college years being related in “GRACE HARLOWE’S -FIRST YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE,” “GRACE HARLOWE’S SECOND YEAR AT OVERTON -COLLEGE,” “GRACE HARLOWE’S THIRD YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE” and “GRACE -HARLOWE’S FOURTH YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE,” followed by “GRACE HARLOWE’S -RETURN TO OVERTON CAMPUS” and “GRACE HARLOWE’S PROBLEM.” - -The story of the fruition of the Overton girl’s dreams is told in -“GRACE HARLOWE’S GOLDEN SUMMER,” when she became the bride of her -lifelong friend and chum, Tom Gray, and went to “Haven Home” a happy -wife. Grace’s home life was a brief one, for the great world war -enveloped the big white “House Behind the World,” as she had so happily -characterized it. First Tom Gray went away to serve his country in its -hour of need, then Grace followed him as a member of the Overton unit, -and in “GRACE HARLOWE OVERSEAS” is related the story of how she became -involved in the plots of the Old World nearly to her own undoing. In -“GRACE HARLOWE WITH THE RED CROSS IN FRANCE” she is assigned to drive -an ambulance at the front, which she had long yearned to do, and out -there in the thick of the fighting she is called upon to face death -in many forms. It is, however, in a following volume, “GRACE HARLOWE -WITH THE MARINES AT CHATEAU THIERRY,” however, that the Overton girl -meets with hardships and perils that nearly cost her her life. Yet more -thrilling even than this were her experiences as related in “GRACE -HARLOWE WITH THE U. S. ARMY IN THE ARGONNE,” where perhaps the most -desperate fighting of the war occurred. - -“GRACE HARLOWE WITH THE YANKEE SHOCK BOYS AT ST. QUENTIN” finds Grace -an active participant in that most brilliant single achievement of the -war, the breaking of the Hindenburg Line, in which, by sheer pluck and -daring, she saves an entire regiment from certain annihilation and wins -a decoration for her heroism. - -Following the signing of the armistice the march of the American troops -toward the Rhine began. With them went Grace Harlowe and her faithful -friend, J. Elfreda Briggs, Anne Nesbit having been left behind to -continue her work in a hospital. - -Just how it had come about that Grace and Elfreda were to accompany the -troops neither girl knew. The assignment brought joy to both girls, -and especially to Grace, for when the sound of the big guns died away -and an unnatural stillness settled over war-torn Europe she felt ill -at ease, felt as if there were something lacking, though down deep in -her heart was a thankfulness that overbalanced the regret that the -excitement of months in the war zone was a thing of the past. She was -first thankful for the soldiers, then for her husband, Tom Gray, who -also was on his way to the Rhine, and for the little Yvonne, now their -daughter, the child whom Grace had picked up as a waif in a deserted -French village under fire. - -Grace, at her own request, was permitted to drive through with her -friend, in an army car. The first day she carried, besides herself, -supplies for canteen work, for both she and Elfreda Briggs were now -welfare workers. It had been understood that Mrs. Smythe was to go with -the invading army, but that she would take an active part in directing -the work neither girl considered probable, for, as a rule, such workers -left the actual directing to some person of experience. Not so with -Mrs. Chadsey Smythe. She proposed to be a working head, and she was. -At least she had been an active participant on the march to the Rhine -since she came up with Grace Harlowe. Her real troubles began with the -starting of the car with Grace at the wheel, and the troubles continued -without a second’s intermission right up to and including that fatal -second when Grace collided with the bridge rail and Mrs. “Chadsey,” -together with the other occupants of the car, took an unexpected dive -into the river. - -Fortunately for the five women in the car, the machine had remained on -the road, else it might have fallen on them and finished them entirely. - -Grace came up to the surface first, shook the water from her eyes, -and then dived and brought up one of the welfare workers who had -accompanied Mrs. “Chadsey.” The other woman and Elfreda came up of -their own accord and Grace quickly went in search of Mrs. “Chadsey.” - -“There she is,” gasped Elfreda, pointing downstream, where the welfare -supervisor was seen floundering, fighting desperately to get to shore, -not realizing that the water at that point was shallow enough to permit -her to stand up and keep her chin above water. - -Grace swam to her quickly and grasped the supervisor by the hair of her -head just as Mrs. “Chadsey,” giving up, had gone under. Even though the -water there was only about five feet deep, Grace had never come nearer -to drowning, for not only did Mrs. “Chadsey” grip her with both arms, -but fought desperately, when Grace got her head above water. - -“Stop it!” gasped Grace, struggling to free herself from the grip of -those really strong arms. “You’ll drown us both.” - -“Let me go!” screamed the supervisor, fastening a hand in the Overton -girl’s hair. - -One of Grace’s hands being thus freed she took a firm grip in the hair -of her opponent, pushed her head under the water and both sank out of -sight. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -“GRACE HARLOWE, TROUBLE-MAKER” - - -When Mrs. Smythe and Grace came to the surface, the fight had been all -taken out of the supervisor. She was limp, choking and gasping, but not -in a serious condition, as the Overton girl observed, though the water -was chill and serious consequences might follow the wetting, there -being no way to secure dry clothing until they arrived at the end of -the day’s march, a few miles further on. - -“You will be all right now,” comforted Grace. “Don’t fight. Give me -half a chance to get you ashore. I’m sorry, Mrs. Smythe. The water is -not over our heads, so please try to walk in.” - -The woman screamed and choked some more, so Grace grasped her by the -collar of her blouse and began swimming toward shore with her. They had -not gone more than half of the way, when doughboys who had witnessed -the accident plunged into the river and went to the rescue. Grace -turned over her burden to them quite willingly, but waved the soldiers -aside when they offered to assist her. The men had their hands full in -getting the supervisor ashore, where they laid her down on the bank and -shook her until she was able to sit up. - -“Please wring the water out of me, Grace,” begged the disheveled J. -Elfreda Briggs, who was shivering. - -“That will not help any. Keep moving, is my advice. Were you hurt, -Elfreda?” - -“My feelings were very much hurt. Grace Harlowe, you are the original -trouble-maker. I blame myself wholly in this matter, not you at all, -for I should have known better than to remain in that car for an -instant after I saw that look in your eyes. It was a perfectly safe -intimation that something terrible was about to occur.” - -“There’s the lieutenant talking with Mrs. Smythe. I must see what she -has to say.” - -“Probably recommending you for the Congressional Medal,” observed Miss -Briggs sourly. - -Mrs. Smythe was sitting on the bank wringing the water out of her -blouse when Grace came up, the lieutenant standing by and apparently -not knowing what he should do in the circumstances. The supervisor’s -hair was down over her shoulders and she was half crying, half raging. -Grace was filled with regret. - -“I’m sorry, Mrs. Smythe,” she said, bending over the supervisor. “May I -assist you to your feet? You must not sit here, you know. The ground is -cold and you are very wet.” - -Mrs. Chadsey Smythe blinked at the Overton girl and struggled for -words. The words finally came, a torrent of them. - -“She did it!” screamed the woman. “She did it on purpose! She set out -to mur--” - -“Mrs. Smythe, you know better than that,” rebuked Grace. - -“Arrest that woman!” commanded Mrs. Smythe. - -“Well, I--I don’t know about that. Do you wish to make a charge against -her, Madame?” - -“Of course. She threw me into the river.” - -“But,” protested the officer, “she did no more to you than she did to -herself and the others in the car. Of course you may make a complaint -to the captain, or to your superior whoever he or she may be, but I do -not think this woman can be arrested, because the wreck plainly was an -accident.” - -“It was not! I tell you she did it on purpose!” - -The lieutenant shrugged his shoulders. - -“I will inform my superior, Captain Rowland,” answered the lieutenant -gravely. “You are--” - -“Mrs. Chadsey Smythe, in command of the welfare workers.” - -The officer turned to Grace inquiringly. - -“Mrs. Grace Gray, former ambulance driver on the western front, now a -welfare worker on the march to the Rhine, sir,” answered Grace meekly, -out of the corners of her eyes observing that the lieutenant was -passing a hand over his face, to hide the grin that had appeared there. - -“Anything to say, Mrs. Gray?” - -“I think not, sir, except that we should be moving.” - -“Yes, get me a car at once, if you will be so good,” urged Mrs. Smythe. - -“If I may offer a suggestion, sir, I do not think it would be prudent -for either Mrs. Smythe or the others to ride in. We would all be -chilled through and on the verge of pneumonia. My advice, if I may -offer it, would be that we walk.” - -“Walk? Never!” exclaimed the supervisor. “I demand a car. It is my -right to make such a demand.” - -“I fear I cannot give you a car. The best I can possibly do is to put -you on a truck, but I agree with Mrs. Gray that it would be much wiser -for you to walk, all of you.” - -“A truck!” moaned the woman. “I’ll walk, thank you. It is much more -dignified than being jounced about on an army truck. No army truck for -me, thank you.” - -“Very good. I will see to it that the belongings of the party are sent -in so that you may have change of clothing as soon as we reach the end -of the day’s march.” - -“Do I understand that you will do nothing to this woman?” demanded Mrs. -Smythe. - -“I will report the matter to Captain Rowland. May I assist you up the -bank?” he offered politely. - -Mrs. Smythe accepted with all the grace she could assume. Grace’s face -wore a serious expression as she looked at the car hanging over the -edge of the bridge. - -“I could do no worse myself,” observed Miss Briggs to her companion. - -“I doubt if I could equal that achievement,” agreed Grace. “That woman -is going to make trouble for me, and I am inclined to think that I -deserve all that she will try to give me. You know it was an accident, -Elfreda?” - -“An accident? It was that! Why, the train wreck on our way to Paris -with the wounded doughboys was no more of an accident than this. What -you mean to say is that you did not do it on purpose. Personally, -Elfreda Briggs has her own views on that phase of the matter.” - -“Elfreda!” rebuked Grace. - -“However, it is some satisfaction to see our beloved superior taking -the same medicine that we are taking; walking for our health, as it -were.” - -Mrs. Smythe was making heavy weather of it, and Grace, filled with -compassion, stepped up to her and linked an arm within that of the -supervisor. - -“Please permit me to assist you along,” she urged gently. - -Mrs. Smythe threw off Grace’s arm angrily. - -“Be good enough to keep your hands off. I wish nothing whatever to do -with you.” - -“Mrs. Smythe, please do not speak to me in that tone. I feel much worse -about it than you possibly can, and I blame myself, even if that truck -driver did crowd me into the railing. Won’t you please forgive me?” - -“You will learn later what I propose to do to you, driver. Do not -forget that you are speaking to your superior officer and not to your -equal.” - -“I had suspected something of the sort myself,” answered the Overton -girl, drawing herself up and moving on ahead at a rapid stride. - -“Chad spoke the truth for once,” chuckled Miss Briggs. “I wonder if she -realizes what she said? That is too good to keep. I shall have to tell -the girls about that. Do you really think she will do something to you?” - -“I would not be at all surprised.” - -“In that event remember that I am a lawyer, and that I invite myself to -defend you,” declared Elfreda eloquently. “This going is the toughest -experience I have ever had.” - -Two hours before dark they reached their destination, which proved to -be the little city of Etain, a deserted city, not a living thing being -in sight there when the advance guard reached the place. The city was -pretty well pounded to pieces. For a long time before the armistice was -signed those of the inhabitants who had clung to their homes lived in -holes in the ground. It was a cheerless place, and the cellar where the -welfare workers were berthed was more than dismal. - -The belongings of Grace and her party were brought in by a Chinaman, -who grinned as he put the first bundle down, and was rewarded by a -smile from Grace. He did not speak when he entered the first time, -but upon the second trip he straightened up and saluted, which Grace -returned snappily. - -“Missie plenty fine dliver, a-la,” observed the Chinaman. - -“Not very, I fear. You mean my running into the bridge?” - -“Les.” - -“What is your name?” - -“Won Lue.” - -“Belong to the labor battalion?” - -“Les. Plenty blad men b’long labor blattalion,” observed Won. - -“So I have heard, but surely you are not a bad man, Won?” - -He shook his head with emphasis. - -“Me good Chinaman, a-la.” - -“I am glad to hear that.” - -“Well, I never,” declared Elfreda Briggs. “One would think you and Won -were very old friends. Better look out for those oily Orientals. They -are not to be trusted.” - -“So I have been told,” replied Grace absently. “I wonder where Mrs. -Smythe has taken herself. Ah, here comes one of her aides.” - -The young woman said she had come for the supervisor’s bags, having -been directed there by the officer who had come to their assistance on -the river bank. - -“I trust Mrs. Smythe is feeling better,” said Grace with a voice full -of sympathy. “You are Miss Cahill, I believe?” - -“Yes. Madame is in high temper because they have put her in a cellar. -The lieutenant told her she was in luck that she didn’t have to wrap -herself up in a blanket and sleep on the ground, which did not serve to -improve her temper. I wish we might stay here with you two ladies.” - -“Why not come with us, then?” urged Grace. - -“The supervisor wouldn’t let me. However, I am going to request that we -be relieved some way.” - -“Better go through with it until we get to the Rhine,” advised Grace. -“Something may develop that will make a change possible. If I can -assist you to that end you may depend upon me to do so.” - -“Thank you. May--may I tell you something, Mrs. Gray?” - -Grace nodded smilingly. - -“Mrs. Smythe, I fear, is going to make you a lot of trouble. She is -making all sorts of threats of what she is going to do and--” - -“If she doesn’t succeed any better than she has thus far, there won’t -be much left of her,” interjected Miss Briggs. “How long have you been -with her?” - -“Only since we started for the Rhine. We were directed from -headquarters to join out with the outfit to act as her assistants, Miss -O’Leary and myself, but we have had about enough of it already. She is -making servants of us and--” - -“In wartime we must do many things that we don’t care to do,” suggested -Grace. “We are still at war with the Huns, so we must take whatever -comes to us, doing our best to keep our heads level.” - -“Thank you, Mrs. Gray. You make me feel better. I shall do my best not -to lose my temper, but really I do not see how such a woman could be -chosen for our important work. I call it a rank injustice.” - -“That’s what the doughboys say about their treatment,” smiled Grace. -“_C’est la guerre_ (it is war). Come in to see us whenever you can. So -few of us women are out here that we should do what we can to make it -pleasant for one another.” - -Miss Cahill thanked her and went out, after which the two Overton girls -changed their wrinkled uniforms, put on dry underwear and sat down each -before a steel trench mirror to do her hair. This proceeding occupied -all their time up to the mess hour, when they went out with their kits -to draw their evening meal. Doughboys made way for them and insisted -on their taking a place at the front of the line, but Grace smilingly -declined to do anything of the sort. - -Most of the men in that division had seen the welfare women and knew by -that time who they were, for a woman at the front was too rare a sight -not to attract attention. Then, too, there were among them men who -either knew of their own knowledge what Grace Harlowe had accomplished -or had heard the story from others. Her smash on the bridge was already -known to several regiments, and when the two girls appeared, looking as -fresh and well-groomed as if they had been serving in Paris rather than -out at the front, the doughboys wondered and admired. - -Grace and Elfreda, having drawn their rations, returned to their -cellar, where, to their surprise, they found a bundle of fagots, which -some considerate person had left for them. - -“Isn’t that fine? I wonder who gave the wood to us?” cried Grace. “Now -we can brew some tea. Get the tea ready while I start the fire. Well, -I do declare, here is a can of water, and in a petrol can too. J. -Elfreda, have you an admirer? Have you been deceiving me?” - -“If I have he isn’t a Chinaman,” retorted Miss Briggs. - -“Thank you.” - -The cellar was soon filled with smoke, but neither girl cared so long -as tea was to be the result. After finishing the meal they began -considering where they were going to sleep. There were two cots in the -cellar, cots without springs, rough boards having been nailed on, but -no mattress. - -“Not very inviting, but I for one shall be able to sleep soundly, I -know,” declared Grace. “When we get to the Rhine we probably shall be -billeted in a house where we can have ordinary comforts. I know I shall -have difficulty in accustoming myself to civilized life again, won’t -you, J. Elfreda?” - -“Not so that you could notice it,” was Miss Briggs’ brief reply. “I--” - -“Hulloa the cellar!” shouted a voice from above. - -“Enter,” answered Grace. - -A sergeant of infantry crunched in, coughed as he inhaled the smoke, -and, snapping to attention, saluted, which both girls returned. - -“What is it, Sergeant?” asked Grace. - -“Captain Rowland wishes you to report at his headquarters at half past -seven o’clock, Madame.” - -“Very good, Sergeant. Where are the captain’s headquarters?” - -“Four dumps down the street from here, to the right as you go out, down -one flight to the cellar.” - -“Thank you. Will you have a nip of tea? We still have some left.” - -The sergeant accepted a tin-cup of tea, gulped it down, thanked them, -and saluting tramped out. - -“Queer fellows those doughboys,” murmured Grace. “All gold, but odd -josies every one of them.” - -“Is that what you are thinking of? Were I in your place I should be -thinking of what I am going to say to Captain Rowland this evening. -This is the summons I have been waiting for. You understand what this -means, do you not, Grace?” - -“I presume so. However, I will cross that bridge when I come to it.” - -“Humph! That is more than you did to-day,” grumbled J. Elfreda Briggs. - -Half an hour later, after a final look into the steel mirror, Grace, -accompanied by Miss Briggs, left the cellar and started for Captain -Rowland’s headquarters, Grace having first pinned her _croix de guerre_ -and Distinguished Service Cross to her breast. She had neglected to -wear them in the confusion of the start that morning, though being -supposed to wear them at all times when in uniform. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -THE IRON HAND - - -Captain Rowland sat at a table that had seen more prosperous days, and -the camp chair that he was using creaked ominously. Elfreda Briggs -feared that it was about to collapse under him, for the captain was not -a slight man by any means. - -Neither Overton girl had ever before met Captain Rowland, but they had -heard of him as a severe man, cold and not always as just as were most -of his fellow officers, so rumor had said. - -Mrs. Smythe was seated on a camp stool just back of the captain, and -with her was a young woman that Grace had never seen before, though she -afterwards learned that the girl was Marie Debussy, a French woman, -who, it appeared, was acting as the supervisor’s maid. Except for the -lieutenant who had assisted Mrs. Smythe on the occasion of her rescue -from the river, there were no others present. - -“Are you Mrs. Grace Gray?” demanded the captain, fixing a stern look on -Grace Harlowe. - -“I am, sir.” - -“What right have you to those decorations?” he demanded, pointing an -accusing finger at her. - -Grace for the instant was staggered. She found herself at a loss to -answer. - -“Sir?” - -He repeated the question, but more sharply accentuated than before. - -“With all respect, sir, your question carries with it an inference not -at all creditable to me.” - -Elfreda Briggs was proud of Grace. She could not have said it better -herself, and being a lawyer, Elfreda ordinarily was quite equal to -making the retort courteous. - -The face of the army officer hardened, but before he could reply, Grace -continued. - -“The decorations, sir, were awarded to me, one by the -commander-in-chief and the other by the French Government.” - -“For what?” - -“I have frequently asked myself that very same question, sir,” replied -the Overton girl. - -“This is a military inquiry, Mrs. Gray. You will answer my questions -directly. Why were you awarded the decorations you are wearing?” - -Grace’s face hardened ever so little, and Elfreda looked for an -explosion, but none came. - -“If you will pardon me, I must be excused from answering. The records -will show why I am wearing them. General Gordon knows something of this -matter. May I ask why you are pressing me on this point, sir?” - -“You may. It has been said that you were wearing decorations to which -you had no right. This is a very serious accusation, Madame.” - -Grace caught her breath sharply. - -“Then the person who told you that either was misinformed or was -telling a malicious falsehood,” she declared with some heat, fixing a -steady look on Mrs. Chadsey Smythe. - -“You see, Captain! The woman is an impertinent creature,” interjected -Mrs. Smythe. - -The captain waved a hand for her to be silent. - -“I will attend to that phase of the matter later on. You wrecked an -automobile to-day and imperilled the lives of your passengers. I am -informed that previous to the accident you had been driving recklessly, -doing so with the intent to intimidate your passenger, and at the same -time endangering other lives. Is this true?” - -“I was driving rather fast, I will admit, sir.” - -“Why?” - -“Mrs. Smythe ordered me to do so, and accused me of being afraid to -speed up, so I speeded up. That, however, had nothing to do with the -accident. At the time of the crash I was following an officer’s car. A -truck crowded me against the bridge railing. Understand, sir, I am not -excusing myself. In a way I was not wholly blameless for the accident, -because I was driving too fast for the crowded condition of the road. -So far as intent was concerned, it is foolish to assume that there -could have been anything of that sort. I had my own neck to consider as -well as those of my passengers.” - -“How fast were you driving?” - -“About thirty-five miles an hour, I should say.” - -“What experience have you had in driving a car?” - -“I have been driving an ambulance on the western front for many months, -sir. Previously to coming overseas I had been driving for several -years. I consider myself a fairly successful driver.” - -“I understand that you have had accidents before this one?” - -“Naturally, sir. One cannot drive an ambulance at the front in wartime -without having more or less trouble, as you know, and I cannot -understand why so much should have been made of this accident by my -superior. It was an accident, I was driving fast, but I deny most -emphatically that I was careless or that a slower rate of speed would -have prevented the collision.” - -“Others will be the judge of that, Mrs. Gray,” rebuked the officer. -“Mrs. Smythe makes a further charge against you. She asserts that, -after you all fell into the river, you handled her roughly. Not only -that but that you tried to drown her.” - -“Mrs. Smythe is in error.” - -“You held my head under water!” cried the supervisor. - -“I was trying to rescue you, Mrs. Smythe, but you fought me, and -to save you I was obliged first to subdue you. The accusation is -preposterous. I am not a Hun. Are there any other charges, Captain?” - -“I believe not. Those already named are quite sufficient. Mrs. Smythe, -is there anything you wish to add to the statement you have already -made?” questioned the captain. - -“Yes, there is. I demand that this woman be dismissed from the service. -She is unfit for our purposes, and I refuse to have anything further to -do with her,” declared the supervisor heatedly. - -Grace smiled down on her superior, but made no comment. - -“That I cannot do,” answered the captain. “The most that I am empowered -to do is to request her organization to withdraw her from your service. -I should say, however, that such a request had best come from you. -However, I agree with you that Mrs. Gray should be punished for what -verges on criminal carelessness.” - -“I should say it was criminal carelessness,” muttered the angry woman. - -“What I can do is to relieve her from duty until--” - -“Sir,” interjected Grace Harlowe in an even tone, “as I understand -the military law in the case, you have no authority to do even -that. You can recommend, but you have no authority to go further. I -shall be obliged to stand on my rights. I say this in no spirit of -insubordination, and with full knowledge that I am responsible to -the military authorities for my conduct. If it is your belief that I -should be relieved from duty, I hope you will make the recommendation -to your superior, who, in turn, can pass the recommendation on to a -higher authority. By the time these formalities have been observed -we undoubtedly shall have arrived at the Rhine, where a more formal -hearing may be more conveniently held. I hope I have made myself -perfectly clear both as to meaning and intent, sir.” - -“Perfectly,” observed the captain sarcastically. “I agree with you in -your interpretation of your rights in the case, and I shall, as you -suggest, make my recommendations to my superior officer.” - -“Thank you.” - -“My recommendation will be that you be dismissed from service with the -Army of Occupation and returned to your organization in Paris. That -is all, Mrs. Gray. In the meantime you will proceed with your work as -before. A car will be turned over to you to-morrow morning. That’s all!” - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -A TIMELY MEETING - - -“Grace Harlowe, I am proud of you,” glowed Elfreda as they left the -headquarters of Captain Rowland. - -“You may not be if Mrs. Smythe has her way. She plainly has more or -less influence in high places. You saw how thoroughly against me the -captain was, didn’t you?” - -“Yes, but he agreed with the soundness of your argument.” - -“He had to. He knew I was right. What pleases me most of all is that -I shall have the pleasure of driving Madame to-morrow. Beyond that I -cannot say.” - -“My legal training tells me that we should make some overtures in high -places ourselves. You surely will not stand by and let the supervisor -have her way?” - -“Why not?” - -“Could we reach Tom, who is somewhere in line on this march to the -Rhine, he would be able to assist us,” reflected Elfreda. - -Grace shook her head. - -“Having gotten into this mess I shall get out of it of my own self, so -possess your soul in peace, J. Elfreda. Here we are at our suburban -home. I wonder who left the fagots for us? We have enough left for our -morning tea, no matter what else happens.” - -“Humph!” exclaimed Miss Briggs. “I should consider, were I in your -place, that I had something of more importance to worry about. I’m -going to bed. By the way, where did Madame get that wooden-faced maid -of hers?” - -Grace said she did not know, and would not even try to guess. The -Overton girls soon were rolled in their blankets, and, despite the -hard boards underneath them, went to sleep at once. They were used -to hardships, and a little matter like a hard bed was not a thing to -retard their sleep for many moments. - -Grace was up at break of day next morning. After dressing she stepped -out for a long breath of fresh, crisp air and a look about. There was -activity all about her, and the smoke of rolling kitchens and the odor -of cooking food was on the air. Glancing to the eastward and into the -haze of the early morning, Grace Harlowe’s eyes dwelt momentarily on -a little strip of forest about a quarter of a mile from her point of -observation, then passed on. - -A bird was rising from among the trees in the forest. She saw it circle -and spiral, steadily rising higher and higher, finally setting out on a -course to the eastward. Many times had the Overton girls seen pigeons -bearing messages of great moment start out from the American lines, and -what she had just witnessed was so much like the flight of a carrier -pigeon that she could not believe it was not one. The difference that -caused the doubt of her vision was that the pigeons she had seen in -flight were always headed to the westward, while this one was flying -east. - -“There goes another!” exclaimed Grace. “This doesn’t look right.” - -Three birds in all arose, circled and soared to the eastward while -she stood watching. Grace wondered what it could mean, there now being -no doubt in her mind that she had witnessed the flight of war pigeons. -Returning to the cellar, she awakened Miss Briggs, told her to get up -and make the tea, started the fire and went out with the mess kits to -fetch their breakfast. - -Breakfast was rather hurried, as Grace knew she would have to look -for the car that she was to drive that morning, and that operation -undoubtedly would consume some little time. It did. She was sent from -officer to officer before she found the one who was to assign a car -to her, and even then she had difficulty in obtaining possession of -the vehicle. At last she succeeded in getting it, and lost no time in -getting away with the machine before it should be grabbed by some one -else. - -Pulling up before their cellar she jumped out and ran down to assist in -loading aboard their belongings. - -“All aboard for the River Rhine, Elfreda,” she called cheerily. “We are -going to enjoy this drive, I know. The air is fine.” - -“I can’t say as much for the water in this neck of the woods. That -water yesterday was beastly. Don’t you dare give me another such a -bath, Grace Harlowe,” warned Elfreda. - -“No, I’m determined to be good to-day and not do a thing to rile our -supervisor. You shall see how nice I can be to her. Come, we must get -ready.” - -A few moments later they pulled up before Mrs. Smythe’s cellar and sat -waiting for her to appear, after having given a few discreet honks on -the horn. When the supervisor emerged with her maid and Miss O’Leary, -her face wore a hard expression that had not been there before. - -Grace, jumping out, opened the car door for her, slammed it shut after -the passengers were in, and saluted snappily. - -“Does not Miss Cahill ride with us to-day?” she questioned. - -“Carry on as you are!” commanded Mrs. Smythe. - -“Very good,” answered the Overton girl, climbing to her seat. - -“Just a moment,” commanded the supervisor. “You are to drive slowly -to-day. At the first indication of recklessness or the slightest -disobedience of orders I shall call an officer to place you under -arrest for insubordination. Do you get me clearly?” - -“I get you quite clearly, Madame,” answered Grace smilingly. “What -speed--three, five, ten, fifteen, twenty, thirty or forty miles?” - -“You know what I mean. I ordered you to drive slowly.” - -Grace swung into the highway and started off at a speed of about five -miles an hour, but she had not gone far ere the rasping voice of her -superior ordered her to drive, not creep. - -The speed of the car was increased to ten miles an hour, but beyond -this the Overton girl would not go, despite the insistent demands of -Mrs. Smythe. Finally exasperated beyond measure, Grace stopped the car -at the side of the road and faced her supervisor. - -“Perhaps, Madame, you would prefer to have Miss Briggs drive the car?” - -“No, thank you,” spoke up Elfreda. - -“Are you a safe driver?” demanded Mrs. Smythe. - -“Very, but I am not a skilled driver.” - -“Take the wheel. You can do no worse than the present driver.” - -“I will settle with you for this later,” muttered J. Elfreda in a low -voice to her companion. “I call this a low-down trick. I probably shall -turn you all over in the ditch.” - -“Go as far as you like,” answered Grace, getting out to enable Elfreda -to take the driver’s seat. Miss Briggs fumbled, stalled the car, but -after a few back-fires succeeded in getting under way, the passenger -growing more and more irritable as the moments passed. - -Elfreda shot ahead with a jolt that brought a torrent of abuse from -the supervisor, and narrowly missed smashing into an officer’s car -ahead. A few rods further on, in attempting to dodge an army truck, -J. Elfreda Briggs came to grief. One of the rear wheels of the army -automobile slipped from the road into a shallow ditch, the wheels sank -into the soft mud and the car began to settle, threatening every second -to turn over on its side. Grace snapped off the spark and silenced the -motors, her quick action saving them from a bad spill. Elfreda had -wholly lost her head. - -“Drive out, drive out!” cried Mrs. Smythe. - -“I--I can’t,” gasped Miss Briggs. “The wheels will go around but the -car won’t move. What shall I do?” - -“We must all get out,” directed Grace. - -Just then a car slipped past them and brought up abruptly. Grace -observed that it was an officer’s car, but beyond that gave no heed. A -second or so later she saw two men get out and walk back toward them. - -“I thought I recognized you when we passed, Mrs. Gray,” called a -familiar voice. “Are you in need of assistance?” - -“Why, Colonel Gordon--I mean General Gordon,” corrected Grace, -flushing. “I am glad to see you and glad of the opportunity to -congratulate you on your promotion.” - -“You are no more delighted to see me than I am to meet you again. I -believe this is Miss Briggs, isn’t it? Mrs. Gray and Miss Briggs, meet -Captain Boucher of the Intelligence Department.” - -The general and the captain shook hands cordially with both Overton -girls, the general giving a quick, comprehensive glance at the -occupants of the rear seats, and nodding ever so slightly. Grace did -not offer to introduce either to the supervisor. - -“Mrs. Gray is the young woman who saved my life in the Argonne, -Captain. I could tell you a lot more about her, but I know it would -embarrass her if I did. Miss Briggs, I did not know that you drove.” - -“I don’t,” answered J. Elfreda rather abruptly. - -“Oh, yes she does,” insisted Grace. “At least she has just driven -us into a ditch. Miss Briggs learned to drive immediately after the -armistice was signed, but in doing so she smashed up two army cars and -ran over a major. She will soon be up to my record. My latest exploit, -General, was trying conclusions with the concrete railing of a bridge -yesterday. The bridge won and we all went into the river.” - -“Was that your car that I saw hanging over the edge of a bridge near -Etain, Mrs. Gray?” - -“Yes, sir, that was the car.” - -Mrs. Smythe who had been controlling her emotions with some success, -now interjected herself into the conversation. - -“General, I think I have met you. I am Mrs. Chadsey Smythe, in command -of the welfare workers of--” - -The general and the captain saluted, smiled and turned back to Grace. - -“That was not the worst of it,” resumed Grace. “I had with me my -supervisor, a somewhat irritable person. She went into the river with -the rest of us, and of course I went to her rescue and, with the -assistance of some doughboys, got her out. My supervisor was not a -grateful person--she accused me of trying to drown her.” - -The officers laughed heartily. - -“That surely was a good joke, Mrs. Gray,” observed the general, -regarding her quizzically. - -J. Elfreda Briggs had forgotten her own troubles in her delight at the -trend of the conversation. - -“Let us have the rest of the story. You will pardon us for reminiscing, -Mrs. Smythe,” begged the general, observing the angry look on the face -of the supervisor. “Listen, Captain. The worst is yet to come. I know -Mrs. Gray.” - -“There is not much more to relate,” continued Grace smilingly. “I -had been driving in a way that did not please my supervisor and she -was thoroughly angry with me on that account, and not wholly without -reason, for I was going too fast for the crowded condition of the road. -Well, the result of all this was that she made complaint against me and -I was called before an officer for a hearing.” - -“Eh? What’s that?” demanded the general. - -“Yes, sir. I was accused of reckless driving and with intent to drown -my superior officer.” - -“The woman accused you of that?” - -“Yes, sir.” - -The two officers laughed heartily. - -“Ridiculous!” exclaimed the general. “Was the woman suffering from -shell shock or was it a chronic condition with her?” - -“I’m sure I don’t know, sir,” answered Grace meekly. “As I have already -said, I was called before a captain, who among other things questioned -me sharply about the decorations I wore, the intimation being that I -had no right to them. Of course I do not know who suggested the thought -to him. I declined to discuss the matter, taking the liberty of saying -to him that General Gordon was familiar with the circumstances of at -least one of my decorations.” - -“I should say so. Who was the officer?” - -“Captain Rowland of the Forty-Ninth, sir.” - -“Ah! Please proceed.” - -“The captain was of the opinion that I should be punished and was for -dismissing me from the army and sending me back to Paris, until I took -the liberty of pointing out to him that he had no authority to do so, -that he could make recommendations, but had not the power to enforce in -this instance.” - -“You were right. What were his recommendations?” - -“That I be dismissed and sent back to my organization.” - -“Thank you. I am glad you told me the story. It is most interesting, I -assure you. Mrs. Gray, it was on my urgent recommendation that you were -directed to join this march and go with us to the Rhine. Having done -so I shall make it my business to see to it that a crazy woman and a -misinformed officer do not interfere with my plans. I will discuss this -matter with you further later on. Captain, do you mind ordering some -men to place this car back in the road?” - - - - -CHAPTER V - -GRACE WINS AND IS SORRY - - -The general saluted and stepped away, and in a moment or so a squad of -soldiers ran to the car. - -“All hands out, please,” called Grace. “No need to have them lift us -with the car.” - -Up to this time J. Elfreda had not dared permit herself to catch -Grace’s eye, knowing very well that were she to do so she would laugh. -Perhaps “Captain” Grace was of the same opinion regarding her own -emotions, so she avoided Elfreda’s eyes. The men quickly boosted the -car back into the road. - -“Take the wheel and make a fresh start, Elfreda,” directed Grace, after -thanking the doughboys. - -“I beg most respectfully to be excused. Mrs. Smythe, I ask to be -relieved from driving. An empty road and a wide one is the only safe -place for me to experiment. May I turn the wheel over to Mrs. Gray?” - -The supervisor half nodded. She was dazed, at least she appeared to be -so, and had not a word to say. At least two of her companions in the -car found themselves wondering what her thoughts were at that moment. -After a little Elfreda ventured to speak. - -“How wide and expansive the morning is,” she observed. - -“Very,” agreed Grace. “I don’t know what you are talking about, but I -agree with you.” - -A great silence hovered over the army automobile, so far as the rear -seat was concerned, though eventually Grace and Elfreda fell to -discussing army matters of a general nature. At noon they halted for -mess, then proceeded on at slow speed, for they were close up to the -engineers, who were following the advance column to examine roads for -mines and repair them where necessary. - -Thus far not a gun had been fired, though at any moment a blast was -looked for by every one in the Third Army. Airplanes were constantly -buzzing overhead, observation balloons were continuously on watch in -the skies, and every precaution was being taken to guard against a -surprise. That night their bedroom again was in a cellar, and once more -Won Lue brought them fagots and water. - -They had left Mrs. Chadsey Smythe at the cellar that had been assigned -to her. Miss Cahill arrived at about the same time on an army truck -and shared the cellar with Madame, Miss O’Leary and the maid, Marie -Debussy. - -“Grace Harlowe, I take off my hat to you,” Elfreda exclaimed, throwing -off her cap and blouse. “Chad got her deserts that time, but, woman, -look out for her. Revenge is as sweet to her as it is to you.” - -“Revenge is not sweet to me,” objected Grace. “I am so sorry that I -turned the tables on her as I did, but it was an opportunity that I -could not miss. At least it served one useful purpose; Madame did not -speak to me all the rest of the day. What a heavenly relief. Do you -suppose the general knew who she was?” - -“He may have known who she was, but I do not believe he understood that -she was the woman to whom you referred. I hope the general doesn’t find -out that he was abusing the woman to her face,” Elfreda chuckled. - -“He will learn it the first time I see him. I feel that I did an -inexcusable thing in drawing him into the muss as I did. I am always -doing the wrong thing at the wrong time.” - -“It is war,” reminded Elfreda. “Ah! Here comes our friend the Chinaman. -Good evening, Won. What is it?” - -“Plenty fline apple,” he answered, emptying out full two quarts of red -apples from a gas mask bag. - -“Oh, isn’t that fine,” glowed Elfreda. “I haven’t had an apple since I -left America. Grace, what do you think of that?” - -“I think Won must have found an orchard in a cellar somewhere. Thank -you ever so much. Why do you do so many nice things for us?” - -“Nicee lady, a-la. Missie see nicee birdie fly fly away?” Won -accompanied the words with a wink and knowing smirk. - -“What do you mean?” demanded Grace, regarding him narrowly. - -For answer Won formed a spiral in the air with one hand, raising the -hand a little higher with each circle, then sending the hand flitting -through the air in imitation of a bird’s flight. - -Grace caught the meaning instantly. - -“Oh, you mean a bird?” - -“Les. Plidgin bird. Him fly, a-la. Missie see plidgin fly.” - -“Did you see it, Won?” - -“Me savvy. Me see.” - -“Do you know where they came from, where they were going or who sent -them? Understand me?” - -“Not know. Plenty blad man. Mebby Chinaman blad man.” - -“Why do you tell me, then?” - -“Missie no like blad man, no likee plidgin go so,” pointing to the -east. - -“Thank you. I understand. You must keep watch, Won, and let me know who -is making the ‘plidgin fly-fly.’” - -Won nodded and chuckled, then shaking hands with himself, trotted away -without another word. - -“What was that wild heathen talking about?” demanded Elfreda. “You -appeared to understand perfectly what he was getting at, but I couldn’t -make a single thing out of it.” - -“He was trying to convey to me that something bad is going on in the -Third Army.” - -“What is the something?” - -“Perhaps I shall be able to tell you about that later. Won is a wise -Chinaman. He knew that I knew something was going on and wished to let -me know he was on our side. I don’t believe many of the Orientals in -the labor battalion are in the same class with our friend. To change -the subject, do you know I feel sorry for that poor little Marie -Debussy. The half dumb way she looks at you is almost heart-breaking. -Mrs. Smythe must make her life miserable. When we get to the Rhine we -must try to do something for the girl. Did you observe that Miss Cahill -came through on a camion to-day?” - -“Yes, I observed it.” - -“Mrs. Smythe evidently did not propose to be so crowded.” - -“No, she wished to be free to jump if you hit another bridge,” declared -Elfreda. - -Supper was attended with the same smoke-screen as had happened at the -meal of the previous evening, but they enjoyed their mess and chatted -and teased each other until it was time to turn in. - -Grace was up at daybreak again, but did not awaken her companion. The -morning was very chill, but the air was clear, and Grace with her -binoculars surveyed the surrounding country as well as she could in the -half light of the early morning, appearing to be especially interested -in every clump of trees within the range of her vision. - -Day was just dawning when she discovered that of which she was in -search, a pigeon rising into the air from a field quite a distance to -the southward. As on the previous occasion the pigeon flew east, and -was followed at regular intervals by two others. - -There could be no doubt about it now. War pigeons were being sent -toward the enemy country, though Grace was not at all certain that it -was enemy agents who were doing the sending. In any event it was a -matter that should be reported, which the Overton girl determined to do -that very day. - -Without saying anything to her companion of what she had observed, -Grace ate her breakfast, and asking Elfreda to clean up and pack up, -set out for Mrs. Smythe’s headquarters. The supervisor was just eating -her breakfast. Her face flushed as she saw who her visitor was, but she -spoke no word, merely stared. - -“I have come, Mrs. Smythe, for two reasons; first, to ask what your -orders are for the day; secondly, to tell you I am sorry that I gave -way to my inclinations yesterday and related the story of our trouble -to the general. I ordinarily fight my own battles. You must admit, -however, that I had very excellent reasons for feeling as I did toward -you.” - -“You insulted and humiliated me!” cried the supervisor, suddenly -finding speech. - -“And you also have insulted and humiliated me,” replied Grace. “It -is my feeling that you were well entitled to all that you received, -but my regret is that I permitted myself to be the instrument of the -rebuke. You are my superior. I am at all times ready to take and obey -any reasonable orders that you may give me. However, we must understand -each other. My self-respect will not permit me to remain silent under -such tongue-lashings as you have been indulging in. It must cease, Mrs. -Smythe!” - -“You--you are telling me, your commanding officer, what I must do?” -demanded the woman, exercising more than ordinary self-restraint. - -“No, not that, Mrs. Smythe. What I am seeking to do is to convince you -that it will not be advisable for the peace of mind of either of us for -you to continue your unkind treatment of me.” - -“And, in the event that I decide to do as I please in all matters -relating to your official duties, what then?” - -Grace shrugged her shoulders. - -“Attention!” - -Grace smiled sweetly. - -“The regulations do not require me to salute a superior when that -superior is seated, without head covering and with blouse unbuttoned. -Neither do the regulations require that I shall come to attention in -such circumstances. This is not an official call and I do not expect -you to receive me as such, therefore you must expect no more of me. I -am here as woman to woman to ask that you treat me like a human being, -and then to ask your forgiveness for my questionable revenge of to-day. -Even the Huns have signed an armistice and agreed to cease fighting. -Surely you and I as good Americans should be able to settle our -differences by declaring an armistice; and you may rest assured that I -shall do my part toward preserving the peace. What are your feelings -on the matter and your orders for the day, please?” - -“Driver, my feelings are my own. You came here with the deliberate -intention of further insulting me.” - -“I am sincerely sorry that you look at it in that light. I know you -will not feel that way after you have thought over what I have said.” - -“Have you anything further to say, driver? If so, say it and have done, -for it will be your last opportunity.” - -“Only to ask again for orders, Mrs. Smythe,” replied Grace sweetly. - -“My orders are that you get out of my sight instantly!” The supervisor -rose, buttoned her blouse to the throat and put on her cap. “Go!” she -commanded, pointing to the cellar opening. - -Grace Harlowe clicked her heels together and snapped into a salute, -then executing a right-about, marched from the cellar and back to her -own headquarters under a ruined cottage. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -MESSING WITH A BRIGADIER - - -“The car has gone?” - -“Yes, Mrs. Gray. One of our men drivers took it out under orders this -morning,” the sergeant informed her. - -“Whose orders?” - -“Captain Grant’s.” - -“No provision then has been made for a car for me?” questioned Grace. - -“Not that I am aware of. Sorry, but I can’t help it. It’s orders.” - -“I understand, Sergeant. I think a hike will do myself and my friend -good.” - -“Would you ride on a truck?” - -“Of course if necessary, but I think we prefer to walk, thank you. I -always did enjoy hiking. You don’t know whether or not the car has gone -on?” - -“It went on less than five minutes before you came out. Four women in -it, the same ones you carried before.” - -“Thank you, Sergeant. May I offer you a package of cigarettes?” - -He said she might, and thanked her, a broad grin on his face. - -“The old party hasn’t passed out a thing since we started,” he informed -her. - -“I know it. She informs me that none will be distributed from the -canteen until we reach the Rhine. Thank you very much for your -kindness.” Grace returned to their cellar, where she found Elfreda -awaiting her with more or less impatience. Their mess kits and other -supplies were packed. - -“Where is the car? I didn’t hear you drive up,” questioned Miss Briggs. - -“Mrs. Chadsey Smythe took the car and a soldier driver, and went on, I -am informed.” - -“What?” - -“You and I are going to enjoy a lovely twelve-mile walk this morning, -and I know it will do us a world of good. We have been riding too much -since we came over here.” - -“I call that an outrage!” expostulated J. Elfreda. “What about all this -stuff?” - -“We will carry our own kits. Our bags and what little government -property we have here we will try to get on a truck. The rest will -be easy. I had an interview with Madame in her cellar this morning. -I tried to come to an amicable settlement of our difficulties, but -she threatened me and drove me out. It is quite evident that General -Gordon has not taken action, as he said he would. However, I feel that -we are going to be all right and that we shall arrive at the Rhine -flying high.” - -“Tell me about it,” urged Elfreda. - -Grace did so, her companion listening with narrowed eyes. - -“This passes all comprehension, Grace. I can’t believe that the woman -is so bad as she would have us think her. You must admit that she is a -good American else she would not be here, suffering all the discomforts -of army life.” - -“That is the way I have reasoned it out, Elfreda, and that is why I -went to see her this morning, hoping that after yesterday she might -have seen a light--instead she saw red,” added Grace, smiling up at -her companion. “Let’s get our luggage out and I will look up one of -our unit’s wagons. Perhaps we may arrange our day’s journey quite -satisfactorily.” - -They were fortunate in finding one of their own camions that was just -starting out, and the driver was more than willing to take their -belongings and asked them to ride through with him, but Grace said they -preferred to walk, now that their car had gone on without them. - -The Overton girls set out bravely, falling in behind the regiment with -which they had been billeted. There were many offers of a ride on -wagons of their train, and doughboys frequently urged them to turn over -their kits, to all of which Grace gave a smiling “Thank you” and shook -her head. - -They were two weary girls when they arrived at their objective, and -while Elfreda was in search of a cellar, Grace looked up the driver who -had their belongings and carried them to the side of the street to a -point where Elfreda was to meet her. - -“I have a whole house for us,” cried Miss Briggs, running up to Grace -nearly half an hour later. “It is what is left of a peasant cottage. -Part of the roof is shot away, but what is left of it will cover us -very nicely. There is a fireplace where we can make our tea, and enough -pieces of board about to make a roaring fire and keep us warm.” - -“Fine. Help me carry the things in, then I will report our location to -Company A’s commander. I don’t suppose you chance to know where Mrs. -Smythe’s billet is?” - -“Neither know nor care, Grace Harlowe. I have troubles of my own, the -principal one being a pair of feet that weigh several pounds above -normal. Let’s go!” - -Grace was delighted with their quarters, and the two girls promptly set -about arranging their belongings. “Captain” Grace then reported their -billet to a lieutenant of Company A, which was according to orders. - -When she returned to the cottage a car was standing before it, and -Elfreda was at the door of the house watching for her. - -“What is it?” - -“General Gordon’s car,” said Elfreda. “He has sent it for us, -requesting that we mess with him. It strikes me that this is moving -some. I hope Chad doesn’t hear of it, or she will have us drawn and -quartered at sunrise.” - -Grace stepped out to the driver. - -“Can you wait fifteen minutes, Buddy? We simply must slick up before we -go.” - -“Yes, Mrs. Gray. Take your time.” - -The girls changed their clothes, brushed their hair and put on clean -boots, and came out fit for the most rigid inspection. - -The general’s driver was not a slow driver, and ten minutes later they -halted before a cottage that appeared to be whole. It was about the -only one in town that escaped the deluge of Hun steel that had been -hurled on the little French village. The general met the Overton girls -at the door and led them in. Captain Boucher was there, and a Major -Colt, who was a member of the balloon corps, and to whom he introduced -both women. - -A cheerful fire was blazing in the wide fireplace, and a table was set -for five, while a Chinaman was cooking the supper over the fire. - -“How cheerful,” exclaimed Grace. “We too have a cottage and fireplace, -but we lack a roof, and what heat doesn’t go up the chimney goes -through the place where the roof once was.” - -“How is your superior behaving to-day?” questioned the general -quizzically. - -“I don’t know, not having seen her since early morning, sir. I wish to -make a confession to you, and now is the proper time to do so. I feel -that I took an inexcusable advantage of you yesterday in telling you -of my supervisor’s shortcomings in her presence. Mrs. Chadsey Smythe -was the woman I referred to, and she was in the car when I told you the -story. She also, of course, heard you express your opinion of her. I -owe you an apology, General, but do not see how you can overlook what I -did.” - -General Gordon laughed heartily. - -“No apology is necessary. I knew that it was she to whom you referred. -Even had I not known it, her face would have told me. I expressed -myself as I did, partly for her own good. I take it that she hasn’t -been driving with you to-day?” - -“No, sir. She preferred to drive with some one else. When do we reach -the Rhine, if I may ask, sir?” - -“Four or five days hence. We could do it in much less time, but the -enemy is moving slowly, and you know we cannot hurry him, much as we -should like to. Things have been moving smoothly thus far, but I am of -the opinion that we shall meet with little friendliness after we cross -the Moselle. So you ladies hiked through to-day, eh?” - -Grace’s face flushed and Elfreda looked amazed. - -“Yes, sir, so long as you have mentioned the subject. May I ask how you -know?” questioned Grace. - -“Our Intelligence Department hears and sees all things,” the general -informed her, waving a hand toward Captain Boucher. - -“Are you quite positive as to that, General?” returned “Captain” Grace -suggestively. - -“What do you mean?” demanded the captain, pricking up his ears. - -“I was wondering if the Intelligence Department had reason to believe -we had spies with us in this army of invasion,” smiled the Overton -girl. She observed a quick flash in the eyes of the Intelligence -officer, followed by an expression of inquiry there. - -“We will be seated now, if you please. Sorry, Mrs. Gray, that we can -offer you nothing better than a board to sit on.” - -“A board for a seat is luxury compared with what we have had for the -last several evenings. Miss Briggs and myself have been dining sitting -on a cellar floor,” replied Grace brightly, taking a seat at the right -of the general, Elfreda being placed between Captain Boucher and Major -Colt on the opposite side of the table. - -“To return to your hike, I am very sorry that you did not inform me of -the difficulty. Was the action taken without notice to you?” - -“Yes, sir.” - -“What led up to it? Had you any conversation with Mrs. Smythe last -evening?” - -“Not last evening. I had this morning. It was this way, sir. I went -to her headquarters and tried to get her to see the matter in a right -light and at the same time to warn her that I could tolerate no further -insults from her. I should prefer to say nothing about it, for I do not -like to talk behind a person’s back, much preferring to speak out when -that person is present and can answer.” - -“So I observed the other day. I don’t know about finding another car -for you, but in any event I will see that you and Miss Briggs have -places in an officer’s car for the rest of the journey.” - -“Have you ever been up in the air, Mrs. Gray?” interjected Major Colt. - -Grace said she had, and related her experience when on a flight with -Hippy Wingate, which interested and amused the officers very much. - -“Never been in an observation balloon?” questioned the major. - -“No, sir.” - -“With the general’s permission, I should be glad to have you go up with -me, and Miss Briggs too, though she would have to go in another car or -else wait until a later date, for the basket is not roomy enough for so -many.” - -“If I am permitted to say so without offense, I believe I should prefer -to remain on the ground,” spoke up J. Elfreda. “I have no ambition to -soar.” - -“How about you, Mrs. Gray?” - -“I should be delighted, sir.” - -“Done! To-morrow if the weather looks promising; otherwise on the -following day, if that is agreeable.” - -Grace said it was. - -“I warn you, though,” she added, “that you will be taking desperate -chances if I go with you.” - -“How so?” - -“Mrs. Gray means that something always happens when she is along,” -Elfreda informed them. - -“Nothing very serious can interfere with us now,” soothed the major. -“There are no Boche airplanes to shoot us down, no enemy artillery to -shoot off our cables, and, being attached to trucks, we shall move -along slowly and steadily behind the army, with a wonderful view spread -out before us.” - -“I know I shall enjoy it until--” - -“Until what?” demanded the general. - -“Until the cable breaks,” returned “Captain” Grace with a twinkle in -her eyes. - -“I will let you hear from me early in the morning, Mrs. Gray.” - -“And I will have a car to take you to the balloons or on toward the -front,” added the general. “Then that is settled.” - -“You spoke of spies a few moments ago,” spoke up Captain Boucher -inquiringly. “I was wondering if you had anything in mind?” - -“Likewise, I was wondering if you were having any spy scares?” answered -Grace. - -Captain Boucher reflected briefly. - -“We are,” he said. “I am revealing no military secrets when I say that -we are.” - -“You may speak frankly before Mrs. Gray, Captain,” interjected the -general. “She is something of an investigator herself, and if ever you -get in a pickle call on her to assist you.” - -“And make a mess of the case,” finished “Captain” Grace. “Pardon me.” - -“Military information of a vital nature is percolating to the enemy. Of -course an army always has and always will have traitors in it, enemy -subjects, I mean, but we thought we had stopped all the leaks. It -appears that we haven’t.” - -“It is an impossible task, Captain,” observed Grace. - -“So long as there are wars there will be spies,” added the general. -“All that we can do is to do our best to minimize the evil and deal -sternly with those we catch. Our people in Washington have not been in -sympathy with stern measures and the enemy knows this. The result is -they have been very bold. It was Mrs. Gray, I understand, Captain, who -was responsible for the capture of the spy André.” - -“And Madame de Beaupre,” added Captain Boucher. - -“Oh, you know about it, then?” exclaimed General Gordon. - -“Yes.” - -“Suppose we change the subject,” suggested Grace, her face flushing. -“I never did like to hear myself talked about. May I ask if we are -using carrier pigeons on this march?” she questioned innocently. - -“Not to speak of. We have them, of course, but our lines of -communication are so open that birds are not needed. We have sent out a -few in an experimental way; but that is all.” - -“In which direction did they fly, sir, if I may ask?” - -“Westward, of course. Why do you ask?” demanded the captain, bending a -keen glance on the face of the Overton girl. - -“I wondered.” - -“Will you be good enough to tell us, Mrs. Gray, why you appear to be so -interested in carrier pigeons at this moment?” urged the Intelligence -officer. - -“Yes, what have you to suggest?” added the general. - -“That you watch the skies in the early morning. Pigeons are being flown -from this army in the early morning, and, sir, they are flying to the -eastward,” Grace Harlowe informed them in a quiet tone. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -OFFICERS GET A SHOCK - - -Every eye was fixed on Grace Harlowe’s face mid a tense silence. -General Gordon was the first to break the silence. - -“Ah! I was certain that you had something in mind,” he said. - -“I think you must be mistaken, Mrs. Gray,” objected Captain Boucher. -“What you probably saw was a bird and--” - -“Yes, sir, it was a bird,” agreed “Captain” Grace amid much laughter. - -“Did you see the bird, or did some one tell about it?” persisted the -Intelligence officer. - -“I saw it, sir.” - -“Describe its manner of flight, if you can, please, and the point where -you saw it.” - -“The bird spiralled up after a little apparent uncertainty, then taking -a direct line, streaked it to the eastward. Two others followed it at -regular intervals. That was at Etain, and the birds were flown from a -little patch of woods to the south of the ruined village. I have seen -many pigeons flown in this war, Captain Boucher, and I am familiar, in -a way, with their methods of operating.” - -“You surely have described it properly. You only saw three birds go up?” - -“That was all I saw at Etain.” - -“You have seen some since?” asked the general quickly. - -“Yes, sir. Three more were liberated from a field just at break of day -this morning. They too went east.” - -“Most remarkable,” declared the major gazing at her admiringly. “Our -Intelligence Department is obtaining some real intelligence.” - -“Yes, here’s a job for you, Captain. I’ll warrant you are up at break -of day to-morrow morning,” chuckled the general. - -“This is a serious matter, General,” reminded the captain. “It doesn’t -seem possible that a thing like that could be pulled off under the very -eyes of the army. However, if your information is correct, we shall -catch the culprit. May I ask you to take an early observation again in -the morning, Mrs. Gray?” - -“I shall be pleased to do so. If I may make a suggestion, I would urge -you to discuss nothing of this before the Chinaman. I observed that the -general sent him away before we began speaking; else I should not have -told you what I have,” said Grace. - -“You suspect that the Chinese are involved in this? I hadn’t considered -that at all.” - -“No, Captain, I do not--that is, I do not know, but it is well to be -cautious. I understand that the Chinese labor battalion was recruited -from a very bad element in China. They are great gamblers, as you all -know, and for a little money those fellows would go to any lengths. -Fertile ground for the Huns, sir.” - -General Gordon nodded his approval of the sentiment. - -“Boucher, would it not be well to make contact with a Chinaman and have -him watch his fellows?” asked the general. - -“Afraid we can’t trust them. We shall have to adopt other methods, -which we shall do at once.” - -“Perhaps I may be able to assist you somewhat. I know one of them, and -I know that he knows of the flights of the birds. He knows that I saw -them; how, I can’t say.” - -“Who is he?” demanded the Intelligence officer sharply. - -“I should prefer not to say just now, and I hope you will not press -me on that point. I am asking that, believing that I can obtain -information from the man better than you can. What I learn from him may -not be very definite, but it may be an indication.” - -[Illustration: Every Eye Was Fixed on Grace Harlowe.] - -“Better allow Mrs. Gray to operate in her own way, Boucher. That is my -advice,” urged the general. - -Captain Boucher nodded. - -“We will leave this particular Chinaman to you, Mrs. Gray. When you -have any information I trust you will advise me immediately, for -moments may be precious. I hope they send out other birds, desiring to -have the confirmation of my own eyes.” - -“Thank you, Captain.” - -“You have not spoken to any one about what you saw?” questioned the -Intelligence officer. - -“No, sir.” - -“That is well. Please do not. Pardon me, I am well aware that you are -too clever a woman to do that. I may need your assistance in other -matters when we get into enemy territory. If I may say so, you would -make an excellent secret service agent.” - -“Thank you, but I have no ambitions in that direction. My great -ambition at the moment is to finish with this miserable business and -go back to my home in the States with my husband, Captain Gray of the -engineers, and my adopted daughter who is now at school in Paris. -Believe me, gentlemen, when I do get back I shall be perfectly content -to stay at home, even on election day.” - -“We all feel as you do,” agreed the general, “but you, like the rest -of us, will be in the thick of things even then. One can’t get the -fireside habit immediately after having spent months on the western -front. I suppose you are thinking of getting back to your billets?” -suggested the general politely. - -“Yes, if you please, sir. I am most grateful for this pleasant evening -and the excellent dinner. The bacon tastes like that which we have at -home.” - -“Straight from the States,” the general informed her. “This, -unfortunately, is the last of it, and we shall live on army chow -hereafter, unless the Germans see fit to give us something more worth -while. The pleasure this evening has been wholly ours, Mrs. Gray and -Miss Briggs, and we thank you for coming. I am in hopes of meeting -your husband one of these days. I wish to tell him what I think of his -wife,” added the general. - -“I am grateful to you for the information,” said the captain in a low -tone, for the Chinese servant had just come in, though the general sent -him out immediately to order the car for the visitors. - -Good nights were said, and a few moments later the Overton girls were -on their way to their billets. - -“You surely gave those army gentlemen a genuine shock, Loyalheart,” -declared Miss Briggs. “It was all news to me. How you can keep things -in the back of your head, and never say a word to your next best -friend, is more than I can understand. When did you see all you told -them about?” - -“While you were in dreamland, my dear. If you will rise early enough -to-morrow, you may see something too.” - -“No, thank you. My desire to sleep is greater than my curiosity. You -may do all the sleuthing you choose, J. Elfreda prefers her beauty -sleep. I wonder what Mrs. Smythe would say were she to know that we -had been dining with a general. I’ll venture to say that she does hear -about it; then look out for squalls. Here we are.” - -The car came to a stop before their billets, and as it did Grace -observed that some one was standing leaning against the wall of the -house. She could not make out much more than that in the darkness. -Perhaps it was some one seeking protection from the chill wind that was -sweeping up the street, and under which both girls were shivering a -little. - -Grace stepped up on the walk, went up to the man standing there, and -peered into his face. - -“Who are you?” she demanded. - -“Me Won.” - -“Indeed! What are you doing here so late, Won?” - -“Me watchee.” - -“Watching what?” Grace was puzzled. - -“Watchee Missie Glay’s slatchel,” the Chinaman informed her, pointing -to something standing against the side of the building. - -“Elfreda, will you look here?” called Grace. “Our belongings are out -here on the street.” - -“You don’t say! What can have happened?” - -“I should say from the appearance of things that we had been evicted. -Who threw these things out, Won?” - -“Number one boss woman.” - -“Who?” - -“Blig boss woman. Tlow everything all over, a-la.” - -“Do you mean Mrs. Smythe?” demanded “Captain” Grace. - -“Les.” - -“I--I begin to understand,” gasped Miss Briggs. “She threw our -belongings into the street, eh?” - -“Les.” - -“Oh, for a place where I could practice law for one little half hour,” -raged J. Elfreda. - -“Why did she do that, Won?” questioned Grace Harlowe, though suspecting -the truth. - -“Not know.” - -“Is she in there?” pointing to the cottage. - -“Les.” - -“Thank you, Won. It was very kind of you to watch our belongings. Don’t -go away yet, I may need you.” - -Grace tried the door and found it barred. She called, but there was no -answer. - -“This is provoking!” she exclaimed, now thoroughly exasperated. - -“What are you going to do?” asked Elfreda. - -“Wake up the house,” she replied shortly, stepping out into the street -and feeling about on the ground. “I think this will do it,” she -observed, returning to the sidewalk with a rock in one hand. It was -a sizable rock, a big cobblestone, with which the street was paved, -except for the holes that had been dug by German shells. - -“Hulloa the house!” shouted Grace. - -There was no response from within. Grace drew back the rock and banged -it against the door, but still no response. Now began such a banging as -awakened sleepers in the cellars all along the street, a banging that -attracted the attention of M. P.’s (military police) and that split a -board in the door itself. - -“Hulloa the house!” repeated the Overton girl. - -“What do you want?” demanded a calm voice from within, in a tone that -convinced Grace Harlowe that its owner had not been asleep at all. - -“I wish to get into my billet, if you please.” - -“Then go to your billet,” suggested Mrs. Smythe. - -“These are our billets, Mrs. Smythe. If you wish to stay in them, you -are welcome so far as we are concerned, but you will please open the -door so we may come in.” - -“You are mistaken. These are not your billets; they are the -headquarters of the welfare supervisor. You will be good enough to go -away before it becomes necessary for me to call the police.” - -“Be so kind as to open the door!” demanded Grace evenly. - -“You threw our things into the street,” shouted Elfreda. - -Grace begged her to be quiet. - -“Will you go away?” demanded the supervisor, raising her voice. - -“Where shall we go? We have no place to sleep. You have thrown our kits -out, and we are very cold. I ask you once more to let us in.” - -“That does not concern me, driver. I am not interested in your domestic -affairs. Go away or I shall scream for the M. P.’s.” - -“Save your breath, they are coming now,” answered “Captain” Grace as -she heard men running toward them from two directions, and a moment -later half a dozen military police with drawn clubs came rushing on the -scene. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -HUNLAND IS REACHED AT LAST - - -“What’s all this row about?” demanded a gruff voice, and a heavy hand -was laid on Grace Harlowe’s shoulder. - -“Don’t get excited, Buddy,” answered Grace laughingly. - -“Woman!” he exclaimed. - -“Two of them,” added another M. P. “This needs investigation.” - -“Just a moment, please. I--” - -“Arrest those persons, whoever they are. They were trying to break into -this house!” shouted Mrs. Smythe. - -“Listen to me, Buddies, then arrest us if you think best. These were -our billets, but while we were out to dinner with some friends, -_officers_ (she accentuated the word), our belongings were thrown into -the street and the door barred against us. The woman who did it is Mrs. -Smythe, supervisor of the welfare workers with the Third Army. We are -both welfare workers.” - -“What’s your name?” demanded the M. P. a little less gruffly. - -“Grace Harlowe Gray, formerly ambulance driver on the western front.” - -“You don’t say!” Striding over to the door, the M. P. struck it a blow -with his club. “Open that door or I’ll beat it down!” he ordered. - -“No, no,” begged Grace, laying a restraining hand on his arm. “You -must not do that, Buddy. Remember there are women in there behind the -barred door. If you break it down you will find yourself in serious -difficulties. You were going to arrest us?” she asked teasingly, -leading him away from the door. - -“Arrest nothing. What’s that Chink doing against the wall?” - -“Watching our outfit. We were out, as I already have told you, when our -things were thrown out. The Chinaman was on hand and remained on guard -watching the stuff. I know him and will vouch for him, so please don’t -bother him.” - -“It goes if you say so. I know you, but you don’t know me. Where are -you going to sleep?” - -Grace said she did not know and asked him if he knew of a vacant place. -The M. P. said there wasn’t one in the village, but that he would turn -some fellows out of a cellar and give the place to the two women. - -“No, you will not,” declared Grace. “Never mind us, we can shift for -ourselves if you can rustle a couple of blankets for us. There is a car -just up the street; we can sleep in that.” - -“Five doughboys in it already,” the M. P. informed them. “Have to guess -again. I’ll tell you what. There’s a covered lorry further up the -street, loaded with supplies. We’ll unload enough of them to give you a -place to bunk in, if that will suit you.” - -“Fine!” glowed Grace. “We shall not be displacing any one and we shall -be quite comfortable, I know. Do you make a report of this matter?” - -“Sure I do. Want me to say anything in particular?” - -“The truth, nothing but the truth,” she advised. “Elfreda, shall we -shoulder our household belongings and move to our Pullman?” - -“I suppose so, but, my dear, I am bitterly disappointed that you didn’t -permit the M. P. to break the door in,” complained J. Elfreda. - -“You may well be thankful that he did not. We are on the way to enough -trouble as it is. Won, will you carry some of our gear?” - -“Let the Chink go. We men will take care of the stuff,” spoke up an M. -P. - -Grace thanked the soldier and also shook hands with Won, then leaning -forward she whispered in his ear, “Watch the plidgins and tell me.” -Grace heard him chuckle and knew that it was all right. Elfreda -demanded to know what she was doing, but Grace merely laughed and -started on after the military police, who were carrying their equipment. - -The lorry proved to be a most comfortable place, though the girls knew -they would be somewhat cramped for room. Several cases of supplies were -removed by the men and stowed forward back of the driver’s seat. Two -pairs of blankets were produced, which Grace was quite certain had been -hooked from another truck, and dumped into their sleeping place. - -“I reckon that’s all we can do for you to-night,” announced the M. P. -“Sorry we can’t do more.” - -“You have done quite enough and we are grateful,” replied Grace -earnestly. “I know we shall have a fine night’s sleep in our--” - -“Rolling bedroom,” finished Elfreda. - -“Yes. Perhaps we may dream that we are gypsies. I fear I should just -love that vagabond life.” - -“No need to tell me that, Grace Harlowe. I have known it for a long -time. Suppose we make our beds and retire. Good-night, Buddies.” - -“Yes, good-night, and thank you all again,” added Grace. - -“We’ll just hook down the tailpiece so in case of storm you won’t get -wet. Here’s my club. Should any one bother you, bat him over the head -and yell for me. I’ll be on till four in the morning. Good-night.” - -The M. P. pulled down the canvas tailpiece and secured it, then the -girls heard them going away. - -“Even if the M. P.’s _are_ ‘winning the war’ they’re real Americans,” -concluded Miss Briggs. “Are you going to undress?” - -Grace said she was not, so they removed their blouses, rolled in their -blankets and promptly went to sleep. - -It was some hours later when Grace Harlowe heard shouting, listened -half asleep, then went back into dreamland. Some time later she sat -up wide awake. The truck was swaying from side to side, jolting -disagreeably, and the horn up forward was honking like a frightened -wild goose leader warning its flock. She knew instantly what had -happened. The army train was under motion and they were going with it. -This was rather more than she had bargained for, and quickly pulling -an edge of the tailpiece aside, opening a narrow slit, the Overton -girl peered out. The scene was an unfamiliar one. They were out in the -country and there was no sign of the village where they had been only a -few minutes before, as it seemed to her. - -“Why, we must have been out for some time,” she marveled. “Br-r-r!” -Rain was falling, the wind was blowing a gale, and marching columns -that they were passing were soaked and the faces of the men wore surly -expressions. - -“No balloon flight to-day, so I suppose I might as well let well enough -alone and take what the kind fates have bestowed upon me,” concluded -the Overton girl. “Poor Elfreda doesn’t know anything about it. I think -I shall go back to sleep.” - -This Grace did. Along toward noon she was awakened by Elfreda, who was -shaking her. - -“Grace Harlowe, do you know where we are?” demanded Miss Briggs. - -“Of course I do,” muttered Grace. - -“Where?” - -“In a camion on our way to the Rhine. Did you only now discover that?” - -“Yes.” - -“What a sleepy-head! I knew that hours ago, but what was the use in -raising a row? We could not be better off.” - -“Yes, but our mess,” protested Elfreda. - -“We have sufficient in our kits for our needs. Let’s be sensible and -take it easy while we may. Think what a lovely time we are missing. We -might have had to walk.” - -“First this brave soldier would have deserted. The last walk was -exercise enough to last me for the rest of my life. Is it your -intention to stay in this wagon all day?” - -Grace said she hoped to be allowed to remain there undisturbed, -declaring that it was the most comfortable berth she had found since -coming to France, and suggested that they eat their breakfast. It was -not wholly a satisfying meal, but it was helped by a bottle of cold tea -which did very well to wash down the hardtack and tinned beef. Enough -of the tea was saved for their luncheon, for if the rain continued to -fall it was Grace’s intention not to get out at all. After breakfast -they lay down for another delicious nap, which was not long coming, -lulled as they were by the gusts of rain spattering over the top of -the camion. It was not until late in the afternoon that they finally -awakened. - -Peering out, Grace observed that the line back of them was pulling -out of formation, which told her that the army was approaching its -objective for the day. The rain had stopped, but a strong wind was -whipping the clouds, and altogether the outlook was not a cheerful one. - -“Here is a village,” she cried. “I hope we have arrived. See, we too -are pulling out of formation.” - -Elfreda complained that, as Grace was using the only peep hole in the -house, she could see nothing. - -The camion soon stopped, then backed up, bumped against something as -it started backing again, and finally came to permanent rest. Grace -decided that it was time to bestir themselves and was about to call -through the opening she had made, for assistance, when some one began -unhooking the curtains. - -“Look out for a surprise,” whispered “Captain” Grace. - -The surprise came, but it was not theirs. The driver of the camion, -having unhooked the curtain, raised it up to secure it to the top, -probably to permit him to take out some supplies, and suddenly -discovered them. - -“Here you, get out of that before I yank you out!” he ordered roughly. - -“You wouldn’t do a thing like that, now would you, Buddy?” teased -Grace. - -“What! Who are you?” - -Grace told him briefly how they came to be in the car, who they were -and what their business was. - -“You are probably all right, Miss, but if you are you will understand -that this isn’t quite regular,” he declared, considerably perplexed. -“I don’t know you. I shall have to call the corporal of the guard and -turn you over to him.” This the driver did. The corporal, after looking -them over, decided that he must refer the matter to the sergeant. The -sergeant was of the opinion that both were spies, and, conducting them -to a cellar, told them to go in and wait until he could report to his -superior officer. - -Grace told him what unit they belonged to and asked him to suggest -to his superior that he identify them through any officer in the -Forty-seventh. - -The sergeant went away, first taking the precaution to close and secure -the door from the outside. Grace Harlowe sat down on the cellar floor -and laughed until Elfreda, standing over her, hands on hips, thought -“Captain” Grace was becoming hysterical. - -“I see nothing in the present situation for merriment,” she rebuked -most emphatically. - -“It is your misfortune, Elfreda, that you have no sense of humor. That -you are lacking in this is my one great sorrow in life,” saying which -Grace went into another spasm of laughter. She sobered suddenly and got -up. “I wish we had had the forethought to fetch our rations with us. It -would be just like that man to forget all about us.” - -The cellar was damp and very cold, so that sitting down on the floor -for any length of time was not prudent, and therefore the girls walked -back and forth, Grace seeking to keep up the spirits of her companion, -frequently laughing at the thought of the luck of the Overton girls. -But when nine o’clock came and no one had been near them, their -situation ceased to be a subject for jest. - -“Elfreda, I give you due notice that I am going to break jail. I am -going to get out of here. Enough is enough,” announced Grace Harlowe. - -“How?” - -“I shall find a way.” Grace tried the door. It gave a little, but -plainly was secured with a bar on the outside. She observed, however, -that the door was not heavily built except for the crosspieces. - -“Elfreda, can you find that post that we fell over on the rear side of -this place?” she called. - -“Yes, here it is.” She carried the post to the front. It was heavy, -undoubtedly having been used for a supporting post for the floor above -at one time, but Grace found it too heavy for one person to use as she -wished to use it. - -“Elfreda, if you will take hold of this end and stand before the door, -steering the post against it as I thrust, I believe we shall be able to -smash the miserable thing.” - -“Grace Harlowe, you will be court-martialed if you do that--if you -break out. Don’t you know that you are at least theoretically under -arrest?” - -“So are you, but that will not stop me from getting out if I can. Take -hold here, please.” - -Elfreda did so reluctantly. The two girls then backed up several feet -from the door, Grace at the far end of the post, Elfreda near the door -end of it. - -“When I say Go! run with all your might. Steer the post squarely -against the door or you are going to get hurt. Are you ready?” - -“Yes.” - -“Go!” - -A patter of feet, a sharp impact, and a crash followed almost -instantly. Elfreda Briggs plunged headfirst into the wreckage, for the -door had been stripped from its hinges and broken into many pieces. -Grace Harlowe landed on the cellar floor on top of the post, with her -breath jolted out of her. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -AN IRATE OFFICER - - -“Captain” Grace sprang up, gasping for breath, for she had been thrown -violently against the end of the post when the other end struck the -door. - -“Are you hurt, Elfreda?” she cried. - -“Of course I am.” - -“Forget it and let’s get out of here,” urged Grace, assisting her -companion to her feet. “If they catch us now they surely will have a -case against us.” - -“I can’t forget, but I’ll try to get out,” promised Miss Briggs, -rubbing a tender spot on one arm. - -They hurried from the cellar to the street. Grace looked up and down -the street, then started to the left, having discovered what seemed to -her, from his attitude of bored indifference, to be an M. P. As she -neared the man she recognized him. It was this M. P. who had assisted -the Overton girls to the truck the night before. - -“I am truly glad to see you, Buddy,” cried Grace. “We are in -difficulties again. We were locked in a cellar as suspicious characters -and have just broken jail. Can you tell me if the headquarters of -Company A, Forty-seventh, is anywhere near? Also where may I find the -Intelligence headquarters?” - -“Forty-seventh is at the other end of the town. Intelligence -headquarters is the last building before you reach the river bridge -right on the way you are headed.” - -“What river?” - -“The Moselle. Heinie is camped on the other side of it, so be careful -that you don’t get too near the bridge or you are liable to be picked -up again. Come along, I’ll show you the way. It’s on my beat.” - -Grace thanked him gratefully. - -“You do not happen to know whether or not Captain Boucher is there, do -you?” - -The M. P. said he did not, but presumed so, for there was some sort of -a council of war being held at the headquarters. - -The M. P. left them at the door and Grace entered, halting when she -found herself facing a sentry. She said she wished to see Captain -Boucher on a matter of importance and asked the sentry to send her -name in to the officer. The sentry told her he did not believe Captain -Boucher wished to be disturbed, but she insisted that she must see -him, so her name was sent in and Grace and Elfreda were seated in the -hall. - -The Intelligence officer came out immediately and greeted them with -great cordiality. - -“What can I do for you?” he questioned, smiling down into the flushed -face of Grace Harlowe. “Is it something connected with the affair we -were speaking of?” - -“Not directly. The person that I said knew something about it is, I -believe, working for us. I am quite certain that he will have something -to report. Have you discovered anything?” - -“I have verified your statement.” He smiled grimly. “Beyond that we -have not gone. But you have something else to say to me?” - -“Yes, sir.” She glanced at the sentry. - -“Come into the kitchen. There is a conference in the front room. Now -what is it?” he demanded when they had reached the rear room and the -door was closed behind them. - -“I have just broken out of jail and have come here to ask you to -straighten the matter out for me. Miss Briggs is a lawyer, but her sort -of law isn’t good on the western front. Besides, she is an accessory -both before and after the fact, as she would characterize it.” - -“I don’t quite understand,” wondered the captain. - -“It is not customary with me to carry my troubles to others, but -something must be done or I shall have to go to General Gordon and -enter a formal complaint, which I do not wish to do,” began Grace. She -thereupon related the story of their ejection from the cottage where -they had planned to berth the previous night; their finding a place -to sleep in a camion; the arrival at the river and their arrest and -imprisonment in the cellar, followed by their smashing the door and -taking matters into their own hands. - -As Grace related the story a flush mounted to the temples of the -Intelligence officer. - -“Outrageous! Asinine!” he exclaimed explosively. “You are right, this -sort of thing must be put down. I think I see how it happened that you -were kept in the cellar. We are on the border of the enemy territory, -theoretically on it already, and the officers are very busy this -evening, for we have many uncertainties ahead of us.” - -“I understand, sir, and should not have come to you, but for the fact -that I am likely to be picked up by the M. P. again at any moment.” - -“Rest easy. I will attend to that.” - -“Thank you. Please do not report the eviction incident. We can settle -it when we get to the Rhine, or perhaps by then it will have settled -itself,” urged Grace. - -“As I was saying, the officers being very busy, the sergeant’s report -may not even yet have been read by the officer in command. I am glad -that you took matters into your own hands. Have you a place to sleep -to-night?” - -“Not yet, sir.” - -“You ladies will remain here. I will have two cots put in the kitchen. -We shall be in conference more or less most of the night and you may -not get much sleep. However, it will be better than nothing. In the -meantime I will send an orderly to report that you are here and to -vouch for you. Where is your equipment?” - -Grace told him that it was left in the truck, and described as well as -she could the place where the truck might be found. - -“Good. Don’t worry. I will also send word to Major Colt so he may know -where you are to be found. He has been looking for you, but all he -could learn was that neither of you ladies had been seen all day. No -one appeared to know what had become of you. He wishes you to go up -with him to-morrow. Will you go?” - -“Yes, sir, provided I am not then in jail.” - -“Very good. I’ll send word to him to that effect,” laughed the captain. -“In the meantime make yourselves tea or coffee. There’s army bacon in -the chest and potatoes in the woodbox.” - -“Pardon me, but have you had mess?” asked Grace. - -“Haven’t had time to attend to that. In fact, I had forgotten all about -it.” - -“With your permission we will get supper for you.” - -“That will be fine. Thank you.” - -“How many?” questioned “Captain” Grace. - -“Just three,” replied the Intelligence officer quizzically. “The others -have messed, but perhaps they will be glad of a pot of tea while I am -eating with you.” - -The Overton girls busied themselves at once and soon had a savory meal -going. There were bacon with eggs, French fried potatoes, a bread -pudding made of crusts of bread and dressed with a mound of jelly, -baked beans and a plate of sardines. - -“Something of a hodge-podge,” observed Grace, surveying the layout -rather disapprovingly. “It lacks something, but I can’t think what.” - -“I know what,” spoke up Elfreda. “It lacks three people with appetites. -The odor of that bacon and eggs nearly drives me frantic, and if we -don’t sit down soon my appetite will overcome my better judgment. The -tea is ready for the council of war. I suppose they have their mess -cups with them.” - -“If not, they will be obliged to drink out of the teapot. I’ll hand it -in.” Grace tapped on the door, which was opened by Captain Boucher. -“The tea, sir. Have you cups?” The captain nodded and Grace pointed to -the table. The signal was unnecessary, for the captain’s eyes and nose -had informed him that supper was ready. - -The officer joined them soon afterwards, and a pleasant chat helped to -compensate for what was lacking in food. He declared that it was the -daintiest meal he had had, outside of Paris, since coming to France. - -“I will send in your belongings as soon as they arrive. You may then -turn in and will not be disturbed. You can lock the door leading into -the front room if you wish.” - -Grace thanked him, saying that she preferred to leave the door -unlocked. They had about finished clearing up after the meal when -Captain Boucher entered with two soldiers who had brought the girls’ -things from the truck. There was also news for them. Their difficulty -had been adjusted, and nothing further would be done in the matter. -As Captain Boucher had surmised, the officer to whom the sergeant -submitted his report on their arrest had not even taken time to look -at it. - -“I presume the French Government will bring in a bill for the door we -broke down,” suggested Grace laughingly. - -“Trust the French for that. One never has to ask them for a bill. Oh, -by the way, Major Colt’s car will be here for you at nine-thirty. He -asks me to say to you that he has signed you up for an interesting -voyage in the skies.” - -“Do you think, sir, that he has flying togs that I could use?” - -“That will be provided. You will have a cold sail, but I don’t suppose -you will mind that after your months of campaigning.” - -“No, sir. How will Miss Briggs ride?” - -“In the major’s car with myself and two others. She will ride out to -see you make the start. Good-night. Hope you sleep well. The cots are -standing up there in the corner.” - -Grace and Elfreda made preparations for retiring and were soon in bed -and asleep, Grace undisturbed by the noise or the thought of what was -to be a thrilling day for her on the morrow. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -GRACE TAKES THE SKY ROUTE - - -The morning was cool and there were wind clouds on the horizon when -Grace Harlowe stepped out to take an observation just at daybreak on -the following morning. She scanned the sky for some moments, but saw no -more carrier pigeons. - -Across the river the enemy was moving. She could see them plainly -through her glasses and it gave her a queer feeling. Here within pistol -range were the hosts of the enemy that had laid France in ruins, that -had killed and wounded hundreds of thousands of her own countrymen, -moving out into their own land, a land on which hardly a shell had -fallen in the four years of desperate warfare. It wasn’t fair, it -wasn’t right, as Grace reasoned it out with some bitterness. Could the -enemy have been driven back by force of arms and hammered until his -hosts poured into the Rhine in a perfect cataract, she confessed to -herself that she would have felt better over the situation. But there -they were, taking their time to retire and without a shot being fired -at them. The Overton girl actually shuddered to think what a different -situation would exist at that moment had victory crowned the arms of -the enemy. - -Grace shrugged her shoulders and went back to awaken Elfreda and start -the fire for breakfast. - -“If the captain has not gone out, please give him some breakfast. I -must hurry with mine, for I am going over to report to our superior -that we are off duty to-day; that is, I am. You will be on call.” - -“Are you going to report to her?” demanded Miss Briggs disapprovingly. - -“Yes. I have no way of getting word to her, and by the time we drive -back to the balloon base she may be on her way. The army is to make an -early start to-day, I understand. It will take a long time to cross the -bridges. What an opportunity for the enemy; but he knows better. He -knows that the American artillery is trained on him and that machine -guns are ready to sweep his ranks from this side of the river. Our -people are taking no chances.” - -“They are familiar with the breed,” nodded Miss Briggs. - -Grace ate a hurried breakfast, and leaving her equipment with Elfreda -started out at a brisk pace for the headquarters of Mrs. Chadsey -Smythe. As she drew near the cottage she saw some one emerge from it. -This some one proved to be the maid, Marie Debussy. - -“Good morning, Marie. Where are you going?” - -The girl answered dully that she was going to fetch Madame’s mess. - -“You have been crying, what is the trouble?” - -“Oh, Madame, it is terrible! Because I came late the supervisor would -not let me in last night. She was in a terrible temper. I sat out all -night and this morning she abused me terribly. Can you not do something -for me? I should like so much to be with you and Miss Briggs, for you -are so kind. She will abuse you if you go to her this morning. Please -don’t go.” - -“I presume there will be more trouble if I do,” reflected Grace. “Will -you deliver a message to her for me, Marie?” - -“Yes, surely, Madame.” - -“Tell her, please, that I am relieved from duty for the day, that I am -to spend the day with Major Colt in his balloon, with the permission of -General Gordon, but that I shall report for duty to-morrow morning. I -am sorry Mrs. Smythe is so unkind to you, but do try to get along with -her until we reach the Rhine. I am sure there will be a change soon -after we get there. Please tell her that Miss Briggs will go through -in Major Colt’s car to-day with Captain Boucher of the Intelligence -Department and some others.” - -“I will tell her. I hope I may live with you and work for you when we -reach the Rhine. I can do much for you. I will do any and all things -for you. We go to Coblenz, I am told.” - -Grace said that was her understanding. - -“I shall be afraid with so many of the Boches about.” - -“Don’t worry, Marie, you will be protected. I am so sorry you are in -trouble, but I promise you it will all come out right and that you soon -shall be back in your beloved France, just as I hope to be back in my -much-loved country. Good-bye, and don’t forget the message.” - -Elfreda and Captain Boucher were eating breakfast together when -“Captain” Grace arrived. He advised Grace to take rations with her, as -the balloon probably would not come down, unless forced down, until -night, adding that the rest of the equipment would be placed in the -army car, where she would find it, or in Miss Briggs’ billet that -evening. - -Immediately after breakfast Captain Boucher ordered his attendant to -pack up, and to assist the ladies in shipping their belongings when the -car arrived. He asked them to have the car pick him up at the cottage -on the return from the balloon base. - -“I shall not see you again, as I am going out,” he said shaking hands -cordially with Grace. “Good luck and don’t fall out.” - -“So long as the basket keeps right side up I expect to be with it,” -replied the Overton girl brightly. “Good-bye, sir, and thank you.” - -“If I thought you would be in position to settle a wager, Loyalheart, -I should like to lay a wager that that big sausage balloon comes down -a hopeless wreck with you at the bottom of the heap,” observed Miss -Briggs. - -“Your reasoning is bad, J. Elfreda. Were we to make such a wager and I -returned in condition to pay up, don’t you see that you would lose? I -am not a lawyer, but my logic on rare occasions is really brilliant. -Any rebuttal?” - -“Not a word,” answered Elfreda, shrugging her shoulders. “I think the -car is coming.” - -Everything being ready the Overton girls were soon on their way to the -balloon base, that is, on the way to Major Colt’s balloon base, for -the sausage observation balloons were strung out over a line several -miles in length. The big gas bag was swaying, chafing at its bit, as -Grace characterized it, when they reached the base. They observed that -the huge bag was attached by a cable to a big, heavy army truck, the -shining cable being wound about a drum on a winch. As the army moved, -the truck moved, and the crew either paid out the cable or wound it in, -as the officer in the basket far above them wished to go up or down. - -The cable looked a too slender thread to hold such a giant of a thing -as a big observation balloon. Elfreda shook her head disapprovingly as -she looked at the outfit with wide-open eyes. - -“I’ll bet you really wish you were going up, too,” teased Grace, having -observed the expression on the face of her companion. - -“What! Never! I have no ambition to go skyward on a bubble. The bubble -might burst.” - -“In the first place, this isn’t a bubble, and in the second place I -am not going to make a spectacular leap in a parachute. Good morning, -Major,” greeted “Captain” Grace as the car drew up near where the -officer, clad in his flying togs, was giving directions to the men. -“How soon do we take the sky route?” - -“In a few minutes, Mrs. Gray. Good morning, Miss Briggs. Looks like -wind to-day. Ever get sea-sick, Mrs. Gray?” - -“No, sir.” - -“Then you should not be air-sick. Sometimes we flop about a bit, but we -shall be all right.” - -“Is--is that the thing that you ride in?” questioned Elfreda pointing -to the basket that was resting on the truck. - -The major laughingly said it was. - -“It does look rather too delicate for two human beings to ride in,” -agreed Grace. “I hope it is stronger than it looks.” - -The officer assured her that it would hold, though its smallness did -not permit of much moving about. - -“Flying now, as compared with wartime, is a perfectly safe sport. It -is different when enemy artillery are trying to pot one, and enemy -airplanes are dropping incendiary bombs at you or trying to rake you -with machine-gun fire. That sometimes makes it quite interesting for -the balloonist. As a matter of common prudence, however, we always -attach ourselves to parachutes, as we will do this morning,” added the -major. - -J. Elfreda shot a significant glance at her companion and Grace looked -a little troubled, but this soon passed and she began asking questions -about the parachute. She observed that two of them were attached to the -basket. - -“Our parachutes,” explained the major, “when open are thirty-five feet -in diameter, with a circular hole in the top about a foot wide to -permit the imprisoned air to escape. Otherwise the parachute would go -into a side-slip in making a descent.” - -“Cheerful, isn’t it?” observed Miss Briggs under her breath. - -“Fastened to the edge of the parachute, as you can see, are small -cords which lead down and attach to half as many light ropes, finally -terminating in only two ropes which are fastened to the harness worn -by the person for whose use the parachute is intended,” continued the -major. “That cone-shaped case contains the entire works. I’ll not go -into the mechanism of the contrivance in detail. When a man prepares to -descend, the harness being already on him, the parachute is pulled from -the case and out he jumps. Then all he has to do is to wait for the -parachute to open.” - -“Quite simple, sir,” agreed Elfreda. “All one has to do is to jump, and -wait. If the parachute breaks or doesn’t open you keep on waiting. Is -that it, Major?” - -The major laughingly agreed that it was. - -“It is well to understand the workings before one goes up. I know it -all sounds formidable to you, but it isn’t at all formidable. See that -you are fastened all right and make certain that your harness has not -fouled, then jump.” - -“Do parachutes ever fail to open?” questioned Grace soberly. - -“I have heard of such cases, but not in this war. If one thinks fast -and clearly and doesn’t lose his head, the chances are that he will be -all right.” - -“How far does one ordinarily drop before the parachute opens?” asked -Miss Briggs. - -“About fifty feet, sometimes a little less if one is heavy. If light, -he might fall much further than this.” - -“Heavens!” exclaimed J. Elfreda. “Grace, I’m sorry for you. Being light -you may fall a mile before the thing opens, and by that time you may -have no need for a parachute.” - -“I should think one would land pretty hard,” suggested Grace. - -“About the equivalent of jumping from a fence. The descent is very -easy, about five hundred feet a minute. However, there will be no need -for worry to-day. I am explaining these matters merely as a matter of -routine and ordinary prudence. I can imagine no emergency that would -make it necessary for you to take the jump into space. If I did, I -shouldn’t be taking you up. No, there is no possibility of such a -thing. Now, if you will step down we will get you into your flying togs -and harness you to the parachute.” - -For a moment Grace Harlowe’s courage weakened, but only for a moment. - -“If I can go through a battle in the air in an airplane, I surely can -ride in a captive balloon, even if the basket I am to ride in does look -like a toy spaniel’s sleeping basket,” she told herself. “I am ready, -sir,” she announced, stepping down. - -A heavy flying coat and helmet were put on, then came the harness. The -latter was adjusted while Grace was standing on the ground, the major -fixing her up before donning his own harness, examining it with a care -that sent the cold chills up and down the spine of J. Elfreda Briggs. - -“Does it pinch you anywhere?” asked the major. “You know it must fit -firmly.” - -“I think it is quite comfortable,” replied Grace. “Now what do I do?” - -“Climb up the ladder and get in, being careful that you do not foul the -lines.” - -The officer stood on the ground to watch her getting in to make certain -that the parachute ropes did not become tangled. Grace ran up the -ladder nimbly and climbed over into the basket, which was just deep -enough to leave her head and shoulders showing above its upper edge. - -“All set,” cried the major, going up the ladder. “Let up gently. -I’ll direct you as we go as to altitude. You see, Mrs. Gray, we are -connected with the truck by a telephone wire, so that the observer -may be always in contact not only with his base, but also with the -artillery control station. We spot in wartime, both for marks and -for results. Sorry I can’t show you some spotting under actual war -conditions.” - -“I am quite content to have you tell me about it,” laughed Grace. - -The major grinned, then tested the telephone, adjusted the aneroid -barometer, took a final glance around, and nodded to the flight -sergeant. The latter blew two short whistles, and as if for good -measure bellowed “Let go!” - -“Better come along,” called down Grace to Elfreda who with one hand -shading her eyes was gazing up at them, her face a little pale. - -Miss Briggs shook her head. - -“One balloonatic in the family is enough,” she cried, then something -seemed to be drawing the earth away from Grace Harlowe, and she -suddenly realized that they were going up. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -ROUGH GOING IN CLOUDLAND - - -“We’re off,” the major informed her, but his reminder was unnecessary. -Already J. Elfreda Briggs had shrunk to almost childish proportions and -the big army truck looked like a toy express wagon. Had it been painted -red the illusion would have been nearly perfect. - -“My, it’s windy up here!” shouted Grace. - -“We will be out of it soon, I think,” answered the major. - -The wind was roaring through the rigging and the basket was swaying -most alarmingly. It seemed to Grace as if they were in imminent danger -of being spilled out. She clung tightly to the edge of the basket, and -looked down into it rather than toward the earth. What was even more -disturbing was the way that wicker floor settled and heaved underneath -her feet. What if the bottom should drop out? What if the sides should -give way? “Captain” Grace leaned back a little so as not to bear too -much weight on the side she was clinging to. - -Major Colt’s back was turned toward her and his binoculars were at -his eyes. Those confident shoulders gave Grace renewed assurance that -there was nothing unusual about their situation. Just the same she -rather envied J. Elfreda Briggs, probably at that moment lounging back -comfortably on the rear seat of the major’s automobile and making -uncomplimentary remarks about “that crazy Grace Harlowe.” “Captain” -Grace was not over-certain that Elfreda was wrong. - -Going up in a captive balloon is very different from a trip in an -airplane. There is no comparison possible so far as sensations are -concerned. Flying in a plane is exhilarating, but the lurches and sways -of the basket of a balloon, have a far different effect. - -They had been going up for hours, as it seemed to her, when the major -turned toward her. - -“Make you dizzy?” he shouted. - -Grace smiled and nodded. She wondered how pale her face was, or as much -of it as showed outside of the helmet. - -“Enjoying it?” - -“It is a wonderful experience,” answered Grace, forcing a smile to her -face. - -“Stop at two thousand,” called the officer through his telephone. “Now -you see one of the difficulties of going eastward. The strong light -is in our faces and we cannot see clearly. After the sun passes the -meridian, visibility will be vastly improved. You will enjoy the view -then.” - -Grace Harlowe fervently hoped she might. - -“Look over. You will get used to it very quickly. Not so much wind at -this level. I knew we should get better weather here. Guess I spoke too -quickly,” he added as a sickening lurch heaved the basket, and for a -few seconds the bottom seemed surely to be falling out of it. - -“Stopped at two thousand,” came a voice from the depth somewhere below. - -“Thought you were gone that time, didn’t you?” chuckled the officer. -“That jolt was caused by the stopping of the winch at two thousand.” - -“Two thousand what, sir?” - -“Feet of altitude. We will loaf around here for a time until you grow -weary of it, then we will go higher in search of some new scenery. When -the light gets better I will show you the Rhine.” - -For the next several minutes the officer was occupied with studying the -landscape to the eastward. - -“Enemy trains moving in formation. Nothing unusual,” he called down -through the telephone. “Large body of men emerging from forest ten -kilometers to the south of the main body. Go to thirty-five. May get a -better view.” - -Grace tightened her grip as the basket lurched. She knew now what the -order meant. They were going fifteen hundred feet higher than they -were. Her eardrums began to throb and her breath came in little short -gasps. - -“Stop at thirty-five.” - -Again that disconcerting jolt and a violent swaying back and forth of -the huge, ungainly bag over their heads. - -“How do you like it now?” called the officer in a jovial voice. - -Grace saw his lips move and knew he was speaking to her, though she -could not hear a word he said. - -“I can’t hear you, sir.” - -“I thought so. Pinch your nose and swallow hard several times,” he -shouted, himself performing the same operation on his own nose. - -Grace followed his direction, faintly heard, and something snapped in -both ears. For the moment she thought she had ruptured her eardrums, -but to her amazement discovered that she could hear as well as ever. - -“I think I am perfectly all right now, sir,” she said. “How queer!” - -“Decreased pressure,” answered Major Colt briefly. “We will make our -weather report now if you will be good enough to remove the thermometer -from the pocket behind you and throw it overboard.” - -“Throw it overboard? Do you mean it, sir?” - -He nodded. - -Grace thrust her hand into the pocket and, finding the instrument, -dropped it over the side. To her surprise it stopped with a jolt when -just below the level of the basket. It was attached to a slender wire. -“Please haul it in in five minutes,” the major ordered. Then he gave -through the telephone the wind velocity, which Grace was amazed to -learn was thirty-eight miles an hour; then the barometer reading, and -then he called for the temperature. - -“Twenty-eight, sir.” - -“Twenty-eight,” repeated the major through the telephone. “That duty -done we will now proceed to enjoy ourselves. Hungry?” - -“I--I hadn’t thought about it. Now that you mention the subject I do -realize that there is a sort of gone feeling in my stomach.” - -“We’ll have a bit of a bite. While I am getting it ready you see if you -can find the American Army.” - -Grace studied the landscape ahead of them for a long time, and said -she couldn’t see anything that looked like an army. He demanded to know -where she was looking. - -“About where those little green hills are. I do not recall having seen -those from the ground,” she said, lowering her glasses. - -The major chuckled. - -“Know where you are looking for the American Army? You’re hunting for -it on the other side of the Rhine. Look down at an angle of about -forty-five degrees. See anything?” - -“I think I do, but what I see doesn’t look like any army that I ever -saw.” - -“You’re looking at the Third American Army, just the same. Now find the -Boche army a little further out, but not too far.” - -“I have them, sir.” - -“What are they doing?” - -“Creeping in formation.” - -“Good! You are an observer already. Lean over and look down. Get used -to it. Make you dizzy?” - -“A little. I get dizzy when the basket tries to lie down on its side, -and feel as if I were going to fall out.” - -The major laughed and motioned to her to sit down. - -“Going to have tiffin now. Don’t bother us with your family troubles -down there, at least not until after the whistle blows,” he called -through the telephone, and doubling his legs under him he sat down on -the bottom of the basket, with an appetizing-looking luncheon spread -out on a piece of paper in his lap. - -They could hear the wind roaring over them now, but only breaths of it -sucked down into the basket. A thermos bottle of tea that was still hot -was handed to Grace, Major Colt producing another from “nowhere” for -his own consumption. - -“Drink it down. It will put new life into you. Dip into the food too. -There’s plenty and to spare. Suppose you never sat down to tiffin -thirty-five hundred feet in the air?” - -Grace said she never had. - -“Were you ever shot down while on observation work?” she asked him -between mouthfuls. - -“Yes, a few times.” - -“What happened?” - -“I came down.” He grinned. - -“What else, sir?” persisted Grace, determined to get the story from him. - -“Nothing except that a Boche flier took a mean advantage of me and -sneaked up on me in an Allied plane that the enemy had captured. Then -he calmly dropped a bomb on the old bag.” - -“What did you do then, sir?” - -“Deserted the ship and woke up in a hospital. You see I bumped my head -against a stone wall in landing. My head from infancy has been soft and -demands most delicate handling.” - -Grace said she couldn’t imagine such a thing. To her the major was a -heroic figure. He reminded her of Hippy Wingate. Like Hippy he made a -joke of the desperate work he had done and was still doing. There were -no heroics about those cloudland pirates. - -“What did you do before the war, if it is not an impertinent question? -You know a woman’s curiosity must be satisfied.” - -“No impertinence about it at all. I had a good job, and maybe I shall -have the luck to get it back again after the war is over. I was a -floor-walker in a Newark, New Jersey, department store. I’ve been up in -the world since then. Had my ups and downs as it were.” - -Grace laughed. War played strange freaks with human beings. The -officer’s confession, instead of decreasing her admiration of him, -increased it. A man who could step from department store life into the -perilous life of a wartime balloonist was a _man_! That was the way -with her wonderful Americans. But to have to return to the chattering -crowds of shoppers, directing this one to the ribbon counter, that one -to the galvanized cooking utensil sale in the basement--the thought -was too much for Grace Harlowe. She could not reconcile herself to it -nor adjust herself to seeing this hardy pirate acting in any such rôle -in the future. - -“You do not think so, eh?” he demanded shrewdly. “Watch me. One day you -will step up to me, without recognizing me, and say, ‘Floor-walker, -will you please direct me to the cosmetics?’” - -“I will not,” declared Grace Harlowe. “I never use them.” - -Both laughed heartily. - -“You may be right--I may be right, who knows?” he muttered. “I shall -miss this wonderful life, of course, and it will be difficult to settle -down and have to look up again rather than down on a world of pigmies. -Had I to do it over again I should go into aviation. Those fellows -are free as the birds of the air, while I am anchored to a tree or -truck. I prefer to be free, to soar the heavens without having a string -attached--What!” - -The major sprang up, scattering the remainder of their tiffin on -the floor of the basket. The basket had given a terrific lurch and, -glancing up with a frightened expression on her face, Grace saw the -huge bag heaving, swelling and plunging, the basket twisting, lurching -and jolting under her. - -The girl staggered to her feet and grasped the side of the basket. Her -head was spinning and her diaphragm seemed to be seeking to emulate the -erratic movements of the ship. - -“Wind-storm!” shouted Major Colt. “Going to have some real sport.” - -Grace did not know what his idea of sport was, but she was quite -positive that if this were sport she was not a sportsman. - -“Haul in, you idiots!” bellowed the officer through the telephone. -“Can’t you see we’re trying to stand on our heads?” - -“Waiting for orders, sir,” came back the answer. “Hauling down now till -ordered to stop.” - -“You’d better,” growled the major. “Hang on so you don’t get thrown -out!” he called to Grace. - -The Overton girl needed no advice in that direction. She was clinging -to the basket’s edge with all her might. The balloon adopted new -tactics. The instant the winch down there began to wind in, the -balloon, as if resentful of this interference with its “sport,” began -to buck and dive. At one time the wicker basket was actually lying on -its side, and as Grace lay on her stomach against it she found herself -gazing straight down three-and-a-half thousand feet. - -“Captain” Grace closed her eyes to shut out the sight. It was just a -little more than she could stand. A few seconds later she was on her -feet again, for the balloon had righted. Now the bag began to whip the -air. - -“Let go!” she heard the balloonist call through the telephone. “Trying -to crack the whip with us? Not ready to bump our heads on the ground -just yet. Up five hundred more. Maybe we’ll find a better streak there. -Anyway we’ll ride it out, wind or no wind.” - -The balloon eased a little, and while it still bucked there was less -kick, so to speak, in its movements. - -The respite, however, was a brief one, and again those fearsome tactics -were resumed. - -Major Colt glanced at Grace during a brief lull. She nodded and forced -a smile to her face. - -“Are we in great danger?” she shouted. - -“It might be worse,” was the comforting response. “We are good so long -as the bag holds, but the wind is growing stronger and no telling what -may turn up. Keep cool. I’ll get you out of it, wind or no wind.” - -A blast that threatened to rend the bag struck them, and the balloon -lay down on its side. It was up with a bound, then down again, until -Grace Harlowe could not decide for a certainty whether she was standing -on her head or on her feet. As a matter of fact she was practically -doing both. - -Then suddenly peace, delicious peace and quiet, settled over the -troubled ship. It righted, the wind stopped blowing and the balloon -floated gently on an even keel. - -“Oh, isn’t this fine!” cried Grace happily. - -“Rotten fine, thank you, as the Englishman would say. Know what’s -happened?” - -“No, sir, but whatever it is I feel greatly relieved to know that the -wind has died down as suddenly as it broke loose.” - -“My dear woman, something other than the wind has broken loose. The -wind is blowing just as hard as before, but we do not feel it because -we are going with it. We’re adrift!” - -“Meaning?” - -“That the balloon has snapped its cable and is now traveling toward -the Rhine at a high rate of speed. From present indications I should -say that you and I will arrive there considerably in advance of the -Third American Army.” Trying to appear undisturbed, though he was more -troubled than he cared to admit to his passenger, Major Colt possessed -a pretty clear idea of what was before them. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -A LEAP FROM THE SKIES - - -Grace Harlowe regarded him calmly, rather to the surprise of the -balloonist, for he had feared a different attitude. - -“What are the probabilities, sir?” she asked. - -“Oh, we are certain to get down, Mrs. Gray.” - -“But--” She smiled doubtfully. - -“We are getting higher all the time, and I am in hopes that we shall -run into a counter-current that will drive us back over our own lines. -Once there we can come down with nothing more than a shaking up. We can -do that anyway if we do not become mixed up with more currents.” - -“But, sir, I do not see how getting back to our own lines is going to -be of much assistance to us. Granting that we reach a current of air -that will take us over our lines, haven’t we got to pass through the -present level to get down, and will not that level blow us toward the -Rhine again? We might keep on seesawing indefinitely, it appears to me.” - -“You surely have a head on your shoulders, young woman,” answered the -major laughingly. “This being the case I’ll tell you the truth. We are -in a fix. The best we can do at the moment is to let the bag drift -where it will, hoping for the best. Provided it doesn’t carry us too -far away, the wind probably will at least moderate by sundown, then I -shall liberate some gas and we will make a landing. To try it in this -wind would mean that the ship surely would be torn to pieces and that -quite probably we would share a similar fate.” - -“How long can the balloon be depended upon to stay up?” - -“Until sometime to-morrow morning. Of course if it takes a great -altitude it is liable to burst, but I shall try not to let it get up -that high.” - -“It is a cheerful outlook, Major. I thank you for your frankness, -just the same. It is considerable satisfaction to know just what the -probabilities are.” - -As she was speaking, the officer, with glasses to his eyes, was -studying the terrain ahead of them. Grace applied her own glasses to -her eyes and gazed off to the eastward. She could make out the narrow -ribbon of water, a crooked ribbon it was, that marked the course -of the Rhine. Beyond it were rugged, terraced hills which she knew -were vineyards, here and there the towers of a castle relieving the -monotony of the hills. She was interrupted by a shout from the pilot. - -“Here we go back,” he cried. “In another level now. That’s good.” - -It was not long before they had swept over the marching American -army, now so far below them that it could be made out only with the -binoculars. The major liberated a little gas, whereupon the big bag -was caught in a blast and driven to the eastward again. This time he -let the ship go. There was no other safe course to follow. As it swept -through the air it gained in altitude again, but did not go so high as -before. Soon the earth was blotted out by a sea of clouds, which only -now and then broke sufficiently to give the aviators a view of what lay -beneath the cloud-sea. - -“We must go lower,” the pilot told her, opening the gas valve ever so -little, whereupon the balloon slowly sank through the clouds and the -earth grew into their vision. - -Something _pinged_ through the air close at hand. Grace Harlowe had -heard that sound many times since she arrived on the western front, and -so had the major. It was a bullet, probably a rifle bullet. She flashed -a significant glance at her companion and he nodded. - -_Ping!_ Another bullet had flung itself up from the earth. - -The major threw over some ballast, which in this instance proved to be -one of his sailing instruments. - -“Sorry, but I had to do it,” he explained in answer to her look of -inquiry. “Of course I might throw myself out, but that would be too -much ballast and you never would stop going heavenward until the outfit -blew up.” - -Grace laughed and the officer joined in the laugh. The balloon had -quickly shot through the clouds and was sailing along, the basket just -grazing the tops of them. It was a wonderful spectacle, which the -Overton girl, despite her serious situation, found time to gaze upon, -and marvel at the beauties of cloudland. - -All at once the clouds broke up into huge banks of black and white -vapor, and looking down the officer saw that they had been swept back -some little distance to the westward. He reasoned that they were about -over the spot where the shots had been fired, which proved to be the -range of terraced hills on the eastern side of the river. - -“I told you we would reach the Rhine before the army did,” he chuckled. - -_Ping!_ - -A little chip of wicker was neatly snipped from one corner of the -basket. Grace Harlowe regarded it questioningly, and grinned. - -“I thought you said the war was ended, sir,” she said, glancing over at -him. - -“Huns!” he replied explosively. “What can one expect?” - -“What I am concerned about principally, sir, is what would happen to us -if the gas bag were hit by a rifle bullet. Would it be a serious matter -for us?” - -He nodded. - -“We would be obliged to give up our joy ride and go home.” - -_Ping! Pock!_ - -“Hit!” exclaimed the major, glancing up apprehensively at the bag. - -“I heard it, sir. Are we losing altitude?” - -“Not much, but we shall be soon. Yes, she’s settling a little now. Look -up.” - -Grace did so and observed a fold in the bag that had not been there -before, showing that some gas had escaped. - -“How long will it take to let us down?” - -“About twenty minutes. We shall go down faster after a little. Look -over your harness and make certain that the lines are not fouled,” he -directed, taking his own advice. “Just in case of emergency,” he nodded. - -“They seem to be all right, sir,” Grace informed him. “You do not think -we shall have to use them, do you?” - -Major Colt shook his head. - -“Not at this rate of descent.” - -_Ping! Pock!_ - -They had been hit again. Grace found herself admiring the shooting, for -it really was excellent work, probably done with an automatic rifle in -the hands of a former enemy sharpshooter. - -The major cast an anxious glance up at the swaying bag, then down at -that which was slowly assuming the appearance of Mother Earth. He was -disturbed, not for himself but because of his passenger. Grace observed -his distress. - -“Don’t worry, Major. You know you said that nothing serious possibly -could happen on this voyage, now that the war is over.” - -“I take it back. The war isn’t over. It will be over mighty quickly, -though, if I get my hands on the miserable Boche who is trying to shoot -us down.” - -“Trying to? He already has,” corrected the Overton girl. - -There were now several folds in the big envelope, the sides of which -seemed to be respirating like those of some huge animal, and they were -falling altogether too rapidly to leave much hope for what was to come. - -“We shall be down in a heap soon,” announced the officer calmly. “Mrs. -Gray, are you in full possession of your nerve?” - -“I think so. Why?” - -“Because you’ve got to jump.” - -“Oh!” “Captain” Grace could feel a cold sweat breaking out all over -her. “Ho--ow--ho--ow high are we?” - -“About a mile.” - -She looked over the side into the abyss, and Grace Harlowe was -convinced that were she to try that jump her heart would stop beating -forever long before she reached the earth. Still, she showed none of -her real feelings when she looked up at her companion. - -“I am ready whenever you give the word, sir. You must tell me just what -to do and when to do it. You know it will have been the first time that -I ever fell out of the skies. I’ll be a real shooting star, won’t I?” - -“You will do,” grinned the balloonist. “Get ready. We have no time to -lose.” - -“How about yourself, sir?” - -“As soon as you are well started I will follow, and being heavier I -probably shall catch up with you. Make certain that you are clear -before you get out of the basket. Then climb out, hanging on to the -edge of the basket, looking about you once more to be on the safe side. -Understand?” - -[Illustration: She Clung Desperately to the Basket’s Edge.] - -Grace nodded. - -“Then what, sir?” - -“Let go! Your part of the operation will not have been completed until -you reach the ground. The instant you feel your feet touching earth, -cut yourself clear. Here is a knife. Hang it about your neck. Hurry -now. We are losing rapidly.” The pilot cast another anxious glance over -the big bag, then down at the earth. - -“Are you clear?” - -“I think so, sir.” - -“Climb out! Take it easy. I knew an absent-minded pilot who climbed -out with great deliberateness and let go and was dashed to his death -because he had forgotten to hook up his harness. He thought he had it -in order, but he had not. Out now. I will give you a hand.” - -The basket tipped perilously when she threw a leg over the edge of it. -The other leg seemed to weigh tons. It simply would not go over, and -the major had to assist her. Grace’s body finally slipped over, she -clinging desperately to the basket’s edge as she straightened out. It -was the most awful moment of her life. - -“Let go!” bellowed the major. - -Grace shut her eyes and held them shut with all her might. Her fingers -slowly relaxed their grip on the basket and her body shot downward. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -“CAPTAIN” GRACE INVADES GERMANY - - -A jolt followed, then a series of them, and the Overton girl felt -herself going down and down and down. After a little she summoned the -courage to open her eyes and look down, but only for a second, then she -pinched them shut. - -“Shake yourself!” bellowed a voice above her. - -Grace wondered at this marvel, for it was the voice of Major Colt. Once -more she opened her eyes and, tilting back her head, looked up. She -saw the pilot jumping up and down in the basket of the balloon only a -few feet above her. Grace was going down only as fast as the rapidly -collapsing balloon itself. The silk had fouled the long handling guys -of the balloon and hung there, leaving the Overton girl suspended -between sky and earth a little more than five thousand feet in the air. - -Grace groaned when she discovered her predicament, but even then she -did not lose possession of her faculties. It was characteristic of -Grace to think calmly and clearly when facing an emergency. She did -so now, but that clear thinking did not get her out of her terrible -predicament. - -“What shall I do?” she cried. - -“Wiggle, woman, wiggle! Shake yourself loose and fall. You will be -killed where you are, and so shall I if I don’t quickly get away.” He -began jumping up and down again to assist in the operation of shaking -her loose. - -Obedient to his command Grace began to wiggle and twist, raising her -arms and bringing them smartly down with a violent jerk, apparently as -calm and collected as if she were standing on the ground. - -“Great work!” approved the anxious watcher. “You’re getting loose. Keep -it up.” - -“There you go!” he yelled as the silk of the parachute released itself. -Grace Harlowe shot downward half lying on her side, a black streak in -the air. Almost at the same instant, Major Colt climbed over the edge -of the basket, took a quick glance first up at the big gas bag, then at -his lines, and let go. - -This was no new operation for him. On several occasions he had -been obliged to go home in this manner, but this time his mind had -assumed a burden greater than any that had been on it in his previous -experiences--he had the responsibility of a woman’s life. That is, -he had had that responsibility. Just now Grace Harlowe was on her own -responsibility, beyond the hope of assistance from any human being. - -She seemed to have fallen miles and miles, when finally she sensed a -gradual slackening of her speed. Grace had, on account of her light -weight, taken a terrific plunge, but the parachute at last began to -open. It did not bring her up with a jerk, but gradually, until her -downward motion was reduced to about four hundred feet a minute, fast -enough for a human being to fall. - -Opening her eyes, Grace looked up and she breathed a sigh of relief -as she saw the glistening silk of the huge parachute spread out high -above her, slender lines running down from it, all centering in two -ropes that looked reasonably safe. Up above, the lines looked cobwebby, -too delicate for the purpose they were serving. Grace looked down, -but raised her eyes quickly. The awful distance between her and the -earth was too much for her ordinarily steady nerves to stand when she -visualized it. - -As she raised her eyes something suddenly floated into the range of her -vision. It was a parachute and was coming down rather close to her. - -“The major!” gasped the Overton girl. Then Grace Harlowe laughed. It -was a hollow sort of a laugh, and sounded weak in her ears. The major’s -arms and legs were sprawling as he leaned a little forward, and he -looked for all the world like a great spider dangling from the end of -a string, which so appealed to Grace Harlowe’s sense of humor that she -forgot herself and laughed. Being much heavier than she he was rapidly -gaining on her and would soon pass her at his present falling speed. - -Grace, observing the ludicrousness of his position, quickly wrapped -her ankles about each other, not desiring to make such a spectacle of -herself as the balloon officer was doing. - -Now they were abreast of each other and could look into each others’ -faces. The Overton girl had been preparing herself for this very moment -and at the instant the major came near enough to catch the full import -of it, Grace smiled, and waved at him what ordinarily might have passed -for a joyous hand. - -The major waved back and shouted something at her, but she was unable -to understand it. Voices up there sounded hollow, weak and far away. -A few moments later she was looking down on the top of his swaying -parachute, then Grace untangled herself and permitted her body to hang -limply, which she found much easier than keeping herself under a -strong physical strain. - -“Hippy Wingate wouldn’t let me land his airplane. I wonder what -he would say were he to see me making a landing in Germany from a -parachute?” murmured the girl. - -By this time objects began to grow out of the landscape in more or less -detail. Houses appeared; the Rhine shimmered in the sunlight that had -broken through the clouds, and here and there she thought she saw human -beings, though she could not be positive as to this. Several villages -came within her range of vision. Remarkable as it seemed to her, Grace -realized that she had lost all fear. She was beginning to feel a great -confidence in that filmy silk umbrella-shaped affair that was swaying -far above her, that confidence having been born when she saw how easily -it supported the major’s bulky figure. - -“If the thing only will let me out without cutting up, I shall be well -pleased,” Grace told herself. “I wonder what has become of the major?” -He had passed out of her sight. Had the Overton girl looked for him -further to the westward, she might have discovered the silk parachute -settling down on the Rhine and, soon afterwards, the doughty major -floundering in its waters. - -His weight had carried him down in nearly a straight line, while Grace, -being light, had drifted down the wind and was headed for a vineyard. -She eyed the terraced hillside dubiously. - -“If I land there they surely will have to replant their vineyard. I -shall certainly leave a trail of devastation,” she chuckled. “In any -event it will have been accomplishing something to lay waste even a -small patch of enemy territory. Let me see, what am I to do? Oh, yes, I -am to cut the strings the instant I feel my feet touching the ground.” - -Grace removed the knife-lanyard from her neck and gripped the handle of -the knife. Glancing up she fixed upon a point for cutting the rope, and -even reached up to it with the knife hand. - -“I wish Elfreda might see me now,” she chuckled. “Instead of a -‘balloonatic’ she would call me a ‘parachutic.’ I never heard of such -an animal, but I must be it. Get ready, Grace Harlowe, and watch your -step,” she reminded herself. “Upon second thought I think I am just as -well satisfied that J. Elfreda is not to be a spectator of my landing. -I have a growing suspicion that I am about to make an exhibition of -myself. My, but that earth does look good!” - -She could see human beings running up the terraces toward the point -at which she might confidently be expected to alight. Grace did -not approve of this, and wished they would all go away about their -business. Among them she discovered some men in German uniforms. Her -eyes narrowed. - -“Boches! Too bad they couldn’t have had this opportunity of catching me -a few weeks ago. Here we are. I am now about to show the natives what -an American girl can do in piloting a parachute to earth.” - -What the Overton girl had not taken into her reckoning was a tree -that stood directly in her downward path. She went through its outer -branches, but the parachute, relieved of a little of its weight, swayed -forward and missed the tree, straightening up as her weight was once -more thrown on the ropes. - -The wind filled the parachute again, and it began to drift on, parallel -with the rows of terraces. In going through the tree, Grace had lost -the knife, but she did not miss it as yet, being concerned with her -landing and the raking that the branches of the tree had given her. She -discovered the loss when, upon reaching up to cut the rope, she found -she had nothing with which to cut. - -It was at that instant that her feet touched the ground. Up to this -time the parachute had behaved very well indeed. As she already -had expressed it to herself, the animal proved to be “thoroughly -halter-broken.” However, the instant it felt that it was free, the -thing began to cut up. It lurched and bucked and Grace went through -half a dozen rows of vines, boring a path for herself with her head, -bowling over two women and a boy in her mad drive. - -“Catch me!” she gasped, but if her plea was heard it was not heeded. -None of the spectators appeared to be eager to get within striking -distance of the bird-woman who was first being whipped in the air, then -on the vines of the Rhine vineyard. Her feet were in the air about as -much as they were on the ground, for the parachute had now changed its -course and was headed for the Rhine. - -Ahead of her Grace espied a stone wall, and an idea came to her, for -her mind was working even if, up to that point, her body had been -unable to perform any functions of self-preservation. - -“If I can get my feet against that wall as we go over, I may be able to -brace myself for a few seconds until something rips. Surely the silk -ought to tear in those circumstances.” - -Her monologue was cut short by a dive into a thick hedge that divided -two vineyards. It seemed to Grace as if the raking she got was -literally tearing her to pieces. Her clothing, when she came through, -was in tatters, her body bore many deep scratches and cuts, and blood -from a scalp wound was trickling down her face. There was one side of -Grace Harlowe, though, that no amount of mauling could subdue--her -spirit of pluck. - -“I’ll win yet,” she gritted, coming to her feet, which were jerked from -the ground, while she kept her gaze fastened on the stone fence at the -bottom of the rows of terraces. - -There was, of course, the possibility of bumping her head against the -stone wall, as the major had once done, instead of striking it feet -first. If the former were her luck the result would be serious, so -the Overton girl tried to jockey the parachute, but with little more -success than had she been trying the same tactics on an outlaw mustang. - -The wind down between the hills in the Rhine Valley was a variable -wind, that hurled her first in one direction, then in another. Just now -she was headed for the river--and the stone wall. - -Grace met the wall feet first, as she had hoped to do. The shock to her -nervous system was terrific, and it seemed to the girl as if her limbs -were being driven up through her body. The parachute merely hesitated. -It took a mighty lunge with the assistance of a favoring blast of wind, -and jumped up a few feet into the air, taking Grace Harlowe with it, -then dived for the railroad tracks at the base of the bluff. - -Grace went down the bank on her stomach, keeping her head up as well as -she could. She was suddenly yanked to her feet and slammed viciously -down on the roadbed, while the parachute wrapped itself about a -telegraph pole and went to sleep, a heap of torn silk, fit only for -souvenir neckties. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -A GUEST OF THE HUNS - - -Grace Harlowe heard a guttural voice speaking in German, replied to by -a woman’s voice in the same tongue. - -Opening her eyes ever so little, the Overton girl looked cautiously -about her. She was in a room that was peculiar in that the walls were -of stone, and the windows very narrow and high. She felt sore all over, -and to move hurt her, but her physical condition did not interest her -so much at the moment as did the two persons who were speaking. The -man was in the uniform of a German officer. The woman was receiving -orders regarding the patient. Grace closed her eyes to listen without -their being aware that she was awake. - -“You will send for me as soon as the fraulein awakens,” he directed -gruffly. “Should she try to leave the castle she must be prevented. -She may have information of value to the Fatherland. As for the man, -he will not talk. Being an officer we hesitate to force him to speak. -Remember, we know nothing of the woman here. He has asked for her and -is ugly because we profess to know nothing about her. She must speak -as soon as she can. It was well that Rosa von Blum was watchful and -informed us that the runaway balloon was headed in this direction, and -better still that we were able to bring it down.” - -“Will the Allies not bring reprisals upon us, Herr Colonel, for having -shot the balloon down?” - -“They cannot hold the Germans responsible for the act of a crazy -peasant, as we shall so characterize it, and pass the incident off -lightly. When the Americans get to the Rhine they may make all the -inquiries they wish. We shall not be in the castle; almost no one knows -we are here now, there will be no trail left for them to follow, and -they will not be permitted to cross the river to look for one.” - -“Did not Fraulein von Blum say who the woman is?” questioned the German -woman. - -“No. ‘Important woman in drifting balloon,’ was the message she sent. -The man refuses to say who she is, so you must get it out of the woman -herself.” - -“You think she will come to soon?” - -“Yes, she will be on her feet before the day is done.” - -“Thank you,” whispered the subject of the dialogue. “I am glad to know -that I am all right. Good boy, Major. I will take my tip from him. But -who is this Rosa von Blum that they speak of? I don’t believe I ever -heard of her, though somehow the name strikes a disagreeable note in -my memory. There goes the colonel. I must get ready to wake up after a -proper interval.” - -Grace heard the woman step over to the bed and look down at her, after -the departure of the officer. She stirred a little under that gaze, -which seemed to burn into her, moaned and twisted her head from side -to side several times. After a brief interval of quietness the Overton -girl opened her eyes, closed and then opened them again, apparently -with great effort. Grace was acting her part without the slightest -slip. She gazed up blankly into the face of the German woman. - -“Guten morgen, Fraulein Schmidt,” greeted the German. - -“What is that you say? I am an American.” - -“I said good morning, Fraulein Schmidt,” repeated the woman, this time -in English, smiling encouragingly. - -“You know me?” exclaimed Grace Harlowe, raising herself on one elbow, -the effort giving her pain and causing her to make a wry face. “How did -you know my name?” - -“The Germans know many things. They are not the thickheads that the -enemy would have the world believe them. You come from the American -army?” - -Grace said she did, and explained that they had gone adrift in the -storm when she was with the balloon on invitation for the day, but in -answer to a question as to what she did in the army, the Overton girl -asked one for herself. - -“Who are you and where am I?” - -“You were hurt and a kind-hearted officer had you brought here. You -will, I hope, be able to go out in a week or so.” - -“So long as that?” - -“Yes. You were very badly hurt and the Herr Doctor says you must be in -bed for some time. To get up would mean your death.” - -“Oh, please don’t tell me that,” begged Grace. “What is it you wish to -know?” - -“How many are with the American army that is marching on the Rhine?” - -“Truly I cannot say, Frau.” - -“Is it not true that they are planning to take revenge on the Rhine -country when the Germans are helpless, having laid down their arms?” - -“How do you mean?” demanded Grace. - -“To turn the big guns on us?” - -“No, my countrymen do not break their word, Frau.” - -“I have heard that they plan to make it very hard for the peaceful -Germans too. It would be wrong, it would be a crime, for the Germans -are a kindly people. They love the Americans, but are sorry for them -that they were so misled as to enter the war.” - -“Sad to contemplate, isn’t it, Frau? I can almost weep over it myself. -What has been done with the officer who was with me in the balloon?” - -The German woman said she knew nothing about it, that she did not even -know of the officer, which Grace was aware was not true. - -“And the town on the other side of the river--what is it?” - -“The Fraulein must ask no questions; such are my instructions.” - -“I may ask when I am to be permitted to get up, may I not?” - -“I have told the Fraulein what the Herr Doctor has said.” - -“When I am able, I may get up?” - -“Yes.” - -“Then I think I will get up now.” Grace made a move as if to leave the -bed, but the German woman thrust her back, a menacing look flashing -into her eyes. “What do you mean by detaining me in this manner? Am I a -prisoner?” - -“No, no, Fraulein,” protested the woman. - -“It looks very much as if I were. If such be the case look out for -trouble.” - -“The Fraulein threatens?” - -“No. I simply warn you. If the Americans hear that a countrywoman is -being held on this side of the Rhine against her will, perhaps you can -imagine what they will do, whether or not they may know her or have -ever heard of her. However, ask all the questions you wish. I shall -reply to them or not as I feel inclined.” - -“It is not that I care to know, Fraulein, but that I am interested. We -on the Rhine are troubled, for we hear many things. If you can tell me -the things that will bring peace to my soul, I in turn will do all for -you. It is a fair bargain.” - -“Let me tell you something, Frau. The Americans do not trust the -Germans. That is why they are marching on the Rhine ready to go into -battle at a moment’s notice. That is military information, but my -countrymen are ready to fight you Germans, and I don’t care whether -you or all of you know it. Their artillery is constantly trained on -your retreating army. At the first sign of treachery the music will -begin, but I warn you it will not be sweet music, even for German -ears that profess to be so fond of music. It will be the music of the -guns, Frau.” Grace felt that she could do her country and her cause -no better service than by sounding this warning. She was by this time -fully aware that the woman was a German agent, placed there to wring -whatever information she could from the girl who had fallen into their -hands from the skies. Grace too had gained a little information, but -she hoped to obtain more of it. - -The Frau pressed her on a variety of subjects connected with the -approaching army, the tenor of which, as nearly as Grace could reason -it out, was as to the secret plans of the Allies after they had -occupied the Rhine bridgeheads, the territory that fed into the bridges -that crossed the Rhine, the principal bridgeheads being at Mainz, -Cologne and Coblenz, the three great bridgeheads of the Rhine. Grace -was extremely cautious in answering questions where the answers might -prove of military value to the enemy. - -On the question of spies the German woman, several times in different -forms, questioned the American girl as to whether they suspected that -German spies were operating with the American forces. The Frau said she -had heard that the Americans were complaining of this, but that it was -a silly idea, for the war was ended, so why should there be need for -spies in either army. - -Grace agreed with her, but that was as far as her information went. -Later in the day the Herr Colonel came in and after examining Grace he -shook his head and pronounced her to be in a most serious condition. He -told the Overton girl, still speaking in German, that she had sustained -internal injuries that might prove fatal unless the utmost quiet of -body was persevered in. He said that his first diagnosis had not -revealed this because at the time she was unconscious. - -During this monologue the Overton girl gazed blankly at the Herr -Colonel, who plainly was a medical man, as well perhaps as an -intelligence officer. She turned to the Frau. - -“What is the man talking about?” she asked, though having understood -every word he had uttered. - -The German woman translated, and in the translation made Grace’s -condition really a desperate one. Both were lying, as the American girl -knew. She knew that she was badly shaken, bruised and scratched, but -that there was not a serious hurt anywhere. After the Herr Colonel’s -departure she was questioned still further. In the midst of it Grace -turned her face to the wall and promptly went to sleep. - -When Grace awakened it was late in the night. Her trench watch told her -it was half after twelve o’clock. Grace listened a few moments to make -certain that she was alone, then got out of bed. Standing on her feet -hurt her all over. She had been more shaken than she thought. The girl -groped her way about the room, feeling before each step, and finally -finding that for which she was in search, her clothing. What she hoped -to find was her flash lamp, but it was not there. The lamp had been -taken away. Plainly they did not propose to leave her the means of -signalling. - -Trying the door, it was found to be locked, as she had expected it -would be, but the windows were neither barred nor locked. Grace -cautiously threw one open and looked eagerly out. The moon, somewhere -back of her to the eastward, was in the sky and lighted up the valley -before her, though none of the light penetrated the room. Before her -lay a village, two villages in fact, but it was the one on the opposite -side of the river that most interested her, and Grace studied its -outlines in the moonlight for some time. - -“I believe that is Coblenz,” she muttered. “This building is a castle -and I am up in the air for certain. There is no necessity to bar these -windows, for they know I can’t get down from here unless I fall down. I -wonder why they wish to keep me a prisoner?” - -Grace pondered over this for some time, going over all that had been -said to her by the German woman and what she had heard the man and -woman say to each other in their own language. - -“It seems to resolve itself to this,” she decided. “Some one of the -name of Rosa von Blum has warned them that an important woman was in -a drifting balloon headed their way. Now this Rosa person must be -somewhere in the American lines. It is my idea that this Rosa is a -man. That would be just like a Hun scheme. Perhaps the word came by -the pigeon route. The more I think of the pigeon incident the more -convinced am I that a Chinaman is mixed up with it. Won Lue is the -key to that mystery, and with that key I shall yet unravel the pigeon -mystery. So much for that. To-morrow morning they will get another -pigeon message unless some one shoots down all three of the birds, and -that message will tell them who I am. The war being ended will they -dare take their revenge on me now for exposing Madame de Beaupre and -André? They will! Trust a Hun not to have sense enough to realize that -he too will have to pay the price.” - -Grace pondered for a long time. - -“I am glad I woke up and have had time to think this matter over. I -shall know how to conduct myself to-morrow when they speak my name. Of -one thing I am glad. I am facing Coblenz, and sooner or later I may be -able to attract the attention of some one who will be interested in -what I have to say, though they will probably move me to some other -less convenient room before the Americans arrive. Our troops should -be at the Rhine to-morrow afternoon. To-night they will be but twelve -miles from here, and even now an advance guard may be in the city. At -least there are American intelligence officers there. I wonder where -they have stowed the major away?” She sighed and concluded to go back -to bed, knowing that she would be in need of all her strength for what -might be before her on the morrow. - -Grace got in gingerly, for bending her body hurt her. She floundered -about for a moment, and rolling to the back of the bed came in contact -with something hard that lay at the edge of the bed next to the wall. -Her fingers closed over the object. She uttered an exclamation. The -object was her flash light that undoubtedly had slipped from her pocket -when they first placed her on the bed before undressing her. - -“It works,” she whispered excitedly, and was out of the bed without -thought of her aches and pains. “Only a chance, but it is worth while,” -she muttered, giving a series of quick flashes with the lamp thrust out -to the edge of the window casing. - -This was the flash signal indicating that she was about to send a -message. - -“American woman prisoner in tower here. Drifting balloon victim,” was -the message she flashed out slowly, then waited to see if there were -a reply. There was none. After an interval she tried it again with -the same result, not once giving her name, for there might be, and -undoubtedly were, plenty of persons over there who could read the Morse -code. - -Several times in the next hour the girl sent the same message, keeping -an attentive ear on the door. - -“I fear it is a failure. No one read my message. I must hide the lamp -and get to bed.” The bed appeared to offer the best hiding place. -Opening a seam in the mattress the Overton girl thrust the lamp far in, -packed the straw about it, replaced the mattress and the blankets and -got into bed, first closing the window. - -Grace lay in bed for some time, thinking over the events of the day, -and was about to turn over and go to sleep when her attention was -attracted by a slight noise. She sat up and listened. At first it -sounded to her like the gnawing of a mouse, but upon second thought she -realized that a mouse could not gnaw stone. A metallic click revealed -the truth. - -“Some one is at the door,” murmured the girl, and began groping for her -flash lamp, but suddenly withdrew her hand and composed herself in a -position from which she could observe the entire room. - -The Overton girl did not have long to wait. The door opened ever -so little, as she knew from the sound, and she could hear some one -breathing. The door was pushed in further. A moment of silence -followed, then cautious footsteps approached her bed. It was very -difficult for Grace Harlowe to breathe regularly and naturally, -the inclination being to hold one’s breath, but she overcame that -inclination and waited, every faculty on the alert. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -AN INTERRUPTED INTERVIEW - - -“It is the Frau,” thought Grace, with an effort repressing a long -breath of relief. - -The German woman, after satisfying herself that her prisoner was -asleep, began a careful search of the room, first going to the window -and finding it shut, then searching Grace’s clothing, after which she -felt cautiously under the girl’s pillow. It was at that moment that -Grace’s plans took form and definite shape. - -Uttering a piercing shriek, the American girl leaped from the bed and -hurled herself against the German woman, who had sprung back and in -her fright started toward the door. Ere she had opportunity to collect -herself, Grace’s hands were against the Frau’s back and the German -woman was being “bounced” in the most approved manner. She ran because -she couldn’t help it. To have stopped would have meant measuring her -length on the floor. - -They reached the door, Grace Harlowe still uttering those piercing -screams, and there the Frau met disaster. She tripped on the doorsill -and fell headlong into the corridor. Grace too went down, but was -up like a flash and, darting into the room, slammed the door shut, -securing it by bracing a tipped chair against it under the knob, -whereupon the Overton girl sat down heavily on the floor and gave way -to laughter that was almost hysterical, though so well repressed that -the woman out there could not hear it. - -“Oh, what a fright I gave her. I’ll warrant that frau doesn’t do any -more prowling about in my room at unseemly hours. I should have thought -of the chair before I went to bed.” Grace paused abruptly. Some one was -pounding on the door. - -“Who is it?” she called. - -“It is I, Frau Woelber.” - -“Oh!” Grace boldly threw open the door and as she did so the woman -pressed a button and flooded the room with light. Her face wore an -angry flush, but it moderated as she saw that Grace was breathing -heavily and that her face wore a frightened expression. - -“Oh, why did you frighten me so, Frau?” gasped the girl, still playing -her part. - -“You shall suffer for this,” threatened the woman. “You did it on -purpose.” - -“How--how can you say such a thing. Why did you creep into my room and -startle me by tugging at my pillow? It was terrible! What do you wish?” - -“It is like the American schweinhunde to be thus grateful. I came to -see that you were well and you repay by assaulting me. Bah!” The woman -turned on her heel and strode from the room, slamming the door after -her, and locking it from the outside. Grace replaced the chair and -returned to her bed. - -“I think I will use the flash again,” she muttered. Once more the -Overton girl sent out her message for help. “I hope some one does see -it, for to-morrow I feel I shall be in still more trouble.” - -Morning did bring trouble. She was awakened at an early hour by the -German woman and ordered to dress. There was not even time to regain -possession of her electric flash lamp nor to dress her hair. - -After getting on her clothes the woman took her by the arm and led -her from the room, down several staircases, the first of which was a -spiral. The Overton girl was conducted into a room which she judged was -on the side away from the river. There were no windows, and the room -was dark, save for the faint light shed by a candle. - -“You are a spy!” raged the woman, pointing an accusing finger at the -American girl. - -“It is not true,” answered Grace evenly. “Remember, I am not here on my -own choice, and I shall be pleased to leave now. You see I am perfectly -able to go. If you detain me longer you will be punished. The war is -at an end, or is supposed to be, and you have no right to keep me a -prisoner. Are you going to permit me to go back to my own lines?” - -The German woman laughed harshly. - -“The Herr Officer will see you. We shall see,” was the non-committal -reply. The Herr Officer came in a few moments later, the woman -occupying the interval by a repetition of her questions of the previous -day. The officer-doctor examined Grace or pretended to, then turned to -the Frau. - -“Tell her she will die as the result of her getting up. She must not -be permitted to go until we have the message. You have not heard?” he -asked in German. - -The woman shook her head. - -“I will find out if anything has come since we spoke, and let you know. -You will wait in the library.” - -He nodded, gave the Overton girl a frowning appraising glance, and -turning on his heel strode out, followed by the woman, who locked the -door behind her. Both were back in a few moments, rather to the girl’s -surprise. - -“So?” said the woman nodding slowly. “It is Frau Gray?” - -Grace regarded her inquiringly. - -“What do you mean?” - -“That it is not Frau Schmidt, but Frau Gray.” - -“I did not tell you my name was Schmidt, for it is not. I am an -American, not a Hun, nor do I admit that my name is Gray. The carrier -pigeon was late in arriving this morning, eh?” Grace grinned broadly as -she saw that the shot had gone home, for both showed their amazement. -“Ah! I observe that the Herr Colonel understands English after all. A -precious pair of enemy agents. What do you think will be done to you -when my people find out about this--and about the pigeons?” - -“Nothing! They will never know,” retorted the woman savagely. - -“Do not be deceived. I have arranged that they shall, no matter whether -I go back or do not go back.” She reasoned that no more pigeons would -be used, now that the American army was nearing the river. Grace did -not know that the army already had arrived. “It will not help your -cause to detain me. It will have the opposite effect. Am I to go or -stay?” continued Grace. - -“You are to--” - -An orderly rapped on the door and saluted as the colonel wheeled on him. - -“What is it?” demanded the officer. - -“Orders, Herr Colonel. The enemy has heard that a woman is being -detained here. Unless she is released and given safe conduct to the -bridge before twelve o’clock to-day they threaten to come and get her.” - -Grace understood every word of the conversation, but not so much as -the flicker of an eyelash indicated that she did. She was not yet out -of her difficulties and a slip, even in the face of that order, might -prove her undoing. - -“What shall you do, Herr Colonel?” demanded the German woman. - -The colonel shrugged his shoulders. - -“They would not dare to do it,” added the Frau. - -“You do not know. They eagerly await the chance, the schweinhunde! -See that she has safe conduct, but it must not be known that we have -detained her here,” he said, turning to the orderly. “We shall have to -give up our quarters and go elsewhere. Tell them, when the woman is -turned over, that she was taken in seriously hurt, and that she was -held only until she could safely go away. Tell them that she would -have died had she been left uncared for. No names are to be mentioned. -Understand?” - -“Yes, Herr Colonel. I will go with her. Is she to go now?” - -“Yes.” He turned savagely to Grace. “Frau Gray,” he announced in -English that was quite broken, “had I known yesterday who you were -you would not now be here. There are those who would not treat you as -we have treated you, were they to know who you are. Do not presume to -come to Germany again, intentionally or unintentionally. If you do you -may not go back. That is all.” The Herr Colonel strode from the room, -and the woman hurried after him. Then the orderly beckoned to Grace to -follow him, after discovering that she “could not understand German.” -Grace smiled and nodded and dutifully followed the soldier down the -stairs. - -It was quite a distance down, but not once during their journey to -the outer air did Grace see a person. The old castle might have been -deserted, and probably was. There was a difference when they got into -the village. The streets were filled with chattering, gesticulating -men, women and children. Some appeared to know who she was so far as -her arrival in a parachute was concerned; others saw or had heard that -she was an American. - -That was not a pleasant walk for Grace Harlowe Gray, though it was an -interesting one to her. The sidewalks were lined with spectators, some -stolid and sullen, others quite the opposite. The latter were in the -majority and the American girl frequently was jeered at and poked at -with fingers. A woman slapped her, but, though Grace’s face burned, she -did no more than look at the woman calmly, unemotionally. Several times -she heard the word “spy” hurled at her in German and smiled to herself. -It was an interesting study in psychology to Grace Harlowe, even if she -were the object of the demonstration. - -“Isn’t she pretty?” demanded a male voice in German. - -Grace flashed a look in that direction to see who had uttered the -words. She saw a German officer and an attractive-looking young woman -backed up against a store front. - -“Pretty? How can you say that of an American?” demanded the young -woman. “She is as hideous and as ugly as no doubt her soul is black.” - -“You are a true German, Fraulein,” exclaimed the German officer -enthusiastically. - -Grace grinned, though the characterization hurt her more than she -cared to admit to herself. With every step after that she expected to -encounter violence, but it was not until she neared the bridge that she -did. Some one threw a stone. It was a small stone, but the thrower, as -Grace concluded later when thinking over the occurrence, must have been -a member of a Hun bomb squad. It hit and knocked the Overton girl down. - -Grace got up dizzily. Blood was trickling down her cheek. Her escort -appeared to be wholly indifferent to her plight, and did not even -rebuke the one who threw the stone. Fortunately for Grace it was a -small stone, else she would not have gotten up quite so readily. - -“This is a sample of Hun ‘kultur,’ I presume?” she said in German, -addressing her conductor. - -The orderly glanced at her inquiringly. - -“Sprechen Sie Deutsch?” he demanded. - -“No, I wouldn’t speak the language if it were the only language in the -world,” she retorted, again in German, but refused to utter another -word in the language. - -“The woman is to pass,” directed the orderly, presenting a pass to the -sentry on duty at the bridge; then he turned abruptly and left Grace to -get along as best she might. - -“Courtesy appears to have been neglected in the education of these -people,” muttered Grace. “However, I should not be amazed at that, -knowing the Boches as I do after my many months on the western front. -Thank goodness I am free, I hope, for good and all. Now I suppose I -shall have a hard time getting into our lines.” - -Grace did have a hard time. She was promptly halted by an American -sentry, who, calling the corporal of the guard, turned her over to him. -Grace demanded to be taken before Captain Boucher of the Intelligence -Department, which was done because orders had been given to that effect. - -Captain Boucher gazed at the ragged figure for a few seconds, his gaze -traveling up to the face, from which the blood had not all been wiped -away. He was on his feet in an instant. - -“Mrs. Gray!” he exclaimed. “You are wounded!” - -“Nothing to speak of, sir. Merely a little memento of Boche ‘kultur.’ -In other words I was stoned out of Germany.” Grace smiled that winning -smile that always won people to her. “I am quite all right, but my -clothing and my hair are simply impossible. I wish it were dark, for -I do dread to go through the streets here in my present disgraceful -condition.” - -“This is an outrage. Were I the general in command of this army I’d -have those hounds down on their knees!” raged the captain. - -“That is what they need, sir. Those people need to have the arrogance -beaten out of them. I am not saying this in any spirit of revenge, nor -for what they did to me.” - -“I understand--I understand. I will call a car to take you to your -billet. Your signal from the castle was seen by one of our agents -before the army got here. Then later Major Colt escaped and swam the -Rhine, and he too reported it. He saw your Morse message just as he -reached the bank on this side. When you are able I shall wish you to -tell me what occurred over there.” - -“I will tell you now, if I may.” Grace took up the narrative from the -time of her landing in the vineyard, giving him only such information -as she knew to be of military interest. The Intelligence officer -listened with close attention. - -“You should be in the secret service,” he declared after she had -finished. “By what means do you think the Germans got information about -you?” - -“Pigeon or spy, sir. Pigeon most likely. You have not found the guilty -one, have you, sir?” - -“We have not.” The captain pinched his lips together. “I think we shall -have to ask you to run this spy matter down, Mrs. Gray.” - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -ELFREDA HAS A SUSPICION - - -The billet to which Grace had been assigned was the home of a German -doctor, where she had a comfortable, large room extending all the way -across the rear of the house. The owner, as she later learned, occupied -a large front room with a small communicating room on the left-hand -side of the house, a similar apartment on the other side of the house -being occupied by some one else. - -Elfreda Briggs was busy getting her hand in at canteen work when Grace -arrived at the billet with her credentials, without which no one could -obtain lodgings in Coblenz, now that the Americans had taken possession -of the place and were at work setting it in order. The Overton girl -found her belongings already there, including her mail. There was mail -from home, but a letter from Emma Dean got first reading and put Grace -in a happy frame of mind. - -“My Darling Grace (This goes for all of the Overton Unit),” wrote Emma: - -“We haven’t had a letter from you in so long I don’t believe we should -recognize your handwriting. There isn’t a thing new in Paris except -military news that I hear over the wire, which of course I can’t tell -you. By the way, I did hear that William the First had been called -before a court-martial for insubordination and ungentlemanly language -to a superior officer. My! what a narrow escape I did have. Think what -a terrible mistake I should have made had I married him. Thank heaven -my present William is not that sort of a fighter. By the way, I learned -over the wire only yesterday that he too is on his way to Coblenz. I -am glad of that, for, you being a married woman, I can trust you to -chaperon him and see that he doesn’t fall in love with one of those -rosy-cheeked Gretchens on the Rhine. I am told that they are inclined -to favor the American doughboys. They’d better not favor my William. - -“By the way, that daughter of yours surely has made a place for -herself at Madame Duchamp’s school. They will spoil that child. We had -Yvonne over to stay all night with us and spend Sunday last week. The -yellow cat was with her. If I am well informed the yellow cat is a -lady-mouser, so you can imagine how shocked we were when Yvonne told -us that she had named the cat Tom Gray after her adopted father, but -that she called her Tom for short. I know your Tom will be delighted -with the great honor that has come to him. It’s up to your Tom to give -his namesake a handsome present. Might send on a shell-case of mice. I -understand they have plenty of them out near the front. What a lovely -present to send to a young ladies’ boarding school. What? - -“Arline Thayer, Mabel Ashe, Ruth Denton and the rest of this Overton -unit are simply expiring to see you. Ruth thinks she is in love with -a Y secretary. For myself I prefer a fighting man--I don’t mean -one that will fight me--leave that to the Huns--but who will fight -another man when he crowds me off the walk. I heard a story over the -wire the other day about Hippy Wingate. It seems that one of those -secretary fellows--I don’t know what organization he belonged to--got -quite friendly with Nora Wingate, all in the nicest possible way. -But you know Hippy. Hippy heard of it, so one day he dropped in on -the Salvation hut and found Nora singing for the secretary. She said -he wanted to try her voice. Well, Hippy he--as I was saying, Hippy -invited the fellow to take a flight with him--a hop, I believe they -call it--the secretary wasn’t permitted to refuse and up they went. It -seems they have some sort of telephone arrangement between the pilot -and the observer, and after a little the secretary discovered that he -had no safety belt on and he called Hippy’s attention to it rather -anxiously. Hippy, according to the reports I got over the wire, said -he was sorry, for he was going to do some loops, to see how many he -could do. One of his squadron had done thirty-seven, but Hippy was of -the opinion that he could do at least thirty-seven and a half. ‘But -I’ll fall out,’ protested the secretary. ‘Sure you will,’ agreed Hippy, -‘but I’ll turn the loops right over the Salvation hut. When you fall -out, if my wife thinks you’re worth saving she’ll catch you.’ Well, the -secretary begged, and finally Hippy relented and said he would let his -passenger out before he looped. They landed. The secretary took the -hint and ‘beat it,’ as the doughboys would say. I understand he hasn’t -been seen around the Salvation canteen since. Isn’t that just like -Hippy? - -“Now that the war is over I suppose we all will soon be on our way to -the good old United States. I know I shall die if I have to go back -before my William does. I have been afraid that he might be appointed -on the Peace Commission, for I know he must stand very high with the -President, even if he is only a lieutenant. Well, good-bye. Remember -me to Tom, and tell him I hope that when he gets home he will make it -his business to see that his most attractive wife stays home and washes -the dishes rather than go scouting all over America and half of Europe -driving ambulances and things. - - “Yours lovingly, EMMA.” - -Grace sat back and laughed until the tears came, laughed until she was -interrupted by a cry from the doorway. It was Elfreda, but instead of -throwing herself into Grace’s arms, J. Elfreda stood off and surveyed -her with disapproving eyes. - -“Grace Harlowe Gray, you surely are a sight. I am not at all surprised. -What does make me marvel is that you have come back at all. Tell me -about it. Have you been crying? Your eyes are red.” - -“I have been laughing. I have a letter from Emma.” - -“Enough said. Tell me the story. You were a prisoner, I understand.” - -“A sort of prisoner. No, I was not hit with a bullet, but with a stone. -The Huns are such gentle creatures. The state of my clothing is due to -the fact that I got mixed up with a vineyard when I came down in the -parachute. I suppose you had your information from Major Colt?” - -“Yes. I have a lot of other information too; but that will keep until I -hear your story.” - -Grace, to save time, told the story from the time they left the ground -in the sausage balloon right down to the moment when she got back into -the American lines. - -“What do you propose to do next for thrills?” demanded Elfreda finally. - -“I am not looking for thrills. I am in hope that I shall be permitted -to go back home before very long--that is, if Tom goes.” - -“He won’t. They are planted here for months to come, provided we do not -go on into the enemy country.” - -“How is Mrs. Smythe?” Grace smiled. - -“No change. I understand from her that you are to be placed on canteen -work, drawing hot chocolate and the like. She will have you mopping -out the place next. Chad is in a rage most of the time, except when -her latest friend is with her. Oh, I didn’t tell you about that. The -day before you went over by the air route, a most charming young lady -appeared on the scene. Mrs. Smythe said it was a very old friend of -hers of the name of Molly Marshall. I don’t know who she is or how she -got into the lines, but I have been told by those who ought to know, -that she is an American woman who has been a prisoner of the Germans; -that she got by the German sentries and reached our lines after -suffering all sorts of hardships. She doesn’t look the part, I am free -to say.” - -Grace was interested at once. - -“You are suspicious of her, Elfreda?” she demanded. - -“Of course I am. I am suspicious of any one who takes up with Chad. -I don’t know where Molly is to-day. I haven’t seen her since last -evening. She is billeted with Chad.” - -“Where does Mrs. Smythe live?” - -Elfreda regarded her frowningly. - -“I forgot that you had been in the air so long. Chad occupies the front -room on this floor. We are all in the house together, but if trouble -doesn’t make us wish we weren’t, I shall be much mistaken. Won Lue -comes over to ask about you. He appears to have something on his mind. -Have you any idea what it is?” - -“Plidgins,” answered Grace laughingly. “What is it you suspect about -this woman Marshall?” - -“I do not suspect her any more than I do some other persons. I am -beginning to believe that our supervisor isn’t as loyal to the cause as -she might be. That feeling has been strengthened since Miss Marshall -appeared so mysteriously.” - -“Elfreda, you know how I feel toward Mrs. Smythe, but for all that -I must stand up for her. With all her faults she is an American. Her -presence at the front is sufficient evidence of that to satisfy me as -to her loyalty. As I have said before, she is a vain and jealous woman, -a fair type of the newly rich. As for the other woman, I hope to see -her and form my own opinion of her. I think the Intelligence Department -is considerably disturbed over spy activities. There is something else -going on here too, though I haven’t yet learned what it is. I have some -queer fancies in the back of my head, Elfreda, and--” - -“You always did have.” - -“They are not yet sufficiently clarified to make it prudent for me to -speak of them, but remember what I have said. Some day I shall tell you -the story that I now warn you of. Whose house is this?” - -“It is occupied by a Doctor Klein, a scientific, studious-appearing -fellow, and apparently very friendly to Americans. He says the Germans -have been in the wrong in this war and--” - -“I should be suspicious of that man, Elfreda. Either he is not a German -or else he isn’t telling the truth. What is the attitude of the people -of Coblenz?” - -“Some appear to be afraid of the Americans, while others--these are -in the majority--are sullen. The situation appears to me to be very -tense, likely to result in an explosion at any moment. There are very -few German men of military age here. I think our people are treating -the inhabitants very leniently.” - -“That is a mistake,” declared Grace with emphasis. “Mark me, the Huns -can’t understand and appreciate humane treatment. They will take -advantage of that attitude, believing that the Americans are afraid of -them. Then we shall have to put pressure on them, and that will cause -more trouble than were we to be severe with them now at the outset. I -must get about and see what the lay of the land is.” - -“You keep out of it, Loyalheart; that is my advice to you. Haven’t you -had enough yet?” - -“No, I never shall until my country has no further use for my services, -my dear. When that time comes, I shall be ready to settle down to the -simple life in beautiful Haven Home and enjoy a real home-life with Tom -and my beautiful adopted daughter. Elfreda, that child is entwining -herself about my heartstrings more and more as time goes on.” - -“She is doing the same thing to me,” declared Elfreda. “You will have -to divide her with me--I mean share her with me, Grace. I am as much -her mother as you are, am I not?” - -“You are, of course, though my claim is a prior claim, which you as a -lawyer must recognize.” They had a hearty laugh over this. - -It was late in the afternoon when Grace went out, first having knocked -on Mrs. Smythe’s door but receiving no response. Grace inquired her way -to the canteen, looking in the shop windows as she passed, enjoying the -sight of stores once more. There were few of these left in rural France -where she had been, and those that were left ordinarily bore the marks -of shell fire. - -The supervisor was not at the canteen where Grace understood she was to -be stationed, but Marie Debussy, the supervisor’s maid, was there and -at work. Grace greeted her cordially and the girl appeared equally glad -to see Grace. - -“How is Madame behaving?” she questioned. - -“There is no change, but I am here most of the time and do not see so -much of her.” - -“You are satisfied here then, Marie?” - -“Oh, yes, it will do. The war will soon be over and I shall go back to -my beloved France. Bah! These Germans! I like them not.” - -“None of us do, Marie. Is Miss Marshall with Madame?” asked Grace -carelessly. Marie gave her a quick glance, a keener glance than Grace -had ever seen from those eyes, after which the eyes lapsed into their -former dullness. - -“I have not seen her since yesterday. I do not know. Do you know her?” - -Grace said she did not, and giving Marie a smile, stepped behind the -counter and began her work as a canteen server. It was not the free -life of the ambulance driver, but it was service, and Grace Harlowe -was satisfied. But there was plenty of excitement ahead of her, even -though life moved on in Coblenz much the same as before and during the -war. Shopkeepers were overcharging the American soldiers, others were -robbing them, and the situation was lax to an extent that disturbed -Grace Harlowe. - -She said as much to Major Colt, who called at the canteen that evening -to see her, and he agreed with the Overton girl, but said that the -American officers were awakening to the possibilities and that -something would be done. The major told Grace of his experience with -the Germans after they dragged him from the Rhine, she in turn relating -her own. He told of having seen her signal and of reading the message, -and he was filled with admiration for Grace’s resourcefulness and -cleverness. - -“I told Captain Boucher about that. He declared that you ought to be -in the Secret Service and that he was going to have you there if his -advice prevailed with those higher up. How would you like that?” - -“Not at all,” answered Grace smilingly. “Is the captain still disturbed -over the activities of spies with the Army of Occupation?” - -Major Colt flashed a quick glance at her. - -“So, you do know about it, eh?” - -“Perhaps I may have surmised some things, sir--and I know the Hun and -his ways rather well,” she added. “May I ask you, sir, if you know a -Miss Marshall who entered camp the day before we went up?” - -“No. I have heard of her. Why?” - -“Just a woman’s curiosity.” - -“I would suggest that you ask Captain Boucher about that. You will be -somewhat amazed at what he will tell you--if he tells you anything,” -laughed the officer. “There’s a real mystery for you, eh?” - -Grace shrugged her shoulders. - -“There are many others more worth while, sir,” she made reply, turning -to hand a doughboy a bar of chocolate. “I--” - -Grace did not finish the sentence. An explosion that seemed to be -splitting the earth wide open crushed in one end of the canteen and -blew off part of the roof, bringing a good part of the structure down -on the heads of the occupants of the building. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - -THE TREACHERY OF THE HUN - - -Fortunately for those in the canteen the heavy framework of the -building stood up under the blast, so though they were buried in the -wreckage it was comparatively light wreckage. - -Major Colt and one soldier suffered the most, the major being hit -on the head with a piece of galvanized iron roofing and knocked -unconscious. It was Grace Harlowe who raised the piece from his body -and dug him out of the mess, though she herself was dazed almost to -the point of losing herself. In the midst of the confusion she found -herself thinking of Elfreda, who had not yet come on for the evening, -though darkness had fallen, and Grace was thankful. - -After getting the officer out, Grace plunged into the wreckage again, -for the canteen had caught fire and there were still others to be -rescued. By this time doughboys had rushed to the scene, two grabbing -her and fairly throwing her out. They ordered her to stay out, but -not before she had dragged out Marie and made her as comfortable as -possible. - -Major Colt had recovered consciousness by the time she got to him. - -“Wha--at was it?” he asked weakly. - -“Ammunition dump, I think.” - -“Hun work!” he growled. - -“Looks like it. I hope our people will get busy now. Is there anything -I can do for you? If not I must look after Marie. She got a hard rap on -the head, same as you did.” - -“If you will have some one help me to my quarters I think I shall be -all right. Did you get me out?” - -“Yes. Here, Buddy, will you please give Major Colt a lift?” she called -to a passing soldier, and a moment later, after pressing Grace’s hand, -the balloonist was being guided to his billet. Grace, in the meantime, -had assisted Marie to her feet and was leading her toward the house in -which the welfare workers were living. - -Only a short distance away from the canteen shells were going up with -loud bangs, and this racket kept up for half an hour, until the last -of the ammunition dump had been destroyed, wounding many persons, but -fortunately having killed only two men. Doughboys soon put out the fire -in the canteen, but all gave the ammunition dump a wide berth. - -Reaching the house the Overton girl was met by Elfreda, who had been -considerably shaken up by the explosion, which had crashed every window -in the house. - -“Ammunition dump blown up,” Grace informed Elfreda in answer to the -latter’s glance of inquiry. “Here we are, Marie. I will put you to bed, -then I must hurry back. Elfreda, you had better go out with me. We may -be needed, if they should wish to transfer the canteen to-night.” - -Mrs. Smythe was in her room. Grace observed that her face was pale and -lined. - -“Wha--wha--what has happened?” she gasped. - -“Nothing very much except that an ammunition dump has blown up. I have -seen many of them go up, but never one quite so near. The canteen is -wrecked, Mrs. Smythe. Have you orders for us?” - -“N--n--n--no!” stammered the supervisor. “Y--ye--yes. Go out and find -out all you can, then come back and report to me.” - -“About what?” demanded Grace politely. - -“About what is to be done.” - -“Very good. I will leave Marie in your hands. She is badly shaken up -and should be put to bed at once.” - -[Illustration: Grace Rescues Major Colt.] - -“That’s her affair,” observed the supervisor, beginning to get control -of her nerves. “Are you going?” - -Grace nodded and stepped out into the hall, where she found Elfreda -awaiting her, and together they hurried away. - -“Absolutely unfeeling,” declared Grace heatedly. “She will make that -girl put herself to bed, and Marie can scarcely stand.” - -“Tell me about it,” urged Miss Briggs. - -“I know nothing at all about it except that the building fell in on us. -I assisted Marie and the major out, the latter having received a bang -on the head that completely knocked him out. By the way, do you know a -Chinaman who carries a red birthmark on the left side of his face?” - -“I do not,” returned J. Elfreda, elevating her chin a little. “I do not -associate with those animals.” - -“Be sensible, Elfreda.” - -“Why do you ask?” demanded Elfreda. - -“I have my reasons. Some queer doings in Coblenz; and the end is not -yet.” - -“Do--do you think the Boches blew up the dump?” - -“I cannot say that. My natural impression, of course, is that they did. -I was asking the major about Miss Marshall about the time the blow-up -occurred, and he suggested that I ask Captain Boucher, intimating that -if the captain would talk he would give me information that would amaze -me.” - -“H--m--m--m! That sounds interesting. He will talk to you, all right. -Every one does. Oh, look at the canteen!” she cried when they came -within sight of the wrecked building. A squad of men, with an officer -in charge, were at work, clearing away and salvaging such of the -supplies as had not been destroyed. - -“Here, Mrs. Gray, I am glad you have come over. What are we to do with -this stuff?” demanded the officer. - -“I am not in charge, Lieutenant. Mrs. Smythe is the supervisor.” - -“Then why isn’t she here attending to her duties?” - -Grace said she could not answer for that. - -“I would suggest, sir, if you will, that you have the supplies taken on -a truck to the Number Two Canteen. To-morrow the supervisor can make -such disposition of them as she sees fit.” - -“Very good. I commission you to take charge of removing and caring for -the goods. You are under orders.” - -Grace saluted and asked the officer to order a truck to the scene, -which he promptly did. Grace then got to work. Her salvaging was -thorough. There were many boxes of chocolate bars that had been -crushed, in some instances to powder. These she had carefully removed, -saving every possible grain of the sweets for melting over. Observing -that she was handling the situation properly, the officer went away. - -After two hours of hard work the supplies were collected and loaded on -the truck. Grace thanked the men who had worked so well for her, and -climbing to the seat of the truck, rode with it to its destination. -The Number Two Canteen was located some distance from the scene of the -explosion, but it had suffered the loss of most of its windows just the -same, as had many of the buildings in Coblenz. - -Number Two Canteen being open, Grace informed the worker in charge that -the supplies were to be left there until Mrs. Smythe gave orders for -their distribution. Grace then started for home. - -Reaching her billet Grace tapped on the door of Mrs. Smythe’s room, -wishing to report what had been done. The supervisor bade her enter. - -“Oh, I beg pardon,” exclaimed Grace, observing that Mrs. Smythe was not -alone. - -A well-groomed man, wearing a vandyke beard, slightly gray, rose and -extended a hand to the Overton girl. - -“Mrs. Gray, I believe.” - -“Yes, sir,” she answered. “And you?” - -“I am Dr. Karl Klein. Being the guest of my home it is well that we -should know each other. I trust you are quite comfortable.” - -“Thank you. I am sure that I shall be after I have had opportunity -to compose myself.” A sudden aversion to this suave German fairly -overwhelmed Grace Harlowe. He jarred on her, aroused a feeling of -antagonism that would not down. He was altogether too smooth, too -polite and courteous for a Hun, was the reason that Grace felt that way. - -“Mrs. Smythe--you will pardon me, sir--acting upon the orders of an -officer, I had the supplies, such of them as we were able to salvage, -removed to Number Two Canteen, where they are to be held awaiting your -orders.” - -“What! You gave orders over my head?” demanded the woman sternly. - -“I acted under the orders of an officer, Madame.” - -“You will return at once, take the things back where they were, pile -them up and have a guard placed over them.” - -“I think you are mistaken, Mrs. Smythe,” answered Grace sweetly, though -there was little sweetness in her heart at that moment. She had been -humiliated before Doctor Klein, and even though he were an enemy, the -cut was felt keenly. - -“What is that you say?” - -“That, so far as I am concerned, the supplies will remain where they -are for the rest of the night. It undoubtedly will rain before morning -and the supplies will be ruined if left out. Furthermore, I acted under -the orders of an American officer. It is true that you are my superior, -but he is the superior of both of us.” - -“You dare to disobey my orders?” shouted the supervisor. - -“If you choose to so construe it, yes, but with no intention of being -impertinent or disobedient. I beg to remind you that you have your -remedy, should you feel that I am guilty of insubordination. It is your -privilege to report me. I bid you good-night.” - -Grace bowed to the doctor, and turning on her heel walked from the room. - -“Whatever is the matter with you?” demanded Elfreda when Grace walked -into their quarters. “You are as pale as the proverbial ghost.” - -“Matter? J. Elfreda, I never was so humiliated in my life. Madame is -furious because I had the supplies removed under the orders of the -lieutenant.” - -“Take it easy now, Loyalheart,” soothed Miss Briggs. “Let her do her -worst, which can be no more than reporting you.” - -“That is just the trouble. After a time our superiors will begin to -believe that where there is such a smudge there must be at least a few -coals if not a real fire. Who and what is this man?” - -“What man do you refer to?” - -“Doctor Klein.” - -“Beyond the fact that he is our landlord, I have no information about -him. Why?” - -“I do not trust him. There is something queer about the man.” - -“Perhaps it is you who are queer, Loyalheart. I call the doctor a most -courteous gentleman for a Hun.” - -“Exactly! That is what I mean--in part. He is too courteous for his -kind. Furthermore, my intuition tells me that there is something wrong -with him. I seem to be getting into a perfect maze of contradicting -elements. I wish I did not have such an imagination. I see more mystery -everywhere since we came to Coblenz than I can express in words. How is -Marie? I was so upset over the way Madame went at me that I forgot to -ask.” - -“Asleep when I went in to inquire. I don’t believe she is much hurt. My -advice to you is to get into bed and go to sleep. You are worn out and -your nerves are upset, which is not surprising when one considers that -you fell out of the skies the day before yesterday.” - -“At least my equilibrium was upset,” grinned Grace. “Yes, I will turn -in, but I know I shall have bad dreams to-night, and that our friend -the doctor will be the principal character in them. To add to my -troubles I presume I shall be called upon for an explanation to-morrow. -Madame is certain to report me, nor do I blame her so very much in the -circumstances. Good-night. Do you know, I don’t think you are much of -a lawyer or you wouldn’t let your one and only client get into such -perplexing situations.” - -“Thank you. I agree with you on the main issue. What I should do is to -have a commission in lunacy appointed for you and then browbeat them -into believing that you are an unsafe person to be allowed to remain at -large.” - -“Good-night,” laughed Grace, getting into bed. “Please don’t blow out -the gas in your excitement.” Elfreda was trying to do this very thing. -“In my craziest moods, I never was so afflicted that I tried to put out -the gas by blowing it out.” - -Grace was soon asleep, but hers was not a wholly restful night, -dreaming as she did of plots against herself and her country, in which -Molly Marshall, Won Lue and Mrs. Chadsey Smythe were inextricably -entangled, with Doctor Klein as the chief figure in the conspiracy. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - -GRACE GETS A CLUE - - -“Captain, is it proper to ask if the Huns blew up the ammunition dump?” -asked Grace next morning upon chancing to meet Captain Boucher on the -paved plaza facing the river. - -“If you will put your question in a form that I can answer I will do -so,” was the smiling reply. - -“Was the explosion last evening an accident, sir?” Grace came back at -him quick as a flash. - -“It was not an accident, Mrs. Gray,” he replied gravely, then burst out -laughing. “You are the quickest-witted person I ever knew or heard of. -Have you made any headway in the matter I spoke to you about?” - -“Do you know a Chinaman, belonging to the labor battalion, who wears a -hideous birthmark on his left cheek?” she questioned in reply. - -“Can’t say that I do. Why?” - -“Merely that I would suggest your making his acquaintance. I think -perhaps you may find him worth while.” - -“Cultivating or watching?” asked the Intelligence officer, regarding -her keenly. - -“The latter.” - -“Thank you. What is his name?” - -“I have not heard. I will find out if you wish.” - -The officer nodded. - -“Who is Miss Marshall, if I am permitted to ask? I know it seems an -impertinence on my part to question an officer, but I want to know,” -declared the Overton girl laughing. “I believe that is quite a common -excuse with women for asking questions, but it is comprehensive.” - -The captain glanced about them and invited Grace to sit down with him -on a bench. The air was quite chill, but the view up and down the river -was an attractive one. - -“What I am about to say is strictly confidential. I am giving it to -you for your own guidance, now that you belong to our Intelligence -Department.” - -“Strange, sir, that I have not heard of that.” - -“Yes, you are a member. To return to the subject, Molly Marshall is one -of the cleverest operators in the Secret Service.” - -“A spy?” - -The captain shrugged his shoulders. - -“I never liked the word when applied to our own. She is an investigator -and a brilliant operator. I shall be glad to have you know her, and -assure you that you may trust her fully.” - -“Thank you, but I do not believe I should care to trust any one in -these confidential matters, unless I knew her pretty well. I should -like to meet her, just the same, but she is not to know that I am doing -anything in the investigating line, if you will be so good as to keep -that fact confidential.” - -The captain promised, saying it was not generally customary for -Secret Service operators with the army to know each other, as such an -acquaintance opened the way for many errors of judgment. - -“You are perfectly right in the position you take,” he added. “You -possess all the makings of a brilliant operator yourself.” - -Grace thanked him. - -“As I have said before, I have no aspirations in that direction, -at least not beyond the point that I can serve my country. Perhaps -my woman’s curiosity in combination with my woman’s intuition is -responsible for my being in it to the extent that I am. You will -observe that I am not backward about paying my sex compliments. -However, it will soon be ended and then we shall all return to our -previous lives--if we can. How about you, sir, shall you continue in -the Service?” - -“I think not.” - -Grace rose and, thanking the captain, said she must be on her way to -the canteen at Number Two. On her way she encountered a Chinaman and -told him if he should see Won Lue to send him to the canteen. Rather to -her amazement Won was waiting for her when she arrived there. - -Won shook hands with himself and smiled broadly. - -“You may be able to help us here to-day, Won. Are you working?” - -The Chinaman shook his head negatively. “You savvy plidgin?” he asked. - -“No.” - -“Me savvy plenty plidgin, a-la. Plidgin all fly away. No more plidgin.” - -Grace understood his meaning. The pigeon-flying came to an end when -the army reached the Rhine, for there the enemy agents could work more -directly and without much danger of being caught. That was what they -were doing at that very moment. - -“Oh! I knew there was something I wished to ask you. Do you know a -Chinaman with a red mark on his left cheek, so?” She ran a hand over -her cheek. - -Won chuckled delightedly, though what there was in her question to -amuse him, Grace could not imagine. - -“You savvy Yat Sen? Me savvy Yat Sen plenty much. What me do?” - -“Thank you. I savvy Yat Sen, too. Please clean the place, scrub the -floors nice and clean before Mrs. Smythe gets here.” - -“Me savvy Slith,” volunteered Won with a grimace. - -“Why the ‘a-la,’ Won?” asked Elfreda who came in at this juncture. - -“That is a Chinese round-off, as it were,” Grace informed her. “Have -you seen the supervisor this morning?” - -Elfreda said she had not, for Marie had said that Mrs. Smythe went out -rather early. Grace suddenly decided to go home, and asked Elfreda to -remain at the canteen to meet the supervisor. - -“Tell her I was obliged to return to our billet for a few moments,” -requested Grace. “She cannot be angrier than she will naturally be, in -any event.” - -Grace, nodding to Elfreda, hurried away. - -“I wonder what that child is up to now?” Miss Briggs muttered. “I have -learned one thing about Grace Harlowe, and that is that she seldom -does anything that hasn’t a well-defined motive behind it. I suppose -that is the proper way to arrange one’s life. She should have been a -lawyer.” - -Reaching her billet, Grace entered the house quietly and went to her -room, apparently without having attracted attention to herself. As she -passed the doctor’s rooms she heard voices there. The voices were not -loud, but were audible enough to enable her to distinguish those of at -least one man and a woman, though it was her impression that there were -two men in the room. Now that she was in her own room the voices were -borne to her ears even more distinctly than when she had been passing -through the hallway. - -“I believe Miss Marshall is in there,” muttered the Overton girl after -several moments of listening. The conversation was being carried on in -German, most of it being understandable to Grace. It was only when they -lowered their voices that she failed to catch what was being said. Yet, -for all that, she did not know what they were talking about, though at -times the inference was suggestive of certain things. - -The conversation lasted for several minutes, then Grace heard the -doctor approaching the rear of his apartment, heard the bang of what -she took to be a trap door, then footsteps descending stairs. - -“He is going down to the cellar. I suppose he has a right to do so if -he wishes, so why should I object or even be interested? Hark!” - -Grace heard what she took to be voices in the cellar, though she was -positive that no one had accompanied the owner below. - -“I was right. This is a house of mystery. There he comes!” - -The German’s tread, as he ascended the stairs on his return to his -apartment, she noted, was very light and elastic for a heavy man. His -speech too, this morning, was quicker than when she had spoken with him -in Mrs. Smythe’s quarters, more incisive, more like that of a German -officer than a civilian. - -“Perhaps he has been in the service as a surgeon,” murmured Grace in -explanation of the difference. “I wish I might get a peep into that -room, just for one little minute. Ah!” Grace caught her breath and held -it. The German doctor was speaking again, and what he said sent the red -blood pounding to Grace Harlowe’s temples. - -“I am right or else I am terribly mistaken!” she exclaimed in a -troubled voice. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX - -A VOICE AND A FACE - - -“I must see who leaves this house!” decided the Overton girl, glancing -about her perplexedly. “The window!” - -Quietly raising it she crawled through, then pulled it down with the -least possible noise. A path that led past the side of the house -extended back to the next street. Out through this Grace ran, then down -one block and out to the main street, where she took up a position in a -shop across the way, from whose windows she could command a good view -of the front of the house in which she and Elfreda lived. - -Grace kept her vigil for the better part of an hour, but no one -emerged. She was getting restive, and the shop people now and then -regarded her curiously. - -“This will never do,” thought Grace. “I am making myself too -conspicuous. I believe I will move to the next shop.” She did so, -stopping at a place several doors below. Grace had been there but a few -moments when the door of the doctor’s house opened and Doctor Klein -stepped out and walked rapidly down the street in her direction. He -halted when opposite the store and strode across toward it. She saw him -heading, as she thought, for the shop, and boldly stepped out. - -“Ah, Madame Gray,” greeted the doctor. “I observed you waiting in the -store and I came right over. Perhaps you were waiting for me?” - -“Perhaps I was.” She smiled pleasantly. “I would ask how the maid Marie -is.” - -“Sleeping when I saw her last. I too have been indisposed and have been -sleeping for the last two hours,” volunteered the doctor, his keen, -twinkling eyes regarding her shrewdly. - -Grace smiled, but not by the slightest expression of face or eyes did -she show that she knew him to be telling an untruth. - -“The maid is suffering from shock, nothing more. She should be able to -resume her duties before the day is done.” - -“I am glad to hear that, Doctor. I am going on to the canteen. Are you -going in that direction?” - -The doctor smiled, bowed, and, taking the outside of the walk, stepped -briskly along beside her. They chatted of the occupation by the -American troops, Grace taking the opportunity to say she hoped the -inhabitants would not take advantage of the leniency of the invaders -lest the Americans put heavy restrictive measures upon them that might -prove burdensome. - -“Our people are kindly disposed, but they are quite likely to be savage -when imposed upon or deceived,” she added. - -“Ah! They are like my own countrymen, whose hearts are tender, Frau -Gray, but those hearts are breaking to-day. We are very sad and full -of humility. Yes, I have said that we were wrong, but that is not the -fault of the German people. It is Wilhelm and his war lords who should -be blamed.” - -“Oh, Doctor, you forget! Did you not have an army in the field?” - -“Most certainly.” - -“And they were Germans, several millions of them. Is it not so?” - -He bowed profoundly. - -“Then why blame it all on the man who, like a coward, has run away -and left you to work out your own salvation? The German nation--the -whole nation--was behind the Kaiser in this wicked war--wicked so -far as Germany was concerned. If I may say so without offense, the -trouble--one of the shortcomings, I should say--with your people is -that they are not good sportsmen. They are unsportsmanlike losers. -Instead of standing up like men and confessing that they were wrong and -that they are whipped, they prate about the spirit of Germany being -unbroken, and then whimper like spoiled children because the victor -says they must pay for breaking his windows!” - -“You are very severe on my people.” - -“Herr Doctor, I have been on the western front, up on the lines, for -many months, and I have seen much, too much ever to permit me to grow -sentimental about ‘the poor German nation that had nothing to do with -the war,’ that was opposed to the war, and refused to fight, but let -the Kaiser fight it out all by himself.” Grace laughed, and her laugh -took the sting out of her words, but they went home to the heart of the -Herr Doctor, and his face reddened. - -“I have admitted that our rulers were in error; I do not admit that -the German people were at fault. They were forced into the war,” he -answered stiffly. - -“And forced out of it,” retorted Grace. “Pardon me, but I should not -have said so much. When I hear Germans glibly throwing off their own -responsibility for the wounding and killing of several million men I am -inclined to be irritable. Suppose we drop the subject and not refer to -it again. When did you leave the service, Doctor?” - -“I--I--why, what made you think I had been in the service?” he parried. - -“Your walk. You have been in the German army. At times you forget -yourself and lapse into the goose-step. There I go again. That was too -personal. I ask your pardon.” - -“You are a keen woman, Frau Gray. I served my time in the army when a -young man, as all good Germans have done--” - -Grace interrupted him with a merry laugh. - -“Thank you for the compliment. Thank you for admitting the truth of all -that I have said about the German people. Of course there is nothing -personal, unless one chooses to assume it, in what I have said. We part -on the best of terms, do we not, Herr Doctor?” urged Grace, pausing and -extending her hand. - -Doctor Klein bowed stiffly over it. He appeared to be somewhat dazed -over her rapid-fire conversation. - -Grace backed away and saluted. She was answered by the stiff military -salute of the German officer. The doctor flushed as he realized that -he had again been caught napping by a woman. The Overton girl smiled a -guileless happy smile, and turning she walked rapidly away. - -“Our fine doctor, clever as he thinks he is, has been checkmated,” she -chuckled. “But watch your step, Grace Harlowe. When he thinks it over -in his methodical German way he will be furious.” - -Grace hurried on to her canteen, well satisfied with her morning’s -work, but more perplexed than ever. She had been favored by a kind fate -in meeting the doctor, had turned his attempted flanking movement into -a defeat and had made him appear ridiculous. That was quite sufficient -for one morning, yet Grace could not understand why only the doctor had -emerged from the house, finally deciding that perhaps the other had -gone out by the route that she herself had taken in leaving the house, -through the yard in the rear. - -When Grace reached the canteen, she found Elfreda very busy assisting -in serving a crowd of doughboys, and Won Lue, wearing a happy smile, -working like a beaver, assisting. She paused to observe for a moment or -so, then stepped in. - -“Has the supervisor not been in yet?” she asked. - -Elfreda shook her head. - -“I wonder why?” - -“I shouldn’t worry my head about it were I in your place,” returned -Miss Briggs briefly. “Miss Cahill and Miss O’Leary were here a few -moments ago inquiring for you. They are located about four miles -from here and find themselves very lonely. Miss Cahill said the only -compensation about it is that they do not have to listen to the -supervisor’s unpleasant remarks all day long. I am glad she has left us -alone this morning. Anything doing over at the quarters?” - -“Quiet. I walked down most of the way with the doctor and we had a -delightful chat. That is, I enjoyed it. I am not so certain about his -enjoyment.” - -“Poor Doctor! Here, Buddy, don’t try to play tricks on me. I am a -lawyer at home, and I am likely to use my legal knowledge to advantage -if you try to slip a bar of chocolate in your pocket when you think I -am not looking. Come across, please.” - -The doughboy did so shamefacedly, while his companions laughed -uproariously. - -“Here! I don’t believe in taking candy from babies. Here are two pieces -for you because you have promised to be good. This army has the biggest -sweet tooth in the world,” she said, handing two bars of chocolate to -the discomfited doughboy. - -“I--I’m sorry,” muttered the doughboy. - -“That is all right, Buddy. I was just making conversation, and you -happened to furnish the makings. When you wish any more and haven’t -the money to buy, come in just the same. If I am here you will get it, -and if I am not ask for Mrs. Gray. She is even easier than I am.” - -Grace, talking to a group of soldiers, overheard and smiled to herself. -She was proud of Elfreda. The war had done wonders for the young -lawyeress; it had made her more tolerant of her fellow man; it had -filled her heart with a human sympathy that she had never known before; -it had made her a womanly woman, at the same time sharpening her wits. -Elfreda would turn her back on war and return to her profession a -better and bigger woman mentally than when she had joined the colors. -Grace’s heart was full of gladness as these thoughts filtered through -her mind. - -“You savvy Missie Slith?” questioned a voice in her ear. - -“Yes, I savvy her, Won. What about her?” - -“Me savvy Missie Slith.” Won chuckled and shook hands with himself. -Grace regarded him half amusedly, then turned to her customers. - -All at once the Overton girls found themselves alone, so far as -customers were concerned. The doughboys had remained as long as they -could find an excuse for remaining, for they were happy to be able to -talk to two bright, good-looking American girls, the “girls from God’s -country,” as they expressed it, but they were careful not to outstay -their welcome. Had they known it both girls were just as eager to talk -with the soldiers as the soldiers were to talk with them. - -“Now that we aren’t busy, tell me about the doctor,” urged Elfreda. - -Grace perched herself on the counter with her back to the door and told -the story of her walk with the German physician, but failed to mention -what had occurred in the house. She did admit that she was waiting in -the shop to see who came out of the house, and mentioned the doctor’s -bold move in going directly to the store. Grace was convinced, after -her talk with the physician, that he did not know that she had been in -the house. It was probable, as she reasoned it out, that he must have -seen her enter the second store, if not the first. - -“That was fine. I could not have given it to him straighter myself,” -declared Miss Briggs mischievously. “You made him dizzy, I’ll warrant. -I know just how you did it. You could talk a deaf and dumb man to -death, I really believe. Why were you so curious about seeing who came -out of the house?” - -“Just a little idea that I had in mind. I--” The expression on her -companion’s face caused Grace to pause. Elfreda’s face had suddenly -assumed a strained expression, the lines had hardened ever so little -and the eyes had narrowed. - -It was not necessary for “Captain” Grace to turn around facing the door -to see who or what had so changed her companion. - -“Girl, you will please get down from the counter!” commanded the cold -voice of Mrs. Chadsey Smythe, though it was a more restrained tone than -she had ever employed in speaking to Grace. - -“You are right, Mrs. Smythe. It is not a dignified position,” answered -Grace laughingly, hopping down from the counter. - -“Why bother her? She seems to be enjoying it so much,” urged a voice -that was pleasing. “I know I should be perched up there all the time -were I on duty here.” - -Grace suddenly felt the color mounting to her cheeks. She had not -yet turned about to face the newcomers, but the Overton girl knew -that voice, and at the same time knew that she must control herself -before she faced the owner of it. When she finally did turn, after a -meaningless word or two to Elfreda to aid the process of control, Grace -presented a smiling face and laughing eyes that offered no trace of -recognition as she looked into the eyes of the woman who accompanied -Mrs. Smythe. - -“You will kindly remain standing while on duty after this,” added the -supervisor. “Are all of our supplies here, none missing?” - -“Yes, Mrs. Smythe, all that were sent over last evening from the -wreck.” Grace was wondering what had come over Mrs. Smythe that she was -exercising so much self-control. Ordinarily in the circumstances the -supervisor would have worked herself into a towering rage. Then wonder -of wonders! Mrs. Smythe introduced her companion. - -“This is Mrs. Gray. Miss Marshall, Mrs. Gray.” It was done sourly and -resentfully, but it was better than Grace Harlowe had any reason to -expect of her immediate superior. - -Grace extended a hand and greeted the young woman smilingly. - -“I am glad to meet you,” she said, but as she said it “Captain” Grace -again saw this same face beside that of a German officer on the other -side of the Rhine, and heard these smiling lips utter the words: “She -is as hideous and as ugly as no doubt her soul is black.” - - - - -CHAPTER XX - -IN A MAZE OF MYSTERIES - - -“I hear you have been having a most unpleasant time, Mrs. Gray,” -volunteered Molly Marshall. “Between falling from the skies and being -made a prisoner by the enemy you have had, I should consider, enough -thrills to satisfy any one.” - -“_C’est la guerre_ (it is war),” answered Grace smiling and shrugging -her shoulders. - -“_Oui_,” agreed Miss Marshall. “I shall hope to see more of you. -Mrs. Smythe has kindly offered to share her apartment with me, and I -understand that you are billeted in the same house, so we should have -some pleasant chats. I should love to know you better.” - -Grace said the sentiment was reciprocated. While they were speaking, -the supervisor was taking her revenge on the Chinaman. She was abusing -him shamefully, so much so that Grace could stand it no longer. - -“Won, you go now. You savvy too much talk,” declared Grace nodding to -him. - -“Me savvy talk like machine glun, a-la. Me go.” - -Grace smiled and handed him the promised gift, whereupon Madame’s rage -broke out afresh. - -“Girl, how dare you!” - -“Won has been working for me, Mrs. Smythe. It is best that he go now. -He has worked too faithfully for me to stand by and see him abused, -begging your pardon.” Grace signalled to the Chinaman to be gone. -He lost no time in leaving the place, giving Grace a sly wink and -a grimace as he backed from the doorway. Molly Marshall saved the -situation by leading Mrs. Smythe to the rear of the canteen, where she -soon had the supervisor laughing. Shortly afterwards the young woman -walked out with her, much to Grace’s relief. - -“Chad came in here intending to keep her temper, but she lost it,” -declared Elfreda. - -“It was my fault that she did, Elfreda. Some one has been advising -her to behave herself. It is my idea that she went to headquarters to -enter a complaint against me this morning, but that she was advised -to be good if she wished to remain with the Army of Occupation. Here, -Buddy, are you headed in the direction of the Intelligence Department?” -she called to a soldier who was passing. He said he could go that way, -whereupon Grace asked him to carry a note and leave it there. The -note, which she scribbled on a piece of wrapping paper, was addressed -to Captain Boucher and read: “Yat Sen,” and was signed, “G. G.” - -“More mystery?” questioned Elfreda. - -“Oceans of it. Miss Marshall is a good-looking woman, isn’t she?” - -“Yes, I suppose so, but I can’t get over my first impression that there -is something queer about her. Doesn’t she impress you that way?” - -“Considering what I know about her, she does.” - -“Eh? What do you know?” demanded Elfreda. - -“Do you recall my telling you about a German officer and a woman who, -the day I was released on the other side, stood making remarks as I -passed--how the woman said, ‘She is as hideous and as ugly no doubt as -her soul is black’?” - -“Yes.” - -“You ask me what I know of Miss Marshall. When I tell you that she -is the woman who made that remark, you will understand that I know -altogether too much about her.” - -“A spy!” gasped Miss Briggs. - -Grace nodded. - -“Yes, but which way?” - -“Captain Boucher informs me that she is an American spy and a -brilliant one. It is difficult for me to believe that, in view of what -I saw and heard. She at least appears to be playing the game both ways.” - -“Have you told Captain Boucher of that?” - -“Not yet, but I shall at the first opportunity. I intended to do so, -but after what he said to me I decided to wait. He told me further that -I might with perfect safety coöperate with Miss Marshall, which I shall -not do.” - -“Loyalheart, you are wonderful. How you could meet her, as you did -after what you knew of her, is beyond me. I could no more have done it -than I could fly. I don’t believe she even suspects that you recognized -her.” - -“I hope not for the sake of the work I have before me. Of course this -is between us only, and I wish you would not breathe a word of it or -any other confidential matter while we are in our rooms. I suspect -those walls have ears.” - -Mrs. Smythe did not return to the canteen again that afternoon, being -engaged, as Grace surmised, in arranging for a new building to take the -place of the one destroyed when the ammunition dump blew up. At six -o’clock Grace went home to prepare their supper, leaving Elfreda to -wait for their relief at the canteen. There was no effort on Grace’s -part this time to enter her home quietly, still she made no noise that -she was conscious of, but she had no more than gotten to her room than -there came a tap on the door. It was Marie. - -Grace welcomed her smilingly. - -“I am glad to see you out again. How do you feel?” - -“Not very well, Madame. I am sore all over. All Huns are brutes!” - -“Do you include the good doctor?” - -“Ah, the doctor. He is fine on the outside, but the soul, Madame! Why -should one say it when one does not know?” - -Grace nodded thoughtfully and asked who was with Mrs. Smythe. Marie -informed her that Miss Marshall was taking supper with Madame and -talking of the war. - -“Madame told me to say to you when you came in that you were to go to -the new canteen in the morning. It is near the river on the same street -as the old one. You are to be there at six o’clock in the morning. Is -there anything I can do for you?” - -“I believe you have already done something for me. Did you make up the -bed and slick up the room?” Grace regarded her smilingly. - -“Yes, Madame.” - -“Thank you very much. Did Madame go to headquarters this morning?” - -Marie nodded and grinned. - -“She went to ask them to send you home, but instead they told her she -was the one who should be sent home. Was that not glorious? Oo-lá-lá, -how I should have loved to hear it and to see the face of Madame.” - -“That will do, please, Marie,” rebuked the Overton girl. “She is our -superior. Thank you for your kindness about the room.” - -Marie smiled and nodded as she backed to the door, then closed it -softly behind her. Grace stepped over and locked the door, and pulling -the shade down began a thorough examination of the room. First she -examined the furniture, then the fireplace, the lighting fixtures and -the baseboard that extended all the way around the room. - -“All clear,” muttered the girl. - -Next, the walls came in for a scrutiny. Not only did she look the walls -over, but felt them gingerly with her finger tips. What the result of -that search was Grace Harlowe did not even confide to Elfreda Briggs, -but she was satisfied that her intuition again had served her well, and -was now determined to be more watchful than ever. - -Her suspicions were still further confirmed when she heard the voices -of Mrs. Smythe and Miss Marshall in conversation with the doctor in -his apartment that evening. They were making merry and Madame was -actually laughing. When Grace discovered that they were discussing -subjects that she knew were of military value she was horrified that -Mrs. Smythe could so far forget herself, but what to do about it she -did not know. Grace felt that she should take the matter to Captain -Boucher, yet she could not quite bring herself to carry tales about the -woman she did not like. It looked petty to her, beneath her, so Grace -decided to await developments and continue with her work. - -That night as she lay wide awake in her bed, she heard the doctor go to -the cellar. She heard him fix the furnace for the night; then the sound -of distant conversation floated up to her. After a time the doctor came -up and the house settled down to silence. - -This same thing, so far as the cellar excursion was concerned, -continued for three nights. During that time Grace did not get much -sleep. Much of the time, after Elfreda went to sleep, Grace spent -sitting in a chair tipped back against the wall where she appeared to -be resting in profound thought. On the third night she was aroused -by an alarm of fire in the street. She did not learn the cause of it -until the following morning, when she was informed that the fire had -been discovered in the basement of the main barracks, where nearly a -thousand American soldiers were sleeping. - -Grace asked few questions about this blaze, though in the light of -what she already knew she had certain well-founded suspicions. The -next night nothing occurred to disturb the Army of Occupation, though -Grace Harlowe increased her rapidly enlarging fund of information to an -extent that alarmed even her. She saw that she must turn over some of -it to the Intelligence Department without delay. Human lives depended -upon her doing so. It was too late to do so that night, for to leave -the place might upset all her plans were she discovered. - -After pondering over the subject from all angles the Overton girl -went to bed. How she did wish she might confide in Elfreda Briggs. -Grace, however, had learned that in these secret matters there was -but one safe course--to keep one’s own counsel. Well-intentioned as -those in whom one confided might be, there was always the possibility -of a word slipping out, of a facial expression or of an unconsciously -antagonistic attitude toward the wrong person. - -“Dear Elfreda shall know all that I know after I have completed my -work. I must confess to myself that it is the most interesting work I -have ever done, this pitting one’s wits against some of the keenest -ones in Europe. However, I still have some distance to go before I -arrive at my objective.” These thoughts and many others drifted through -Grace Harlowe’s mind before she got to sleep. - -In the morning she asked Elfreda to report for her at the canteen, as -she expected to be late in arriving there. After breakfast, during -which the girls discussed nothing beyond their own personal affairs, -“Captain” Grace went out, this time by way of the front door, heading -straight for the canteen. - -The place was not yet open, so, unlocking the door, the Overton girl -stepped in and, sitting down, studied the street keenly. What Grace was -seeking to determine was whether or not she had been followed. There -being no indication that she had been followed she went out, locking -the door behind her, and proceeded directly to the headquarters of the -Intelligence Department, which was located in the executive building on -the river front. - -Captain Boucher had not yet come in, and Grace waited for the better -part of an hour for him, preferring not to have him called up, for -reasons known only to herself. The captain came in briskly, humming -to himself, but stopped short when he discovered the demure figure of -“Captain” Grace seated at his desk. - -The Overton girl rose and saluted. - -“Ah! I have been looking for you. Thank you for the name you sent over. -We have been watching that gentleman since, but while his actions at -times have been suspicious, we have as yet nothing on him. Can you give -me further information that will assist?” - -Grace said she was not prepared to do so, that what knowledge she had -of Yat Sen was only circumstantial, but that she expected to round out -the matter very soon and have something more definite for the Bureau. - -“I suppose, sir, that you discovered that the cause of the fire in -Barracks Number One was due to a short circuit?” she questioned -innocently. - -“What! How did you know that?” - -“Perhaps I surmised it, sir. If I may do so I would offer the -suggestion that the wiring of Number Two Barracks be looked over before -to-night. If you do not watch out the place will be on fire before you -know it.” - -“Mrs. Gray, what do you mean?” - -“That there is a Hun plot to cut the ground from under the Army of -Occupation, if I may put it that way. There is a big plot on foot here, -reaching out through many lines.” - -“I know it, but that is about all I do know on the subject. If you -succeed in leading us to a solution of this problem you will have done -quite the biggest thing that has been done yet for the American Army of -Occupation. What do you know?” - -“I know that it is part of the plan to burn down the barracks. Of -course the Huns do not wish to destroy Coblenz, but they are perfectly -willing to lose such buildings as the barracks. Then again, according -to Hun reasoning, the moral effect on the Army of Occupation will be of -great value.” - -“The fools! They haven’t learned their lesson yet. You believe that -this attempt is to be made by short-circuiting the electric wires?” - -“It may be. I should advise that the building be closely watched, even -to the extent of hiding watchers in the cellar, but you must be very -careful. Personally I hope you do not catch any one to-night, nor for -several nights, until I have completed my work. Of course I don’t mean -that you are to let a building burn down,” added Grace smilingly. “Are -you quite certain of Miss Marshall?” - -“Yes! No doubt at all about her.” - -Grace told him of what she had heard and seen on the other side of the -Rhine when she was on her way across to the American lines. - -“Thank you!” he exclaimed after a brief reflection over what she told -him, but offered no further comment on the subject of the woman who -appeared to Grace to be playing a double game. “How long do you believe -it will take you to gather in the ends of the clues you have? I take it -that is what you mean?” - -“That is it exactly, sir. Perhaps a day or two; perhaps longer. If -I make as much headway in the next twenty-four hours as I have done -in the last, I may be able to close my case in less time. Please be -careful how you communicate with me and never do so at my billet. What -do you know about Doctor Klein, my landlord? I wish to be certain about -what sort of a house I am living in. You see Miss Briggs and I being -alone makes some difference.” - -The captain chuckled and stroked his chin, Grace regarding him -solemnly. The Intelligence officer understood in a way why she asked -the question. - -“He is one of the finest Germans I know, Mrs. Gray, and that is much -for me to say about a Hun. I might say considerably more, but I am -going to let you work out your own problem. You will be surprised when -you get yourself set straight on this matter.” - -“Thank you. I am sure I do not know what you mean. I will report -as soon as I have something further of a definite nature for you,” -promised Grace, rising to go to her work. - -“Do you need assistance?” - -“No, thank you. There are too many persons mixed up in this affair -already.” - -“Clever woman! If you wish anything, let me know.” - -“Well, sir, so long as you have made the offer, I do need some -assistance. If convenient I should like the loan of an auger.” - -“A what?” - -“Auger, sir, to bore holes with.” - -“Are you in earnest?” - -“I am, sir. I wish one about two inches in diameter if I can get it, -but if not I can use a smaller one. I should like to have a saw, but I -fear I cannot use it to advantage.” - -“Are you thinking of building a house?” questioned the officer -whimsically. - -“No, sir, but I am going to partially tear down one. When may I have -it?” - -“Now. I will order it, or shall I send it to the canteen?” - -“Neither, I think,” decided Grace after refection. “I think I shall -have some one call for it. Please see that it is well wrapped so -that no one can tell from the appearance of the package what is in -it. Good morning, sir. I must return to the canteen or I shall be in -difficulties,” she added laughingly, and saluting, walked out without -another word. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI - -A MOUSE IN THE TRAP - - -The Intelligence officer spent some moments in profound meditation -after the departure of “Captain” Grace, but what his conclusions were -did not appear, either in words or in the expression of his face. The -captain ordered the package for Grace and, addressing it, left it with -his orderly to be turned over to any one bearing Mrs. Gray’s order. - -It was a doughboy who called for the package later in the day and who -handed it to Grace on the street according to arrangement. She went -home with her package concealed in a bag of groceries which she had -purchased on her way. - -After listening for some time and being convinced that there was no one -in the adjoining rooms, Grace covered the keyhole, pinned her overseas -cap on the wall, pulled down the shades and very carefully moved the -bed out a few feet from the wall. She then removed the tacks down one -side of the carpet at the back of the bed, and as many more from the -end of the floor covering at the head of the bed. She drew the carpet -back, estimated distances with her eyes and, putting the bit in its -stock, began boring a hole in the floor. - -The auger went through the soft pine flooring with rather too great -ease and made a noise that led the girl to fear that she would arouse -the household. Not only that, but, should there chance to be some one -in the cellar, discovery would be certain. - -“If any shavings have gone down to the cellar floor I am lost anyway,” -she muttered. Applying her eye to the hole she had made in the floor -Grace was relieved to find that only the point of the bit had gone -through the lower side of the pine flooring. The job could not have -turned out more to her satisfaction. She would have liked to make the -opening wider so that she could look into the cellar, but the Overton -girl was dealing, as she believed, with keen people, people who were -ever on the alert, and who would not hesitate at anything to protect -themselves and their interests. - -“Now that I have made the hole, I must hide it,” reflected Grace. - -This was easily done. A piece of cardboard was laid over the opening, -the carpet replaced and the tacks pressed back into place without a -sound that could have been heard a dozen feet away. - -Having accomplished all this the Overton girl locked the hammer in her -trunk, removed her cap from the wall and also all traces that might -indicate that something unusual had been going on, after which she -wrapped the auger in paper and tucked it inside of her blouse, over -which she threw her cloak and walked out on her way to the canteen. - -Elfreda and Marie, with the assistance of Won Lue, had arranged the -stock and were nearly ready to open, though it had been decided that -this should not be done until the following day for the reason that the -lights would not be in place that evening. - -Just before leaving the canteen for home Grace wrote a note to Captain -Boucher in which she said, “The house is demolished, thank you.” This -she wrapped about the handle of the bitstock, enclosing the whole in -heavy wrapping paper, and gave it to Won. - -“Captain Boucher,” she said in a low tone. “You savvy?” - -“Me savvy, la.” - -“You savvy nobody, see?” - -Won chuckled and nodded. She turned to answer a question asked by -Elfreda and when she looked around again Won was not there, not even -Elfreda Briggs’ sharp eyes having seen him go. - -“Those Orientals give me the creeps,” declared Miss Briggs. “Now you -see them, now you don’t. Did you send him on an errand?” - -“Please don’t ask questions. Some one might hear. Marie is down in the -cellar and--” - -Elfreda interrupted with a laugh. - -“Marie is a thick-head. Don’t worry about her, Grace.” - -“I am not worrying about any one. Just the same, think before you -speak, no matter if only a cat is within hearing. There is serious -business on foot; serious for our boys and for you and myself.” - -“So serious as that, Grace?” whispered Elfreda. - -“Captain” Grace nodded and gave her companion a warning look, for Marie -was faintly heard coming up the stairs. Grace said it was time to close -and go home. - -“Marie, you have done well. Thank you. Madame should be pleased.” - -“Nothing will please her,” complained the French girl. - -Elfreda said she agreed with Marie, and declared that the maid was -a girl of good common sense, which made Marie smile, a thing she -seldom did. The three went home together, Grace engaging the maid in -conversation most of the way, asking her questions about her home in -France, her family and how she came to be with the Army of Occupation. -Marie said that Madame was billeted in her home and had asked her to -come along with the welfare workers. - -Reaching the house Grace thrust a hand to the maid, a bright new -shining franc piece resting in the palm. - -Marie Debussy drew herself up, shook her head, and smiled as she opened -the door and entered Mrs. Smythe’s apartment. - -“My! What offended dignity,” exclaimed Elfreda when the girls had -gained their own room. “Did you see the look she gave you?” - -“Yes,” answered Grace meekly, placing a finger on her lips and giving -Miss Briggs a warning glance. “Remember, Elfreda,” she reminded in a -low tone, “if I talk rather erratically at any time this evening and -place my finger on my cheek this way, you will understand that I have -a motive, and that you are not to express any opinions out loud,” -whispered Grace in her companion’s ear. - -“It is my opinion that you have too many motives,” whispered Miss -Briggs in reply. “My head is swimming already. Well, here we are home -again,” she added out loud. “I’m sick of war and everybody in it. -Suppose we have some chow and forget war.” - -“For the present, yes.” - -They chatted over their meal, which was served on their center -table, on a white table cloth, with real silver and china which had -been supplied by the owner of the house. It was really homelike, so -different from what these two loyal girls had been accustomed to since -they had been on the western war front, and they gave themselves up to -the fullest possible enjoyment of the moment. - -“Have you heard from Tom recently?” asked Elfreda. - -“I had a letter from him two days ago. He tells me that he expects to -be ordered away on some military mission soon. What it is or where, I -do not know, but he says perhaps it may be possible for me to go with -him provided it is not too confidential a mission,” she added in a -lower tone. “You see officers’ wives are not supposed to be able to -keep a secret.” - -“I know one who is,” declared Elfreda in a half whisper. “There are -others who know it, too.” - -“Meaning?” inquired Grace. - -“Oh, most any old person,” returned Elfreda. “I had a letter from Anne -this morning. She says she is just dying from loneliness, that she -hasn’t seen her husband in ages, and that unless this war ends pretty -soon she is either coming out to see us or desert. Jessica Brooks, she -says, had a visit from Reddy when he last had shore leave. She wishes -to know if any one has heard from Hippy, who she said, a flier told -her, had had a bad fall.” - -“I don’t believe the report is correct,” declared Grace. “We would have -heard of it through Nora, who isn’t very far from here. Does Anne say -anything about the girls of the unit in Paris?” - -“She said she had heard from them through Arline Thayer, whose letter -was mostly made up of remarks laudatory of _our_ daughter Yvonne. Grace -Harlowe, I believe I am actually getting jealous of that child, and I -don’t see how you can be so passive.” - -“I don’t wear my heart on my sleeve, dear. I love that dear little -golden-haired darling more than I ever loved anything in my life, -outside of my dear mother and Tom, and I am looking forward with every -fiber of my being to the day when we three shall be together in our -beautiful Haven Home. I hope she will be happy there.” - -“She will be, Loyalheart. Don’t worry about that. I wonder if the -doctor has come in?” she asked in a whisper. - -“He came in as we were sitting down to our mess.” - -“You must have ears in the back of your head. I never saw anything like -you in all my experience.” - -Grace got up and stretched herself, placed a finger against her cheek -and faced the end of the room. - -“Have you heard the rumor, Elfreda? It is said that the American -artillery is trained on the Germans, and that some hot-headed officers -are planning to shoot up our friends across the Rhine one of these -nights.” - -“No? You don’t say!” cried Elfreda, speaking loudly enough to be heard -in the next room. “I hope they will not do anything like that.” - -“So do I, but it appears to be a possibility.” - -Grace winked at Elfreda and changed the subject. After the dishes were -washed and put away the two girls sat down to study their German, which -they had been studying for some time. Since coming to the Rhine Grace -had taken advantage of every opportunity to speak German, feeling -certain that it would prove to be a good investment. Her knowledge of -the language was destined to be very useful to her in the near future. - -They turned in shortly after nine o’clock, Elfreda to go to sleep, -Grace to lie awake and think. Before getting into bed she had whispered -to Miss Briggs not to be alarmed if she were awakened suddenly in the -night with a feeling that something was wrong in the room. - -“That something will be only unimportant little I. I may be walking in -my sleep for several nights to come.” - -After ages of effort to keep heavy eyelids from falling, Grace was -rewarded by hearing the trap raised in the adjoining room and light -footsteps descending the cellar stairs. The Overton girl crept under -the bed at the sound of the opening trap, and ere the footsteps had -reached the cellar she had pulled aside the carpet just far enough for -her purposes, removed the cardboard and pressed her ear to the hole in -the floor. Every sound down there was almost as audible to her as if -she had been in the cellar. - -“Now for the test of my plan,” she told herself. - -Significant sounds were borne to her ears, then a human voice, speaking -in a low guarded tone, drifted up through the hole in the floor. What -she heard amazed even Grace Harlowe. She learned too that one mouse had -walked into the trap that had been cleverly set for it. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII - -“CAPTAIN” GRACE DECIDES TO ACT - - -When finally Grace Harlowe had replaced the carpet and crawled out, her -face wore a serious look. She stood in the middle of the floor for a -long time, thinking over what her resourcefulness had produced in the -way of definite information. - -“I shall at last have to take Elfreda into my confidence. The time to -act is at hand,” she muttered. “This is bigger than even I, with all -my suspicions, dreamed. The Intelligence captain surely will have a -good laugh at my expense when I tell him what I have discovered.” Grace -grinned mirthlessly and returned to bed and went to sleep. - -“I have something to tell you this morning, Elfreda,” she whispered -at the breakfast table. “Don’t ask me now. I haven’t decided where or -when, but I shall think it over between now and the time we finish -breakfast. Remember, the walls have ears. To-night something will be -doing.” - -Elfreda looked at her curiously, but Grace merely kissed her and -proceeded to put the breakfast on the table. After finishing, Grace -said she thought their best plan was to stroll down to the river, where -they would be certain to be alone. - -On the same seat where she had talked with Captain Boucher, Grace told -her companion all that she had learned up to that moment. Elfreda’s -amazement was for the moment beyond words. - -“I never dreamed of anything so terrible as this. What brutes!” - -“We knew that before, dear. Time is precious. No telling what they may -not be up to next. The propaganda plan is in full swing. While I do -not believe the uprising will amount to much, it will at least cause -the loss of some American lives, but if we save only one American life -we shall have justified our existence. I shall probably see Captain -Boucher some time to-day and plan for him to verify all that I have -told you, by the evidence of his own ears.” - -“What about Miss Marshall? Do you believe she is in this plot?” - -“The evidence of my eyes and ears tells me that she is, that she is a -German spy, but my woman’s intuition is directly the opposite. If one -were guided by intuitions one would make fewer mistakes. The trouble is -that we fight that intuition and try to reason with it. I am a great -believer in impressions that come to the human mind, apparently out -of nowhere. I know that had I followed mine I should have been better -off. In a way it is an advantage to be blind and deaf and dumb,” she -added smilingly, while Miss Briggs regarded her with a curious light -in her eyes. “I wish I might get in communication with the captain -without the necessity of going to headquarters. I suspect that we are -being watched, at least that I am. Keep your eyes open to-day, Elfreda. -That’s all for now.” - -Grace rose and the two girls proceeded to the canteen, which they -opened and began preparing for the day’s work. They knew that the -supervisor would not arrive until late in the forenoon, if then, for -she was, as a rule, a late sleeper. They had not been there long before -Grace discovered the grinning face of Won Lue at the door. She nodded -to him to enter. - -“You savvy Missie Slyth?” he asked, bowing and smirking. - -“Not yet, Won.” - -“You savvy Yat Sen?” he next questioned, eyeing her shrewdly. - -Grace nodded. - -“I want you to take a letter to headquarters for me. You savvy no one -must know?” - -“Me savvy plenty, la.” - -Grace nodded and penciled a line to the Intelligence officer as follows: - -“Important that I see you to-day. Do not wish to go to headquarters. -Can you arrange to meet me elsewhere? Answer by messenger. He is -perfectly reliable, but send no verbal messages, please. - - “G. G.” - -The answer came back in about an hour, the captain directing her to -meet him accidentally on the river front where they met before. The -hour was to be two o’clock. Grace informed Miss Briggs, directing her -to say, in case Madame should come in and inquire for her, that she had -gone for a walk, but would return soon. Grace set out a few minutes -before the hour named and went by a roundabout way to the river front, -strolling along aimlessly, hesitating now and then as if uncertain -where she had better go. - -This aimless wandering finally brought her to the Rhine, and eventually -Grace sank down on a bench and began studying her German grammar. She -saw the captain approaching, but did not look up, for there were many -persons, German and American, strolling along, enjoying the view. -Doughboys arm in arm with rosy-cheeked frauleins passed and repassed, -prospective war brides, many of them; women going to the river to -wash their rough clothing, and dignified Germans with chins elevated, -marching back and forth with a suggestion of the goose-step in their -stride. - -The captain was nearly past her, when he appeared suddenly to have -discovered the Overton girl. He halted and saluted. - -“Why, good morning, Mrs. Gray,” he exclaimed. - -“You must be a late riser, sir,” chided Grace. “It is now well into the -afternoon. Won’t you sit down, if I may be so bold as to ask an officer -to sit down beside me?” The conversation had been carried on in tones -loud enough to be heard by any one passing. - -“There is a man down near the water’s edge who appears to be interested -in us. I would suggest that we seem to be indulging only in airy -persiflage,” suggested the Overton girl, raising her voice in a merry -laugh, the captain bowing and smiling to keep up the illusion. - -Grace opened her German book and pointed to the page, speaking in a low -tone. - -“I observe that the mouse walked into the trap,” she said. - -“What mouse do you refer to?” - -“The mouse that is now on his way to a certain building near Paris -known as the American prison.” Grace laughed merrily. - -“Yat Sen! How did you know?” - -“Got it out of the air, sir.” - -“Thanks to you we caught him. The screws in the hinges of the cellar -window, we discovered in advance, had been loosened so that all one had -to do was to pull the window out. There was no short-circuit about this -affair. The man crept in and actually started a fire in the rubbish -down there. The men we had planted there pounced upon him, but they had -a time getting the fire out without calling for assistance, which we -did not wish them to do. We tried to make him confess.” - -“A waste of time,” observed Grace. - -“Yes. Chinamen lose the power of speech absolutely when you try to drag -information from them. The situation is really serious. It is those -back of such cut-throats as Yat Sen that we wish to get. You have done -a very great service to us, but you began at the wrong end. It isn’t -the little man that we are after, it is the head and brains of the plot -against the Army of Occupation.” - -“I think it can be arranged to put that information into your hands -too, sir.” - -“If you can do that you ought to be promoted to the rank of General. -You have discovered something! Gordon said you would. Tell me. We -mustn’t sit here long.” They were keeping up a semblance of merry -chatter through the conversation. - -“You know where we are living, Captain?” - -“Yes.” - -“I wish you to visit us secretly to-night, when I think I may be able -to give you the evidence you are in search of. Of course it may require -more than one visit to place you in possession of all the facts, but -with what I can tell you should be fully prepared to act.” - -“Mrs. Gray, do you mean to tell me that you have discovered those who -are directly at the bottom of the plot here against the Allies?” - -“Perhaps, sir. Please listen. You know where the Schutzenstrasse is, -the street to the rear of our billet?” - -He nodded. - -“An alley leads from that directly to our house, but the alley may be -under observation from the rear street. I would suggest, therefore, -that you get into a rear yard somewhere to the east or west of that -alley and follow along until you reach our billet. Our room will be -dark, but I shall be at the window to let you in through it. Miss -Briggs will be with me. The utmost caution must be observed, you must -not speak a loud word while in our apartment; even a whisper may be -overheard. I think it would be advisable for you to remove your shoes -before you climb in through the window, as you might scrape the side of -the house with them and give alarm.” - -The Intelligence officer regarded her narrowly. - -“Were I not in possession of more or less information as to your past -performances, I might wonder if you were all there,” declared the -officer, tapping his own head. - -“Perhaps I am not,” laughed Grace. “This evening should prove whether -I am or not,” answered the Overton girl laughingly. “I am making a -peculiar request, but we are dealing with peculiar people, shrewd, -unscrupulous--desperate people. I think you had better come in at ten -o’clock. You will have to wait a couple of hours, and perhaps I shall -have to secrete you. You will not be over-comfortable, but I promise -you that you will consider it well worth while, if things develop as I -am expecting them to. May I depend upon you, sir?” - -“You may, Mrs. Gray.” - -“I would suggest that this matter be kept absolutely confidential -between us. Miss Briggs knows that I am going to invite you to visit -us, and it will be best that no other human being, outside of yourself, -knows about it. I have come to the point where I am afraid to trust any -one.” - -“Your wishes in the matter shall be observed. I thank you, Mrs. Gray,” -answered the captain rising. “Happy to have come up with you,” he said -in a louder tone. “One of these days we will make up a party for a sail -on the river. You will find it well worth while.” - -The captain strolled away and Grace resumed her study of the language -that she had come to loathe. The Overton girl was on the verge of a -great achievement, but from her attitude of indifference to all outside -influences, and the absorption in her book that she was showing, one -would not have imagined that she was planning the most important -coup that had fallen to the lot of the American Secret Service since -the beginning of the war, so far as its activity with the army was -concerned. - -Grace remained seated for half an hour longer, then started back to the -canteen to take up her day’s work for the doughboys. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII - -A DESPERATE PLOT REVEALED - - -Elfreda had been informed of the proposed visit and carefully -instructed by her companion as to her part in it. The girls spent a -quiet evening until ten o’clock, when Grace got up and pinned her -blouse on the wall, then put out the light and raised the shade. -Peering out she saw a shadowy figure outlined in the darkness. After -observing it keenly for a moment the Overton girl cautiously raised the -window, that she had greased in the grooves to prevent squeaking. No -sooner had she done so than the figure moved forward quickly. - -The visitor was Captain Boucher, in his stockinged feet. He peered up -into the face of Grace Harlowe, and climbed into the room with no more -disturbance than a cat would have made. Not a word had been spoken. -Grace lowered the window and stood motionless gazing out into the -darkness, which vigil she kept for several moments, then pulled down -the shade and lighted a candle. - -“Take a seat,” whispered Grace. “Should any one knock, crawl under the -bed, and be sure to take your shoes with you. They wouldn’t look well -standing out in the middle of our room.” - -The captain nodded and glanced curiously at the blouse pinned up on -the wall, but Grace pretended not to have observed his exhibition of -curiosity. She handed him a book, beckoned him to a chair, whereupon -she and Elfreda sat down and began chatting in their ordinary tone, -discussing their German study. Captain Boucher now and then would lay -down his book, to listen and observe the faces of the two girls, which -he found an interesting study, especially Grace’s with its rapidly -changing expression that left one in a state of bewilderment as to what -particular emotion was predominant. - -A slight sound as of some one opening a door in the front room was -heard. Grace’s head turned ever so little, and though the expression on -her face did not change, attentiveness and intelligence swam instantly -into her eyes. The captain, observing, bent his own ears to the sound -that had arrested Grace Harlowe’s attention. She glanced at her watch, -nodded to Elfreda, and greatly to the amazement of her caller, got down -and crawled under the bed. - -Grace emerged, a moment later, her face flushed, her hair in slight -disorder, and smiled radiantly at the visitor. She offered no -explanation to the captain, but nodding to Elfreda, the latter began -speaking of the girls of the Overton unit. It was half after eleven -when Grace, hearing movement again in the front room, got up and went -over to the captain. Leaning over him she placed her lips close to his -ear. - -“You will please crawl under the bed,” she whispered. “You will find -the carpet drawn back, and by groping you will find a hole in the -floor, made by the auger that you so kindly loaned to me. Place your -ear to the hole and listen. Do not move and be sure to control your -breathing to the limit. Have a handkerchief ready in case you find you -have to cough or sneeze. I think you will hear something interesting. -Afterwards I will supply any points that may be required to explain -any remarks you may hear and not understand. Do not come out or move -until I snap my finger. Here! You forgot your shoes,” she reminded him, -picking up and handing them to him. The captain flushed and accepted -the shoes and the rebuke with a profound bow. - -The Overton girls watched him with interest, and both were obliged -to admit that the captain was very agile. He wriggled under and out -of sight without making a sound, then all was silence. Listening as -intently as she might she failed to hear his breathing. - -Grace then removed the blouse from the wall. - -“Let’s turn in, Elfreda. I’m terribly sleepy,” yawned Grace. - -Putting out the light the two girls threw themselves on the bed, and -apparently went to sleep. There was a long wait, without a sound coming -from the man under the bed. - -Grace heard the trap raised, though she had not heard any one walking. -She snapped her fingers once, receiving a similar signal from the -man on watch at the auger hole. Silence settled over the house until -perhaps five minutes later the Overton girls heard the drone of a -far-away voice. It came from the cellar, and the chief of the Army -Intelligence Department was listening to every word that the voice -uttered. - -Grace Harlowe found herself wishing that she might see the expression -on the face of Captain Boucher at that moment. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV - -THE TRAP IS SPRUNG - - -It must have been fully half an hour later when Grace Harlowe’s -straining ears told her that the conversation was ended. Hearing -footsteps on the stairs she snapped her fingers sharply. - -“Quietly, Elfreda!” she warned, slipping out to the floor about the -time that Captain Boucher rose from the floor before her. “Any luck?” -she whispered. - -“I should say so. I must speak with you. Go to headquarters directly -and I will meet you there. Two blocks below here on the Schutzenstrasse -you will find a drosky. The driver is one of our operators. Hand him -this card and tell him to take you to the office. If you get there -before I do, tell the orderly to summon General Gordon in my name for -an immediate conference.” - -The Overton girls slipped into their blouses, after which Grace crawled -under the bed and replaced the carpet. This done she opened the window, -all this without making a sound likely to attract attention. Elfreda -climbed out first, followed by the captain, then Grace herself. The -window was lowered and three persons were swallowed up in the darkness -of the night, the captain going to the left, the girls to the right. - -Grace and Elfreda found the carriage and quickly reached headquarters, -where Grace delivered her message. General Gordon came in about the -time that Captain Boucher arrived, and looked his amazement at finding -the Overton girls there. - -“What’s wrong, Boucher?” he demanded. - -“Nothing except that our very good friend, Mrs. Gray, has run down -the plotters. I haven’t all of the story yet, but I have this evening -listened to one of them giving the plans for blowing up the second -ammunition dump and sacrificing the town for the sake of smoking the -Americans out. This includes a desperate attempt to fire the barracks -so that many men must perish. It’s damnable!” - -Captain Boucher then related briefly all that had occurred that evening. - -“This man Klein must be arrested immediately. How did you know that -we had caught Yat Sen, Mrs. Gray?” he demanded, turning to the demure -figure of the Overton girl. - -“I heard the doctor reporting it over the telephone in the cellar. -The telephone evidently leads across the river. He reports every night -at about the same time. It was from overhearing him that I was able to -warn you about the proposed firing of Barracks Number Two.” - -“Now that the matter is in my mind, will you tell me why you had your -tunic pinned to the wall?” questioned Captain Boucher. - -“There is a dictaphone behind the wallpaper at that point, with an -opening through the paper so small that one never would notice it.” - -“I thought so. How did you chance to discover it?” - -“I looked for it.” - -The two officers exchanged meaning glances. - -“How did you come to suspect the doctor?” continued the captain. - -“He was too suave to be genuine. Then, too, I presume my intuition -had something to do with it. Little things, expressions on faces, -mannerisms, all these things always did make an impression on me.” -Grace then went on to relate conversations that she had heard when the -doctor was talking at the cellar telephone. - -“The doctor in his conversation this evening referred to some person as -the Babbler. Do you know whom he meant?” - -“Mrs. Smythe.” - -“Is it possible?” exclaimed the captain. - -“I am not at all surprised,” interjected the general. “She must go, -even if she succeeds in clearing herself.” - -Grace hastened to urge that no suspicion be directed at Mrs. Smythe, -who, she declared, was a vain woman who had been used by the German -spies because they knew how to appeal to her vanity. In this way they -obtained information that the supervisor did not realize she was giving. - -“You speak of _spies_. I heard references made to at least one this -evening. Do you suspect any others?” asked the captain. - -“I know one other, sir. That one is the supervisor’s maid, Marie -Debussy!” - -“Are you positive?” asked the general. - -“I am, sir. I have heard conversations between her and the doctor. I -have seen her acting suspiciously and in conference with men that I was -certain were enemy officers, and I have heard her holding telephone -conversations that connected her with plots against our men.” - -“I wonder who she can be?” marveled the captain. - -“Who she is? She is Rosa von Blum, the famous German agent.” - -Both officers started, and stared at her in amazement. - -“I presume you also would like to know who this other spy, that you -call Doctor Klein, is. He is Captain Carl Schuster of the German Secret -Service, a man who, I have heard said, is perhaps the cleverest of -the Imperial operators. You no doubt wonder how I have obtained this -information. It was quite simple, not due to any unusual ability or -cleverness on my part. I did not know definitely until last night, when -he said upon opening the telephone conversation, ‘This is Carl! No, -Carl Schuster--B One!’ I then knew. The revelation of Rosa von Blum’s -identity occurred in a somewhat similar manner.” - -“This is most remarkable!” exclaimed Captain Boucher. - -“Remember what I told you, Boucher,” interjected the general. “I think -you will agree with my expressed estimate of Mrs. Gray’s ability. I may -say, Mrs. Gray,” he added, turning to the Overton girl, “that we have -wondered about Doctor Klein, and that Miss Marshall has been working on -his case, but without results beyond mere suspicion. Before the army -reached the Rhine our operatives here reported their suspicions of him. -That was the reason you were billeted in his house. I told Captain -Boucher that if there was the slightest basis for our suspicions, you -would discover that basis. We decided that nothing should be said -to you of those suspicions. I wished to prove to the captain that -my estimate of your ability was not influenced by the fact that you -saved my life in the Argonne. We therefore gave you the opportunity to -demonstrate, and you did.” - -“That was what I referred to when I told you you would be surprised -when you had set yourself straight on the matter of the doctor,” spoke -up Captain Boucher. “You doubted Miss Marshall too, and with very -good reason. That shows what a clever worker she is. You and she will -compare notes to-morrow. But this that you tell me about Schuster and -von Blum is a blow between the eyes. I never even considered such a -possibility. It should be some satisfaction to you to know that you -have turned up two of the most dangerous agents in the enemy service. -It surely is a source of satisfaction to us. I suppose we should have -Mrs. Smythe dismissed to-morrow, General? Why not recommend that Mrs. -Gray take charge as supervisor in her place?” - -“I had hoped to get home soon, sir,” answered Grace, after a slight -hesitancy. - -“Take it until some one else is selected,” urged the general. “How -about those two spies, Captain?” - -“We will arrest them at once.” - -“If I may offer a suggestion, gentlemen, I would urge that it be done -with a speed that will not permit either to do away with evidence that -may be in their possession. It might be wise for you to have your men -enter the doctor’s house through our quarters, which will give access -to the hall. Once in the hall, the doors of the doctor’s apartment, -and that occupied by Mrs. Smythe, should be burst in without warning. -The doctor sleeps in the rear room next to ours, and the maid occupies -the corresponding room in Mrs. Smythe’s quarters. If you wish I will -accompany you.” - -“You two ladies will remain here, Mrs. Gray!” commanded the general. -“You have done quite enough for one night. Then again, there may be -shooting, and you might get hurt. You see we cannot afford to lose you -just yet.” - -“It would not be the first time I had been under fire, sir,” replied -“Captain” Grace in a mild voice. - -“Then, too, for obvious reasons, we do not wish you to appear in -the case. The doctor may have surmised that you have had something -to do with it, but that will be the extent of his knowledge of your -participation. Boucher, get your men and go after those people.” - -Grace and Elfreda occupied General Gordon’s quarters for the rest of -the night, and were weary enough to sleep the night through without -even once turning over. In the early morning they were summoned to -Captain Boucher’s office, where they were informed that the doctor had -been taken only after a fight in which two soldiers were wounded--that -both he and the woman were being held for trial, and that considerable -documentary evidence had been found in a secret receptacle in the -doctor’s cellar. - -“We shall hope to accomplish something by using his cellar telephone -late this evening,” added the Intelligence officer. - -“What about Mrs. Smythe?” questioned Grace. - -“She undoubtedly will be recalled to-day. The woman may consider -herself fortunate that she too is not under arrest.” - -“I’m sorry,” murmured Grace. “Do you not think, Captain, that, with the -lesson she has learned, Mrs. Smythe may more clearly see her error and -do better?” - -“No!” exploded Captain Boucher. “Besides, there is no place for a -woman with her lack of brains in this army. You ought to have the -Congressional Medal, but we of the Intelligence Service not only work -in the dark, but must be content to be retiring heroes destined to -blush unseen in the shadows, while the other fellows are the objects of -the world’s acclaim. Your house is under guard, but you are at liberty -to return there and make yourselves at home. It has been decided to -keep a guard there so long as you ladies occupy the house. Mrs. Smythe -has been removed to other lodgings. It will not be necessary for you to -see her, and I prefer that you do not report for duty until after her -departure. Thank you. You are a clever woman, Mrs. Gray. General Gordon -will see to it that you have proper recognition in reports.” - -Both German spies were tried within a few days before a military -tribunal and sentenced to prison. Grace took charge of the welfare work -on the second day after their arrest, Mrs. Smythe then being well on -her way toward Brest, whence she was booked for passage to America, a -disgraced and unhappy woman, but the Overton girl found no joy in the -downfall of her enemy. Rather was she deeply depressed over it, and -wished that she might have been able to do something to soften the -blow, but the supervisor had made that impossible. - -Grace’s mind, however, was at once filled with other affairs, and -especially in what her husband wrote to her. He was writing from Paris, -which city he was leaving that very day, he having been ordered to -Russia on military duty. - -Now that Tom Gray had left Europe, Grace began to long for home, -but it was a little more than a month later that “Captain” Grace -finally severed her connection with the army and bidding good-bye to -her friends, entrained for Paris. She and most of the Overton Unit, -including Yvonne and the yellow cat, sailed for America and Home, early -in the following week. - -Grace had passed through experiences on the western front such as -few women could boast of; she had won honors, she had made friends -in high places, but it was the same Grace Harlowe, gentle, sweet, -lovable, unsullied by the scenes through which she had passed, that -was returning to the “House Behind the World,” where she hoped to -spend many happy, peaceful years with her much loved husband and her -new-found daughter Yvonne. - -The further adventures of Grace and the splendid girls of the Overton -College Unit will be found in a following volume, entitled, “GRACE -HARLOWE’S OVERLAND RIDERS ON THE OLD APACHE TRAIL.” - - -THE END - - - - -HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY’S - -Best and Least Expensive Books for Boys and Girls - - -The Motor Boat Club Series - -By H. IRVING HANCOCK - -The keynote of these books is manliness. 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Any bright boy will “devour” the books of this -series, once he has made a start with the first volume. - - 1 THE RANGE AND GRANGE HUSTLERS ON THE RANCH; Or, The Boy - Shepherds of the Great Divide. - - 2 THE RANGE AND GRANGE HUSTLERS’ GREATEST ROUND-UP; Or, Pitting - Their Wits Against a Packers’ Combine. - - 3 THE RANGE AND GRANGE HUSTLERS ON THE PLAINS; Or, Following the - Steam Plows Across the Prairie. - - 4 THE RANGE AND GRANGE HUSTLERS AT CHICAGO; Or, The Conspiracy of - the Wheat Pit. - - Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, $1.00 - - - - -Submarine Boys Series - -By VICTOR G. DURHAM - - 1 THE SUBMARINE BOYS ON DUTY; Or, Life on a Diving Torpedo Boat. - - 2 THE SUBMARINE BOYS’ TRIAL TRIP; Or, “Making Good” as Young - Experts. - - 3 THE SUBMARINE BOYS AND THE MIDDIES; Or, The Prize Detail at - Annapolis. - - 4 THE SUBMARINE BOYS AND THE SPIES; Or, Dodging the Sharks of the - Deep. - - 5 THE SUBMARINE BOYS’ LIGHTNING CRUISE; Or, The Young Kings of - the Deep. - - 6 THE SUBMARINE BOYS FOR THE FLAG; Or, Deeding Their Lives to - Uncle Sam. - - 7 THE SUBMARINE BOYS AND THE SMUGGLERS; Or, Breaking Up the New - Jersey Customs Frauds. - - -Grace Harlowe Overseas Series - - 1 GRACE HARLOWE OVERSEAS. - - 2 GRACE HARLOWE WITH THE RED CROSS IN FRANCE. - - 3 GRACE HARLOWE WITH THE MARINES AT CHATEAU THIERRY. - - 4 GRACE HARLOWE WITH THE AMERICAN ARMY IN THE ARGONNE. - - -The College Girls Series - -By JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A.M. - - 1 GRACE HARLOWE’S FIRST YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE. - - 2 GRACE HARLOWE’S SECOND YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE. - - 3 GRACE HARLOWE’S THIRD YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE. - - 4 GRACE HARLOWE’S FOURTH YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE. - - 5 GRACE HARLOWE’S RETURN TO OVERTON CAMPUS. - - 6 GRACE HARLOWE’S PROBLEM. - - 7 GRACE HARLOWE’S GOLDEN SUMMER. - -All these books are bound in Cloth and will be sent postpaid on receipt -of only $1.00 each. - - - - -Pony Rider Boys Series - -By FRANK GEE PATCHIN - -These tales may be aptly described the best books for boys and girls. - - 1 THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE ROCKIES; Or, The Secret of the - Lost Claim.--2 THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN TEXAS; Or, The Veiled - Riddle of the Plains.--3 THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN MONTANA; Or, - The Mystery of the Old Custer Trail.--4 THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN - THE OZARKS; Or, The Secret of Ruby Mountain.--5 THE PONY RIDER - BOYS IN THE ALKALI; Or, Finding a Key to the Desert Maze.--6 - THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN NEW MEXICO; Or, The End of the Silver - Trail.--7 THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE GRAND CANYON; Or, The - Mystery of Bright Angel Gulch. - - Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, $1.00 - - - - -The Boys of Steel Series - -By JAMES R. MEARS - -Each book presents vivid picture of this great industry. Each story is -full of adventure and fascination. - - 1 THE IRON BOYS IN THE MINES; Or, Starting at the Bottom of the - Shaft.--2 THE IRON BOYS AS FOREMEN; Or, Heading the Diamond - Drill Shift.--3 THE IRON BOYS ON THE ORE BOATS; Or, Roughing It - on the Great Lakes.--4 THE IRON BOYS IN THE STEEL MILLS; Or, - Beginning Anew in the Cinder Pits. - - Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, $1.00 - - - - -The Madge Morton Books - -By AMY D. V. CHALMERS - - 1 MADGE MORTON--CAPTAIN OF THE MERRY MAID. - - 2 MADGE MORTON’S SECRET. - - 3 MADGE MORTON’S TRUST. - - 4 MADGE MORTON’S VICTORY. - - Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, $1.00 - - - - -West Point Series - -By H. IRVING HANCOCK - -The principal characters in these narratives are manly, young Americans -whose doings will inspire all boy readers. - - 1 DICK PRESCOTT’S FIRST YEAR AT WEST POINT; Or, Two Chums in the - Cadet Gray. - - 2 DICK PRESCOTT’S SECOND YEAR AT WEST POINT; Or, Finding the - Glory of the Soldier’s Life. - - 3 DICK PRESCOTT’S THIRD YEAR AT WEST POINT; Or, Standing Firm for - Flag and Honor. - - 4 DICK PRESCOTT’S FOURTH YEAR AT WEST POINT; Or, Ready to Drop - the Gray for Shoulder Straps. - - Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, $1.00 - - - - -Annapolis Series - -By H. IRVING HANCOCK - -The Spirit of the new Navy is delightfully and truthfully depicted in -these volumes. - - 1 DAVE DARRIN’S FIRST YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; Or, Two Plebe Midshipmen - at the U. S. Naval Academy. - - 2 DAVE DARRIN’S SECOND YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; Or, Two Midshipmen as - Naval Academy “Youngsters.” - - 3 DAVE DARRIN’S THIRD YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; Or, Leaders of the - Second Class Midshipmen. - - 4 DAVE DARRIN’S FOURTH YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; Or, Headed for - Graduation and the Big Cruise. - - Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, $1.00 - - - - -The Young Engineers Series - -By H. IRVING HANCOCK - -The heroes of these stories are known to readers of the High School -Boys Series. In this new series Tom Reade and Harry Hazelton prove -worthy of all the traditions of Dick & Co. - - 1 THE YOUNG ENGINEERS IN COLORADO; Or, At Railroad Building in - Earnest. - - 2 THE YOUNG ENGINEERS IN ARIZONA; Or, Laying Tracks on the - “Man-Killer” Quicksand. - - 3 THE YOUNG ENGINEERS IN NEVADA; Or, Seeking Fortune on the Turn - of a Pick. - - 4 THE YOUNG ENGINEERS IN MEXICO; Or, Fighting the Mine Swindlers. - - Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, $1.00 - - - - -Boys of the Army Series - -By H. IRVING HANCOCK - -These books breathe the life and spirit of the United States Army of -to-day, and the life, just as it is, is described by a master pen. - - 1 UNCLE SAM’S BOYS IN THE RANKS; Or, Two Recruits in the United - States Army. - - 2 UNCLE SAM’S BOYS ON FIELD DUTY; Or, Winning Corporal’s Chevrons. - - 3 UNCLE SAM’S BOYS AS SERGEANTS; Or, Handling Their First Real - Commands. - - 4 UNCLE SAM’S BOYS IN THE PHILIPPINES; Or, Following the Flag - Against the Moros. - - 5 UNCLE SAM’S BOYS AS LIEUTENANTS; Or, Serving Old Glory as Line - Officers. - - 6 UNCLE SAM’S BOYS WITH PERSHING; Or, Dick Prescott at Grips with - the Boche. - - 7 UNCLE SAM’S BOYS SMASH THE GERMANS; Or, Winding Up the Great - War. - - -Dave Darrin Series - -By H. IRVING HANCOCK - - 1 DAVE DARRIN AT VERA CRUZ; Or, Fighting With the U. S. Navy in - Mexico. - - 2 DAVE DARRIN ON MEDITERRANEAN SERVICE. - - 3 DAVE DARRIN’S SOUTH AMERICAN CRUISE. - - 4 DAVE DARRIN ON THE ASIATIC STATION. - - 5 DAVE DARRIN AND THE GERMAN SUBMARINES. - - 6 DAVE DARRIN AFTER THE MINE LAYERS; Or, Hitting the Enemy a Hard - Naval Blow. - - -The Meadow-Brook Girls Series - -By JANET ALDRIDGE - - 1 THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS UNDER CANVAS. - - 2 THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS ACROSS COUNTRY. - - 3 THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS AFLOAT. - - 4 THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS IN THE HILLS. - - 5 THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS BY THE SEA. - - 6 THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS ON THE TENNIS COURTS. - -All these books are bound in Cloth and will be sent postpaid on receipt -of only $1.00 each. - - - - -High School Boys Series - -By H. IRVING HANCOCK - -In this series of bright, crisp books a new note has been struck. - -Boys of every age under sixty will be interested in these fascinating -volumes. - - 1 THE HIGH SCHOOL FRESHMEN; Or, Dick & Co.’s First Year Pranks - and Sports. - - 2 THE HIGH SCHOOL PITCHER; Or, Dick & Co. on the Gridley Diamond. - - 3 THE HIGH SCHOOL LEFT END; Or, Dick & Co. Grilling on the - Football Gridiron. - - 4 THE HIGH SCHOOL CAPTAIN OF THE TEAM; Or, Dick & Co. Leading the - Athletic Vanguard. - - Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, $1.00 - - - - -Grammar School Boys Series - -By H. IRVING HANCOCK - -This series of stories, based on the actual doings of grammar school -boys, comes near to the heart of the average American boy. - - 1 THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL BOYS OF GRIDLEY; Or, Dick & Co. Start Things - Moving. - - 2 THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL BOYS SNOWBOUND; Or, Dick & Co. at Winter - Sports. - - 3 THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL BOYS IN THE WOODS; Or, Dick & Co. Trail Fun - and Knowledge. - - 4 THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL BOYS IN SUMMER ATHLETICS; Or, Dick & Co. - Make Their Fame Secure. - - Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, $1.00 - - - - -High School Boys’ Vacation Series - -By H. IRVING HANCOCK - -“Give us more Dick Prescott books!” - -This has been the burden of the cry from young readers of the country -over. Almost numberless letters have been received by the publishers, -making this eager demand; for Dick Prescott, Dave Darrin, Tom Reade, -and the other members of Dick & Co. are the most popular high school -boys in the land. Boys will alternately thrill and chuckle when reading -these splendid narratives. - - 1 THE HIGH SCHOOL BOYS’ CANOE CLUB; Or, Dick & Co.’s Rivals on - Lake Pleasant. - - 2 THE HIGH SCHOOL BOYS IN SUMMER CAMP; Or, The Dick Prescott Six - Training for the Gridley Eleven. - - 3 THE HIGH SCHOOL BOYS’ FISHING TRIP; Or, Dick & Co. in the - Wilderness. - - 4 THE HIGH SCHOOL BOYS’ TRAINING HIKE; Or, Dick & Co. Making - Themselves “Hard as Nails.” - - Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, $1.00 - - - - -The Circus Boys Series - -By EDGAR B. P. DARLINGTON - -Mr. Darlington’s books breathe forth every phase of an intensely -interesting and exciting life. - - 1 THE CIRCUS BOYS ON THE FLYING RINGS; Or, Making the Start in - the Sawdust Life. - - 2 THE CIRCUS BOYS ACROSS THE CONTINENT; Or, Winning New Laurels - on the Tanbark. - - 3 THE CIRCUS BOYS IN DIXIE LAND; Or, Winning the Plaudits of the - Sunny South. - - 4 THE CIRCUS BOYS ON THE MISSISSIPPI; Or, Afloat with the Big - Show on the Big River. - - Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, $1.00 - - - - -The High School Girls Series - -By JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A. M. - -These breezy stories of the American High School Girl take the reader -fairly by storm. - - 1 GRACE HARLOWE’S PLEBE YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; Or, The Merry Doings - of the Oakdale Freshman Girls. - - 2 GRACE HARLOWE’S SOPHOMORE YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; Or, The Record - of the Girl Chums in Work and Athletics. - - 3 GRACE HARLOWE’S JUNIOR YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; Or, Fast Friends in - the Sororities. - - 4 GRACE HARLOWE’S SENIOR YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; Or, The Parting of - the Ways. - - Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, $1.00 - - - - -The Automobile Girls Series - -By LAURA DENT CRANE - -No girl’s library--no family book-case can be considered at all -complete unless it contains these sparkling twentieth-century books. - - 1 THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT NEWPORT; Or, Watching the Summer - Parade.--2 THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS IN THE BERKSHIRES; Or, The - Ghost of Lost Man’s Trail.--3 THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS ALONG THE - HUDSON; Or, Fighting Fire in Sleepy Hollow.--4 THE AUTOMOBILE - GIRLS AT CHICAGO; Or, Winning Out Against Heavy Odds.--5 THE - AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT PALM BEACH; Or, Proving Their Mettle Under - Southern Skies.--6 THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT WASHINGTON; Or, - Checkmating the Plots of Foreign Spies. - - Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, $1.00 - - - - -Transcriber’s Note - -Changes from the original publication are as follows: - - Page 6 - intelligence captain smoothes _changed to_ - intelligence captain smooths - - Page 75 - grace Harlowe informed them _changed to_ - Grace Harlowe informed them - - Page 222 - I might say considerable more _changed to_ - I might say considerably more - - Book lists - Battleship Boys Series and Boys of the Army Series - numbers 6, 7 and 8 _changed respectively to_ - 5, 6 and 7 - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Grace Harlowe with the American Army -on the Rhine, by Jessie Graham Flower - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GRACE HARLOWE WITH AMERICAN ARMY *** - -***** This file should be named 51697-0.txt or 51697-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/1/6/9/51697/ - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Rod Crawford, Dave Morgan -and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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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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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Grace Harlowe with the American Army on the Rhine - -Author: Jessie Graham Flower - -Release Date: April 8, 2016 [EBook #51697] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GRACE HARLOWE WITH AMERICAN ARMY *** - - - - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Rod Crawford, Dave Morgan -and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="hidehand"> -<div class="figcenter width400"> -<img src="images/cover2.jpg" width="400" height="599" alt="Cover" /> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="divider" /> -<h1>Grace Harlowe with the -American Army on the Rhine</h1> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider2" /> -<div class="figcenter width400"> -<a name="frontis" id="frontis"></a> -<img src="images/rhine_frontis.jpg" width="400" height="626" alt="Frontispiece" /> -<div class="caption">The Visitor Was Captain Boucher.<br /> -<i>Frontispiece.</i></div> -</div></div> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider2" /> -</div> -<div class="title-page"> -<p class="title">Grace Harlowe with the<br /> -American Army on the Rhine</p> - -<p class="center p120"><small>By</small><br /> -JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A.M.</p> - -<p class="center p80 nm">Author of The Grace Harlowe High School Series, The Grace Harlowe<br /> -College Girls Series, Grace Harlowe’s Return to Overton Campus,<br /> -Grace Harlowe’s Problem, Grace Harlowe’s Golden Summer,<br /> -Grace Harlowe Overseas, Grace Harlowe with the Red<br /> -Cross in France, Grace Harlowe with the Marines at<br /> -Chateau Thierry, Grace Harlowe with the U. S.<br /> -Troops in the Argonne, Grace Harlowe with the<br /> -Yankee Shock Boys at St. Quentin,<br /> -etc., etc.</p> - -<p class="center p120">Illustrated</p> - -<p class="center p120"><span class="letterspacing">PHILADELPHIA</span><br /> -HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY</p> -</div> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider2" /> -<p class="center smcap">Copyrighted, 1920, by<br /> -Howard E. Altemus</p> -</div> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">5</a></span> -</div> -<h2><a name="contents" id="contents">CONTENTS</a></h2> - - -<table summary="Contents"> -<tr> -<th></th> -<th>PAGE</th> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> -<span class="smcap">Chapter I—On the March to the Rhine</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#i">11</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Grace Harlowe looks for Hun treachery. “What I -have seen has chilled my very soul.” The supervisor -gives her orders. Elfreda sees a danger signal. “For -the love of Heaven, stop it!” A mighty crash and a -plunge into the river.</td> -<td> </td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> -<span class="smcap">Chapter II—“Grace Harlowe, Trouble-Maker”</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#ii">25</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Mrs. Chadsey Smythe gets a chilly bath. “Arrest -that woman!” Won Lue makes his bow. Grace gets -a warning. Overton girls billeted in a cellar. Keeping -house under difficulties. Summoned before a -superior officer.</td> -<td> </td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> -<span class="smcap">Chapter III—The Iron Hand</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#iii">38</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Grace resents an imputation on her honor. A serious -accusation. “The woman is an impertinent creature!” -“Captain” Grace is accused of trying to -drown her superior. Grace Harlowe’s dismissal demanded. -The Overton girl stands on her rights.</td> -<td> </td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> -<span class="smcap">Chapter IV—A Timely Meeting</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#iv">44</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">The mystery of three birds. J. Elfreda comes to -grief. Grace meets her friend the general. How -“Captain” Grace got even. The supervisor hears -some unpleasant truths. “Ridiculous!” exclaims -General Gordon.</td> -<td> </td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">6</a></span> -<span class="smcap">Chapter V—Grace Wins and is Sorry</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#v">55</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">“I don’t know what you are talking about, but I -agree with you.” Overton girls have supper behind a -smoke screen. An obliging Chinaman. Grace lays -down the law to Mrs. Smythe. “My orders are that -you get out of my sight instantly!”</td> -<td> </td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> -<span class="smcap">Chapter VI—Messing with a Brigadier</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#vi">64</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Overton girls left to walk. A grilling hike. The -general is not deceived. An invitation to visit cloudland. -“Captain” Grace gives the intelligence officer -some real intelligence. “Watch the skies in the early -morning.”</td> -<td> </td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> -<span class="smcap">Chapter VII—Officers Get a Shock</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#vii">76</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Grace tells of the flights of enemy war pigeons. Captain -Boucher asks for the Overton girl’s assistance. -Army officers prove charming hosts. The Chinaman -is on guard. “Captain” Grace uses a cobblestone for -a door-knocker. Military police come up on a run.</td> -<td> </td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> -<span class="smcap">Chapter VIII—Hunland is Reached at Last</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#viii">86</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">“Captain” Grace barred from her billets. A soldier -policeman offers to break in the door. The girls -make their beds in an army truck. Leading a gypsy -life. Overton women placed under arrest. Grace and -Elfreda smash the door of their prison.</td> -<td> </td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> -<span class="smcap">Chapter IX—An Irate Officer</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#ix">97</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">On the enemy’s threshhold. The intelligence captain -<a name="smooths" id="smooths"></a><ins title="Original has smoothes">smooths</ins> the way. Grace cooks mess at headquarters. -“Bacon in the chest and potatoes in the woodbox.” -Signed up for a voyage in the skies. Making their -beds in the kitchen.</td> -<td> </td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">7</a></span> -<span class="smcap">Chapter X—Grace Takes the Sky Route</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#x">105</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Taking no chances with the Hun. “Good luck, and -don’t fall out.” Elfreda has no desire to go skyward -on a bubble. Grace dons a flier’s harness. Lifted -cloudward by the big “sausage.” “One balloonatic -in the family is enough.”</td> -<td> </td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> -<span class="smcap">Chapter XI—Rough Going in Cloudland</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#xi">116</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">The swaying basket arouses Grace’s apprehension. -Hearing miraculously restored. The Overton girl eats -her luncheon three thousand feet above the earth. -“Haul in, you idiots!” The balloon begins to buck. -“We are adrift!” announces the major.</td> -<td> </td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> -<span class="smcap">Chapter XII—A Leap from the Skies</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#xii">128</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">The runaway balloon soars high. “We are in a fix!” -A cheerful outlook. Clouds blot out the earth. Grace -and her companion are buffeted back and forth by the -winds. Victims of Hun bullets. Grace Harlowe is -suspended between earth and sky.</td> -<td> </td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> -<span class="smcap">Chapter XIII—“Captain” Grace Invades Germany</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#xiii">137</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">The major shakes the Overton girl loose. How it feels -to fall a mile through space. The officer floats into -view like a giant spider. “My, but the earth does -look good.” Grace partially wrecks a German vineyard.</td> -<td> </td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> -<span class="smcap">Chapter XIV—A Guest of the Huns</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#xiv">146</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Grace Harlowe awakens in an unfamiliar place and -overhears an enlightening conversation. The German -woman seeks information. “Captain” Grace finds -herself a prisoner in a German castle. Signals for -assistance. A night prowler in her room.</td> -<td> </td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">8</a></span> -<span class="smcap">Chapter XV—An Interrupted Interview</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#xv">159</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">The inquisitive frau gets a terrible fright. “You -shall suffer for this!” Morning brings more trouble. -Discovered! A Hun threat. A demonstration of Hun -“kultur.” Safe in the American lines. The intelligence -officer is aroused.</td> -<td> </td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> -<span class="smcap">Chapter XVI—Elfreda Has a Suspicion</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#xvi">170</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Yvonne names the yellow cat. How Hippy cured -Nora’s admirer. Molly Marshall open to suspicion. -Billeted in a German home. “There’s a real mystery -for you.” An explosion wrecks the canteen.</td> -<td> </td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> -<span class="smcap">Chapter XVII—The Treachery of the Hun</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#xvii">182</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Grace rescues the major. The ammunition dump furnishes -fireworks. Mrs. Smythe is shaken with fear. -“Captain” Grace refuses to obey an order. “Something -queer about that man.” The Overton girl has -bad dreams.</td> -<td> </td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> -<span class="smcap">Chapter XVIII—Grace Gets a Clue</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#xviii">193</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">“You are the quickest-witted person I ever knew.” -“Captain” Grace “savvies” Yat Sen. The voice -from the cellar. The doctor has a visitor. A house -of mystery. “I am right or else I am terribly -wrong,” mutters Grace Harlowe.</td> -<td> </td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> -<span class="smcap">Chapter XIX—A Voice and a Face</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#xix">200</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">“I must see who comes out of that house.” Grace -shatters the doctor’s argument. “The Germans are -unsportsmanlike losers.” Checkmated! Rebuked by -the supervisor. Grace meets a suspected person and -smiles a gentle greeting.</td> -<td> </td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">9</a></span> -<span class="smcap">Chapter XX—In a Maze of Mysteries</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#xx">211</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Won “savvies” too much talk. Playing the game -both ways. Molly leads the supervisor from the canteen. -Complaint is lodged against “Captain” Grace. -Suspicions confirmed. The Overton girl makes a discovery. -Grace gives a warning and borrows an auger.</td> -<td> </td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> -<span class="smcap">Chapter XXI—A Mouse in the Trap</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#xxi">224</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Grace bores a hole through the floor of her room. The -German maid refuses a tip. When conversation ran -wild. “Planning to shoot up our friends across the -Rhine.” Grace Harlowe is amazed at what she overhears.</td> -<td> </td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> -<span class="smcap">Chapter XXII—“Captain” Grace Decides to Act</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#xxii">233</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Elfreda is taken into the secret. “I never dreamed -of anything so terrible as this.” Grace suspects that -she is being watched. The intelligence officer gets an -unusual invitation. The mine is laid.</td> -<td> </td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> -<span class="smcap">Chapter XXIII—A Desperate Plot Revealed</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#xxiii">242</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">Captain Boucher makes his call through a window. -“Should any one knock, crawl under the bed.” The -intelligence officer forgets his boots. A strange scene -in the Overton girls’ quarters.</td> -<td> </td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> -<span class="smcap">Chapter XXIV—The Trap is Sprung</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#xxiv">246</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="hang">A signal that was instantly obeyed. Ordered to headquarters. -Army officers get a genuine surprise. -Grace Harlowe reveals a deep-laid Hun plot. The -fight and the capture in the Overton girls’ billets. -Heroes who work in the shadows.</td> -<td><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">10</a></span></td> -</tr> -</table> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">11</a></span> -</div> - -<p class="center p180"><a name="i" id="i"></a>GRACE HARLOWE WITH THE AMERICAN ARMY ON THE RHINE</p> - -<hr class="short" /> - -<h2>CHAPTER I<br /> -<small>ON THE MARCH TO THE RHINE</small></h2> - - -<p class="noi"><span class="dropcap"><span class="dropcap2">“</span>H</span>ERE is where we take on our load,” observed Grace Harlowe, backing -her car up to the door of a peasant cottage.</p> - -<p>“Never was a truer word spoken,” agreed J. Elfreda Briggs. “Chad of her -own sweet self is considerable of a load.” Miss Briggs reached back -and threw open the door of the army automobile, to be ready for their -passenger who had not yet appeared. “Baggage, some would characterize -her,” added the girl.</p> - -<p>“She is our superior, Elfreda,” reminded Grace. “One always must -preserve a certain respect for one’s superior, else discipline in the -army will quickly go to pieces. While Mrs. Smythe plainly is not all -that we wish she were,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">12</a></span> she is our superior officer whom we must both -respect and obey.”</p> - -<p>“Ever meet her?” questioned Elfreda.</p> - -<p>“Once. I was not favorably impressed with her, though I did not see -enough of her to form an opinion worth while. That she was fat and -rather fair, I recall quite distinctly.”</p> - -<p>“Know anything about her, Grace?”</p> - -<p>“Nothing beyond the fact that she is said to be the wife of a wealthy -Chicago meat-packer, and that Mrs. Meat Packer wishes every one to know -that she is a rich woman and an influential one.”</p> - -<p>“She must be to get here, Grace. What I cannot understand is how she -ever got into army welfare work, especially how she came to be assigned -to join out with this American Third Army’s march to the Rhine.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps influence, perhaps her money; perhaps a little of both,” -nodded Grace. “You know as much about it as I do.”</p> - -<p>“And that much, little as it is, is too much,” declared J. Elfreda -Briggs. “I should characterize her as an inordinately vain woman, one -of the newly rich, who, clothed with a little authority, would be a -mighty uncomfortable companion. The girls at the hospital who have -worked under her say she is a regular martinet. How does it come that -she has been unloaded on us?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">13</a></span> -“I am sure I do not know, J. Elfreda. I do not even know with whom she -came through last night when we started out on our march to the Rhine. -I was ordered to pick her up and take her through in our automobile -to-day, together with two other women who accompany her. However, this -march to the River Rhine having only just begun, we haven’t yet settled -down to a routine.”</p> - -<p>“Neither has the enemy,” observed Elfreda.</p> - -<p>Grace nodded reflectively.</p> - -<p>“He has signed the armistice, but knowing the Hun as I do, I know that, -if he thinks he can safely do so, he will play a scurvy trick on us. I -hardly think we shall be attacked, however, but, J. Elfreda, take my -word for it, there are many deep and dark Hun plots being hatched in -this victorious army at this very moment,” she declared.</p> - -<p>“What do you mean?”</p> - -<p>“Hun treachery, Elfreda.”</p> - -<p>“You know something, Grace Harlowe?”</p> - -<p>“No, not in the way you mean. I know the animal and its ways; that’s -all. Look at that line of observation balloons of ours floating in the -sky to our rear, and moving forward as we move forward. Know what they -are doing?”</p> - -<p>“Watching the Boches.”</p> - -<p>“Exactly. Were the Boche a worthy foe, a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">14</a></span> foe who would respect his -agreements, the need for watching him would not exist. But a foe who -has broken his word, his bond and all the ten commandments is not to -be trusted. I suppose I shouldn’t feel that way, but I have lived at -the front for many months, Elfreda, and what I have seen has chilled my -very soul. It behooves us Sammies to watch our steps and keep our hands -on our guns,” she added after an interval of reflection. “I think our -passenger is approaching.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Chadsey Smythe, clad in a suit of tight-fitting khaki, which -accentuated her stoutness, was walking stiffly down the path from the -cottage, followed by two welfare workers, discreetly keeping to the -rear of their superior. The face of the meat-packer’s wife wore an -expression of austerity which Grace told herself had been borrowed from -some high army officer, an officer with a grouch of several years’ -standing. Mrs. Smythe halted, eyeing first the car itself, then the two -young women on the front seat, both of whom were gazing stolidly ahead.</p> - -<p>“Are you the chauffeur?” she demanded, addressing Grace.</p> - -<p>“I am Mrs. Grace Gray, Madame. I am driving this car through,” replied -Grace courteously.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">15</a></span> -“A car, did you say? No, this is not a car, it is a truck, and a very -dirty truck. I venture to say that it has not been washed in some -time,” observed the welfare supervisor sarcastically.</p> - -<p>“Quite probable, Mrs. Smythe. This is wartime, you know.”</p> - -<p>“That is not an excuse. The war is ended. Hereafter you will see that -the car is clean when you start out in the morning.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, Madame.”</p> - -<p>“Another thing, driver, I do not brook impertinence from my -subordinates. No matter how slack this department may have been carried -on in the past, henceforth military form must be observed.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, Madame,” replied Grace meekly.</p> - -<p>“If proper for a superior to do so, I would ask if it is customary for -a private to remain seated when such superior approaches to speak to -the private?”</p> - -<p>“When driving, yes.”</p> - -<p>“It is not! Hereafter, driver, when a superior officer comes up to you, -you will step down, hold the car door open and stand at salute, if you -know how to salute, until the officer is seated. Am I clear?”</p> - -<p>“Perfectly so, Madame.” Grace repressed a hot retort, and Elfreda’s -face burned with indignation.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">16</a></span> She found herself wondering how her -companion could keep her self-control under the insulting tone of the -welfare supervisor.</p> - -<p>“It is quite apparent, driver, that you are new to the army and its -ways.”</p> - -<p>“Oh!” exclaimed J. Elfreda.</p> - -<p>“What is that?” demanded Mrs. Smythe.</p> - -<p>“I—I think I pinched my finger in the door,” stammered Elfreda.</p> - -<p>“Driver, step down. There is nothing like making a right start.”</p> - -<p>Without an instant’s hesitation, Grace sprang out, grasped the door of -the car, and, standing very erect, held it until Mrs. Smythe and her -two “aides” had entered and taken their seats. Grace Harlowe closed the -door, clicked her heels together and gave her superior a snappy salute -that even a freshly made second lieutenant could not have improved upon.</p> - -<p>“Oh, you can at least salute, I see,” observed the passenger. “I -sincerely hope, however, that you are a better driver than you are -a soldier. I wish a fast driver, but not a careless one. If you are -afraid to drive fast I will request the colonel to give me a driver who -is not.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, Madame.”</p> - -<p>There was mischief in the eyes of Grace Harlowe<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">17</a></span> as she climbed into -the driver’s seat, an expression that J. Elfreda understood full well -was a sure forecast of trouble to come.</p> - -<p>The road was greatly congested, and for a time the driver worked her -way cautiously along at a rate of speed of not more than ten miles an -hour.</p> - -<p>“Faster! Are you too timid to drive?” cried the passenger.</p> - -<p>At this juncture an opening presented itself, a narrow space between -two army trucks, and an officer’s car tearing along behind her at a -terrific pace was reaching for the opening. Grace opened up and hurled -her car at the opening as if it were a projectile on its way to the -enemy lines. The two cars touched hubs. Grace fed a little more gas and -went into the opening a winner.</p> - -<p>“Stop it!” shouted Mrs. Chadsey Smythe.</p> - -<p>Ahead there were open spots and Grace made for them, dodging, swerving, -the car careening, the horn sounding until the drivers ahead, thinking -a staff officer was coming, made all the room they could for the -charging army automobile. Madame was expostulating, threatening, -jouncing about until speech became an unintelligible stutter. Reaching -a clear stretch of road, by clever manipulation Grace sent the car -into a series of skids that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">18</a></span> would have excited the envy of a fighting -aviator. That it did not turn over was because there was no obstruction -in the road to catch the tires and send the car hurtling into the ditch.</p> - -<p>“For the love of Heaven, stop it, Grace Harlowe!” gasped Miss Briggs. -“I’m on the verge of nervous prostration. You’ll have us all in the -hospital or worse.”</p> - -<p>Grace grinned but made no reply. She straightened up a little as the -officer’s car finally shot past her, and it was then that she saw she -had been racing with a general, though she did not know who the general -might be. She hoped he did not know who it was that had cut him off, -but of course he could not expect her to look behind her when driving -in that tangle of traffic. That was good logic, so she devoted her -attention and thought wholly to the work in hand, and, putting on more -speed, rapidly drew up on the charging automobile ahead, reasoning that -the general would have a fairly clear road, which road would be hers -provided she were able to keep up with him.</p> - -<p>Ahead of them a short distance she espied a concrete bridge. There -was a concrete barrier on either side of the bridge, but the bridge -was amply wide to permit two vehicles to pass. The general’s car took -the bridge at high<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">19</a></span> speed, army trucks drawing to their right so as -to leave him plenty of room. Grace followed, driving at the bridge at -top speed, but when within a few yards of the structure a truck driver -swayed over past the center of the span, evidently not having heard her -horn.</p> - -<p>The girl thought she could still go through, but discovered too late -that the truck was too far over to permit her passing. The emergency -brakes went on and the horn shrieked, but too late. The truck driver, -losing his head, swung further to the left instead of to the right -as he should have done, thus crowding Grace further over toward the -concrete wall-railing.</p> - -<p>“Hold fast!” shouted Grace.</p> - -<p>Ere the passengers could “hold fast” the car met the end of the -concrete railing head-on with a mighty crash, the rear of the car shot -up into the air and the passengers were hurled over the dash. They -cleared the obstruction and went hurtling into the river, disappearing -beneath its surface. The car lurched sideways until half its length -hung over, threatening any moment to slip down after them into the -stream. Harlowe luck had not improved. This time Grace had overreached -the mark.</p> - -<p>Those readers who have followed Grace through the eventful years from -her exciting days in the Oakdale High School have learned<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">20</a></span> to love -her for her gentle qualities and to admire her for her pluck and -achievements, for the sterling qualities that from her early school -days drew to her so many loyal friends.</p> - -<p>It was in “<span class="smcap">Grace Harlowe’s Plebe Year at High School</span>” that the -readers of this series first became acquainted with her. They followed -her through her high school course as told in “<span class="smcap">Grace Harlowe’s -Sophomore Year at High School</span>,” “<span class="smcap">Grace Harlowe’s Junior Year -at High School</span>” and “<span class="smcap">Grace Harlowe’s Senior Year at High -School</span>,” in which those dear friends of her girlhood days, Nora -O’Malley, Anne Pierson and Jessica Bright—the Original Four—shared -her joys and her sorrows.</p> - -<p>After high school came college, Grace and Anne going to Overton, -Nora and Jessica choosing for their further education an eastern -conservatory of music. At Overton new friends rallied to Grace’s -colors, such as Elfreda Briggs, Arline Thayer, Emma Dean, Mabel Ashe -and many others. Four eventful years were spent at old Overton, -the experiences of those college years being related in “<span class="smcap">Grace -Harlowe’s First Year at Overton College</span>,” “<span class="smcap">Grace Harlowe’s -Second Year at Overton College</span>,” “<span class="smcap">Grace Harlowe’s Third -Year at Overton College</span>” and “<span class="smcap">Grace Harlowe’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">21</a></span> Fourth Year -at Overton College</span>,” followed by “<span class="smcap">Grace Harlowe’s Return to -Overton Campus</span>” and “<span class="smcap">Grace Harlowe’s Problem</span>.”</p> - -<p>The story of the fruition of the Overton girl’s dreams is told in -“<span class="smcap">Grace Harlowe’s Golden Summer</span>,” when she became the bride -of her lifelong friend and chum, Tom Gray, and went to “Haven Home” a -happy wife. Grace’s home life was a brief one, for the great world war -enveloped the big white “House Behind the World,” as she had so happily -characterized it. First Tom Gray went away to serve his country in -its hour of need, then Grace followed him as a member of the Overton -unit, and in “<span class="smcap">Grace Harlowe Overseas</span>” is related the story of -how she became involved in the plots of the Old World nearly to her -own undoing. In “<span class="smcap">Grace Harlowe with the Red Cross in France</span>” -she is assigned to drive an ambulance at the front, which she had -long yearned to do, and out there in the thick of the fighting she is -called upon to face death in many forms. It is, however, in a following -volume, “<span class="smcap">Grace Harlowe with the Marines at Chateau Thierry</span>,” -however, that the Overton girl meets with hardships and perils that -nearly cost her her life. Yet more thrilling even than this were her -experiences as related in “<span class="smcap">Grace Harlowe with the U. S. Army in the -Argonne</span>,”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">22</a></span> where perhaps the most desperate fighting of the war -occurred.</p> - -<p>“<span class="smcap">Grace Harlowe with the Yankee Shock Boys at St. Quentin</span>” -finds Grace an active participant in that most brilliant single -achievement of the war, the breaking of the Hindenburg Line, in which, -by sheer pluck and daring, she saves an entire regiment from certain -annihilation and wins a decoration for her heroism.</p> - -<p>Following the signing of the armistice the march of the American troops -toward the Rhine began. With them went Grace Harlowe and her faithful -friend, J. Elfreda Briggs, Anne Nesbit having been left behind to -continue her work in a hospital.</p> - -<p>Just how it had come about that Grace and Elfreda were to accompany the -troops neither girl knew. The assignment brought joy to both girls, -and especially to Grace, for when the sound of the big guns died away -and an unnatural stillness settled over war-torn Europe she felt ill -at ease, felt as if there were something lacking, though down deep in -her heart was a thankfulness that overbalanced the regret that the -excitement of months in the war zone was a thing of the past. She was -first thankful for the soldiers, then for her husband, Tom Gray, who -also was on his way to the Rhine, and for the little Yvonne, now their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">23</a></span> -daughter, the child whom Grace had picked up as a waif in a deserted -French village under fire.</p> - -<p>Grace, at her own request, was permitted to drive through with her -friend, in an army car. The first day she carried, besides herself, -supplies for canteen work, for both she and Elfreda Briggs were now -welfare workers. It had been understood that Mrs. Smythe was to go with -the invading army, but that she would take an active part in directing -the work neither girl considered probable, for, as a rule, such workers -left the actual directing to some person of experience. Not so with -Mrs. Chadsey Smythe. She proposed to be a working head, and she was. -At least she had been an active participant on the march to the Rhine -since she came up with Grace Harlowe. Her real troubles began with the -starting of the car with Grace at the wheel, and the troubles continued -without a second’s intermission right up to and including that fatal -second when Grace collided with the bridge rail and Mrs. “Chadsey,” -together with the other occupants of the car, took an unexpected dive -into the river.</p> - -<p>Fortunately for the five women in the car, the machine had remained on -the road, else it might have fallen on them and finished them entirely.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">24</a></span> -Grace came up to the surface first, shook the water from her eyes, -and then dived and brought up one of the welfare workers who had -accompanied Mrs. “Chadsey.” The other woman and Elfreda came up of -their own accord and Grace quickly went in search of Mrs. “Chadsey.”</p> - -<p>“There she is,” gasped Elfreda, pointing downstream, where the welfare -supervisor was seen floundering, fighting desperately to get to shore, -not realizing that the water at that point was shallow enough to permit -her to stand up and keep her chin above water.</p> - -<p>Grace swam to her quickly and grasped the supervisor by the hair of her -head just as Mrs. “Chadsey,” giving up, had gone under. Even though the -water there was only about five feet deep, Grace had never come nearer -to drowning, for not only did Mrs. “Chadsey” grip her with both arms, -but fought desperately, when Grace got her head above water.</p> - -<p>“Stop it!” gasped Grace, struggling to free herself from the grip of -those really strong arms. “You’ll drown us both.”</p> - -<p>“Let me go!” screamed the supervisor, fastening a hand in the Overton -girl’s hair.</p> - -<p>One of Grace’s hands being thus freed she took a firm grip in the hair -of her opponent, pushed her head under the water and both sank out of -sight.</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">25</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="ii" id="ii"></a>CHAPTER II<br /> -<small>“GRACE HARLOWE, TROUBLE-MAKER”</small></h2> - - -<p class="noi"><span class="dropcap">W</span>HEN Mrs. Smythe and Grace came to the surface, the fight had been all -taken out of the supervisor. She was limp, choking and gasping, but not -in a serious condition, as the Overton girl observed, though the water -was chill and serious consequences might follow the wetting, there -being no way to secure dry clothing until they arrived at the end of -the day’s march, a few miles further on.</p> - -<p>“You will be all right now,” comforted Grace. “Don’t fight. Give me -half a chance to get you ashore. I’m sorry, Mrs. Smythe. The water is -not over our heads, so please try to walk in.”</p> - -<p>The woman screamed and choked some more, so Grace grasped her by the -collar of her blouse and began swimming toward shore with her. They had -not gone more than half of the way, when doughboys who had witnessed -the accident plunged into the river and went to the rescue. Grace -turned over her burden to them quite willingly, but waved the soldiers -aside<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">26</a></span> when they offered to assist her. The men had their hands full in -getting the supervisor ashore, where they laid her down on the bank and -shook her until she was able to sit up.</p> - -<p>“Please wring the water out of me, Grace,” begged the disheveled J. -Elfreda Briggs, who was shivering.</p> - -<p>“That will not help any. Keep moving, is my advice. Were you hurt, -Elfreda?”</p> - -<p>“My feelings were very much hurt. Grace Harlowe, you are the original -trouble-maker. I blame myself wholly in this matter, not you at all, -for I should have known better than to remain in that car for an -instant after I saw that look in your eyes. It was a perfectly safe -intimation that something terrible was about to occur.”</p> - -<p>“There’s the lieutenant talking with Mrs. Smythe. I must see what she -has to say.”</p> - -<p>“Probably recommending you for the Congressional Medal,” observed Miss -Briggs sourly.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Smythe was sitting on the bank wringing the water out of her -blouse when Grace came up, the lieutenant standing by and apparently -not knowing what he should do in the circumstances. The supervisor’s -hair was down over her shoulders and she was half crying, half raging. -Grace was filled with regret.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">27</a></span> -“I’m sorry, Mrs. Smythe,” she said, bending over the supervisor. “May I -assist you to your feet? You must not sit here, you know. The ground is -cold and you are very wet.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Chadsey Smythe blinked at the Overton girl and struggled for -words. The words finally came, a torrent of them.</p> - -<p>“She did it!” screamed the woman. “She did it on purpose! She set out -to mur—”</p> - -<p>“Mrs. Smythe, you know better than that,” rebuked Grace.</p> - -<p>“Arrest that woman!” commanded Mrs. Smythe.</p> - -<p>“Well, I—I don’t know about that. Do you wish to make a charge against -her, Madame?”</p> - -<p>“Of course. She threw me into the river.”</p> - -<p>“But,” protested the officer, “she did no more to you than she did to -herself and the others in the car. Of course you may make a complaint -to the captain, or to your superior whoever he or she may be, but I do -not think this woman can be arrested, because the wreck plainly was an -accident.”</p> - -<p>“It was not! I tell you she did it on purpose!”</p> - -<p>The lieutenant shrugged his shoulders.</p> - -<p>“I will inform my superior, Captain Rowland,” answered the lieutenant -gravely. “You are—”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">28</a></span> -“Mrs. Chadsey Smythe, in command of the welfare workers.”</p> - -<p>The officer turned to Grace inquiringly.</p> - -<p>“Mrs. Grace Gray, former ambulance driver on the western front, now a -welfare worker on the march to the Rhine, sir,” answered Grace meekly, -out of the corners of her eyes observing that the lieutenant was -passing a hand over his face, to hide the grin that had appeared there.</p> - -<p>“Anything to say, Mrs. Gray?”</p> - -<p>“I think not, sir, except that we should be moving.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, get me a car at once, if you will be so good,” urged Mrs. Smythe.</p> - -<p>“If I may offer a suggestion, sir, I do not think it would be prudent -for either Mrs. Smythe or the others to ride in. We would all be -chilled through and on the verge of pneumonia. My advice, if I may -offer it, would be that we walk.”</p> - -<p>“Walk? Never!” exclaimed the supervisor. “I demand a car. It is my -right to make such a demand.”</p> - -<p>“I fear I cannot give you a car. The best I can possibly do is to put -you on a truck, but I agree with Mrs. Gray that it would be much wiser -for you to walk, all of you.”</p> - -<p>“A truck!” moaned the woman. “I’ll walk,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">29</a></span> thank you. It is much more -dignified than being jounced about on an army truck. No army truck for -me, thank you.”</p> - -<p>“Very good. I will see to it that the belongings of the party are sent -in so that you may have change of clothing as soon as we reach the end -of the day’s march.”</p> - -<p>“Do I understand that you will do nothing to this woman?” demanded Mrs. -Smythe.</p> - -<p>“I will report the matter to Captain Rowland. May I assist you up the -bank?” he offered politely.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Smythe accepted with all the grace she could assume. Grace’s face -wore a serious expression as she looked at the car hanging over the -edge of the bridge.</p> - -<p>“I could do no worse myself,” observed Miss Briggs to her companion.</p> - -<p>“I doubt if I could equal that achievement,” agreed Grace. “That woman -is going to make trouble for me, and I am inclined to think that I -deserve all that she will try to give me. You know it was an accident, -Elfreda?”</p> - -<p>“An accident? It was that! Why, the train wreck on our way to Paris -with the wounded doughboys was no more of an accident than this. What -you mean to say is that you did not do it on purpose. Personally, -Elfreda Briggs has her own views on that phase of the matter.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">30</a></span> -“Elfreda!” rebuked Grace.</p> - -<p>“However, it is some satisfaction to see our beloved superior taking -the same medicine that we are taking; walking for our health, as it -were.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Smythe was making heavy weather of it, and Grace, filled with -compassion, stepped up to her and linked an arm within that of the -supervisor.</p> - -<p>“Please permit me to assist you along,” she urged gently.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Smythe threw off Grace’s arm angrily.</p> - -<p>“Be good enough to keep your hands off. I wish nothing whatever to do -with you.”</p> - -<p>“Mrs. Smythe, please do not speak to me in that tone. I feel much worse -about it than you possibly can, and I blame myself, even if that truck -driver did crowd me into the railing. Won’t you please forgive me?”</p> - -<p>“You will learn later what I propose to do to you, driver. Do not -forget that you are speaking to your superior officer and not to your -equal.”</p> - -<p>“I had suspected something of the sort myself,” answered the Overton -girl, drawing herself up and moving on ahead at a rapid stride.</p> - -<p>“Chad spoke the truth for once,” chuckled Miss Briggs. “I wonder if she -realizes what she said? That is too good to keep. I shall<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">31</a></span> have to tell -the girls about that. Do you really think she will do something to you?”</p> - -<p>“I would not be at all surprised.”</p> - -<p>“In that event remember that I am a lawyer, and that I invite myself to -defend you,” declared Elfreda eloquently. “This going is the toughest -experience I have ever had.”</p> - -<p>Two hours before dark they reached their destination, which proved to -be the little city of Etain, a deserted city, not a living thing being -in sight there when the advance guard reached the place. The city was -pretty well pounded to pieces. For a long time before the armistice was -signed those of the inhabitants who had clung to their homes lived in -holes in the ground. It was a cheerless place, and the cellar where the -welfare workers were berthed was more than dismal.</p> - -<p>The belongings of Grace and her party were brought in by a Chinaman, -who grinned as he put the first bundle down, and was rewarded by a -smile from Grace. He did not speak when he entered the first time, -but upon the second trip he straightened up and saluted, which Grace -returned snappily.</p> - -<p>“Missie plenty fine dliver, a-la,” observed the Chinaman.</p> - -<p>“Not very, I fear. You mean my running into the bridge?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">32</a></span> -“Les.”</p> - -<p>“What is your name?”</p> - -<p>“Won Lue.”</p> - -<p>“Belong to the labor battalion?”</p> - -<p>“Les. Plenty blad men b’long labor blattalion,” observed Won.</p> - -<p>“So I have heard, but surely you are not a bad man, Won?”</p> - -<p>He shook his head with emphasis.</p> - -<p>“Me good Chinaman, a-la.”</p> - -<p>“I am glad to hear that.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I never,” declared Elfreda Briggs. “One would think you and Won -were very old friends. Better look out for those oily Orientals. They -are not to be trusted.”</p> - -<p>“So I have been told,” replied Grace absently. “I wonder where Mrs. -Smythe has taken herself. Ah, here comes one of her aides.”</p> - -<p>The young woman said she had come for the supervisor’s bags, having -been directed there by the officer who had come to their assistance on -the river bank.</p> - -<p>“I trust Mrs. Smythe is feeling better,” said Grace with a voice full -of sympathy. “You are Miss Cahill, I believe?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. Madame is in high temper because they have put her in a cellar. -The lieutenant told her she was in luck that she didn’t have to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">33</a></span> wrap -herself up in a blanket and sleep on the ground, which did not serve to -improve her temper. I wish we might stay here with you two ladies.”</p> - -<p>“Why not come with us, then?” urged Grace.</p> - -<p>“The supervisor wouldn’t let me. However, I am going to request that we -be relieved some way.”</p> - -<p>“Better go through with it until we get to the Rhine,” advised Grace. -“Something may develop that will make a change possible. If I can -assist you to that end you may depend upon me to do so.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you. May—may I tell you something, Mrs. Gray?”</p> - -<p>Grace nodded smilingly.</p> - -<p>“Mrs. Smythe, I fear, is going to make you a lot of trouble. She is -making all sorts of threats of what she is going to do and—”</p> - -<p>“If she doesn’t succeed any better than she has thus far, there won’t -be much left of her,” interjected Miss Briggs. “How long have you been -with her?”</p> - -<p>“Only since we started for the Rhine. We were directed from -headquarters to join out with the outfit to act as her assistants, Miss -O’Leary and myself, but we have had about enough of it already. She is -making servants of us and—”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">34</a></span> -“In wartime we must do many things that we don’t care to do,” suggested -Grace. “We are still at war with the Huns, so we must take whatever -comes to us, doing our best to keep our heads level.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you, Mrs. Gray. You make me feel better. I shall do my best not -to lose my temper, but really I do not see how such a woman could be -chosen for our important work. I call it a rank injustice.”</p> - -<p>“That’s what the doughboys say about their treatment,” smiled Grace. -“<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">C’est la guerre</i> (it is war). Come in to see us whenever you can. So -few of us women are out here that we should do what we can to make it -pleasant for one another.”</p> - -<p>Miss Cahill thanked her and went out, after which the two Overton girls -changed their wrinkled uniforms, put on dry underwear and sat down each -before a steel trench mirror to do her hair. This proceeding occupied -all their time up to the mess hour, when they went out with their kits -to draw their evening meal. Doughboys made way for them and insisted -on their taking a place at the front of the line, but Grace smilingly -declined to do anything of the sort.</p> - -<p>Most of the men in that division had seen the welfare women and knew by -that time who they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">35</a></span> were, for a woman at the front was too rare a sight -not to attract attention. Then, too, there were among them men who -either knew of their own knowledge what Grace Harlowe had accomplished -or had heard the story from others. Her smash on the bridge was already -known to several regiments, and when the two girls appeared, looking as -fresh and well-groomed as if they had been serving in Paris rather than -out at the front, the doughboys wondered and admired.</p> - -<p>Grace and Elfreda, having drawn their rations, returned to their -cellar, where, to their surprise, they found a bundle of fagots, which -some considerate person had left for them.</p> - -<p>“Isn’t that fine? I wonder who gave the wood to us?” cried Grace. “Now -we can brew some tea. Get the tea ready while I start the fire. Well, -I do declare, here is a can of water, and in a petrol can too. J. -Elfreda, have you an admirer? Have you been deceiving me?”</p> - -<p>“If I have he isn’t a Chinaman,” retorted Miss Briggs.</p> - -<p>“Thank you.”</p> - -<p>The cellar was soon filled with smoke, but neither girl cared so long -as tea was to be the result. After finishing the meal they began -considering where they were going to sleep. There were two cots in the -cellar, cots without<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">36</a></span> springs, rough boards having been nailed on, but -no mattress.</p> - -<p>“Not very inviting, but I for one shall be able to sleep soundly, I -know,” declared Grace. “When we get to the Rhine we probably shall be -billeted in a house where we can have ordinary comforts. I know I shall -have difficulty in accustoming myself to civilized life again, won’t -you, J. Elfreda?”</p> - -<p>“Not so that you could notice it,” was Miss Briggs’ brief reply. “I—”</p> - -<p>“Hulloa the cellar!” shouted a voice from above.</p> - -<p>“Enter,” answered Grace.</p> - -<p>A sergeant of infantry crunched in, coughed as he inhaled the smoke, -and, snapping to attention, saluted, which both girls returned.</p> - -<p>“What is it, Sergeant?” asked Grace.</p> - -<p>“Captain Rowland wishes you to report at his headquarters at half past -seven o’clock, Madame.”</p> - -<p>“Very good, Sergeant. Where are the captain’s headquarters?”</p> - -<p>“Four dumps down the street from here, to the right as you go out, down -one flight to the cellar.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you. Will you have a nip of tea? We still have some left.”</p> - -<p>The sergeant accepted a tin-cup of tea,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">37</a></span> gulped it down, thanked them, -and saluting tramped out.</p> - -<p>“Queer fellows those doughboys,” murmured Grace. “All gold, but odd -josies every one of them.”</p> - -<p>“Is that what you are thinking of? Were I in your place I should be -thinking of what I am going to say to Captain Rowland this evening. -This is the summons I have been waiting for. You understand what this -means, do you not, Grace?”</p> - -<p>“I presume so. However, I will cross that bridge when I come to it.”</p> - -<p>“Humph! That is more than you did to-day,” grumbled J. Elfreda Briggs.</p> - -<p>Half an hour later, after a final look into the steel mirror, Grace, -accompanied by Miss Briggs, left the cellar and started for Captain -Rowland’s headquarters, Grace having first pinned her <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">croix de guerre</i> -and Distinguished Service Cross to her breast. She had neglected to -wear them in the confusion of the start that morning, though being -supposed to wear them at all times when in uniform.</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">38</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="iii" id="iii"></a>CHAPTER III<br /> -<small>THE IRON HAND</small></h2> - - -<p class="noi"><span class="dropcap">C</span>APTAIN ROWLAND sat at a table that had seen more prosperous days, and -the camp chair that he was using creaked ominously. Elfreda Briggs -feared that it was about to collapse under him, for the captain was not -a slight man by any means.</p> - -<p>Neither Overton girl had ever before met Captain Rowland, but they had -heard of him as a severe man, cold and not always as just as were most -of his fellow officers, so rumor had said.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Smythe was seated on a camp stool just back of the captain, and -with her was a young woman that Grace had never seen before, though she -afterwards learned that the girl was Marie Debussy, a French woman, -who, it appeared, was acting as the supervisor’s maid. Except for the -lieutenant who had assisted Mrs. Smythe on the occasion of her rescue -from the river, there were no others present.</p> - -<p>“Are you Mrs. Grace Gray?” demanded the captain, fixing a stern look on -Grace Harlowe.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">39</a></span> -“I am, sir.”</p> - -<p>“What right have you to those decorations?” he demanded, pointing an -accusing finger at her.</p> - -<p>Grace for the instant was staggered. She found herself at a loss to -answer.</p> - -<p>“Sir?”</p> - -<p>He repeated the question, but more sharply accentuated than before.</p> - -<p>“With all respect, sir, your question carries with it an inference not -at all creditable to me.”</p> - -<p>Elfreda Briggs was proud of Grace. She could not have said it better -herself, and being a lawyer, Elfreda ordinarily was quite equal to -making the retort courteous.</p> - -<p>The face of the army officer hardened, but before he could reply, Grace -continued.</p> - -<p>“The decorations, sir, were awarded to me, one by the -commander-in-chief and the other by the French Government.”</p> - -<p>“For what?”</p> - -<p>“I have frequently asked myself that very same question, sir,” replied -the Overton girl.</p> - -<p>“This is a military inquiry, Mrs. Gray. You will answer my questions -directly. Why were you awarded the decorations you are wearing?”</p> - -<p>Grace’s face hardened ever so little, and Elfreda looked for an -explosion, but none came.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">40</a></span> -“If you will pardon me, I must be excused from answering. The records -will show why I am wearing them. General Gordon knows something of this -matter. May I ask why you are pressing me on this point, sir?”</p> - -<p>“You may. It has been said that you were wearing decorations to which -you had no right. This is a very serious accusation, Madame.”</p> - -<p>Grace caught her breath sharply.</p> - -<p>“Then the person who told you that either was misinformed or was -telling a malicious falsehood,” she declared with some heat, fixing a -steady look on Mrs. Chadsey Smythe.</p> - -<p>“You see, Captain! The woman is an impertinent creature,” interjected -Mrs. Smythe.</p> - -<p>The captain waved a hand for her to be silent.</p> - -<p>“I will attend to that phase of the matter later on. You wrecked an -automobile to-day and imperilled the lives of your passengers. I am -informed that previous to the accident you had been driving recklessly, -doing so with the intent to intimidate your passenger, and at the same -time endangering other lives. Is this true?”</p> - -<p>“I was driving rather fast, I will admit, sir.”</p> - -<p>“Why?”</p> - -<p>“Mrs. Smythe ordered me to do so, and accused me of being afraid to -speed up, so I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">41</a></span> speeded up. That, however, had nothing to do with the -accident. At the time of the crash I was following an officer’s car. A -truck crowded me against the bridge railing. Understand, sir, I am not -excusing myself. In a way I was not wholly blameless for the accident, -because I was driving too fast for the crowded condition of the road. -So far as intent was concerned, it is foolish to assume that there -could have been anything of that sort. I had my own neck to consider as -well as those of my passengers.”</p> - -<p>“How fast were you driving?”</p> - -<p>“About thirty-five miles an hour, I should say.”</p> - -<p>“What experience have you had in driving a car?”</p> - -<p>“I have been driving an ambulance on the western front for many months, -sir. Previously to coming overseas I had been driving for several -years. I consider myself a fairly successful driver.”</p> - -<p>“I understand that you have had accidents before this one?”</p> - -<p>“Naturally, sir. One cannot drive an ambulance at the front in wartime -without having more or less trouble, as you know, and I cannot -understand why so much should have been made of this accident by my -superior. It was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">42</a></span> an accident, I was driving fast, but I deny most -emphatically that I was careless or that a slower rate of speed would -have prevented the collision.”</p> - -<p>“Others will be the judge of that, Mrs. Gray,” rebuked the officer. -“Mrs. Smythe makes a further charge against you. She asserts that, -after you all fell into the river, you handled her roughly. Not only -that but that you tried to drown her.”</p> - -<p>“Mrs. Smythe is in error.”</p> - -<p>“You held my head under water!” cried the supervisor.</p> - -<p>“I was trying to rescue you, Mrs. Smythe, but you fought me, and -to save you I was obliged first to subdue you. The accusation is -preposterous. I am not a Hun. Are there any other charges, Captain?”</p> - -<p>“I believe not. Those already named are quite sufficient. Mrs. Smythe, -is there anything you wish to add to the statement you have already -made?” questioned the captain.</p> - -<p>“Yes, there is. I demand that this woman be dismissed from the service. -She is unfit for our purposes, and I refuse to have anything further to -do with her,” declared the supervisor heatedly.</p> - -<p>Grace smiled down on her superior, but made no comment.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">43</a></span> -“That I cannot do,” answered the captain. “The most that I am empowered -to do is to request her organization to withdraw her from your service. -I should say, however, that such a request had best come from you. -However, I agree with you that Mrs. Gray should be punished for what -verges on criminal carelessness.”</p> - -<p>“I should say it was criminal carelessness,” muttered the angry woman.</p> - -<p>“What I can do is to relieve her from duty until—”</p> - -<p>“Sir,” interjected Grace Harlowe in an even tone, “as I understand -the military law in the case, you have no authority to do even -that. You can recommend, but you have no authority to go further. I -shall be obliged to stand on my rights. I say this in no spirit of -insubordination, and with full knowledge that I am responsible to -the military authorities for my conduct. If it is your belief that I -should be relieved from duty, I hope you will make the recommendation -to your superior, who, in turn, can pass the recommendation on to a -higher authority. By the time these formalities have been observed -we undoubtedly shall have arrived at the Rhine, where a more formal -hearing may be more conveniently held. I hope I have made myself -perfectly clear both as to meaning and intent, sir.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">44</a></span> -“Perfectly,” observed the captain sarcastically. “I agree with you in -your interpretation of your rights in the case, and I shall, as you -suggest, make my recommendations to my superior officer.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you.”</p> - -<p>“My recommendation will be that you be dismissed from service with the -Army of Occupation and returned to your organization in Paris. That -is all, Mrs. Gray. In the meantime you will proceed with your work as -before. A car will be turned over to you to-morrow morning. That’s all!”</p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -</div> - -<h2><a name="iv" id="iv"></a>CHAPTER IV<br /> -<small>A TIMELY MEETING</small></h2> - - -<p class="noi"><span class="dropcap"><span class="dropcap2">“</span>G</span>RACE HARLOWE, I am proud of you,” glowed Elfreda as they left the -headquarters of Captain Rowland.</p> - -<p>“You may not be if Mrs. Smythe has her way. She plainly has more or -less influence in high places. You saw how thoroughly against me the -captain was, didn’t you?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, but he agreed with the soundness of your argument.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">45</a></span> -“He had to. He knew I was right. What pleases me most of all is that -I shall have the pleasure of driving Madame to-morrow. Beyond that I -cannot say.”</p> - -<p>“My legal training tells me that we should make some overtures in high -places ourselves. You surely will not stand by and let the supervisor -have her way?”</p> - -<p>“Why not?”</p> - -<p>“Could we reach Tom, who is somewhere in line on this march to the -Rhine, he would be able to assist us,” reflected Elfreda.</p> - -<p>Grace shook her head.</p> - -<p>“Having gotten into this mess I shall get out of it of my own self, so -possess your soul in peace, J. Elfreda. Here we are at our suburban -home. I wonder who left the fagots for us? We have enough left for our -morning tea, no matter what else happens.”</p> - -<p>“Humph!” exclaimed Miss Briggs. “I should consider, were I in your -place, that I had something of more importance to worry about. I’m -going to bed. By the way, where did Madame get that wooden-faced maid -of hers?”</p> - -<p>Grace said she did not know, and would not even try to guess. The -Overton girls soon were rolled in their blankets, and, despite the -hard boards underneath them, went to sleep at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">46</a></span> once. They were used -to hardships, and a little matter like a hard bed was not a thing to -retard their sleep for many moments.</p> - -<p>Grace was up at break of day next morning. After dressing she stepped -out for a long breath of fresh, crisp air and a look about. There was -activity all about her, and the smoke of rolling kitchens and the odor -of cooking food was on the air. Glancing to the eastward and into the -haze of the early morning, Grace Harlowe’s eyes dwelt momentarily on -a little strip of forest about a quarter of a mile from her point of -observation, then passed on.</p> - -<p>A bird was rising from among the trees in the forest. She saw it circle -and spiral, steadily rising higher and higher, finally setting out on a -course to the eastward. Many times had the Overton girls seen pigeons -bearing messages of great moment start out from the American lines, and -what she had just witnessed was so much like the flight of a carrier -pigeon that she could not believe it was not one. The difference that -caused the doubt of her vision was that the pigeons she had seen in -flight were always headed to the westward, while this one was flying -east.</p> - -<p>“There goes another!” exclaimed Grace. “This doesn’t look right.”</p> - -<p>Three birds in all arose, circled and soared to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">47</a></span> the eastward while -she stood watching. Grace wondered what it could mean, there now being -no doubt in her mind that she had witnessed the flight of war pigeons. -Returning to the cellar, she awakened Miss Briggs, told her to get up -and make the tea, started the fire and went out with the mess kits to -fetch their breakfast.</p> - -<p>Breakfast was rather hurried, as Grace knew she would have to look -for the car that she was to drive that morning, and that operation -undoubtedly would consume some little time. It did. She was sent from -officer to officer before she found the one who was to assign a car -to her, and even then she had difficulty in obtaining possession of -the vehicle. At last she succeeded in getting it, and lost no time in -getting away with the machine before it should be grabbed by some one -else.</p> - -<p>Pulling up before their cellar she jumped out and ran down to assist in -loading aboard their belongings.</p> - -<p>“All aboard for the River Rhine, Elfreda,” she called cheerily. “We are -going to enjoy this drive, I know. The air is fine.”</p> - -<p>“I can’t say as much for the water in this neck of the woods. That -water yesterday was beastly. Don’t you dare give me another such a -bath, Grace Harlowe,” warned Elfreda.</p> - -<p>“No, I’m determined to be good to-day and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">48</a></span> not do a thing to rile our -supervisor. You shall see how nice I can be to her. Come, we must get -ready.”</p> - -<p>A few moments later they pulled up before Mrs. Smythe’s cellar and sat -waiting for her to appear, after having given a few discreet honks on -the horn. When the supervisor emerged with her maid and Miss O’Leary, -her face wore a hard expression that had not been there before.</p> - -<p>Grace, jumping out, opened the car door for her, slammed it shut after -the passengers were in, and saluted snappily.</p> - -<p>“Does not Miss Cahill ride with us to-day?” she questioned.</p> - -<p>“Carry on as you are!” commanded Mrs. Smythe.</p> - -<p>“Very good,” answered the Overton girl, climbing to her seat.</p> - -<p>“Just a moment,” commanded the supervisor. “You are to drive slowly -to-day. At the first indication of recklessness or the slightest -disobedience of orders I shall call an officer to place you under -arrest for insubordination. Do you get me clearly?”</p> - -<p>“I get you quite clearly, Madame,” answered Grace smilingly. “What -speed—three, five, ten, fifteen, twenty, thirty or forty miles?”</p> - -<p>“You know what I mean. I ordered you to drive slowly.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">49</a></span> -Grace swung into the highway and started off at a speed of about five -miles an hour, but she had not gone far ere the rasping voice of her -superior ordered her to drive, not creep.</p> - -<p>The speed of the car was increased to ten miles an hour, but beyond -this the Overton girl would not go, despite the insistent demands of -Mrs. Smythe. Finally exasperated beyond measure, Grace stopped the car -at the side of the road and faced her supervisor.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps, Madame, you would prefer to have Miss Briggs drive the car?”</p> - -<p>“No, thank you,” spoke up Elfreda.</p> - -<p>“Are you a safe driver?” demanded Mrs. Smythe.</p> - -<p>“Very, but I am not a skilled driver.”</p> - -<p>“Take the wheel. You can do no worse than the present driver.”</p> - -<p>“I will settle with you for this later,” muttered J. Elfreda in a low -voice to her companion. “I call this a low-down trick. I probably shall -turn you all over in the ditch.”</p> - -<p>“Go as far as you like,” answered Grace, getting out to enable Elfreda -to take the driver’s seat. Miss Briggs fumbled, stalled the car, but -after a few back-fires succeeded in getting under way, the passenger -growing more and more irritable as the moments passed.</p> - -<p>Elfreda shot ahead with a jolt that brought a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">50</a></span> torrent of abuse from -the supervisor, and narrowly missed smashing into an officer’s car -ahead. A few rods further on, in attempting to dodge an army truck, -J. Elfreda Briggs came to grief. One of the rear wheels of the army -automobile slipped from the road into a shallow ditch, the wheels sank -into the soft mud and the car began to settle, threatening every second -to turn over on its side. Grace snapped off the spark and silenced the -motors, her quick action saving them from a bad spill. Elfreda had -wholly lost her head.</p> - -<p>“Drive out, drive out!” cried Mrs. Smythe.</p> - -<p>“I—I can’t,” gasped Miss Briggs. “The wheels will go around but the -car won’t move. What shall I do?”</p> - -<p>“We must all get out,” directed Grace.</p> - -<p>Just then a car slipped past them and brought up abruptly. Grace -observed that it was an officer’s car, but beyond that gave no heed. A -second or so later she saw two men get out and walk back toward them.</p> - -<p>“I thought I recognized you when we passed, Mrs. Gray,” called a -familiar voice. “Are you in need of assistance?”</p> - -<p>“Why, Colonel Gordon—I mean General Gordon,” corrected Grace, -flushing. “I am glad to see you and glad of the opportunity to -congratulate you on your promotion.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">51</a></span> -“You are no more delighted to see me than I am to meet you again. I -believe this is Miss Briggs, isn’t it? Mrs. Gray and Miss Briggs, meet -Captain Boucher of the Intelligence Department.”</p> - -<p>The general and the captain shook hands cordially with both Overton -girls, the general giving a quick, comprehensive glance at the -occupants of the rear seats, and nodding ever so slightly. Grace did -not offer to introduce either to the supervisor.</p> - -<p>“Mrs. Gray is the young woman who saved my life in the Argonne, -Captain. I could tell you a lot more about her, but I know it would -embarrass her if I did. Miss Briggs, I did not know that you drove.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t,” answered J. Elfreda rather abruptly.</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes she does,” insisted Grace. “At least she has just driven -us into a ditch. Miss Briggs learned to drive immediately after the -armistice was signed, but in doing so she smashed up two army cars and -ran over a major. She will soon be up to my record. My latest exploit, -General, was trying conclusions with the concrete railing of a bridge -yesterday. The bridge won and we all went into the river.”</p> - -<p>“Was that your car that I saw hanging over the edge of a bridge near -Etain, Mrs. Gray?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">52</a></span> -“Yes, sir, that was the car.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Smythe who had been controlling her emotions with some success, -now interjected herself into the conversation.</p> - -<p>“General, I think I have met you. I am Mrs. Chadsey Smythe, in command -of the welfare workers of—”</p> - -<p>The general and the captain saluted, smiled and turned back to Grace.</p> - -<p>“That was not the worst of it,” resumed Grace. “I had with me my -supervisor, a somewhat irritable person. She went into the river with -the rest of us, and of course I went to her rescue and, with the -assistance of some doughboys, got her out. My supervisor was not a -grateful person—she accused me of trying to drown her.”</p> - -<p>The officers laughed heartily.</p> - -<p>“That surely was a good joke, Mrs. Gray,” observed the general, -regarding her quizzically.</p> - -<p>J. Elfreda Briggs had forgotten her own troubles in her delight at the -trend of the conversation.</p> - -<p>“Let us have the rest of the story. You will pardon us for reminiscing, -Mrs. Smythe,” begged the general, observing the angry look on the face -of the supervisor. “Listen, Captain. The worst is yet to come. I know -Mrs. Gray.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">53</a></span> -“There is not much more to relate,” continued Grace smilingly. “I -had been driving in a way that did not please my supervisor and she -was thoroughly angry with me on that account, and not wholly without -reason, for I was going too fast for the crowded condition of the road. -Well, the result of all this was that she made complaint against me and -I was called before an officer for a hearing.”</p> - -<p>“Eh? What’s that?” demanded the general.</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir. I was accused of reckless driving and with intent to drown -my superior officer.”</p> - -<p>“The woman accused you of that?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir.”</p> - -<p>The two officers laughed heartily.</p> - -<p>“Ridiculous!” exclaimed the general. “Was the woman suffering from -shell shock or was it a chronic condition with her?”</p> - -<p>“I’m sure I don’t know, sir,” answered Grace meekly. “As I have already -said, I was called before a captain, who among other things questioned -me sharply about the decorations I wore, the intimation being that I -had no right to them. Of course I do not know who suggested the thought -to him. I declined to discuss the matter, taking the liberty of saying -to him that General Gordon was familiar with the circumstances of at -least one of my decorations.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">54</a></span> -“I should say so. Who was the officer?”</p> - -<p>“Captain Rowland of the Forty-Ninth, sir.”</p> - -<p>“Ah! Please proceed.”</p> - -<p>“The captain was of the opinion that I should be punished and was for -dismissing me from the army and sending me back to Paris, until I took -the liberty of pointing out to him that he had no authority to do so, -that he could make recommendations, but had not the power to enforce in -this instance.”</p> - -<p>“You were right. What were his recommendations?”</p> - -<p>“That I be dismissed and sent back to my organization.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you. I am glad you told me the story. It is most interesting, I -assure you. Mrs. Gray, it was on my urgent recommendation that you were -directed to join this march and go with us to the Rhine. Having done -so I shall make it my business to see to it that a crazy woman and a -misinformed officer do not interfere with my plans. I will discuss this -matter with you further later on. Captain, do you mind ordering some -men to place this car back in the road?”</p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">55</a></span> -</div> - - -<h2><a name="v" id="v"></a>CHAPTER V<br /> -<small>GRACE WINS AND IS SORRY</small></h2> - - -<p class="noi"><span class="dropcap">T</span>HE general saluted and stepped away, and in a moment or so a squad of -soldiers ran to the car.</p> - -<p>“All hands out, please,” called Grace. “No need to have them lift us -with the car.”</p> - -<p>Up to this time J. Elfreda had not dared permit herself to catch -Grace’s eye, knowing very well that were she to do so she would laugh. -Perhaps “Captain” Grace was of the same opinion regarding her own -emotions, so she avoided Elfreda’s eyes. The men quickly boosted the -car back into the road.</p> - -<p>“Take the wheel and make a fresh start, Elfreda,” directed Grace, after -thanking the doughboys.</p> - -<p>“I beg most respectfully to be excused. Mrs. Smythe, I ask to be -relieved from driving. An empty road and a wide one is the only safe -place for me to experiment. May I turn the wheel over to Mrs. Gray?”</p> - -<p>The supervisor half nodded. She was dazed, at least she appeared to be -so, and had not a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">56</a></span> word to say. At least two of her companions in the -car found themselves wondering what her thoughts were at that moment. -After a little Elfreda ventured to speak.</p> - -<p>“How wide and expansive the morning is,” she observed.</p> - -<p>“Very,” agreed Grace. “I don’t know what you are talking about, but I -agree with you.”</p> - -<p>A great silence hovered over the army automobile, so far as the rear -seat was concerned, though eventually Grace and Elfreda fell to -discussing army matters of a general nature. At noon they halted for -mess, then proceeded on at slow speed, for they were close up to the -engineers, who were following the advance column to examine roads for -mines and repair them where necessary.</p> - -<p>Thus far not a gun had been fired, though at any moment a blast was -looked for by every one in the Third Army. Airplanes were constantly -buzzing overhead, observation balloons were continuously on watch in -the skies, and every precaution was being taken to guard against a -surprise. That night their bedroom again was in a cellar, and once more -Won Lue brought them fagots and water.</p> - -<p>They had left Mrs. Chadsey Smythe at the cellar that had been assigned -to her. Miss Cahill arrived at about the same time on an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">57</a></span> army truck -and shared the cellar with Madame, Miss O’Leary and the maid, Marie -Debussy.</p> - -<p>“Grace Harlowe, I take off my hat to you,” Elfreda exclaimed, throwing -off her cap and blouse. “Chad got her deserts that time, but, woman, -look out for her. Revenge is as sweet to her as it is to you.”</p> - -<p>“Revenge is not sweet to me,” objected Grace. “I am so sorry that I -turned the tables on her as I did, but it was an opportunity that I -could not miss. At least it served one useful purpose; Madame did not -speak to me all the rest of the day. What a heavenly relief. Do you -suppose the general knew who she was?”</p> - -<p>“He may have known who she was, but I do not believe he understood that -she was the woman to whom you referred. I hope the general doesn’t find -out that he was abusing the woman to her face,” Elfreda chuckled.</p> - -<p>“He will learn it the first time I see him. I feel that I did an -inexcusable thing in drawing him into the muss as I did. I am always -doing the wrong thing at the wrong time.”</p> - -<p>“It is war,” reminded Elfreda. “Ah! Here comes our friend the Chinaman. -Good evening, Won. What is it?”</p> - -<p>“Plenty fline apple,” he answered, emptying out full two quarts of red -apples from a gas mask bag.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">58</a></span> -“Oh, isn’t that fine,” glowed Elfreda. “I haven’t had an apple since I -left America. Grace, what do you think of that?”</p> - -<p>“I think Won must have found an orchard in a cellar somewhere. Thank -you ever so much. Why do you do so many nice things for us?”</p> - -<p>“Nicee lady, a-la. Missie see nicee birdie fly fly away?” Won -accompanied the words with a wink and knowing smirk.</p> - -<p>“What do you mean?” demanded Grace, regarding him narrowly.</p> - -<p>For answer Won formed a spiral in the air with one hand, raising the -hand a little higher with each circle, then sending the hand flitting -through the air in imitation of a bird’s flight.</p> - -<p>Grace caught the meaning instantly.</p> - -<p>“Oh, you mean a bird?”</p> - -<p>“Les. Plidgin bird. Him fly, a-la. Missie see plidgin fly.”</p> - -<p>“Did you see it, Won?”</p> - -<p>“Me savvy. Me see.”</p> - -<p>“Do you know where they came from, where they were going or who sent -them? Understand me?”</p> - -<p>“Not know. Plenty blad man. Mebby Chinaman blad man.”</p> - -<p>“Why do you tell me, then?”</p> - -<p>“Missie no like blad man, no likee plidgin go so,” pointing to the -east.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">59</a></span> -“Thank you. I understand. You must keep watch, Won, and let me know who -is making the ‘plidgin fly-fly.’”</p> - -<p>Won nodded and chuckled, then shaking hands with himself, trotted away -without another word.</p> - -<p>“What was that wild heathen talking about?” demanded Elfreda. “You -appeared to understand perfectly what he was getting at, but I couldn’t -make a single thing out of it.”</p> - -<p>“He was trying to convey to me that something bad is going on in the -Third Army.”</p> - -<p>“What is the something?”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps I shall be able to tell you about that later. Won is a wise -Chinaman. He knew that I knew something was going on and wished to let -me know he was on our side. I don’t believe many of the Orientals in -the labor battalion are in the same class with our friend. To change -the subject, do you know I feel sorry for that poor little Marie -Debussy. The half dumb way she looks at you is almost heart-breaking. -Mrs. Smythe must make her life miserable. When we get to the Rhine we -must try to do something for the girl. Did you observe that Miss Cahill -came through on a camion to-day?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I observed it.”</p> - -<p>“Mrs. Smythe evidently did not propose to be so crowded.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">60</a></span> -“No, she wished to be free to jump if you hit another bridge,” declared -Elfreda.</p> - -<p>Supper was attended with the same smoke-screen as had happened at the -meal of the previous evening, but they enjoyed their mess and chatted -and teased each other until it was time to turn in.</p> - -<p>Grace was up at daybreak again, but did not awaken her companion. The -morning was very chill, but the air was clear, and Grace with her -binoculars surveyed the surrounding country as well as she could in the -half light of the early morning, appearing to be especially interested -in every clump of trees within the range of her vision.</p> - -<p>Day was just dawning when she discovered that of which she was in -search, a pigeon rising into the air from a field quite a distance to -the southward. As on the previous occasion the pigeon flew east, and -was followed at regular intervals by two others.</p> - -<p>There could be no doubt about it now. War pigeons were being sent -toward the enemy country, though Grace was not at all certain that it -was enemy agents who were doing the sending. In any event it was a -matter that should be reported, which the Overton girl determined to do -that very day.</p> - -<p>Without saying anything to her companion<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">61</a></span> of what she had observed, -Grace ate her breakfast, and asking Elfreda to clean up and pack up, -set out for Mrs. Smythe’s headquarters. The supervisor was just eating -her breakfast. Her face flushed as she saw who her visitor was, but she -spoke no word, merely stared.</p> - -<p>“I have come, Mrs. Smythe, for two reasons; first, to ask what your -orders are for the day; secondly, to tell you I am sorry that I gave -way to my inclinations yesterday and related the story of our trouble -to the general. I ordinarily fight my own battles. You must admit, -however, that I had very excellent reasons for feeling as I did toward -you.”</p> - -<p>“You insulted and humiliated me!” cried the supervisor, suddenly -finding speech.</p> - -<p>“And you also have insulted and humiliated me,” replied Grace. “It -is my feeling that you were well entitled to all that you received, -but my regret is that I permitted myself to be the instrument of the -rebuke. You are my superior. I am at all times ready to take and obey -any reasonable orders that you may give me. However, we must understand -each other. My self-respect will not permit me to remain silent under -such tongue-lashings as you have been indulging in. It must cease, Mrs. -Smythe!”</p> - -<p>“You—you are telling me, your commanding<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">62</a></span> officer, what I must do?” -demanded the woman, exercising more than ordinary self-restraint.</p> - -<p>“No, not that, Mrs. Smythe. What I am seeking to do is to convince you -that it will not be advisable for the peace of mind of either of us for -you to continue your unkind treatment of me.”</p> - -<p>“And, in the event that I decide to do as I please in all matters -relating to your official duties, what then?”</p> - -<p>Grace shrugged her shoulders.</p> - -<p>“Attention!”</p> - -<p>Grace smiled sweetly.</p> - -<p>“The regulations do not require me to salute a superior when that -superior is seated, without head covering and with blouse unbuttoned. -Neither do the regulations require that I shall come to attention in -such circumstances. This is not an official call and I do not expect -you to receive me as such, therefore you must expect no more of me. I -am here as woman to woman to ask that you treat me like a human being, -and then to ask your forgiveness for my questionable revenge of to-day. -Even the Huns have signed an armistice and agreed to cease fighting. -Surely you and I as good Americans should be able to settle our -differences by declaring an armistice; and you may rest assured that I -shall do my part toward preserving the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">63</a></span> peace. What are your feelings -on the matter and your orders for the day, please?”</p> - -<p>“Driver, my feelings are my own. You came here with the deliberate -intention of further insulting me.”</p> - -<p>“I am sincerely sorry that you look at it in that light. I know you -will not feel that way after you have thought over what I have said.”</p> - -<p>“Have you anything further to say, driver? If so, say it and have done, -for it will be your last opportunity.”</p> - -<p>“Only to ask again for orders, Mrs. Smythe,” replied Grace sweetly.</p> - -<p>“My orders are that you get out of my sight instantly!” The supervisor -rose, buttoned her blouse to the throat and put on her cap. “Go!” she -commanded, pointing to the cellar opening.</p> - -<p>Grace Harlowe clicked her heels together and snapped into a salute, -then executing a right-about, marched from the cellar and back to her -own headquarters under a ruined cottage.</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">64</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="vi" id="vi"></a>CHAPTER VI<br /> -<small>MESSING WITH A BRIGADIER</small></h2> - - -<p class="noi"><span class="dropcap"><span class="dropcap2">“</span>T</span>HE car has gone?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, Mrs. Gray. One of our men drivers took it out under orders this -morning,” the sergeant informed her.</p> - -<p>“Whose orders?”</p> - -<p>“Captain Grant’s.”</p> - -<p>“No provision then has been made for a car for me?” questioned Grace.</p> - -<p>“Not that I am aware of. Sorry, but I can’t help it. It’s orders.”</p> - -<p>“I understand, Sergeant. I think a hike will do myself and my friend -good.”</p> - -<p>“Would you ride on a truck?”</p> - -<p>“Of course if necessary, but I think we prefer to walk, thank you. I -always did enjoy hiking. You don’t know whether or not the car has gone -on?”</p> - -<p>“It went on less than five minutes before you came out. Four women in -it, the same ones you carried before.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you, Sergeant. May I offer you a package of cigarettes?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">65</a></span> -He said she might, and thanked her, a broad grin on his face.</p> - -<p>“The old party hasn’t passed out a thing since we started,” he informed -her.</p> - -<p>“I know it. She informs me that none will be distributed from the -canteen until we reach the Rhine. Thank you very much for your -kindness.” Grace returned to their cellar, where she found Elfreda -awaiting her with more or less impatience. Their mess kits and other -supplies were packed.</p> - -<p>“Where is the car? I didn’t hear you drive up,” questioned Miss Briggs.</p> - -<p>“Mrs. Chadsey Smythe took the car and a soldier driver, and went on, I -am informed.”</p> - -<p>“What?”</p> - -<p>“You and I are going to enjoy a lovely twelve-mile walk this morning, -and I know it will do us a world of good. We have been riding too much -since we came over here.”</p> - -<p>“I call that an outrage!” expostulated J. Elfreda. “What about all this -stuff?”</p> - -<p>“We will carry our own kits. Our bags and what little government -property we have here we will try to get on a truck. The rest will -be easy. I had an interview with Madame in her cellar this morning. -I tried to come to an amicable settlement of our difficulties, but -she threatened me and drove me out. It is quite<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">66</a></span> evident that General -Gordon has not taken action, as he said he would. However, I feel that -we are going to be all right and that we shall arrive at the Rhine -flying high.”</p> - -<p>“Tell me about it,” urged Elfreda.</p> - -<p>Grace did so, her companion listening with narrowed eyes.</p> - -<p>“This passes all comprehension, Grace. I can’t believe that the woman -is so bad as she would have us think her. You must admit that she is a -good American else she would not be here, suffering all the discomforts -of army life.”</p> - -<p>“That is the way I have reasoned it out, Elfreda, and that is why I -went to see her this morning, hoping that after yesterday she might -have seen a light—instead she saw red,” added Grace, smiling up at -her companion. “Let’s get our luggage out and I will look up one of -our unit’s wagons. Perhaps we may arrange our day’s journey quite -satisfactorily.”</p> - -<p>They were fortunate in finding one of their own camions that was just -starting out, and the driver was more than willing to take their -belongings and asked them to ride through with him, but Grace said they -preferred to walk, now that their car had gone on without them.</p> - -<p>The Overton girls set out bravely, falling in behind the regiment with -which they had been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">67</a></span> billeted. There were many offers of a ride on -wagons of their train, and doughboys frequently urged them to turn over -their kits, to all of which Grace gave a smiling “Thank you” and shook -her head.</p> - -<p>They were two weary girls when they arrived at their objective, and -while Elfreda was in search of a cellar, Grace looked up the driver who -had their belongings and carried them to the side of the street to a -point where Elfreda was to meet her.</p> - -<p>“I have a whole house for us,” cried Miss Briggs, running up to Grace -nearly half an hour later. “It is what is left of a peasant cottage. -Part of the roof is shot away, but what is left of it will cover us -very nicely. There is a fireplace where we can make our tea, and enough -pieces of board about to make a roaring fire and keep us warm.”</p> - -<p>“Fine. Help me carry the things in, then I will report our location to -Company A’s commander. I don’t suppose you chance to know where Mrs. -Smythe’s billet is?”</p> - -<p>“Neither know nor care, Grace Harlowe. I have troubles of my own, the -principal one being a pair of feet that weigh several pounds above -normal. Let’s go!”</p> - -<p>Grace was delighted with their quarters, and the two girls promptly set -about arranging<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">68</a></span> their belongings. “Captain” Grace then reported their -billet to a lieutenant of Company A, which was according to orders.</p> - -<p>When she returned to the cottage a car was standing before it, and -Elfreda was at the door of the house watching for her.</p> - -<p>“What is it?”</p> - -<p>“General Gordon’s car,” said Elfreda. “He has sent it for us, -requesting that we mess with him. It strikes me that this is moving -some. I hope Chad doesn’t hear of it, or she will have us drawn and -quartered at sunrise.”</p> - -<p>Grace stepped out to the driver.</p> - -<p>“Can you wait fifteen minutes, Buddy? We simply must slick up before we -go.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, Mrs. Gray. Take your time.”</p> - -<p>The girls changed their clothes, brushed their hair and put on clean -boots, and came out fit for the most rigid inspection.</p> - -<p>The general’s driver was not a slow driver, and ten minutes later they -halted before a cottage that appeared to be whole. It was about the -only one in town that escaped the deluge of Hun steel that had been -hurled on the little French village. The general met the Overton girls -at the door and led them in. Captain Boucher was there, and a Major -Colt, who was a member of the balloon corps, and to whom he introduced -both women.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">69</a></span> -A cheerful fire was blazing in the wide fireplace, and a table was set -for five, while a Chinaman was cooking the supper over the fire.</p> - -<p>“How cheerful,” exclaimed Grace. “We too have a cottage and fireplace, -but we lack a roof, and what heat doesn’t go up the chimney goes -through the place where the roof once was.”</p> - -<p>“How is your superior behaving to-day?” questioned the general -quizzically.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know, not having seen her since early morning, sir. I wish to -make a confession to you, and now is the proper time to do so. I feel -that I took an inexcusable advantage of you yesterday in telling you -of my supervisor’s shortcomings in her presence. Mrs. Chadsey Smythe -was the woman I referred to, and she was in the car when I told you the -story. She also, of course, heard you express your opinion of her. I -owe you an apology, General, but do not see how you can overlook what I -did.”</p> - -<p>General Gordon laughed heartily.</p> - -<p>“No apology is necessary. I knew that it was she to whom you referred. -Even had I not known it, her face would have told me. I expressed -myself as I did, partly for her own good. I take it that she hasn’t -been driving with you to-day?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">70</a></span> -“No, sir. She preferred to drive with some one else. When do we reach -the Rhine, if I may ask, sir?”</p> - -<p>“Four or five days hence. We could do it in much less time, but the -enemy is moving slowly, and you know we cannot hurry him, much as we -should like to. Things have been moving smoothly thus far, but I am of -the opinion that we shall meet with little friendliness after we cross -the Moselle. So you ladies hiked through to-day, eh?”</p> - -<p>Grace’s face flushed and Elfreda looked amazed.</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir, so long as you have mentioned the subject. May I ask how you -know?” questioned Grace.</p> - -<p>“Our Intelligence Department hears and sees all things,” the general -informed her, waving a hand toward Captain Boucher.</p> - -<p>“Are you quite positive as to that, General?” returned “Captain” Grace -suggestively.</p> - -<p>“What do you mean?” demanded the captain, pricking up his ears.</p> - -<p>“I was wondering if the Intelligence Department had reason to believe -we had spies with us in this army of invasion,” smiled the Overton -girl. She observed a quick flash in the eyes of the Intelligence -officer, followed by an expression of inquiry there.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">71</a></span> -“We will be seated now, if you please. Sorry, Mrs. Gray, that we can -offer you nothing better than a board to sit on.”</p> - -<p>“A board for a seat is luxury compared with what we have had for the -last several evenings. Miss Briggs and myself have been dining sitting -on a cellar floor,” replied Grace brightly, taking a seat at the right -of the general, Elfreda being placed between Captain Boucher and Major -Colt on the opposite side of the table.</p> - -<p>“To return to your hike, I am very sorry that you did not inform me of -the difficulty. Was the action taken without notice to you?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir.”</p> - -<p>“What led up to it? Had you any conversation with Mrs. Smythe last -evening?”</p> - -<p>“Not last evening. I had this morning. It was this way, sir. I went -to her headquarters and tried to get her to see the matter in a right -light and at the same time to warn her that I could tolerate no further -insults from her. I should prefer to say nothing about it, for I do not -like to talk behind a person’s back, much preferring to speak out when -that person is present and can answer.”</p> - -<p>“So I observed the other day. I don’t know about finding another car -for you, but in any event I will see that you and Miss Briggs have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">72</a></span> -places in an officer’s car for the rest of the journey.”</p> - -<p>“Have you ever been up in the air, Mrs. Gray?” interjected Major Colt.</p> - -<p>Grace said she had, and related her experience when on a flight with -Hippy Wingate, which interested and amused the officers very much.</p> - -<p>“Never been in an observation balloon?” questioned the major.</p> - -<p>“No, sir.”</p> - -<p>“With the general’s permission, I should be glad to have you go up with -me, and Miss Briggs too, though she would have to go in another car or -else wait until a later date, for the basket is not roomy enough for so -many.”</p> - -<p>“If I am permitted to say so without offense, I believe I should prefer -to remain on the ground,” spoke up J. Elfreda. “I have no ambition to -soar.”</p> - -<p>“How about you, Mrs. Gray?”</p> - -<p>“I should be delighted, sir.”</p> - -<p>“Done! To-morrow if the weather looks promising; otherwise on the -following day, if that is agreeable.”</p> - -<p>Grace said it was.</p> - -<p>“I warn you, though,” she added, “that you will be taking desperate -chances if I go with you.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">73</a></span> -“How so?”</p> - -<p>“Mrs. Gray means that something always happens when she is along,” -Elfreda informed them.</p> - -<p>“Nothing very serious can interfere with us now,” soothed the major. -“There are no Boche airplanes to shoot us down, no enemy artillery to -shoot off our cables, and, being attached to trucks, we shall move -along slowly and steadily behind the army, with a wonderful view spread -out before us.”</p> - -<p>“I know I shall enjoy it until—”</p> - -<p>“Until what?” demanded the general.</p> - -<p>“Until the cable breaks,” returned “Captain” Grace with a twinkle in -her eyes.</p> - -<p>“I will let you hear from me early in the morning, Mrs. Gray.”</p> - -<p>“And I will have a car to take you to the balloons or on toward the -front,” added the general. “Then that is settled.”</p> - -<p>“You spoke of spies a few moments ago,” spoke up Captain Boucher -inquiringly. “I was wondering if you had anything in mind?”</p> - -<p>“Likewise, I was wondering if you were having any spy scares?” answered -Grace.</p> - -<p>Captain Boucher reflected briefly.</p> - -<p>“We are,” he said. “I am revealing no military secrets when I say that -we are.”</p> - -<p>“You may speak frankly before Mrs. Gray,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">74</a></span> Captain,” interjected the -general. “She is something of an investigator herself, and if ever you -get in a pickle call on her to assist you.”</p> - -<p>“And make a mess of the case,” finished “Captain” Grace. “Pardon me.”</p> - -<p>“Military information of a vital nature is percolating to the enemy. Of -course an army always has and always will have traitors in it, enemy -subjects, I mean, but we thought we had stopped all the leaks. It -appears that we haven’t.”</p> - -<p>“It is an impossible task, Captain,” observed Grace.</p> - -<p>“So long as there are wars there will be spies,” added the general. -“All that we can do is to do our best to minimize the evil and deal -sternly with those we catch. Our people in Washington have not been in -sympathy with stern measures and the enemy knows this. The result is -they have been very bold. It was Mrs. Gray, I understand, Captain, who -was responsible for the capture of the spy André.”</p> - -<p>“And Madame de Beaupre,” added Captain Boucher.</p> - -<p>“Oh, you know about it, then?” exclaimed General Gordon.</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“Suppose we change the subject,” suggested<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">75</a></span> Grace, her face flushing. -“I never did like to hear myself talked about. May I ask if we are -using carrier pigeons on this march?” she questioned innocently.</p> - -<p>“Not to speak of. We have them, of course, but our lines of -communication are so open that birds are not needed. We have sent out a -few in an experimental way; but that is all.”</p> - -<p>“In which direction did they fly, sir, if I may ask?”</p> - -<p>“Westward, of course. Why do you ask?” demanded the captain, bending a -keen glance on the face of the Overton girl.</p> - -<p>“I wondered.”</p> - -<p>“Will you be good enough to tell us, Mrs. Gray, why you appear to be so -interested in carrier pigeons at this moment?” urged the Intelligence -officer.</p> - -<p>“Yes, what have you to suggest?” added the general.</p> - -<p>“That you watch the skies in the early morning. Pigeons are being flown -from this army in the early morning, and, sir, they are flying to the -eastward,” <a name="Grace" id="Grace"></a><ins title="Original has grace">Grace</ins> Harlowe informed them in a quiet tone.</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">76</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="vii" id="vii"></a>CHAPTER VII<br /> -<small>OFFICERS GET A SHOCK</small></h2> - - -<p class="noi"><span class="dropcap">E</span>VERY eye was fixed on Grace Harlowe’s face mid a tense silence. -General Gordon was the first to break the silence.</p> - -<p>“Ah! I was certain that you had something in mind,” he said.</p> - -<p>“I think you must be mistaken, Mrs. Gray,” objected Captain Boucher. -“What you probably saw was a bird and—”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir, it was a bird,” agreed “Captain” Grace amid much laughter.</p> - -<p>“Did you see the bird, or did some one tell about it?” persisted the -Intelligence officer.</p> - -<p>“I saw it, sir.”</p> - -<p>“Describe its manner of flight, if you can, please, and the point where -you saw it.”</p> - -<p>“The bird spiralled up after a little apparent uncertainty, then taking -a direct line, streaked it to the eastward. Two others followed it at -regular intervals. That was at Etain, and the birds were flown from a -little patch of woods to the south of the ruined village. I have seen -many pigeons flown in this war, Captain<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">77</a></span> Boucher, and I am familiar, in -a way, with their methods of operating.”</p> - -<p>“You surely have described it properly. You only saw three birds go up?”</p> - -<p>“That was all I saw at Etain.”</p> - -<p>“You have seen some since?” asked the general quickly.</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir. Three more were liberated from a field just at break of day -this morning. They too went east.”</p> - -<p>“Most remarkable,” declared the major gazing at her admiringly. “Our -Intelligence Department is obtaining some real intelligence.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, here’s a job for you, Captain. I’ll warrant you are up at break -of day to-morrow morning,” chuckled the general.</p> - -<p>“This is a serious matter, General,” reminded the captain. “It doesn’t -seem possible that a thing like that could be pulled off under the very -eyes of the army. However, if your information is correct, we shall -catch the culprit. May I ask you to take an early observation again in -the morning, Mrs. Gray?”</p> - -<p>“I shall be pleased to do so. If I may make a suggestion, I would urge -you to discuss nothing of this before the Chinaman. I observed that the -general sent him away before we began speaking; else I should not have -told you what I have,” said Grace.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">78</a></span> “You suspect that the Chinese are -involved in this? I hadn’t considered that at all.”</p> - -<p>“No, Captain, I do not—that is, I do not know, but it is well to be -cautious. I understand that the Chinese labor battalion was recruited -from a very bad element in China. They are great gamblers, as you all -know, and for a little money those fellows would go to any lengths. -Fertile ground for the Huns, sir.”</p> - -<p>General Gordon nodded his approval of the sentiment.</p> - -<p>“Boucher, would it not be well to make contact with a Chinaman and have -him watch his fellows?” asked the general.</p> - -<p>“Afraid we can’t trust them. We shall have to adopt other methods, -which we shall do at once.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps I may be able to assist you somewhat. I know one of them, and -I know that he knows of the flights of the birds. He knows that I saw -them; how, I can’t say.”</p> - -<p>“Who is he?” demanded the Intelligence officer sharply.</p> - -<p>“I should prefer not to say just now, and I hope you will not press -me on that point. I am asking that, believing that I can obtain -information from the man better than you can. What I learn from him may -not be very definite, but it may be an indication.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter width400"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">79</a></span> -<img src="images/rhine_p79.jpg" width="400" height="622" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">Every Eye Was Fixed on Grace Harlowe.</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">80</a></span> -“Better allow Mrs. Gray to operate in her own way, Boucher. That is my -advice,” urged the general.</p> - -<p>Captain Boucher nodded.</p> - -<p>“We will leave this particular Chinaman to you, Mrs. Gray. When you -have any information I trust you will advise me immediately, for -moments may be precious. I hope they send out other birds, desiring to -have the confirmation of my own eyes.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you, Captain.”</p> - -<p>“You have not spoken to any one about what you saw?” questioned the -Intelligence officer.</p> - -<p>“No, sir.”</p> - -<p>“That is well. Please do not. Pardon me, I am well aware that you are -too clever a woman to do that. I may need your assistance in other -matters when we get into enemy territory. If I may say so, you would -make an excellent secret service agent.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you, but I have no ambitions in that direction. My great -ambition at the moment is to finish with this miserable business and -go back to my home in the States with my husband, Captain Gray of the -engineers, and my adopted daughter who is now at school in Paris. -Believe me, gentlemen, when I do get back I shall be perfectly content -to stay at home, even on election day.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">81</a></span> -“We all feel as you do,” agreed the general, “but you, like the rest -of us, will be in the thick of things even then. One can’t get the -fireside habit immediately after having spent months on the western -front. I suppose you are thinking of getting back to your billets?” -suggested the general politely.</p> - -<p>“Yes, if you please, sir. I am most grateful for this pleasant evening -and the excellent dinner. The bacon tastes like that which we have at -home.”</p> - -<p>“Straight from the States,” the general informed her. “This, -unfortunately, is the last of it, and we shall live on army chow -hereafter, unless the Germans see fit to give us something more worth -while. The pleasure this evening has been wholly ours, Mrs. Gray and -Miss Briggs, and we thank you for coming. I am in hopes of meeting -your husband one of these days. I wish to tell him what I think of his -wife,” added the general.</p> - -<p>“I am grateful to you for the information,” said the captain in a low -tone, for the Chinese servant had just come in, though the general sent -him out immediately to order the car for the visitors.</p> - -<p>Good nights were said, and a few moments later the Overton girls were -on their way to their billets.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">82</a></span> -“You surely gave those army gentlemen a genuine shock, Loyalheart,” -declared Miss Briggs. “It was all news to me. How you can keep things -in the back of your head, and never say a word to your next best -friend, is more than I can understand. When did you see all you told -them about?”</p> - -<p>“While you were in dreamland, my dear. If you will rise early enough -to-morrow, you may see something too.”</p> - -<p>“No, thank you. My desire to sleep is greater than my curiosity. You -may do all the sleuthing you choose, J. Elfreda prefers her beauty -sleep. I wonder what Mrs. Smythe would say were she to know that we -had been dining with a general. I’ll venture to say that she does hear -about it; then look out for squalls. Here we are.”</p> - -<p>The car came to a stop before their billets, and as it did Grace -observed that some one was standing leaning against the wall of the -house. She could not make out much more than that in the darkness. -Perhaps it was some one seeking protection from the chill wind that was -sweeping up the street, and under which both girls were shivering a -little.</p> - -<p>Grace stepped up on the walk, went up to the man standing there, and -peered into his face.</p> - -<p>“Who are you?” she demanded.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">83</a></span> -“Me Won.”</p> - -<p>“Indeed! What are you doing here so late, Won?”</p> - -<p>“Me watchee.”</p> - -<p>“Watching what?” Grace was puzzled.</p> - -<p>“Watchee Missie Glay’s slatchel,” the Chinaman informed her, pointing -to something standing against the side of the building.</p> - -<p>“Elfreda, will you look here?” called Grace. “Our belongings are out -here on the street.”</p> - -<p>“You don’t say! What can have happened?”</p> - -<p>“I should say from the appearance of things that we had been evicted. -Who threw these things out, Won?”</p> - -<p>“Number one boss woman.”</p> - -<p>“Who?”</p> - -<p>“Blig boss woman. Tlow everything all over, a-la.”</p> - -<p>“Do you mean Mrs. Smythe?” demanded “Captain” Grace.</p> - -<p>“Les.”</p> - -<p>“I—I begin to understand,” gasped Miss Briggs. “She threw our -belongings into the street, eh?”</p> - -<p>“Les.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, for a place where I could practice law for one little half hour,” -raged J. Elfreda.</p> - -<p>“Why did she do that, Won?” questioned Grace Harlowe, though suspecting -the truth.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">84</a></span> -“Not know.”</p> - -<p>“Is she in there?” pointing to the cottage.</p> - -<p>“Les.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you, Won. It was very kind of you to watch our belongings. Don’t -go away yet, I may need you.”</p> - -<p>Grace tried the door and found it barred. She called, but there was no -answer.</p> - -<p>“This is provoking!” she exclaimed, now thoroughly exasperated.</p> - -<p>“What are you going to do?” asked Elfreda.</p> - -<p>“Wake up the house,” she replied shortly, stepping out into the street -and feeling about on the ground. “I think this will do it,” she -observed, returning to the sidewalk with a rock in one hand. It was -a sizable rock, a big cobblestone, with which the street was paved, -except for the holes that had been dug by German shells.</p> - -<p>“Hulloa the house!” shouted Grace.</p> - -<p>There was no response from within. Grace drew back the rock and banged -it against the door, but still no response. Now began such a banging as -awakened sleepers in the cellars all along the street, a banging that -attracted the attention of M. P.’s (military police) and that split a -board in the door itself.</p> - -<p>“Hulloa the house!” repeated the Overton girl.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">85</a></span> -“What do you want?” demanded a calm voice from within, in a tone that -convinced Grace Harlowe that its owner had not been asleep at all.</p> - -<p>“I wish to get into my billet, if you please.”</p> - -<p>“Then go to your billet,” suggested Mrs. Smythe.</p> - -<p>“These are our billets, Mrs. Smythe. If you wish to stay in them, you -are welcome so far as we are concerned, but you will please open the -door so we may come in.”</p> - -<p>“You are mistaken. These are not your billets; they are the -headquarters of the welfare supervisor. You will be good enough to go -away before it becomes necessary for me to call the police.”</p> - -<p>“Be so kind as to open the door!” demanded Grace evenly.</p> - -<p>“You threw our things into the street,” shouted Elfreda.</p> - -<p>Grace begged her to be quiet.</p> - -<p>“Will you go away?” demanded the supervisor, raising her voice.</p> - -<p>“Where shall we go? We have no place to sleep. You have thrown our kits -out, and we are very cold. I ask you once more to let us in.”</p> - -<p>“That does not concern me, driver. I am not interested in your domestic -affairs. Go away or I shall scream for the M. P.’s.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">86</a></span> -“Save your breath, they are coming now,” answered “Captain” Grace as -she heard men running toward them from two directions, and a moment -later half a dozen military police with drawn clubs came rushing on the -scene.</p> - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -</div> -<h2><a name="viii" id="viii"></a>CHAPTER VIII<br /> -<small>HUNLAND IS REACHED AT LAST</small></h2> - - -<p class="noi"><span class="dropcap"><span class="dropcap2">“</span>W</span>HAT’S all this row about?” demanded a gruff voice, and a heavy hand -was laid on Grace Harlowe’s shoulder.</p> - -<p>“Don’t get excited, Buddy,” answered Grace laughingly.</p> - -<p>“Woman!” he exclaimed.</p> - -<p>“Two of them,” added another M. P. “This needs investigation.”</p> - -<p>“Just a moment, please. I—”</p> - -<p>“Arrest those persons, whoever they are. They were trying to break into -this house!” shouted Mrs. Smythe.</p> - -<p>“Listen to me, Buddies, then arrest us if you think best. These were -our billets, but while we were out to dinner with some friends, -<em>officers</em> (she accentuated the word), our belongings<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">87</a></span> were thrown into -the street and the door barred against us. The woman who did it is Mrs. -Smythe, supervisor of the welfare workers with the Third Army. We are -both welfare workers.”</p> - -<p>“What’s your name?” demanded the M. P. a little less gruffly.</p> - -<p>“Grace Harlowe Gray, formerly ambulance driver on the western front.”</p> - -<p>“You don’t say!” Striding over to the door, the M. P. struck it a blow -with his club. “Open that door or I’ll beat it down!” he ordered.</p> - -<p>“No, no,” begged Grace, laying a restraining hand on his arm. “You -must not do that, Buddy. Remember there are women in there behind the -barred door. If you break it down you will find yourself in serious -difficulties. You were going to arrest us?” she asked teasingly, -leading him away from the door.</p> - -<p>“Arrest nothing. What’s that Chink doing against the wall?”</p> - -<p>“Watching our outfit. We were out, as I already have told you, when our -things were thrown out. The Chinaman was on hand and remained on guard -watching the stuff. I know him and will vouch for him, so please don’t -bother him.”</p> - -<p>“It goes if you say so. I know you, but you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">88</a></span> don’t know me. Where are -you going to sleep?”</p> - -<p>Grace said she did not know and asked him if he knew of a vacant place. -The M. P. said there wasn’t one in the village, but that he would turn -some fellows out of a cellar and give the place to the two women.</p> - -<p>“No, you will not,” declared Grace. “Never mind us, we can shift for -ourselves if you can rustle a couple of blankets for us. There is a car -just up the street; we can sleep in that.”</p> - -<p>“Five doughboys in it already,” the M. P. informed them. “Have to guess -again. I’ll tell you what. There’s a covered lorry further up the -street, loaded with supplies. We’ll unload enough of them to give you a -place to bunk in, if that will suit you.”</p> - -<p>“Fine!” glowed Grace. “We shall not be displacing any one and we shall -be quite comfortable, I know. Do you make a report of this matter?”</p> - -<p>“Sure I do. Want me to say anything in particular?”</p> - -<p>“The truth, nothing but the truth,” she advised. “Elfreda, shall we -shoulder our household belongings and move to our Pullman?”</p> - -<p>“I suppose so, but, my dear, I am bitterly disappointed that you didn’t -permit the M. P. to break the door in,” complained J. Elfreda.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">89</a></span> -“You may well be thankful that he did not. We are on the way to enough -trouble as it is. Won, will you carry some of our gear?”</p> - -<p>“Let the Chink go. We men will take care of the stuff,” spoke up an M. -P.</p> - -<p>Grace thanked the soldier and also shook hands with Won, then leaning -forward she whispered in his ear, “Watch the plidgins and tell me.” -Grace heard him chuckle and knew that it was all right. Elfreda -demanded to know what she was doing, but Grace merely laughed and -started on after the military police, who were carrying their equipment.</p> - -<p>The lorry proved to be a most comfortable place, though the girls knew -they would be somewhat cramped for room. Several cases of supplies were -removed by the men and stowed forward back of the driver’s seat. Two -pairs of blankets were produced, which Grace was quite certain had been -hooked from another truck, and dumped into their sleeping place.</p> - -<p>“I reckon that’s all we can do for you to-night,” announced the M. P. -“Sorry we can’t do more.”</p> - -<p>“You have done quite enough and we are grateful,” replied Grace -earnestly. “I know we shall have a fine night’s sleep in our—”</p> - -<p>“Rolling bedroom,” finished Elfreda.</p> - -<p>“Yes. Perhaps we may dream that we are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">90</a></span> gypsies. I fear I should just -love that vagabond life.”</p> - -<p>“No need to tell me that, Grace Harlowe. I have known it for a long -time. Suppose we make our beds and retire. Good-night, Buddies.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, good-night, and thank you all again,” added Grace.</p> - -<p>“We’ll just hook down the tailpiece so in case of storm you won’t get -wet. Here’s my club. Should any one bother you, bat him over the head -and yell for me. I’ll be on till four in the morning. Good-night.”</p> - -<p>The M. P. pulled down the canvas tailpiece and secured it, then the -girls heard them going away.</p> - -<p>“Even if the M. P.’s <em>are</em> ‘winning the war’ they’re real Americans,” -concluded Miss Briggs. “Are you going to undress?”</p> - -<p>Grace said she was not, so they removed their blouses, rolled in their -blankets and promptly went to sleep.</p> - -<p>It was some hours later when Grace Harlowe heard shouting, listened -half asleep, then went back into dreamland. Some time later she sat -up wide awake. The truck was swaying from side to side, jolting -disagreeably, and the horn up forward was honking like a frightened -wild goose leader warning its flock. She knew instantly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">91</a></span> what had -happened. The army train was under motion and they were going with it. -This was rather more than she had bargained for, and quickly pulling -an edge of the tailpiece aside, opening a narrow slit, the Overton -girl peered out. The scene was an unfamiliar one. They were out in the -country and there was no sign of the village where they had been only a -few minutes before, as it seemed to her.</p> - -<p>“Why, we must have been out for some time,” she marveled. “Br-r-r!” -Rain was falling, the wind was blowing a gale, and marching columns -that they were passing were soaked and the faces of the men wore surly -expressions.</p> - -<p>“No balloon flight to-day, so I suppose I might as well let well enough -alone and take what the kind fates have bestowed upon me,” concluded -the Overton girl. “Poor Elfreda doesn’t know anything about it. I think -I shall go back to sleep.”</p> - -<p>This Grace did. Along toward noon she was awakened by Elfreda, who was -shaking her.</p> - -<p>“Grace Harlowe, do you know where we are?” demanded Miss Briggs.</p> - -<p>“Of course I do,” muttered Grace.</p> - -<p>“Where?”</p> - -<p>“In a camion on our way to the Rhine. Did you only now discover that?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">92</a></span> -“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“What a sleepy-head! I knew that hours ago, but what was the use in -raising a row? We could not be better off.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, but our mess,” protested Elfreda.</p> - -<p>“We have sufficient in our kits for our needs. Let’s be sensible and -take it easy while we may. Think what a lovely time we are missing. We -might have had to walk.”</p> - -<p>“First this brave soldier would have deserted. The last walk was -exercise enough to last me for the rest of my life. Is it your -intention to stay in this wagon all day?”</p> - -<p>Grace said she hoped to be allowed to remain there undisturbed, -declaring that it was the most comfortable berth she had found since -coming to France, and suggested that they eat their breakfast. It was -not wholly a satisfying meal, but it was helped by a bottle of cold tea -which did very well to wash down the hardtack and tinned beef. Enough -of the tea was saved for their luncheon, for if the rain continued to -fall it was Grace’s intention not to get out at all. After breakfast -they lay down for another delicious nap, which was not long coming, -lulled as they were by the gusts of rain spattering over the top of -the camion. It was not until late in the afternoon that they finally -awakened.</p> - -<p>Peering out, Grace observed that the line<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">93</a></span> back of them was pulling -out of formation, which told her that the army was approaching its -objective for the day. The rain had stopped, but a strong wind was -whipping the clouds, and altogether the outlook was not a cheerful one.</p> - -<p>“Here is a village,” she cried. “I hope we have arrived. See, we too -are pulling out of formation.”</p> - -<p>Elfreda complained that, as Grace was using the only peep hole in the -house, she could see nothing.</p> - -<p>The camion soon stopped, then backed up, bumped against something as -it started backing again, and finally came to permanent rest. Grace -decided that it was time to bestir themselves and was about to call -through the opening she had made, for assistance, when some one began -unhooking the curtains.</p> - -<p>“Look out for a surprise,” whispered “Captain” Grace.</p> - -<p>The surprise came, but it was not theirs. The driver of the camion, -having unhooked the curtain, raised it up to secure it to the top, -probably to permit him to take out some supplies, and suddenly -discovered them.</p> - -<p>“Here you, get out of that before I yank you out!” he ordered roughly.</p> - -<p>“You wouldn’t do a thing like that, now would you, Buddy?” teased -Grace.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">94</a></span> -“What! Who are you?”</p> - -<p>Grace told him briefly how they came to be in the car, who they were -and what their business was.</p> - -<p>“You are probably all right, Miss, but if you are you will understand -that this isn’t quite regular,” he declared, considerably perplexed. -“I don’t know you. I shall have to call the corporal of the guard and -turn you over to him.” This the driver did. The corporal, after looking -them over, decided that he must refer the matter to the sergeant. The -sergeant was of the opinion that both were spies, and, conducting them -to a cellar, told them to go in and wait until he could report to his -superior officer.</p> - -<p>Grace told him what unit they belonged to and asked him to suggest -to his superior that he identify them through any officer in the -Forty-seventh.</p> - -<p>The sergeant went away, first taking the precaution to close and secure -the door from the outside. Grace Harlowe sat down on the cellar floor -and laughed until Elfreda, standing over her, hands on hips, thought -“Captain” Grace was becoming hysterical.</p> - -<p>“I see nothing in the present situation for merriment,” she rebuked -most emphatically.</p> - -<p>“It is your misfortune, Elfreda, that you have no sense of humor. That -you are lacking<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">95</a></span> in this is my one great sorrow in life,” saying which -Grace went into another spasm of laughter. She sobered suddenly and got -up. “I wish we had had the forethought to fetch our rations with us. It -would be just like that man to forget all about us.”</p> - -<p>The cellar was damp and very cold, so that sitting down on the floor -for any length of time was not prudent, and therefore the girls walked -back and forth, Grace seeking to keep up the spirits of her companion, -frequently laughing at the thought of the luck of the Overton girls. -But when nine o’clock came and no one had been near them, their -situation ceased to be a subject for jest.</p> - -<p>“Elfreda, I give you due notice that I am going to break jail. I am -going to get out of here. Enough is enough,” announced Grace Harlowe.</p> - -<p>“How?”</p> - -<p>“I shall find a way.” Grace tried the door. It gave a little, but -plainly was secured with a bar on the outside. She observed, however, -that the door was not heavily built except for the crosspieces.</p> - -<p>“Elfreda, can you find that post that we fell over on the rear side of -this place?” she called.</p> - -<p>“Yes, here it is.” She carried the post to the front. It was heavy, -undoubtedly having<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">96</a></span> been used for a supporting post for the floor above -at one time, but Grace found it too heavy for one person to use as she -wished to use it.</p> - -<p>“Elfreda, if you will take hold of this end and stand before the door, -steering the post against it as I thrust, I believe we shall be able to -smash the miserable thing.”</p> - -<p>“Grace Harlowe, you will be court-martialed if you do that—if you -break out. Don’t you know that you are at least theoretically under -arrest?”</p> - -<p>“So are you, but that will not stop me from getting out if I can. Take -hold here, please.”</p> - -<p>Elfreda did so reluctantly. The two girls then backed up several feet -from the door, Grace at the far end of the post, Elfreda near the door -end of it.</p> - -<p>“When I say Go! run with all your might. Steer the post squarely -against the door or you are going to get hurt. Are you ready?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“Go!”</p> - -<p>A patter of feet, a sharp impact, and a crash followed almost -instantly. Elfreda Briggs plunged headfirst into the wreckage, for the -door had been stripped from its hinges and broken into many pieces. -Grace Harlowe landed on the cellar floor on top of the post, with her -breath jolted out of her.</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">97</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="ix" id="ix"></a>CHAPTER IX<br /> -<small>AN IRATE OFFICER</small></h2> - - -<p class="noi"><span class="dropcap"><span class="dropcap2">“</span>C</span>APTAIN” Grace sprang up, gasping for breath, for she had been thrown -violently against the end of the post when the other end struck the -door.</p> - -<p>“Are you hurt, Elfreda?” she cried.</p> - -<p>“Of course I am.”</p> - -<p>“Forget it and let’s get out of here,” urged Grace, assisting her -companion to her feet. “If they catch us now they surely will have a -case against us.”</p> - -<p>“I can’t forget, but I’ll try to get out,” promised Miss Briggs, -rubbing a tender spot on one arm.</p> - -<p>They hurried from the cellar to the street. Grace looked up and down -the street, then started to the left, having discovered what seemed to -her, from his attitude of bored indifference, to be an M. P. As she -neared the man she recognized him. It was this M. P. who had assisted -the Overton girls to the truck the night before.</p> - -<p>“I am truly glad to see you, Buddy,” cried<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">98</a></span> Grace. “We are in -difficulties again. We were locked in a cellar as suspicious characters -and have just broken jail. Can you tell me if the headquarters of -Company A, Forty-seventh, is anywhere near? Also where may I find the -Intelligence headquarters?”</p> - -<p>“Forty-seventh is at the other end of the town. Intelligence -headquarters is the last building before you reach the river bridge -right on the way you are headed.”</p> - -<p>“What river?”</p> - -<p>“The Moselle. Heinie is camped on the other side of it, so be careful -that you don’t get too near the bridge or you are liable to be picked -up again. Come along, I’ll show you the way. It’s on my beat.”</p> - -<p>Grace thanked him gratefully.</p> - -<p>“You do not happen to know whether or not Captain Boucher is there, do -you?”</p> - -<p>The M. P. said he did not, but presumed so, for there was some sort of -a council of war being held at the headquarters.</p> - -<p>The M. P. left them at the door and Grace entered, halting when she -found herself facing a sentry. She said she wished to see Captain -Boucher on a matter of importance and asked the sentry to send her -name in to the officer. The sentry told her he did not believe Captain -Boucher wished to be disturbed, but she insisted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">99</a></span> that she must see -him, so her name was sent in and Grace and Elfreda were seated in the -hall.</p> - -<p>The Intelligence officer came out immediately and greeted them with -great cordiality.</p> - -<p>“What can I do for you?” he questioned, smiling down into the flushed -face of Grace Harlowe. “Is it something connected with the affair we -were speaking of?”</p> - -<p>“Not directly. The person that I said knew something about it is, I -believe, working for us. I am quite certain that he will have something -to report. Have you discovered anything?”</p> - -<p>“I have verified your statement.” He smiled grimly. “Beyond that we -have not gone. But you have something else to say to me?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir.” She glanced at the sentry.</p> - -<p>“Come into the kitchen. There is a conference in the front room. Now -what is it?” he demanded when they had reached the rear room and the -door was closed behind them.</p> - -<p>“I have just broken out of jail and have come here to ask you to -straighten the matter out for me. Miss Briggs is a lawyer, but her sort -of law isn’t good on the western front. Besides, she is an accessory -both before and after the fact, as she would characterize it.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t quite understand,” wondered the captain.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">100</a></span> -“It is not customary with me to carry my troubles to others, but -something must be done or I shall have to go to General Gordon and -enter a formal complaint, which I do not wish to do,” began Grace. She -thereupon related the story of their ejection from the cottage where -they had planned to berth the previous night; their finding a place -to sleep in a camion; the arrival at the river and their arrest and -imprisonment in the cellar, followed by their smashing the door and -taking matters into their own hands.</p> - -<p>As Grace related the story a flush mounted to the temples of the -Intelligence officer.</p> - -<p>“Outrageous! Asinine!” he exclaimed explosively. “You are right, this -sort of thing must be put down. I think I see how it happened that you -were kept in the cellar. We are on the border of the enemy territory, -theoretically on it already, and the officers are very busy this -evening, for we have many uncertainties ahead of us.”</p> - -<p>“I understand, sir, and should not have come to you, but for the fact -that I am likely to be picked up by the M. P. again at any moment.”</p> - -<p>“Rest easy. I will attend to that.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you. Please do not report the eviction incident. We can settle -it when we get to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">101</a></span> the Rhine, or perhaps by then it will have settled -itself,” urged Grace.</p> - -<p>“As I was saying, the officers being very busy, the sergeant’s report -may not even yet have been read by the officer in command. I am glad -that you took matters into your own hands. Have you a place to sleep -to-night?”</p> - -<p>“Not yet, sir.”</p> - -<p>“You ladies will remain here. I will have two cots put in the kitchen. -We shall be in conference more or less most of the night and you may -not get much sleep. However, it will be better than nothing. In the -meantime I will send an orderly to report that you are here and to -vouch for you. Where is your equipment?”</p> - -<p>Grace told him that it was left in the truck, and described as well as -she could the place where the truck might be found.</p> - -<p>“Good. Don’t worry. I will also send word to Major Colt so he may know -where you are to be found. He has been looking for you, but all he -could learn was that neither of you ladies had been seen all day. No -one appeared to know what had become of you. He wishes you to go up -with him to-morrow. Will you go?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir, provided I am not then in jail.”</p> - -<p>“Very good. I’ll send word to him to that effect,” laughed the captain. -“In the meantime<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">102</a></span> make yourselves tea or coffee. There’s army bacon in -the chest and potatoes in the woodbox.”</p> - -<p>“Pardon me, but have you had mess?” asked Grace.</p> - -<p>“Haven’t had time to attend to that. In fact, I had forgotten all about -it.”</p> - -<p>“With your permission we will get supper for you.”</p> - -<p>“That will be fine. Thank you.”</p> - -<p>“How many?” questioned “Captain” Grace.</p> - -<p>“Just three,” replied the Intelligence officer quizzically. “The others -have messed, but perhaps they will be glad of a pot of tea while I am -eating with you.”</p> - -<p>The Overton girls busied themselves at once and soon had a savory meal -going. There were bacon with eggs, French fried potatoes, a bread -pudding made of crusts of bread and dressed with a mound of jelly, -baked beans and a plate of sardines.</p> - -<p>“Something of a hodge-podge,” observed Grace, surveying the layout -rather disapprovingly. “It lacks something, but I can’t think what.”</p> - -<p>“I know what,” spoke up Elfreda. “It lacks three people with appetites. -The odor of that bacon and eggs nearly drives me frantic, and if we -don’t sit down soon my appetite will overcome<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">103</a></span> my better judgment. The -tea is ready for the council of war. I suppose they have their mess -cups with them.”</p> - -<p>“If not, they will be obliged to drink out of the teapot. I’ll hand it -in.” Grace tapped on the door, which was opened by Captain Boucher. -“The tea, sir. Have you cups?” The captain nodded and Grace pointed to -the table. The signal was unnecessary, for the captain’s eyes and nose -had informed him that supper was ready.</p> - -<p>The officer joined them soon afterwards, and a pleasant chat helped to -compensate for what was lacking in food. He declared that it was the -daintiest meal he had had, outside of Paris, since coming to France.</p> - -<p>“I will send in your belongings as soon as they arrive. You may then -turn in and will not be disturbed. You can lock the door leading into -the front room if you wish.”</p> - -<p>Grace thanked him, saying that she preferred to leave the door -unlocked. They had about finished clearing up after the meal when -Captain Boucher entered with two soldiers who had brought the girls’ -things from the truck. There was also news for them. Their difficulty -had been adjusted, and nothing further would be done in the matter. -As Captain Boucher had surmised, the officer to whom the sergeant -submitted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">104</a></span> his report on their arrest had not even taken time to look -at it.</p> - -<p>“I presume the French Government will bring in a bill for the door we -broke down,” suggested Grace laughingly.</p> - -<p>“Trust the French for that. One never has to ask them for a bill. Oh, -by the way, Major Colt’s car will be here for you at nine-thirty. He -asks me to say to you that he has signed you up for an interesting -voyage in the skies.”</p> - -<p>“Do you think, sir, that he has flying togs that I could use?”</p> - -<p>“That will be provided. You will have a cold sail, but I don’t suppose -you will mind that after your months of campaigning.”</p> - -<p>“No, sir. How will Miss Briggs ride?”</p> - -<p>“In the major’s car with myself and two others. She will ride out to -see you make the start. Good-night. Hope you sleep well. The cots are -standing up there in the corner.”</p> - -<p>Grace and Elfreda made preparations for retiring and were soon in bed -and asleep, Grace undisturbed by the noise or the thought of what was -to be a thrilling day for her on the morrow.</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">105</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="x" id="x"></a>CHAPTER X<br /> -<small>GRACE TAKES THE SKY ROUTE</small></h2> - - -<p class="noi"><span class="dropcap">T</span>HE morning was cool and there were wind clouds on the horizon when -Grace Harlowe stepped out to take an observation just at daybreak on -the following morning. She scanned the sky for some moments, but saw no -more carrier pigeons.</p> - -<p>Across the river the enemy was moving. She could see them plainly -through her glasses and it gave her a queer feeling. Here within pistol -range were the hosts of the enemy that had laid France in ruins, that -had killed and wounded hundreds of thousands of her own countrymen, -moving out into their own land, a land on which hardly a shell had -fallen in the four years of desperate warfare. It wasn’t fair, it -wasn’t right, as Grace reasoned it out with some bitterness. Could the -enemy have been driven back by force of arms and hammered until his -hosts poured into the Rhine in a perfect cataract, she confessed to -herself that she would have felt better over the situation. But there -they were, taking their time to retire and without a shot<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">106</a></span> being fired -at them. The Overton girl actually shuddered to think what a different -situation would exist at that moment had victory crowned the arms of -the enemy.</p> - -<p>Grace shrugged her shoulders and went back to awaken Elfreda and start -the fire for breakfast.</p> - -<p>“If the captain has not gone out, please give him some breakfast. I -must hurry with mine, for I am going over to report to our superior -that we are off duty to-day; that is, I am. You will be on call.”</p> - -<p>“Are you going to report to her?” demanded Miss Briggs disapprovingly.</p> - -<p>“Yes. I have no way of getting word to her, and by the time we drive -back to the balloon base she may be on her way. The army is to make an -early start to-day, I understand. It will take a long time to cross the -bridges. What an opportunity for the enemy; but he knows better. He -knows that the American artillery is trained on him and that machine -guns are ready to sweep his ranks from this side of the river. Our -people are taking no chances.”</p> - -<p>“They are familiar with the breed,” nodded Miss Briggs.</p> - -<p>Grace ate a hurried breakfast, and leaving her equipment with Elfreda -started out at a brisk pace for the headquarters of Mrs. Chadsey<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">107</a></span> -Smythe. As she drew near the cottage she saw some one emerge from it. -This some one proved to be the maid, Marie Debussy.</p> - -<p>“Good morning, Marie. Where are you going?”</p> - -<p>The girl answered dully that she was going to fetch Madame’s mess.</p> - -<p>“You have been crying, what is the trouble?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, Madame, it is terrible! Because I came late the supervisor would -not let me in last night. She was in a terrible temper. I sat out all -night and this morning she abused me terribly. Can you not do something -for me? I should like so much to be with you and Miss Briggs, for you -are so kind. She will abuse you if you go to her this morning. Please -don’t go.”</p> - -<p>“I presume there will be more trouble if I do,” reflected Grace. “Will -you deliver a message to her for me, Marie?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, surely, Madame.”</p> - -<p>“Tell her, please, that I am relieved from duty for the day, that I am -to spend the day with Major Colt in his balloon, with the permission of -General Gordon, but that I shall report for duty to-morrow morning. I -am sorry Mrs. Smythe is so unkind to you, but do try to get along with -her until we reach the Rhine. I am sure there will be a change soon -after we get<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">108</a></span> there. Please tell her that Miss Briggs will go through -in Major Colt’s car to-day with Captain Boucher of the Intelligence -Department and some others.”</p> - -<p>“I will tell her. I hope I may live with you and work for you when we -reach the Rhine. I can do much for you. I will do any and all things -for you. We go to Coblenz, I am told.”</p> - -<p>Grace said that was her understanding.</p> - -<p>“I shall be afraid with so many of the Boches about.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t worry, Marie, you will be protected. I am so sorry you are in -trouble, but I promise you it will all come out right and that you soon -shall be back in your beloved France, just as I hope to be back in my -much-loved country. Good-bye, and don’t forget the message.”</p> - -<p>Elfreda and Captain Boucher were eating breakfast together when -“Captain” Grace arrived. He advised Grace to take rations with her, as -the balloon probably would not come down, unless forced down, until -night, adding that the rest of the equipment would be placed in the -army car, where she would find it, or in Miss Briggs’ billet that -evening.</p> - -<p>Immediately after breakfast Captain Boucher ordered his attendant to -pack up, and to assist the ladies in shipping their belongings when the -car arrived. He asked them to have the car<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">109</a></span> pick him up at the cottage -on the return from the balloon base.</p> - -<p>“I shall not see you again, as I am going out,” he said shaking hands -cordially with Grace. “Good luck and don’t fall out.”</p> - -<p>“So long as the basket keeps right side up I expect to be with it,” -replied the Overton girl brightly. “Good-bye, sir, and thank you.”</p> - -<p>“If I thought you would be in position to settle a wager, Loyalheart, -I should like to lay a wager that that big sausage balloon comes down -a hopeless wreck with you at the bottom of the heap,” observed Miss -Briggs.</p> - -<p>“Your reasoning is bad, J. Elfreda. Were we to make such a wager and I -returned in condition to pay up, don’t you see that you would lose? I -am not a lawyer, but my logic on rare occasions is really brilliant. -Any rebuttal?”</p> - -<p>“Not a word,” answered Elfreda, shrugging her shoulders. “I think the -car is coming.”</p> - -<p>Everything being ready the Overton girls were soon on their way to the -balloon base, that is, on the way to Major Colt’s balloon base, for -the sausage observation balloons were strung out over a line several -miles in length. The big gas bag was swaying, chafing at its bit, as -Grace characterized it, when they reached the base. They observed that -the huge bag was attached by a cable to a big, heavy army truck, the -shining<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">110</a></span> cable being wound about a drum on a winch. As the army moved, -the truck moved, and the crew either paid out the cable or wound it in, -as the officer in the basket far above them wished to go up or down.</p> - -<p>The cable looked a too slender thread to hold such a giant of a thing -as a big observation balloon. Elfreda shook her head disapprovingly as -she looked at the outfit with wide-open eyes.</p> - -<p>“I’ll bet you really wish you were going up, too,” teased Grace, having -observed the expression on the face of her companion.</p> - -<p>“What! Never! I have no ambition to go skyward on a bubble. The bubble -might burst.”</p> - -<p>“In the first place, this isn’t a bubble, and in the second place I -am not going to make a spectacular leap in a parachute. Good morning, -Major,” greeted “Captain” Grace as the car drew up near where the -officer, clad in his flying togs, was giving directions to the men. -“How soon do we take the sky route?”</p> - -<p>“In a few minutes, Mrs. Gray. Good morning, Miss Briggs. Looks like -wind to-day. Ever get sea-sick, Mrs. Gray?”</p> - -<p>“No, sir.”</p> - -<p>“Then you should not be air-sick. Sometimes we flop about a bit, but we -shall be all right.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">111</a></span> -“Is—is that the thing that you ride in?” questioned Elfreda pointing -to the basket that was resting on the truck.</p> - -<p>The major laughingly said it was.</p> - -<p>“It does look rather too delicate for two human beings to ride in,” -agreed Grace. “I hope it is stronger than it looks.”</p> - -<p>The officer assured her that it would hold, though its smallness did -not permit of much moving about.</p> - -<p>“Flying now, as compared with wartime, is a perfectly safe sport. It -is different when enemy artillery are trying to pot one, and enemy -airplanes are dropping incendiary bombs at you or trying to rake you -with machine-gun fire. That sometimes makes it quite interesting for -the balloonist. As a matter of common prudence, however, we always -attach ourselves to parachutes, as we will do this morning,” added the -major.</p> - -<p>J. Elfreda shot a significant glance at her companion and Grace looked -a little troubled, but this soon passed and she began asking questions -about the parachute. She observed that two of them were attached to the -basket.</p> - -<p>“Our parachutes,” explained the major, “when open are thirty-five feet -in diameter, with a circular hole in the top about a foot wide to -permit the imprisoned air to escape. Otherwise<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">112</a></span> the parachute would go -into a side-slip in making a descent.”</p> - -<p>“Cheerful, isn’t it?” observed Miss Briggs under her breath.</p> - -<p>“Fastened to the edge of the parachute, as you can see, are small -cords which lead down and attach to half as many light ropes, finally -terminating in only two ropes which are fastened to the harness worn -by the person for whose use the parachute is intended,” continued the -major. “That cone-shaped case contains the entire works. I’ll not go -into the mechanism of the contrivance in detail. When a man prepares to -descend, the harness being already on him, the parachute is pulled from -the case and out he jumps. Then all he has to do is to wait for the -parachute to open.”</p> - -<p>“Quite simple, sir,” agreed Elfreda. “All one has to do is to jump, and -wait. If the parachute breaks or doesn’t open you keep on waiting. Is -that it, Major?”</p> - -<p>The major laughingly agreed that it was.</p> - -<p>“It is well to understand the workings before one goes up. I know it -all sounds formidable to you, but it isn’t at all formidable. See that -you are fastened all right and make certain that your harness has not -fouled, then jump.”</p> - -<p>“Do parachutes ever fail to open?” questioned Grace soberly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">113</a></span> -“I have heard of such cases, but not in this war. If one thinks fast -and clearly and doesn’t lose his head, the chances are that he will be -all right.”</p> - -<p>“How far does one ordinarily drop before the parachute opens?” asked -Miss Briggs.</p> - -<p>“About fifty feet, sometimes a little less if one is heavy. If light, -he might fall much further than this.”</p> - -<p>“Heavens!” exclaimed J. Elfreda. “Grace, I’m sorry for you. Being light -you may fall a mile before the thing opens, and by that time you may -have no need for a parachute.”</p> - -<p>“I should think one would land pretty hard,” suggested Grace.</p> - -<p>“About the equivalent of jumping from a fence. The descent is very -easy, about five hundred feet a minute. However, there will be no need -for worry to-day. I am explaining these matters merely as a matter of -routine and ordinary prudence. I can imagine no emergency that would -make it necessary for you to take the jump into space. If I did, I -shouldn’t be taking you up. No, there is no possibility of such a -thing. Now, if you will step down we will get you into your flying togs -and harness you to the parachute.”</p> - -<p>For a moment Grace Harlowe’s courage weakened, but only for a moment.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">114</a></span> -“If I can go through a battle in the air in an airplane, I surely can -ride in a captive balloon, even if the basket I am to ride in does look -like a toy spaniel’s sleeping basket,” she told herself. “I am ready, -sir,” she announced, stepping down.</p> - -<p>A heavy flying coat and helmet were put on, then came the harness. The -latter was adjusted while Grace was standing on the ground, the major -fixing her up before donning his own harness, examining it with a care -that sent the cold chills up and down the spine of J. Elfreda Briggs.</p> - -<p>“Does it pinch you anywhere?” asked the major. “You know it must fit -firmly.”</p> - -<p>“I think it is quite comfortable,” replied Grace. “Now what do I do?”</p> - -<p>“Climb up the ladder and get in, being careful that you do not foul the -lines.”</p> - -<p>The officer stood on the ground to watch her getting in to make certain -that the parachute ropes did not become tangled. Grace ran up the -ladder nimbly and climbed over into the basket, which was just deep -enough to leave her head and shoulders showing above its upper edge.</p> - -<p>“All set,” cried the major, going up the ladder. “Let up gently. -I’ll direct you as we go as to altitude. You see, Mrs. Gray, we are -connected<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">115</a></span> with the truck by a telephone wire, so that the observer -may be always in contact not only with his base, but also with the -artillery control station. We spot in wartime, both for marks and -for results. Sorry I can’t show you some spotting under actual war -conditions.”</p> - -<p>“I am quite content to have you tell me about it,” laughed Grace.</p> - -<p>The major grinned, then tested the telephone, adjusted the aneroid -barometer, took a final glance around, and nodded to the flight -sergeant. The latter blew two short whistles, and as if for good -measure bellowed “Let go!”</p> - -<p>“Better come along,” called down Grace to Elfreda who with one hand -shading her eyes was gazing up at them, her face a little pale.</p> - -<p>Miss Briggs shook her head.</p> - -<p>“One balloonatic in the family is enough,” she cried, then something -seemed to be drawing the earth away from Grace Harlowe, and she -suddenly realized that they were going up.</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">116</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="xi" id="xi"></a>CHAPTER XI<br /> -<small>ROUGH GOING IN CLOUDLAND</small></h2> - - -<p class="noi"><span class="dropcap"><span class="dropcap2">“</span>W</span>E’RE off,” the major informed her, but his reminder was unnecessary. -Already J. Elfreda Briggs had shrunk to almost childish proportions and -the big army truck looked like a toy express wagon. Had it been painted -red the illusion would have been nearly perfect.</p> - -<p>“My, it’s windy up here!” shouted Grace.</p> - -<p>“We will be out of it soon, I think,” answered the major.</p> - -<p>The wind was roaring through the rigging and the basket was swaying -most alarmingly. It seemed to Grace as if they were in imminent danger -of being spilled out. She clung tightly to the edge of the basket, and -looked down into it rather than toward the earth. What was even more -disturbing was the way that wicker floor settled and heaved underneath -her feet. What if the bottom should drop out? What if the sides should -give way? “Captain” Grace leaned back a little so as not to bear too -much weight on the side she was clinging to.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">117</a></span> -Major Colt’s back was turned toward her and his binoculars were at -his eyes. Those confident shoulders gave Grace renewed assurance that -there was nothing unusual about their situation. Just the same she -rather envied J. Elfreda Briggs, probably at that moment lounging back -comfortably on the rear seat of the major’s automobile and making -uncomplimentary remarks about “that crazy Grace Harlowe.” “Captain” -Grace was not over-certain that Elfreda was wrong.</p> - -<p>Going up in a captive balloon is very different from a trip in an -airplane. There is no comparison possible so far as sensations are -concerned. Flying in a plane is exhilarating, but the lurches and sways -of the basket of a balloon, have a far different effect.</p> - -<p>They had been going up for hours, as it seemed to her, when the major -turned toward her.</p> - -<p>“Make you dizzy?” he shouted.</p> - -<p>Grace smiled and nodded. She wondered how pale her face was, or as much -of it as showed outside of the helmet.</p> - -<p>“Enjoying it?”</p> - -<p>“It is a wonderful experience,” answered Grace, forcing a smile to her -face.</p> - -<p>“Stop at two thousand,” called the officer through his telephone. “Now -you see one of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">118</a></span> the difficulties of going eastward. The strong light -is in our faces and we cannot see clearly. After the sun passes the -meridian, visibility will be vastly improved. You will enjoy the view -then.”</p> - -<p>Grace Harlowe fervently hoped she might.</p> - -<p>“Look over. You will get used to it very quickly. Not so much wind at -this level. I knew we should get better weather here. Guess I spoke too -quickly,” he added as a sickening lurch heaved the basket, and for a -few seconds the bottom seemed surely to be falling out of it.</p> - -<p>“Stopped at two thousand,” came a voice from the depth somewhere below.</p> - -<p>“Thought you were gone that time, didn’t you?” chuckled the officer. -“That jolt was caused by the stopping of the winch at two thousand.”</p> - -<p>“Two thousand what, sir?”</p> - -<p>“Feet of altitude. We will loaf around here for a time until you grow -weary of it, then we will go higher in search of some new scenery. When -the light gets better I will show you the Rhine.”</p> - -<p>For the next several minutes the officer was occupied with studying the -landscape to the eastward.</p> - -<p>“Enemy trains moving in formation. Nothing unusual,” he called down -through the telephone.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">119</a></span> “Large body of men emerging from forest ten -kilometers to the south of the main body. Go to thirty-five. May get a -better view.”</p> - -<p>Grace tightened her grip as the basket lurched. She knew now what the -order meant. They were going fifteen hundred feet higher than they -were. Her eardrums began to throb and her breath came in little short -gasps.</p> - -<p>“Stop at thirty-five.”</p> - -<p>Again that disconcerting jolt and a violent swaying back and forth of -the huge, ungainly bag over their heads.</p> - -<p>“How do you like it now?” called the officer in a jovial voice.</p> - -<p>Grace saw his lips move and knew he was speaking to her, though she -could not hear a word he said.</p> - -<p>“I can’t hear you, sir.”</p> - -<p>“I thought so. Pinch your nose and swallow hard several times,” he -shouted, himself performing the same operation on his own nose.</p> - -<p>Grace followed his direction, faintly heard, and something snapped in -both ears. For the moment she thought she had ruptured her eardrums, -but to her amazement discovered that she could hear as well as ever.</p> - -<p>“I think I am perfectly all right now, sir,” she said. “How queer!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">120</a></span> -“Decreased pressure,” answered Major Colt briefly. “We will make our -weather report now if you will be good enough to remove the thermometer -from the pocket behind you and throw it overboard.”</p> - -<p>“Throw it overboard? Do you mean it, sir?”</p> - -<p>He nodded.</p> - -<p>Grace thrust her hand into the pocket and, finding the instrument, -dropped it over the side. To her surprise it stopped with a jolt when -just below the level of the basket. It was attached to a slender wire. -“Please haul it in in five minutes,” the major ordered. Then he gave -through the telephone the wind velocity, which Grace was amazed to -learn was thirty-eight miles an hour; then the barometer reading, and -then he called for the temperature.</p> - -<p>“Twenty-eight, sir.”</p> - -<p>“Twenty-eight,” repeated the major through the telephone. “That duty -done we will now proceed to enjoy ourselves. Hungry?”</p> - -<p>“I—I hadn’t thought about it. Now that you mention the subject I do -realize that there is a sort of gone feeling in my stomach.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll have a bit of a bite. While I am getting it ready you see if you -can find the American Army.”</p> - -<p>Grace studied the landscape ahead of them<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">121</a></span> for a long time, and said -she couldn’t see anything that looked like an army. He demanded to know -where she was looking.</p> - -<p>“About where those little green hills are. I do not recall having seen -those from the ground,” she said, lowering her glasses.</p> - -<p>The major chuckled.</p> - -<p>“Know where you are looking for the American Army? You’re hunting for -it on the other side of the Rhine. Look down at an angle of about -forty-five degrees. See anything?”</p> - -<p>“I think I do, but what I see doesn’t look like any army that I ever -saw.”</p> - -<p>“You’re looking at the Third American Army, just the same. Now find the -Boche army a little further out, but not too far.”</p> - -<p>“I have them, sir.”</p> - -<p>“What are they doing?”</p> - -<p>“Creeping in formation.”</p> - -<p>“Good! You are an observer already. Lean over and look down. Get used -to it. Make you dizzy?”</p> - -<p>“A little. I get dizzy when the basket tries to lie down on its side, -and feel as if I were going to fall out.”</p> - -<p>The major laughed and motioned to her to sit down.</p> - -<p>“Going to have tiffin now. Don’t bother us with your family troubles -down there, at least<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">122</a></span> not until after the whistle blows,” he called -through the telephone, and doubling his legs under him he sat down on -the bottom of the basket, with an appetizing-looking luncheon spread -out on a piece of paper in his lap.</p> - -<p>They could hear the wind roaring over them now, but only breaths of it -sucked down into the basket. A thermos bottle of tea that was still hot -was handed to Grace, Major Colt producing another from “nowhere” for -his own consumption.</p> - -<p>“Drink it down. It will put new life into you. Dip into the food too. -There’s plenty and to spare. Suppose you never sat down to tiffin -thirty-five hundred feet in the air?”</p> - -<p>Grace said she never had.</p> - -<p>“Were you ever shot down while on observation work?” she asked him -between mouthfuls.</p> - -<p>“Yes, a few times.”</p> - -<p>“What happened?”</p> - -<p>“I came down.” He grinned.</p> - -<p>“What else, sir?” persisted Grace, determined to get the story from him.</p> - -<p>“Nothing except that a Boche flier took a mean advantage of me and -sneaked up on me in an Allied plane that the enemy had captured. Then -he calmly dropped a bomb on the old bag.”</p> - -<p>“What did you do then, sir?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">123</a></span> -“Deserted the ship and woke up in a hospital. You see I bumped my head -against a stone wall in landing. My head from infancy has been soft and -demands most delicate handling.”</p> - -<p>Grace said she couldn’t imagine such a thing. To her the major was a -heroic figure. He reminded her of Hippy Wingate. Like Hippy he made a -joke of the desperate work he had done and was still doing. There were -no heroics about those cloudland pirates.</p> - -<p>“What did you do before the war, if it is not an impertinent question? -You know a woman’s curiosity must be satisfied.”</p> - -<p>“No impertinence about it at all. I had a good job, and maybe I shall -have the luck to get it back again after the war is over. I was a -floor-walker in a Newark, New Jersey, department store. I’ve been up in -the world since then. Had my ups and downs as it were.”</p> - -<p>Grace laughed. War played strange freaks with human beings. The -officer’s confession, instead of decreasing her admiration of him, -increased it. A man who could step from department store life into the -perilous life of a wartime balloonist was a <em>man</em>! That was the way -with her wonderful Americans. But to have to return to the chattering -crowds of shoppers, directing this one to the ribbon counter, that one -to the galvanized cooking utensil sale<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">124</a></span> in the basement—the thought -was too much for Grace Harlowe. She could not reconcile herself to it -nor adjust herself to seeing this hardy pirate acting in any such rôle -in the future.</p> - -<p>“You do not think so, eh?” he demanded shrewdly. “Watch me. One day you -will step up to me, without recognizing me, and say, ‘Floor-walker, -will you please direct me to the cosmetics?’”</p> - -<p>“I will not,” declared Grace Harlowe. “I never use them.”</p> - -<p>Both laughed heartily.</p> - -<p>“You may be right—I may be right, who knows?” he muttered. “I shall -miss this wonderful life, of course, and it will be difficult to settle -down and have to look up again rather than down on a world of pigmies. -Had I to do it over again I should go into aviation. Those fellows -are free as the birds of the air, while I am anchored to a tree or -truck. I prefer to be free, to soar the heavens without having a string -attached—What!”</p> - -<p>The major sprang up, scattering the remainder of their tiffin on -the floor of the basket. The basket had given a terrific lurch and, -glancing up with a frightened expression on her face, Grace saw the -huge bag heaving, swelling and plunging, the basket twisting, lurching -and jolting under her.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">125</a></span> -The girl staggered to her feet and grasped the side of the basket. Her -head was spinning and her diaphragm seemed to be seeking to emulate the -erratic movements of the ship.</p> - -<p>“Wind-storm!” shouted Major Colt. “Going to have some real sport.”</p> - -<p>Grace did not know what his idea of sport was, but she was quite -positive that if this were sport she was not a sportsman.</p> - -<p>“Haul in, you idiots!” bellowed the officer through the telephone. -“Can’t you see we’re trying to stand on our heads?”</p> - -<p>“Waiting for orders, sir,” came back the answer. “Hauling down now till -ordered to stop.”</p> - -<p>“You’d better,” growled the major. “Hang on so you don’t get thrown -out!” he called to Grace.</p> - -<p>The Overton girl needed no advice in that direction. She was clinging -to the basket’s edge with all her might. The balloon adopted new -tactics. The instant the winch down there began to wind in, the -balloon, as if resentful of this interference with its “sport,” began -to buck and dive. At one time the wicker basket was actually lying on -its side, and as Grace lay on her stomach against it she found herself -gazing straight down three-and-a-half thousand feet.</p> - -<p>“Captain” Grace closed her eyes to shut out<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">126</a></span> the sight. It was just a -little more than she could stand. A few seconds later she was on her -feet again, for the balloon had righted. Now the bag began to whip the -air.</p> - -<p>“Let go!” she heard the balloonist call through the telephone. “Trying -to crack the whip with us? Not ready to bump our heads on the ground -just yet. Up five hundred more. Maybe we’ll find a better streak there. -Anyway we’ll ride it out, wind or no wind.”</p> - -<p>The balloon eased a little, and while it still bucked there was less -kick, so to speak, in its movements.</p> - -<p>The respite, however, was a brief one, and again those fearsome tactics -were resumed.</p> - -<p>Major Colt glanced at Grace during a brief lull. She nodded and forced -a smile to her face.</p> - -<p>“Are we in great danger?” she shouted.</p> - -<p>“It might be worse,” was the comforting response. “We are good so long -as the bag holds, but the wind is growing stronger and no telling what -may turn up. Keep cool. I’ll get you out of it, wind or no wind.”</p> - -<p>A blast that threatened to rend the bag struck them, and the balloon -lay down on its side. It was up with a bound, then down again, until -Grace Harlowe could not decide for a certainty whether she was standing -on her head or on her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">127</a></span> feet. As a matter of fact she was practically -doing both.</p> - -<p>Then suddenly peace, delicious peace and quiet, settled over the -troubled ship. It righted, the wind stopped blowing and the balloon -floated gently on an even keel.</p> - -<p>“Oh, isn’t this fine!” cried Grace happily.</p> - -<p>“Rotten fine, thank you, as the Englishman would say. Know what’s -happened?”</p> - -<p>“No, sir, but whatever it is I feel greatly relieved to know that the -wind has died down as suddenly as it broke loose.”</p> - -<p>“My dear woman, something other than the wind has broken loose. The -wind is blowing just as hard as before, but we do not feel it because -we are going with it. We’re adrift!”</p> - -<p>“Meaning?”</p> - -<p>“That the balloon has snapped its cable and is now traveling toward -the Rhine at a high rate of speed. From present indications I should -say that you and I will arrive there considerably in advance of the -Third American Army.” Trying to appear undisturbed, though he was more -troubled than he cared to admit to his passenger, Major Colt possessed -a pretty clear idea of what was before them.</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">128</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="xii" id="xii"></a>CHAPTER XII<br /> -<small>A LEAP FROM THE SKIES</small></h2> - - -<p class="noi"><span class="dropcap">G</span>RACE HARLOWE regarded him calmly, rather to the surprise of the -balloonist, for he had feared a different attitude.</p> - -<p>“What are the probabilities, sir?” she asked.</p> - -<p>“Oh, we are certain to get down, Mrs. Gray.”</p> - -<p>“But—” She smiled doubtfully.</p> - -<p>“We are getting higher all the time, and I am in hopes that we shall -run into a counter-current that will drive us back over our own lines. -Once there we can come down with nothing more than a shaking up. We can -do that anyway if we do not become mixed up with more currents.”</p> - -<p>“But, sir, I do not see how getting back to our own lines is going to -be of much assistance to us. Granting that we reach a current of air -that will take us over our lines, haven’t we got to pass through the -present level to get down, and will not that level blow us toward the -Rhine again? We might keep on seesawing indefinitely, it appears to me.”</p> - -<p>“You surely have a head on your shoulders,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">129</a></span> young woman,” answered the -major laughingly. “This being the case I’ll tell you the truth. We are -in a fix. The best we can do at the moment is to let the bag drift -where it will, hoping for the best. Provided it doesn’t carry us too -far away, the wind probably will at least moderate by sundown, then I -shall liberate some gas and we will make a landing. To try it in this -wind would mean that the ship surely would be torn to pieces and that -quite probably we would share a similar fate.”</p> - -<p>“How long can the balloon be depended upon to stay up?”</p> - -<p>“Until sometime to-morrow morning. Of course if it takes a great -altitude it is liable to burst, but I shall try not to let it get up -that high.”</p> - -<p>“It is a cheerful outlook, Major. I thank you for your frankness, -just the same. It is considerable satisfaction to know just what the -probabilities are.”</p> - -<p>As she was speaking, the officer, with glasses to his eyes, was -studying the terrain ahead of them. Grace applied her own glasses to -her eyes and gazed off to the eastward. She could make out the narrow -ribbon of water, a crooked ribbon it was, that marked the course -of the Rhine. Beyond it were rugged, terraced hills which she knew -were vineyards, here and there the towers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">130</a></span> of a castle relieving the -monotony of the hills. She was interrupted by a shout from the pilot.</p> - -<p>“Here we go back,” he cried. “In another level now. That’s good.”</p> - -<p>It was not long before they had swept over the marching American -army, now so far below them that it could be made out only with the -binoculars. The major liberated a little gas, whereupon the big bag -was caught in a blast and driven to the eastward again. This time he -let the ship go. There was no other safe course to follow. As it swept -through the air it gained in altitude again, but did not go so high as -before. Soon the earth was blotted out by a sea of clouds, which only -now and then broke sufficiently to give the aviators a view of what lay -beneath the cloud-sea.</p> - -<p>“We must go lower,” the pilot told her, opening the gas valve ever so -little, whereupon the balloon slowly sank through the clouds and the -earth grew into their vision.</p> - -<p>Something <em>pinged</em> through the air close at hand. Grace Harlowe had -heard that sound many times since she arrived on the western front, and -so had the major. It was a bullet, probably a rifle bullet. She flashed -a significant glance at her companion and he nodded.</p> - -<p><em>Ping!</em> Another bullet had flung itself up from the earth.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">131</a></span> -The major threw over some ballast, which in this instance proved to be -one of his sailing instruments.</p> - -<p>“Sorry, but I had to do it,” he explained in answer to her look of -inquiry. “Of course I might throw myself out, but that would be too -much ballast and you never would stop going heavenward until the outfit -blew up.”</p> - -<p>Grace laughed and the officer joined in the laugh. The balloon had -quickly shot through the clouds and was sailing along, the basket just -grazing the tops of them. It was a wonderful spectacle, which the -Overton girl, despite her serious situation, found time to gaze upon, -and marvel at the beauties of cloudland.</p> - -<p>All at once the clouds broke up into huge banks of black and white -vapor, and looking down the officer saw that they had been swept back -some little distance to the westward. He reasoned that they were about -over the spot where the shots had been fired, which proved to be the -range of terraced hills on the eastern side of the river.</p> - -<p>“I told you we would reach the Rhine before the army did,” he chuckled.</p> - -<p><em>Ping!</em></p> - -<p>A little chip of wicker was neatly snipped from one corner of the -basket. Grace Harlowe regarded it questioningly, and grinned.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">132</a></span> -“I thought you said the war was ended, sir,” she said, glancing over at -him.</p> - -<p>“Huns!” he replied explosively. “What can one expect?”</p> - -<p>“What I am concerned about principally, sir, is what would happen to us -if the gas bag were hit by a rifle bullet. Would it be a serious matter -for us?”</p> - -<p>He nodded.</p> - -<p>“We would be obliged to give up our joy ride and go home.”</p> - -<p><em>Ping! Pock!</em></p> - -<p>“Hit!” exclaimed the major, glancing up apprehensively at the bag.</p> - -<p>“I heard it, sir. Are we losing altitude?”</p> - -<p>“Not much, but we shall be soon. Yes, she’s settling a little now. Look -up.”</p> - -<p>Grace did so and observed a fold in the bag that had not been there -before, showing that some gas had escaped.</p> - -<p>“How long will it take to let us down?”</p> - -<p>“About twenty minutes. We shall go down faster after a little. Look -over your harness and make certain that the lines are not fouled,” he -directed, taking his own advice. “Just in case of emergency,” he nodded.</p> - -<p>“They seem to be all right, sir,” Grace informed him. “You do not think -we shall have to use them, do you?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">133</a></span> -Major Colt shook his head.</p> - -<p>“Not at this rate of descent.”</p> - -<p><em>Ping! Pock!</em></p> - -<p>They had been hit again. Grace found herself admiring the shooting, for -it really was excellent work, probably done with an automatic rifle in -the hands of a former enemy sharpshooter.</p> - -<p>The major cast an anxious glance up at the swaying bag, then down at -that which was slowly assuming the appearance of Mother Earth. He was -disturbed, not for himself but because of his passenger. Grace observed -his distress.</p> - -<p>“Don’t worry, Major. You know you said that nothing serious possibly -could happen on this voyage, now that the war is over.”</p> - -<p>“I take it back. The war isn’t over. It will be over mighty quickly, -though, if I get my hands on the miserable Boche who is trying to shoot -us down.”</p> - -<p>“Trying to? He already has,” corrected the Overton girl.</p> - -<p>There were now several folds in the big envelope, the sides of which -seemed to be respirating like those of some huge animal, and they were -falling altogether too rapidly to leave much hope for what was to come.</p> - -<p>“We shall be down in a heap soon,” announced<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">134</a></span> the officer calmly. “Mrs. -Gray, are you in full possession of your nerve?”</p> - -<p>“I think so. Why?”</p> - -<p>“Because you’ve got to jump.”</p> - -<p>“Oh!” “Captain” Grace could feel a cold sweat breaking out all over -her. “Ho—ow—ho—ow high are we?”</p> - -<p>“About a mile.”</p> - -<p>She looked over the side into the abyss, and Grace Harlowe was -convinced that were she to try that jump her heart would stop beating -forever long before she reached the earth. Still, she showed none of -her real feelings when she looked up at her companion.</p> - -<p>“I am ready whenever you give the word, sir. You must tell me just what -to do and when to do it. You know it will have been the first time that -I ever fell out of the skies. I’ll be a real shooting star, won’t I?”</p> - -<p>“You will do,” grinned the balloonist. “Get ready. We have no time to -lose.”</p> - -<p>“How about yourself, sir?”</p> - -<p>“As soon as you are well started I will follow, and being heavier I -probably shall catch up with you. Make certain that you are clear -before you get out of the basket. Then climb out, hanging on to the -edge of the basket, looking about you once more to be on the safe side. -Understand?”</p> - -<div class="figcenter width400"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">135</a></span> -<img src="images/rhine_p135.jpg" width="400" height="620" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">She Clung Desperately to the Basket’s Edge.</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">136</a></span> -Grace nodded.</p> - -<p>“Then what, sir?”</p> - -<p>“Let go! Your part of the operation will not have been completed until -you reach the ground. The instant you feel your feet touching earth, -cut yourself clear. Here is a knife. Hang it about your neck. Hurry -now. We are losing rapidly.” The pilot cast another anxious glance over -the big bag, then down at the earth.</p> - -<p>“Are you clear?”</p> - -<p>“I think so, sir.”</p> - -<p>“Climb out! Take it easy. I knew an absent-minded pilot who climbed -out with great deliberateness and let go and was dashed to his death -because he had forgotten to hook up his harness. He thought he had it -in order, but he had not. Out now. I will give you a hand.”</p> - -<p>The basket tipped perilously when she threw a leg over the edge of it. -The other leg seemed to weigh tons. It simply would not go over, and -the major had to assist her. Grace’s body finally slipped over, she -clinging desperately to the basket’s edge as she straightened out. It -was the most awful moment of her life.</p> - -<p>“Let go!” bellowed the major.</p> - -<p>Grace shut her eyes and held them shut with all her might. Her fingers -slowly relaxed their grip on the basket and her body shot downward.</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">137</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="xiii" id="xiii"></a>CHAPTER XIII<br /> -<small>“CAPTAIN” GRACE INVADES GERMANY</small></h2> - - -<p class="noi"><span class="dropcap">A</span> JOLT followed, then a series of them, and the Overton girl felt -herself going down and down and down. After a little she summoned the -courage to open her eyes and look down, but only for a second, then she -pinched them shut.</p> - -<p>“Shake yourself!” bellowed a voice above her.</p> - -<p>Grace wondered at this marvel, for it was the voice of Major Colt. Once -more she opened her eyes and, tilting back her head, looked up. She -saw the pilot jumping up and down in the basket of the balloon only a -few feet above her. Grace was going down only as fast as the rapidly -collapsing balloon itself. The silk had fouled the long handling guys -of the balloon and hung there, leaving the Overton girl suspended -between sky and earth a little more than five thousand feet in the air.</p> - -<p>Grace groaned when she discovered her predicament, but even then she -did not lose possession of her faculties. It was characteristic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">138</a></span> of -Grace to think calmly and clearly when facing an emergency. She did -so now, but that clear thinking did not get her out of her terrible -predicament.</p> - -<p>“What shall I do?” she cried.</p> - -<p>“Wiggle, woman, wiggle! Shake yourself loose and fall. You will be -killed where you are, and so shall I if I don’t quickly get away.” He -began jumping up and down again to assist in the operation of shaking -her loose.</p> - -<p>Obedient to his command Grace began to wiggle and twist, raising her -arms and bringing them smartly down with a violent jerk, apparently as -calm and collected as if she were standing on the ground.</p> - -<p>“Great work!” approved the anxious watcher. “You’re getting loose. Keep -it up.”</p> - -<p>“There you go!” he yelled as the silk of the parachute released itself. -Grace Harlowe shot downward half lying on her side, a black streak in -the air. Almost at the same instant, Major Colt climbed over the edge -of the basket, took a quick glance first up at the big gas bag, then at -his lines, and let go.</p> - -<p>This was no new operation for him. On several occasions he had -been obliged to go home in this manner, but this time his mind had -assumed a burden greater than any that had been on it in his previous -experiences—he had the responsibility<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">139</a></span> of a woman’s life. That is, -he had had that responsibility. Just now Grace Harlowe was on her own -responsibility, beyond the hope of assistance from any human being.</p> - -<p>She seemed to have fallen miles and miles, when finally she sensed a -gradual slackening of her speed. Grace had, on account of her light -weight, taken a terrific plunge, but the parachute at last began to -open. It did not bring her up with a jerk, but gradually, until her -downward motion was reduced to about four hundred feet a minute, fast -enough for a human being to fall.</p> - -<p>Opening her eyes, Grace looked up and she breathed a sigh of relief -as she saw the glistening silk of the huge parachute spread out high -above her, slender lines running down from it, all centering in two -ropes that looked reasonably safe. Up above, the lines looked cobwebby, -too delicate for the purpose they were serving. Grace looked down, -but raised her eyes quickly. The awful distance between her and the -earth was too much for her ordinarily steady nerves to stand when she -visualized it.</p> - -<p>As she raised her eyes something suddenly floated into the range of her -vision. It was a parachute and was coming down rather close to her.</p> - -<p>“The major!” gasped the Overton girl.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">140</a></span> Then Grace Harlowe laughed. It -was a hollow sort of a laugh, and sounded weak in her ears. The major’s -arms and legs were sprawling as he leaned a little forward, and he -looked for all the world like a great spider dangling from the end of -a string, which so appealed to Grace Harlowe’s sense of humor that she -forgot herself and laughed. Being much heavier than she he was rapidly -gaining on her and would soon pass her at his present falling speed.</p> - -<p>Grace, observing the ludicrousness of his position, quickly wrapped -her ankles about each other, not desiring to make such a spectacle of -herself as the balloon officer was doing.</p> - -<p>Now they were abreast of each other and could look into each others’ -faces. The Overton girl had been preparing herself for this very moment -and at the instant the major came near enough to catch the full import -of it, Grace smiled, and waved at him what ordinarily might have passed -for a joyous hand.</p> - -<p>The major waved back and shouted something at her, but she was unable -to understand it. Voices up there sounded hollow, weak and far away. -A few moments later she was looking down on the top of his swaying -parachute, then Grace untangled herself and permitted her body to hang -limply, which she found much<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">141</a></span> easier than keeping herself under a -strong physical strain.</p> - -<p>“Hippy Wingate wouldn’t let me land his airplane. I wonder what -he would say were he to see me making a landing in Germany from a -parachute?” murmured the girl.</p> - -<p>By this time objects began to grow out of the landscape in more or less -detail. Houses appeared; the Rhine shimmered in the sunlight that had -broken through the clouds, and here and there she thought she saw human -beings, though she could not be positive as to this. Several villages -came within her range of vision. Remarkable as it seemed to her, Grace -realized that she had lost all fear. She was beginning to feel a great -confidence in that filmy silk umbrella-shaped affair that was swaying -far above her, that confidence having been born when she saw how easily -it supported the major’s bulky figure.</p> - -<p>“If the thing only will let me out without cutting up, I shall be well -pleased,” Grace told herself. “I wonder what has become of the major?” -He had passed out of her sight. Had the Overton girl looked for him -further to the westward, she might have discovered the silk parachute -settling down on the Rhine and, soon afterwards, the doughty major -floundering in its waters.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">142</a></span> -His weight had carried him down in nearly a straight line, while Grace, -being light, had drifted down the wind and was headed for a vineyard. -She eyed the terraced hillside dubiously.</p> - -<p>“If I land there they surely will have to replant their vineyard. I -shall certainly leave a trail of devastation,” she chuckled. “In any -event it will have been accomplishing something to lay waste even a -small patch of enemy territory. Let me see, what am I to do? Oh, yes, I -am to cut the strings the instant I feel my feet touching the ground.”</p> - -<p>Grace removed the knife-lanyard from her neck and gripped the handle of -the knife. Glancing up she fixed upon a point for cutting the rope, and -even reached up to it with the knife hand.</p> - -<p>“I wish Elfreda might see me now,” she chuckled. “Instead of a -‘balloonatic’ she would call me a ‘parachutic.’ I never heard of such -an animal, but I must be it. Get ready, Grace Harlowe, and watch your -step,” she reminded herself. “Upon second thought I think I am just as -well satisfied that J. Elfreda is not to be a spectator of my landing. -I have a growing suspicion that I am about to make an exhibition of -myself. My, but that earth does look good!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">143</a></span> -She could see human beings running up the terraces toward the point -at which she might confidently be expected to alight. Grace did -not approve of this, and wished they would all go away about their -business. Among them she discovered some men in German uniforms. Her -eyes narrowed.</p> - -<p>“Boches! Too bad they couldn’t have had this opportunity of catching me -a few weeks ago. Here we are. I am now about to show the natives what -an American girl can do in piloting a parachute to earth.”</p> - -<p>What the Overton girl had not taken into her reckoning was a tree -that stood directly in her downward path. She went through its outer -branches, but the parachute, relieved of a little of its weight, swayed -forward and missed the tree, straightening up as her weight was once -more thrown on the ropes.</p> - -<p>The wind filled the parachute again, and it began to drift on, parallel -with the rows of terraces. In going through the tree, Grace had lost -the knife, but she did not miss it as yet, being concerned with her -landing and the raking that the branches of the tree had given her. She -discovered the loss when, upon reaching up to cut the rope, she found -she had nothing with which to cut.</p> - -<p>It was at that instant that her feet touched<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">144</a></span> the ground. Up to this -time the parachute had behaved very well indeed. As she already -had expressed it to herself, the animal proved to be “thoroughly -halter-broken.” However, the instant it felt that it was free, the -thing began to cut up. It lurched and bucked and Grace went through -half a dozen rows of vines, boring a path for herself with her head, -bowling over two women and a boy in her mad drive.</p> - -<p>“Catch me!” she gasped, but if her plea was heard it was not heeded. -None of the spectators appeared to be eager to get within striking -distance of the bird-woman who was first being whipped in the air, then -on the vines of the Rhine vineyard. Her feet were in the air about as -much as they were on the ground, for the parachute had now changed its -course and was headed for the Rhine.</p> - -<p>Ahead of her Grace espied a stone wall, and an idea came to her, for -her mind was working even if, up to that point, her body had been -unable to perform any functions of self-preservation.</p> - -<p>“If I can get my feet against that wall as we go over, I may be able to -brace myself for a few seconds until something rips. Surely the silk -ought to tear in those circumstances.”</p> - -<p>Her monologue was cut short by a dive into a thick hedge that divided -two vineyards. It<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">145</a></span> seemed to Grace as if the raking she got was -literally tearing her to pieces. Her clothing, when she came through, -was in tatters, her body bore many deep scratches and cuts, and blood -from a scalp wound was trickling down her face. There was one side of -Grace Harlowe, though, that no amount of mauling could subdue—her -spirit of pluck.</p> - -<p>“I’ll win yet,” she gritted, coming to her feet, which were jerked from -the ground, while she kept her gaze fastened on the stone fence at the -bottom of the rows of terraces.</p> - -<p>There was, of course, the possibility of bumping her head against the -stone wall, as the major had once done, instead of striking it feet -first. If the former were her luck the result would be serious, so -the Overton girl tried to jockey the parachute, but with little more -success than had she been trying the same tactics on an outlaw mustang.</p> - -<p>The wind down between the hills in the Rhine Valley was a variable -wind, that hurled her first in one direction, then in another. Just now -she was headed for the river—and the stone wall.</p> - -<p>Grace met the wall feet first, as she had hoped to do. The shock to her -nervous system was terrific, and it seemed to the girl as if her limbs -were being driven up through her body. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">146</a></span> parachute merely hesitated. -It took a mighty lunge with the assistance of a favoring blast of wind, -and jumped up a few feet into the air, taking Grace Harlowe with it, -then dived for the railroad tracks at the base of the bluff.</p> - -<p>Grace went down the bank on her stomach, keeping her head up as well as -she could. She was suddenly yanked to her feet and slammed viciously -down on the roadbed, while the parachute wrapped itself about a -telegraph pole and went to sleep, a heap of torn silk, fit only for -souvenir neckties.</p> - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -</div> -<h2><a name="xiv" id="xiv"></a>CHAPTER XIV<br /> -<small>A GUEST OF THE HUNS</small></h2> - - -<p class="noi"><span class="dropcap">G</span>RACE HARLOWE heard a guttural voice speaking in German, replied to by -a woman’s voice in the same tongue.</p> - -<p>Opening her eyes ever so little, the Overton girl looked cautiously -about her. She was in a room that was peculiar in that the walls were -of stone, and the windows very narrow and high. She felt sore all over, -and to move hurt her, but her physical condition did not interest her -so much at the moment as did the two persons<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">147</a></span> who were speaking. The -man was in the uniform of a German officer. The woman was receiving -orders regarding the patient. Grace closed her eyes to listen without -their being aware that she was awake.</p> - -<p>“You will send for me as soon as the fraulein awakens,” he directed -gruffly. “Should she try to leave the castle she must be prevented. -She may have information of value to the Fatherland. As for the man, -he will not talk. Being an officer we hesitate to force him to speak. -Remember, we know nothing of the woman here. He has asked for her and -is ugly because we profess to know nothing about her. She must speak -as soon as she can. It was well that Rosa von Blum was watchful and -informed us that the runaway balloon was headed in this direction, and -better still that we were able to bring it down.”</p> - -<p>“Will the Allies not bring reprisals upon us, Herr Colonel, for having -shot the balloon down?”</p> - -<p>“They cannot hold the Germans responsible for the act of a crazy -peasant, as we shall so characterize it, and pass the incident off -lightly. When the Americans get to the Rhine they may make all the -inquiries they wish. We shall not be in the castle; almost no one knows -we are here now, there will be no trail left for them to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">148</a></span> follow, and -they will not be permitted to cross the river to look for one.”</p> - -<p>“Did not Fraulein von Blum say who the woman is?” questioned the German -woman.</p> - -<p>“No. ‘Important woman in drifting balloon,’ was the message she sent. -The man refuses to say who she is, so you must get it out of the woman -herself.”</p> - -<p>“You think she will come to soon?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, she will be on her feet before the day is done.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you,” whispered the subject of the dialogue. “I am glad to know -that I am all right. Good boy, Major. I will take my tip from him. But -who is this Rosa von Blum that they speak of? I don’t believe I ever -heard of her, though somehow the name strikes a disagreeable note in -my memory. There goes the colonel. I must get ready to wake up after a -proper interval.”</p> - -<p>Grace heard the woman step over to the bed and look down at her, after -the departure of the officer. She stirred a little under that gaze, -which seemed to burn into her, moaned and twisted her head from side -to side several times. After a brief interval of quietness the Overton -girl opened her eyes, closed and then opened them again, apparently -with great effort. Grace was acting her part without the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">149</a></span> slightest -slip. She gazed up blankly into the face of the German woman.</p> - -<p>“Guten morgen, Fraulein Schmidt,” greeted the German.</p> - -<p>“What is that you say? I am an American.”</p> - -<p>“I said good morning, Fraulein Schmidt,” repeated the woman, this time -in English, smiling encouragingly.</p> - -<p>“You know me?” exclaimed Grace Harlowe, raising herself on one elbow, -the effort giving her pain and causing her to make a wry face. “How did -you know my name?”</p> - -<p>“The Germans know many things. They are not the thickheads that the -enemy would have the world believe them. You come from the American -army?”</p> - -<p>Grace said she did, and explained that they had gone adrift in the -storm when she was with the balloon on invitation for the day, but in -answer to a question as to what she did in the army, the Overton girl -asked one for herself.</p> - -<p>“Who are you and where am I?”</p> - -<p>“You were hurt and a kind-hearted officer had you brought here. You -will, I hope, be able to go out in a week or so.”</p> - -<p>“So long as that?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. You were very badly hurt and the Herr Doctor says you must be in -bed for some time. To get up would mean your death.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">150</a></span> -“Oh, please don’t tell me that,” begged Grace. “What is it you wish to -know?”</p> - -<p>“How many are with the American army that is marching on the Rhine?”</p> - -<p>“Truly I cannot say, Frau.”</p> - -<p>“Is it not true that they are planning to take revenge on the Rhine -country when the Germans are helpless, having laid down their arms?”</p> - -<p>“How do you mean?” demanded Grace.</p> - -<p>“To turn the big guns on us?”</p> - -<p>“No, my countrymen do not break their word, Frau.”</p> - -<p>“I have heard that they plan to make it very hard for the peaceful -Germans too. It would be wrong, it would be a crime, for the Germans -are a kindly people. They love the Americans, but are sorry for them -that they were so misled as to enter the war.”</p> - -<p>“Sad to contemplate, isn’t it, Frau? I can almost weep over it myself. -What has been done with the officer who was with me in the balloon?”</p> - -<p>The German woman said she knew nothing about it, that she did not even -know of the officer, which Grace was aware was not true.</p> - -<p>“And the town on the other side of the river—what is it?”</p> - -<p>“The Fraulein must ask no questions; such are my instructions.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">151</a></span> -“I may ask when I am to be permitted to get up, may I not?”</p> - -<p>“I have told the Fraulein what the Herr Doctor has said.”</p> - -<p>“When I am able, I may get up?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“Then I think I will get up now.” Grace made a move as if to leave the -bed, but the German woman thrust her back, a menacing look flashing -into her eyes. “What do you mean by detaining me in this manner? Am I a -prisoner?”</p> - -<p>“No, no, Fraulein,” protested the woman.</p> - -<p>“It looks very much as if I were. If such be the case look out for -trouble.”</p> - -<p>“The Fraulein threatens?”</p> - -<p>“No. I simply warn you. If the Americans hear that a countrywoman is -being held on this side of the Rhine against her will, perhaps you can -imagine what they will do, whether or not they may know her or have -ever heard of her. However, ask all the questions you wish. I shall -reply to them or not as I feel inclined.”</p> - -<p>“It is not that I care to know, Fraulein, but that I am interested. We -on the Rhine are troubled, for we hear many things. If you can tell me -the things that will bring peace to my soul, I in turn will do all for -you. It is a fair bargain.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">152</a></span> -“Let me tell you something, Frau. The Americans do not trust the -Germans. That is why they are marching on the Rhine ready to go into -battle at a moment’s notice. That is military information, but my -countrymen are ready to fight you Germans, and I don’t care whether -you or all of you know it. Their artillery is constantly trained on -your retreating army. At the first sign of treachery the music will -begin, but I warn you it will not be sweet music, even for German -ears that profess to be so fond of music. It will be the music of the -guns, Frau.” Grace felt that she could do her country and her cause -no better service than by sounding this warning. She was by this time -fully aware that the woman was a German agent, placed there to wring -whatever information she could from the girl who had fallen into their -hands from the skies. Grace too had gained a little information, but -she hoped to obtain more of it.</p> - -<p>The Frau pressed her on a variety of subjects connected with the -approaching army, the tenor of which, as nearly as Grace could reason -it out, was as to the secret plans of the Allies after they had -occupied the Rhine bridgeheads, the territory that fed into the bridges -that crossed the Rhine, the principal bridgeheads being at Mainz, -Cologne and Coblenz, the three<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">153</a></span> great bridgeheads of the Rhine. Grace -was extremely cautious in answering questions where the answers might -prove of military value to the enemy.</p> - -<p>On the question of spies the German woman, several times in different -forms, questioned the American girl as to whether they suspected that -German spies were operating with the American forces. The Frau said she -had heard that the Americans were complaining of this, but that it was -a silly idea, for the war was ended, so why should there be need for -spies in either army.</p> - -<p>Grace agreed with her, but that was as far as her information went. -Later in the day the Herr Colonel came in and after examining Grace he -shook his head and pronounced her to be in a most serious condition. He -told the Overton girl, still speaking in German, that she had sustained -internal injuries that might prove fatal unless the utmost quiet of -body was persevered in. He said that his first diagnosis had not -revealed this because at the time she was unconscious.</p> - -<p>During this monologue the Overton girl gazed blankly at the Herr -Colonel, who plainly was a medical man, as well perhaps as an -intelligence officer. She turned to the Frau.</p> - -<p>“What is the man talking about?” she asked,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">154</a></span> though having understood -every word he had uttered.</p> - -<p>The German woman translated, and in the translation made Grace’s -condition really a desperate one. Both were lying, as the American girl -knew. She knew that she was badly shaken, bruised and scratched, but -that there was not a serious hurt anywhere. After the Herr Colonel’s -departure she was questioned still further. In the midst of it Grace -turned her face to the wall and promptly went to sleep.</p> - -<p>When Grace awakened it was late in the night. Her trench watch told her -it was half after twelve o’clock. Grace listened a few moments to make -certain that she was alone, then got out of bed. Standing on her feet -hurt her all over. She had been more shaken than she thought. The girl -groped her way about the room, feeling before each step, and finally -finding that for which she was in search, her clothing. What she hoped -to find was her flash lamp, but it was not there. The lamp had been -taken away. Plainly they did not propose to leave her the means of -signalling.</p> - -<p>Trying the door, it was found to be locked, as she had expected it -would be, but the windows were neither barred nor locked. Grace -cautiously threw one open and looked eagerly out. The moon, somewhere -back of her to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">155</a></span> eastward, was in the sky and lighted up the valley -before her, though none of the light penetrated the room. Before her -lay a village, two villages in fact, but it was the one on the opposite -side of the river that most interested her, and Grace studied its -outlines in the moonlight for some time.</p> - -<p>“I believe that is Coblenz,” she muttered. “This building is a castle -and I am up in the air for certain. There is no necessity to bar these -windows, for they know I can’t get down from here unless I fall down. I -wonder why they wish to keep me a prisoner?”</p> - -<p>Grace pondered over this for some time, going over all that had been -said to her by the German woman and what she had heard the man and -woman say to each other in their own language.</p> - -<p>“It seems to resolve itself to this,” she decided. “Some one of the -name of Rosa von Blum has warned them that an important woman was in -a drifting balloon headed their way. Now this Rosa person must be -somewhere in the American lines. It is my idea that this Rosa is a -man. That would be just like a Hun scheme. Perhaps the word came by -the pigeon route. The more I think of the pigeon incident the more -convinced am I that a Chinaman is mixed up with it. Won Lue is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">156</a></span> the -key to that mystery, and with that key I shall yet unravel the pigeon -mystery. So much for that. To-morrow morning they will get another -pigeon message unless some one shoots down all three of the birds, and -that message will tell them who I am. The war being ended will they -dare take their revenge on me now for exposing Madame de Beaupre and -André? They will! Trust a Hun not to have sense enough to realize that -he too will have to pay the price.”</p> - -<p>Grace pondered for a long time.</p> - -<p>“I am glad I woke up and have had time to think this matter over. I -shall know how to conduct myself to-morrow when they speak my name. Of -one thing I am glad. I am facing Coblenz, and sooner or later I may be -able to attract the attention of some one who will be interested in -what I have to say, though they will probably move me to some other -less convenient room before the Americans arrive. Our troops should -be at the Rhine to-morrow afternoon. To-night they will be but twelve -miles from here, and even now an advance guard may be in the city. At -least there are American intelligence officers there. I wonder where -they have stowed the major away?” She sighed and concluded to go back -to bed, knowing that she would be in need of all her strength for what -might be before her on the morrow.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">157</a></span> -Grace got in gingerly, for bending her body hurt her. She floundered -about for a moment, and rolling to the back of the bed came in contact -with something hard that lay at the edge of the bed next to the wall. -Her fingers closed over the object. She uttered an exclamation. The -object was her flash light that undoubtedly had slipped from her pocket -when they first placed her on the bed before undressing her.</p> - -<p>“It works,” she whispered excitedly, and was out of the bed without -thought of her aches and pains. “Only a chance, but it is worth while,” -she muttered, giving a series of quick flashes with the lamp thrust out -to the edge of the window casing.</p> - -<p>This was the flash signal indicating that she was about to send a -message.</p> - -<p>“American woman prisoner in tower here. Drifting balloon victim,” was -the message she flashed out slowly, then waited to see if there were -a reply. There was none. After an interval she tried it again with -the same result, not once giving her name, for there might be, and -undoubtedly were, plenty of persons over there who could read the Morse -code.</p> - -<p>Several times in the next hour the girl sent the same message, keeping -an attentive ear on the door.</p> - -<p>“I fear it is a failure. No one read my message.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">158</a></span> I must hide the lamp -and get to bed.” The bed appeared to offer the best hiding place. -Opening a seam in the mattress the Overton girl thrust the lamp far in, -packed the straw about it, replaced the mattress and the blankets and -got into bed, first closing the window.</p> - -<p>Grace lay in bed for some time, thinking over the events of the day, -and was about to turn over and go to sleep when her attention was -attracted by a slight noise. She sat up and listened. At first it -sounded to her like the gnawing of a mouse, but upon second thought she -realized that a mouse could not gnaw stone. A metallic click revealed -the truth.</p> - -<p>“Some one is at the door,” murmured the girl, and began groping for her -flash lamp, but suddenly withdrew her hand and composed herself in a -position from which she could observe the entire room.</p> - -<p>The Overton girl did not have long to wait. The door opened ever -so little, as she knew from the sound, and she could hear some one -breathing. The door was pushed in further. A moment of silence -followed, then cautious footsteps approached her bed. It was very -difficult for Grace Harlowe to breathe regularly and naturally, -the inclination being to hold one’s breath, but she overcame that -inclination and waited, every faculty on the alert.</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">159</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="xv" id="xv"></a>CHAPTER XV<br /> -<small>AN INTERRUPTED INTERVIEW</small></h2> - - -<p class="noi"><span class="dropcap"><span class="dropcap2">“</span>I</span>T is the Frau,” thought Grace, with an effort repressing a long -breath of relief.</p> - -<p>The German woman, after satisfying herself that her prisoner was -asleep, began a careful search of the room, first going to the window -and finding it shut, then searching Grace’s clothing, after which she -felt cautiously under the girl’s pillow. It was at that moment that -Grace’s plans took form and definite shape.</p> - -<p>Uttering a piercing shriek, the American girl leaped from the bed and -hurled herself against the German woman, who had sprung back and in -her fright started toward the door. Ere she had opportunity to collect -herself, Grace’s hands were against the Frau’s back and the German -woman was being “bounced” in the most approved manner. She ran because -she couldn’t help it. To have stopped would have meant measuring her -length on the floor.</p> - -<p>They reached the door, Grace Harlowe still uttering those piercing -screams, and there the Frau met disaster. She tripped on the doorsill<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">160</a></span> -and fell headlong into the corridor. Grace too went down, but was -up like a flash and, darting into the room, slammed the door shut, -securing it by bracing a tipped chair against it under the knob, -whereupon the Overton girl sat down heavily on the floor and gave way -to laughter that was almost hysterical, though so well repressed that -the woman out there could not hear it.</p> - -<p>“Oh, what a fright I gave her. I’ll warrant that frau doesn’t do any -more prowling about in my room at unseemly hours. I should have thought -of the chair before I went to bed.” Grace paused abruptly. Some one was -pounding on the door.</p> - -<p>“Who is it?” she called.</p> - -<p>“It is I, Frau Woelber.”</p> - -<p>“Oh!” Grace boldly threw open the door and as she did so the woman -pressed a button and flooded the room with light. Her face wore an -angry flush, but it moderated as she saw that Grace was breathing -heavily and that her face wore a frightened expression.</p> - -<p>“Oh, why did you frighten me so, Frau?” gasped the girl, still playing -her part.</p> - -<p>“You shall suffer for this,” threatened the woman. “You did it on -purpose.”</p> - -<p>“How—how can you say such a thing. Why did you creep into my room and -startle me by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">161</a></span> tugging at my pillow? It was terrible! What do you wish?”</p> - -<p>“It is like the American schweinhunde to be thus grateful. I came to -see that you were well and you repay by assaulting me. Bah!” The woman -turned on her heel and strode from the room, slamming the door after -her, and locking it from the outside. Grace replaced the chair and -returned to her bed.</p> - -<p>“I think I will use the flash again,” she muttered. Once more the -Overton girl sent out her message for help. “I hope some one does see -it, for to-morrow I feel I shall be in still more trouble.”</p> - -<p>Morning did bring trouble. She was awakened at an early hour by the -German woman and ordered to dress. There was not even time to regain -possession of her electric flash lamp nor to dress her hair.</p> - -<p>After getting on her clothes the woman took her by the arm and led -her from the room, down several staircases, the first of which was a -spiral. The Overton girl was conducted into a room which she judged was -on the side away from the river. There were no windows, and the room -was dark, save for the faint light shed by a candle.</p> - -<p>“You are a spy!” raged the woman, pointing an accusing finger at the -American girl.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">162</a></span> -“It is not true,” answered Grace evenly. “Remember, I am not here on my -own choice, and I shall be pleased to leave now. You see I am perfectly -able to go. If you detain me longer you will be punished. The war is -at an end, or is supposed to be, and you have no right to keep me a -prisoner. Are you going to permit me to go back to my own lines?”</p> - -<p>The German woman laughed harshly.</p> - -<p>“The Herr Officer will see you. We shall see,” was the non-committal -reply. The Herr Officer came in a few moments later, the woman -occupying the interval by a repetition of her questions of the previous -day. The officer-doctor examined Grace or pretended to, then turned to -the Frau.</p> - -<p>“Tell her she will die as the result of her getting up. She must not -be permitted to go until we have the message. You have not heard?” he -asked in German.</p> - -<p>The woman shook her head.</p> - -<p>“I will find out if anything has come since we spoke, and let you know. -You will wait in the library.”</p> - -<p>He nodded, gave the Overton girl a frowning appraising glance, and -turning on his heel strode out, followed by the woman, who locked the -door behind her. Both were back in a few moments, rather to the girl’s -surprise.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">163</a></span> -“So?” said the woman nodding slowly. “It is Frau Gray?”</p> - -<p>Grace regarded her inquiringly.</p> - -<p>“What do you mean?”</p> - -<p>“That it is not Frau Schmidt, but Frau Gray.”</p> - -<p>“I did not tell you my name was Schmidt, for it is not. I am an -American, not a Hun, nor do I admit that my name is Gray. The carrier -pigeon was late in arriving this morning, eh?” Grace grinned broadly as -she saw that the shot had gone home, for both showed their amazement. -“Ah! I observe that the Herr Colonel understands English after all. A -precious pair of enemy agents. What do you think will be done to you -when my people find out about this—and about the pigeons?”</p> - -<p>“Nothing! They will never know,” retorted the woman savagely.</p> - -<p>“Do not be deceived. I have arranged that they shall, no matter whether -I go back or do not go back.” She reasoned that no more pigeons would -be used, now that the American army was nearing the river. Grace did -not know that the army already had arrived. “It will not help your -cause to detain me. It will have the opposite effect. Am I to go or -stay?” continued Grace.</p> - -<p>“You are to—”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">164</a></span> -An orderly rapped on the door and saluted as the colonel wheeled on him.</p> - -<p>“What is it?” demanded the officer.</p> - -<p>“Orders, Herr Colonel. The enemy has heard that a woman is being -detained here. Unless she is released and given safe conduct to the -bridge before twelve o’clock to-day they threaten to come and get her.”</p> - -<p>Grace understood every word of the conversation, but not so much as -the flicker of an eyelash indicated that she did. She was not yet out -of her difficulties and a slip, even in the face of that order, might -prove her undoing.</p> - -<p>“What shall you do, Herr Colonel?” demanded the German woman.</p> - -<p>The colonel shrugged his shoulders.</p> - -<p>“They would not dare to do it,” added the Frau.</p> - -<p>“You do not know. They eagerly await the chance, the schweinhunde! -See that she has safe conduct, but it must not be known that we have -detained her here,” he said, turning to the orderly. “We shall have to -give up our quarters and go elsewhere. Tell them, when the woman is -turned over, that she was taken in seriously hurt, and that she was -held only until she could safely go away. Tell them that she would -have died had she been left uncared for. No names are to be mentioned. -Understand?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">165</a></span> -“Yes, Herr Colonel. I will go with her. Is she to go now?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.” He turned savagely to Grace. “Frau Gray,” he announced in -English that was quite broken, “had I known yesterday who you were -you would not now be here. There are those who would not treat you as -we have treated you, were they to know who you are. Do not presume to -come to Germany again, intentionally or unintentionally. If you do you -may not go back. That is all.” The Herr Colonel strode from the room, -and the woman hurried after him. Then the orderly beckoned to Grace to -follow him, after discovering that she “could not understand German.” -Grace smiled and nodded and dutifully followed the soldier down the -stairs.</p> - -<p>It was quite a distance down, but not once during their journey to -the outer air did Grace see a person. The old castle might have been -deserted, and probably was. There was a difference when they got into -the village. The streets were filled with chattering, gesticulating -men, women and children. Some appeared to know who she was so far as -her arrival in a parachute was concerned; others saw or had heard that -she was an American.</p> - -<p>That was not a pleasant walk for Grace Harlowe Gray, though it was an -interesting one to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">166</a></span> her. The sidewalks were lined with spectators, some -stolid and sullen, others quite the opposite. The latter were in the -majority and the American girl frequently was jeered at and poked at -with fingers. A woman slapped her, but, though Grace’s face burned, she -did no more than look at the woman calmly, unemotionally. Several times -she heard the word “spy” hurled at her in German and smiled to herself. -It was an interesting study in psychology to Grace Harlowe, even if she -were the object of the demonstration.</p> - -<p>“Isn’t she pretty?” demanded a male voice in German.</p> - -<p>Grace flashed a look in that direction to see who had uttered the -words. She saw a German officer and an attractive-looking young woman -backed up against a store front.</p> - -<p>“Pretty? How can you say that of an American?” demanded the young -woman. “She is as hideous and as ugly as no doubt her soul is black.”</p> - -<p>“You are a true German, Fraulein,” exclaimed the German officer -enthusiastically.</p> - -<p>Grace grinned, though the characterization hurt her more than she -cared to admit to herself. With every step after that she expected to -encounter violence, but it was not until she neared the bridge that she -did. Some one<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">167</a></span> threw a stone. It was a small stone, but the thrower, as -Grace concluded later when thinking over the occurrence, must have been -a member of a Hun bomb squad. It hit and knocked the Overton girl down.</p> - -<p>Grace got up dizzily. Blood was trickling down her cheek. Her escort -appeared to be wholly indifferent to her plight, and did not even -rebuke the one who threw the stone. Fortunately for Grace it was a -small stone, else she would not have gotten up quite so readily.</p> - -<p>“This is a sample of Hun ‘kultur,’ I presume?” she said in German, -addressing her conductor.</p> - -<p>The orderly glanced at her inquiringly.</p> - -<p>“Sprechen Sie Deutsch?” he demanded.</p> - -<p>“No, I wouldn’t speak the language if it were the only language in the -world,” she retorted, again in German, but refused to utter another -word in the language.</p> - -<p>“The woman is to pass,” directed the orderly, presenting a pass to the -sentry on duty at the bridge; then he turned abruptly and left Grace to -get along as best she might.</p> - -<p>“Courtesy appears to have been neglected in the education of these -people,” muttered Grace. “However, I should not be amazed at that, -knowing the Boches as I do after my many months on the western front. -Thank goodness<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">168</a></span> I am free, I hope, for good and all. Now I suppose I -shall have a hard time getting into our lines.”</p> - -<p>Grace did have a hard time. She was promptly halted by an American -sentry, who, calling the corporal of the guard, turned her over to him. -Grace demanded to be taken before Captain Boucher of the Intelligence -Department, which was done because orders had been given to that effect.</p> - -<p>Captain Boucher gazed at the ragged figure for a few seconds, his gaze -traveling up to the face, from which the blood had not all been wiped -away. He was on his feet in an instant.</p> - -<p>“Mrs. Gray!” he exclaimed. “You are wounded!”</p> - -<p>“Nothing to speak of, sir. Merely a little memento of Boche ‘kultur.’ -In other words I was stoned out of Germany.” Grace smiled that winning -smile that always won people to her. “I am quite all right, but my -clothing and my hair are simply impossible. I wish it were dark, for -I do dread to go through the streets here in my present disgraceful -condition.”</p> - -<p>“This is an outrage. Were I the general in command of this army I’d -have those hounds down on their knees!” raged the captain.</p> - -<p>“That is what they need, sir. Those people need to have the arrogance -beaten out of them.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">169</a></span> I am not saying this in any spirit of revenge, nor -for what they did to me.”</p> - -<p>“I understand—I understand. I will call a car to take you to your -billet. Your signal from the castle was seen by one of our agents -before the army got here. Then later Major Colt escaped and swam the -Rhine, and he too reported it. He saw your Morse message just as he -reached the bank on this side. When you are able I shall wish you to -tell me what occurred over there.”</p> - -<p>“I will tell you now, if I may.” Grace took up the narrative from the -time of her landing in the vineyard, giving him only such information -as she knew to be of military interest. The Intelligence officer -listened with close attention.</p> - -<p>“You should be in the secret service,” he declared after she had -finished. “By what means do you think the Germans got information about -you?”</p> - -<p>“Pigeon or spy, sir. Pigeon most likely. You have not found the guilty -one, have you, sir?”</p> - -<p>“We have not.” The captain pinched his lips together. “I think we shall -have to ask you to run this spy matter down, Mrs. Gray.”</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">170</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="xvi" id="xvi"></a>CHAPTER XVI<br /> -<small>ELFREDA HAS A SUSPICION</small></h2> - - -<p class="noi"><span class="dropcap">T</span>HE billet to which Grace had been assigned was the home of a German -doctor, where she had a comfortable, large room extending all the way -across the rear of the house. The owner, as she later learned, occupied -a large front room with a small communicating room on the left-hand -side of the house, a similar apartment on the other side of the house -being occupied by some one else.</p> - -<p>Elfreda Briggs was busy getting her hand in at canteen work when Grace -arrived at the billet with her credentials, without which no one could -obtain lodgings in Coblenz, now that the Americans had taken possession -of the place and were at work setting it in order. The Overton girl -found her belongings already there, including her mail. There was mail -from home, but a letter from Emma Dean got first reading and put Grace -in a happy frame of mind.</p> - -<p>“My Darling Grace (This goes for all of the Overton Unit),” wrote Emma:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">171</a></span> -“We haven’t had a letter from you in so long I don’t believe we should -recognize your handwriting. There isn’t a thing new in Paris except -military news that I hear over the wire, which of course I can’t tell -you. By the way, I did hear that William the First had been called -before a court-martial for insubordination and ungentlemanly language -to a superior officer. My! what a narrow escape I did have. Think what -a terrible mistake I should have made had I married him. Thank heaven -my present William is not that sort of a fighter. By the way, I learned -over the wire only yesterday that he too is on his way to Coblenz. I -am glad of that, for, you being a married woman, I can trust you to -chaperon him and see that he doesn’t fall in love with one of those -rosy-cheeked Gretchens on the Rhine. I am told that they are inclined -to favor the American doughboys. They’d better not favor my William.</p> - -<p>“By the way, that daughter of yours surely has made a place for -herself at Madame Duchamp’s school. They will spoil that child. We had -Yvonne over to stay all night with us and spend Sunday last week. The -yellow cat was with her. If I am well informed the yellow cat is a -lady-mouser, so you can imagine how shocked we were when Yvonne told -us that she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">172</a></span> had named the cat Tom Gray after her adopted father, but -that she called her Tom for short. I know your Tom will be delighted -with the great honor that has come to him. It’s up to your Tom to give -his namesake a handsome present. Might send on a shell-case of mice. I -understand they have plenty of them out near the front. What a lovely -present to send to a young ladies’ boarding school. What?</p> - -<p>“Arline Thayer, Mabel Ashe, Ruth Denton and the rest of this Overton -unit are simply expiring to see you. Ruth thinks she is in love with -a Y secretary. For myself I prefer a fighting man—I don’t mean -one that will fight me—leave that to the Huns—but who will fight -another man when he crowds me off the walk. I heard a story over the -wire the other day about Hippy Wingate. It seems that one of those -secretary fellows—I don’t know what organization he belonged to—got -quite friendly with Nora Wingate, all in the nicest possible way. -But you know Hippy. Hippy heard of it, so one day he dropped in on -the Salvation hut and found Nora singing for the secretary. She said -he wanted to try her voice. Well, Hippy he—as I was saying, Hippy -invited the fellow to take a flight with him—a hop, I believe they -call it—the secretary wasn’t permitted to refuse and up they went. It -seems<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">173</a></span> they have some sort of telephone arrangement between the pilot -and the observer, and after a little the secretary discovered that he -had no safety belt on and he called Hippy’s attention to it rather -anxiously. Hippy, according to the reports I got over the wire, said -he was sorry, for he was going to do some loops, to see how many he -could do. One of his squadron had done thirty-seven, but Hippy was of -the opinion that he could do at least thirty-seven and a half. ‘But -I’ll fall out,’ protested the secretary. ‘Sure you will,’ agreed Hippy, -‘but I’ll turn the loops right over the Salvation hut. When you fall -out, if my wife thinks you’re worth saving she’ll catch you.’ Well, the -secretary begged, and finally Hippy relented and said he would let his -passenger out before he looped. They landed. The secretary took the -hint and ‘beat it,’ as the doughboys would say. I understand he hasn’t -been seen around the Salvation canteen since. Isn’t that just like -Hippy?</p> - -<p>“Now that the war is over I suppose we all will soon be on our way to -the good old United States. I know I shall die if I have to go back -before my William does. I have been afraid that he might be appointed -on the Peace Commission, for I know he must stand very high with the -President, even if he is only a lieutenant. Well, good-bye. Remember -me to Tom,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">174</a></span> and tell him I hope that when he gets home he will make it -his business to see that his most attractive wife stays home and washes -the dishes rather than go scouting all over America and half of Europe -driving ambulances and things.</p> - -<pre> -“Yours lovingly, <span class="smcap">Emma</span>.” -</pre> - -<p>Grace sat back and laughed until the tears came, laughed until she was -interrupted by a cry from the doorway. It was Elfreda, but instead of -throwing herself into Grace’s arms, J. Elfreda stood off and surveyed -her with disapproving eyes.</p> - -<p>“Grace Harlowe Gray, you surely are a sight. I am not at all surprised. -What does make me marvel is that you have come back at all. Tell me -about it. Have you been crying? Your eyes are red.”</p> - -<p>“I have been laughing. I have a letter from Emma.”</p> - -<p>“Enough said. Tell me the story. You were a prisoner, I understand.”</p> - -<p>“A sort of prisoner. No, I was not hit with a bullet, but with a stone. -The Huns are such gentle creatures. The state of my clothing is due to -the fact that I got mixed up with a vineyard when I came down in the -parachute. I suppose you had your information from Major Colt?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">175</a></span> -“Yes. I have a lot of other information too; but that will keep until I -hear your story.”</p> - -<p>Grace, to save time, told the story from the time they left the ground -in the sausage balloon right down to the moment when she got back into -the American lines.</p> - -<p>“What do you propose to do next for thrills?” demanded Elfreda finally.</p> - -<p>“I am not looking for thrills. I am in hope that I shall be permitted -to go back home before very long—that is, if Tom goes.”</p> - -<p>“He won’t. They are planted here for months to come, provided we do not -go on into the enemy country.”</p> - -<p>“How is Mrs. Smythe?” Grace smiled.</p> - -<p>“No change. I understand from her that you are to be placed on canteen -work, drawing hot chocolate and the like. She will have you mopping -out the place next. Chad is in a rage most of the time, except when -her latest friend is with her. Oh, I didn’t tell you about that. The -day before you went over by the air route, a most charming young lady -appeared on the scene. Mrs. Smythe said it was a very old friend of -hers of the name of Molly Marshall. I don’t know who she is or how she -got into the lines, but I have been told by those who ought to know, -that she is an American woman who has been a prisoner of the Germans; -that she got<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">176</a></span> by the German sentries and reached our lines after -suffering all sorts of hardships. She doesn’t look the part, I am free -to say.”</p> - -<p>Grace was interested at once.</p> - -<p>“You are suspicious of her, Elfreda?” she demanded.</p> - -<p>“Of course I am. I am suspicious of any one who takes up with Chad. -I don’t know where Molly is to-day. I haven’t seen her since last -evening. She is billeted with Chad.”</p> - -<p>“Where does Mrs. Smythe live?”</p> - -<p>Elfreda regarded her frowningly.</p> - -<p>“I forgot that you had been in the air so long. Chad occupies the front -room on this floor. We are all in the house together, but if trouble -doesn’t make us wish we weren’t, I shall be much mistaken. Won Lue -comes over to ask about you. He appears to have something on his mind. -Have you any idea what it is?”</p> - -<p>“Plidgins,” answered Grace laughingly. “What is it you suspect about -this woman Marshall?”</p> - -<p>“I do not suspect her any more than I do some other persons. I am -beginning to believe that our supervisor isn’t as loyal to the cause as -she might be. That feeling has been strengthened since Miss Marshall -appeared so mysteriously.”</p> - -<p>“Elfreda, you know how I feel toward Mrs.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">177</a></span> Smythe, but for all that -I must stand up for her. With all her faults she is an American. Her -presence at the front is sufficient evidence of that to satisfy me as -to her loyalty. As I have said before, she is a vain and jealous woman, -a fair type of the newly rich. As for the other woman, I hope to see -her and form my own opinion of her. I think the Intelligence Department -is considerably disturbed over spy activities. There is something else -going on here too, though I haven’t yet learned what it is. I have some -queer fancies in the back of my head, Elfreda, and—”</p> - -<p>“You always did have.”</p> - -<p>“They are not yet sufficiently clarified to make it prudent for me to -speak of them, but remember what I have said. Some day I shall tell you -the story that I now warn you of. Whose house is this?”</p> - -<p>“It is occupied by a Doctor Klein, a scientific, studious-appearing -fellow, and apparently very friendly to Americans. He says the Germans -have been in the wrong in this war and—”</p> - -<p>“I should be suspicious of that man, Elfreda. Either he is not a German -or else he isn’t telling the truth. What is the attitude of the people -of Coblenz?”</p> - -<p>“Some appear to be afraid of the Americans, while others—these are -in the majority—are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">178</a></span> sullen. The situation appears to me to be very -tense, likely to result in an explosion at any moment. There are very -few German men of military age here. I think our people are treating -the inhabitants very leniently.”</p> - -<p>“That is a mistake,” declared Grace with emphasis. “Mark me, the Huns -can’t understand and appreciate humane treatment. They will take -advantage of that attitude, believing that the Americans are afraid of -them. Then we shall have to put pressure on them, and that will cause -more trouble than were we to be severe with them now at the outset. I -must get about and see what the lay of the land is.”</p> - -<p>“You keep out of it, Loyalheart; that is my advice to you. Haven’t you -had enough yet?”</p> - -<p>“No, I never shall until my country has no further use for my services, -my dear. When that time comes, I shall be ready to settle down to the -simple life in beautiful Haven Home and enjoy a real home-life with Tom -and my beautiful adopted daughter. Elfreda, that child is entwining -herself about my heartstrings more and more as time goes on.”</p> - -<p>“She is doing the same thing to me,” declared Elfreda. “You will have -to divide her with me—I mean share her with me, Grace. I am as much -her mother as you are, am I not?”</p> - -<p>“You are, of course, though my claim is a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">179</a></span> prior claim, which you as a -lawyer must recognize.” They had a hearty laugh over this.</p> - -<p>It was late in the afternoon when Grace went out, first having knocked -on Mrs. Smythe’s door but receiving no response. Grace inquired her way -to the canteen, looking in the shop windows as she passed, enjoying the -sight of stores once more. There were few of these left in rural France -where she had been, and those that were left ordinarily bore the marks -of shell fire.</p> - -<p>The supervisor was not at the canteen where Grace understood she was to -be stationed, but Marie Debussy, the supervisor’s maid, was there and -at work. Grace greeted her cordially and the girl appeared equally glad -to see Grace.</p> - -<p>“How is Madame behaving?” she questioned.</p> - -<p>“There is no change, but I am here most of the time and do not see so -much of her.”</p> - -<p>“You are satisfied here then, Marie?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, it will do. The war will soon be over and I shall go back to -my beloved France. Bah! These Germans! I like them not.”</p> - -<p>“None of us do, Marie. Is Miss Marshall with Madame?” asked Grace -carelessly. Marie gave her a quick glance, a keener glance than Grace -had ever seen from those eyes, after which the eyes lapsed into their -former dullness.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">180</a></span> -“I have not seen her since yesterday. I do not know. Do you know her?”</p> - -<p>Grace said she did not, and giving Marie a smile, stepped behind the -counter and began her work as a canteen server. It was not the free -life of the ambulance driver, but it was service, and Grace Harlowe -was satisfied. But there was plenty of excitement ahead of her, even -though life moved on in Coblenz much the same as before and during the -war. Shopkeepers were overcharging the American soldiers, others were -robbing them, and the situation was lax to an extent that disturbed -Grace Harlowe.</p> - -<p>She said as much to Major Colt, who called at the canteen that evening -to see her, and he agreed with the Overton girl, but said that the -American officers were awakening to the possibilities and that -something would be done. The major told Grace of his experience with -the Germans after they dragged him from the Rhine, she in turn relating -her own. He told of having seen her signal and of reading the message, -and he was filled with admiration for Grace’s resourcefulness and -cleverness.</p> - -<p>“I told Captain Boucher about that. He declared that you ought to be -in the Secret Service and that he was going to have you there if his -advice prevailed with those higher up. How would you like that?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">181</a></span> -“Not at all,” answered Grace smilingly. “Is the captain still disturbed -over the activities of spies with the Army of Occupation?”</p> - -<p>Major Colt flashed a quick glance at her.</p> - -<p>“So, you do know about it, eh?”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps I may have surmised some things, sir—and I know the Hun and -his ways rather well,” she added. “May I ask you, sir, if you know a -Miss Marshall who entered camp the day before we went up?”</p> - -<p>“No. I have heard of her. Why?”</p> - -<p>“Just a woman’s curiosity.”</p> - -<p>“I would suggest that you ask Captain Boucher about that. You will be -somewhat amazed at what he will tell you—if he tells you anything,” -laughed the officer. “There’s a real mystery for you, eh?”</p> - -<p>Grace shrugged her shoulders.</p> - -<p>“There are many others more worth while, sir,” she made reply, turning -to hand a doughboy a bar of chocolate. “I—”</p> - -<p>Grace did not finish the sentence. An explosion that seemed to be -splitting the earth wide open crushed in one end of the canteen and -blew off part of the roof, bringing a good part of the structure down -on the heads of the occupants of the building.</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">182</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="xvii" id="xvii"></a>CHAPTER XVII<br /> -<small>THE TREACHERY OF THE HUN</small></h2> - - -<p class="noi"><span class="dropcap">F</span>ORTUNATELY for those in the canteen the heavy framework of the -building stood up under the blast, so though they were buried in the -wreckage it was comparatively light wreckage.</p> - -<p>Major Colt and one soldier suffered the most, the major being hit -on the head with a piece of galvanized iron roofing and knocked -unconscious. It was Grace Harlowe who raised the piece from his body -and dug him out of the mess, though she herself was dazed almost to -the point of losing herself. In the midst of the confusion she found -herself thinking of Elfreda, who had not yet come on for the evening, -though darkness had fallen, and Grace was thankful.</p> - -<p>After getting the officer out, Grace plunged into the wreckage again, -for the canteen had caught fire and there were still others to be -rescued. By this time doughboys had rushed to the scene, two grabbing -her and fairly throwing her out. They ordered her to stay out, but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">183</a></span> -not before she had dragged out Marie and made her as comfortable as -possible.</p> - -<p>Major Colt had recovered consciousness by the time she got to him.</p> - -<p>“Wha—at was it?” he asked weakly.</p> - -<p>“Ammunition dump, I think.”</p> - -<p>“Hun work!” he growled.</p> - -<p>“Looks like it. I hope our people will get busy now. Is there anything -I can do for you? If not I must look after Marie. She got a hard rap on -the head, same as you did.”</p> - -<p>“If you will have some one help me to my quarters I think I shall be -all right. Did you get me out?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. Here, Buddy, will you please give Major Colt a lift?” she called -to a passing soldier, and a moment later, after pressing Grace’s hand, -the balloonist was being guided to his billet. Grace, in the meantime, -had assisted Marie to her feet and was leading her toward the house in -which the welfare workers were living.</p> - -<p>Only a short distance away from the canteen shells were going up with -loud bangs, and this racket kept up for half an hour, until the last -of the ammunition dump had been destroyed, wounding many persons, but -fortunately having killed only two men. Doughboys soon put out the fire -in the canteen, but all gave the ammunition dump a wide berth.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">184</a></span> -Reaching the house the Overton girl was met by Elfreda, who had been -considerably shaken up by the explosion, which had crashed every window -in the house.</p> - -<p>“Ammunition dump blown up,” Grace informed Elfreda in answer to the -latter’s glance of inquiry. “Here we are, Marie. I will put you to bed, -then I must hurry back. Elfreda, you had better go out with me. We may -be needed, if they should wish to transfer the canteen to-night.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Smythe was in her room. Grace observed that her face was pale and -lined.</p> - -<p>“Wha—wha—what has happened?” she gasped.</p> - -<p>“Nothing very much except that an ammunition dump has blown up. I have -seen many of them go up, but never one quite so near. The canteen is -wrecked, Mrs. Smythe. Have you orders for us?”</p> - -<p>“N—n—n—no!” stammered the supervisor. “Y—ye—yes. Go out and find -out all you can, then come back and report to me.”</p> - -<p>“About what?” demanded Grace politely.</p> - -<p>“About what is to be done.”</p> - -<p>“Very good. I will leave Marie in your hands. She is badly shaken up -and should be put to bed at once.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter width400"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">185</a></span> -<img src="images/rhine_p185.jpg" width="400" height="623" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">Grace Rescues Major Colt.</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">186</a></span> -“That’s her affair,” observed the supervisor, beginning to get control -of her nerves. “Are you going?”</p> - -<p>Grace nodded and stepped out into the hall, where she found Elfreda -awaiting her, and together they hurried away.</p> - -<p>“Absolutely unfeeling,” declared Grace heatedly. “She will make that -girl put herself to bed, and Marie can scarcely stand.”</p> - -<p>“Tell me about it,” urged Miss Briggs.</p> - -<p>“I know nothing at all about it except that the building fell in on us. -I assisted Marie and the major out, the latter having received a bang -on the head that completely knocked him out. By the way, do you know a -Chinaman who carries a red birthmark on the left side of his face?”</p> - -<p>“I do not,” returned J. Elfreda, elevating her chin a little. “I do not -associate with those animals.”</p> - -<p>“Be sensible, Elfreda.”</p> - -<p>“Why do you ask?” demanded Elfreda.</p> - -<p>“I have my reasons. Some queer doings in Coblenz; and the end is not -yet.”</p> - -<p>“Do—do you think the Boches blew up the dump?”</p> - -<p>“I cannot say that. My natural impression, of course, is that they did. -I was asking the major about Miss Marshall about the time the blow-up -occurred, and he suggested that I ask<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">187</a></span> Captain Boucher, intimating that -if the captain would talk he would give me information that would amaze -me.”</p> - -<p>“H—m—m—m! That sounds interesting. He will talk to you, all right. -Every one does. Oh, look at the canteen!” she cried when they came -within sight of the wrecked building. A squad of men, with an officer -in charge, were at work, clearing away and salvaging such of the -supplies as had not been destroyed.</p> - -<p>“Here, Mrs. Gray, I am glad you have come over. What are we to do with -this stuff?” demanded the officer.</p> - -<p>“I am not in charge, Lieutenant. Mrs. Smythe is the supervisor.”</p> - -<p>“Then why isn’t she here attending to her duties?”</p> - -<p>Grace said she could not answer for that.</p> - -<p>“I would suggest, sir, if you will, that you have the supplies taken on -a truck to the Number Two Canteen. To-morrow the supervisor can make -such disposition of them as she sees fit.”</p> - -<p>“Very good. I commission you to take charge of removing and caring for -the goods. You are under orders.”</p> - -<p>Grace saluted and asked the officer to order a truck to the scene, -which he promptly did. Grace then got to work. Her salvaging was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">188</a></span> -thorough. There were many boxes of chocolate bars that had been -crushed, in some instances to powder. These she had carefully removed, -saving every possible grain of the sweets for melting over. Observing -that she was handling the situation properly, the officer went away.</p> - -<p>After two hours of hard work the supplies were collected and loaded on -the truck. Grace thanked the men who had worked so well for her, and -climbing to the seat of the truck, rode with it to its destination. -The Number Two Canteen was located some distance from the scene of the -explosion, but it had suffered the loss of most of its windows just the -same, as had many of the buildings in Coblenz.</p> - -<p>Number Two Canteen being open, Grace informed the worker in charge that -the supplies were to be left there until Mrs. Smythe gave orders for -their distribution. Grace then started for home.</p> - -<p>Reaching her billet Grace tapped on the door of Mrs. Smythe’s room, -wishing to report what had been done. The supervisor bade her enter.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I beg pardon,” exclaimed Grace, observing that Mrs. Smythe was not -alone.</p> - -<p>A well-groomed man, wearing a vandyke beard, slightly gray, rose and -extended a hand to the Overton girl.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">189</a></span> -“Mrs. Gray, I believe.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir,” she answered. “And you?”</p> - -<p>“I am Dr. Karl Klein. Being the guest of my home it is well that we -should know each other. I trust you are quite comfortable.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you. I am sure that I shall be after I have had opportunity -to compose myself.” A sudden aversion to this suave German fairly -overwhelmed Grace Harlowe. He jarred on her, aroused a feeling of -antagonism that would not down. He was altogether too smooth, too -polite and courteous for a Hun, was the reason that Grace felt that way.</p> - -<p>“Mrs. Smythe—you will pardon me, sir—acting upon the orders of an -officer, I had the supplies, such of them as we were able to salvage, -removed to Number Two Canteen, where they are to be held awaiting your -orders.”</p> - -<p>“What! You gave orders over my head?” demanded the woman sternly.</p> - -<p>“I acted under the orders of an officer, Madame.”</p> - -<p>“You will return at once, take the things back where they were, pile -them up and have a guard placed over them.”</p> - -<p>“I think you are mistaken, Mrs. Smythe,” answered Grace sweetly, though -there was little sweetness in her heart at that moment. She had been -humiliated before Doctor Klein, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">190</a></span> even though he were an enemy, the -cut was felt keenly.</p> - -<p>“What is that you say?”</p> - -<p>“That, so far as I am concerned, the supplies will remain where they -are for the rest of the night. It undoubtedly will rain before morning -and the supplies will be ruined if left out. Furthermore, I acted under -the orders of an American officer. It is true that you are my superior, -but he is the superior of both of us.”</p> - -<p>“You dare to disobey my orders?” shouted the supervisor.</p> - -<p>“If you choose to so construe it, yes, but with no intention of being -impertinent or disobedient. I beg to remind you that you have your -remedy, should you feel that I am guilty of insubordination. It is your -privilege to report me. I bid you good-night.”</p> - -<p>Grace bowed to the doctor, and turning on her heel walked from the room.</p> - -<p>“Whatever is the matter with you?” demanded Elfreda when Grace walked -into their quarters. “You are as pale as the proverbial ghost.”</p> - -<p>“Matter? J. Elfreda, I never was so humiliated in my life. Madame is -furious because I had the supplies removed under the orders of the -lieutenant.”</p> - -<p>“Take it easy now, Loyalheart,” soothed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">191</a></span> Miss Briggs. “Let her do her -worst, which can be no more than reporting you.”</p> - -<p>“That is just the trouble. After a time our superiors will begin to -believe that where there is such a smudge there must be at least a few -coals if not a real fire. Who and what is this man?”</p> - -<p>“What man do you refer to?”</p> - -<p>“Doctor Klein.”</p> - -<p>“Beyond the fact that he is our landlord, I have no information about -him. Why?”</p> - -<p>“I do not trust him. There is something queer about the man.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps it is you who are queer, Loyalheart. I call the doctor a most -courteous gentleman for a Hun.”</p> - -<p>“Exactly! That is what I mean—in part. He is too courteous for his -kind. Furthermore, my intuition tells me that there is something wrong -with him. I seem to be getting into a perfect maze of contradicting -elements. I wish I did not have such an imagination. I see more mystery -everywhere since we came to Coblenz than I can express in words. How is -Marie? I was so upset over the way Madame went at me that I forgot to -ask.”</p> - -<p>“Asleep when I went in to inquire. I don’t believe she is much hurt. My -advice to you is to get into bed and go to sleep. You are worn<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">192</a></span> out and -your nerves are upset, which is not surprising when one considers that -you fell out of the skies the day before yesterday.”</p> - -<p>“At least my equilibrium was upset,” grinned Grace. “Yes, I will turn -in, but I know I shall have bad dreams to-night, and that our friend -the doctor will be the principal character in them. To add to my -troubles I presume I shall be called upon for an explanation to-morrow. -Madame is certain to report me, nor do I blame her so very much in the -circumstances. Good-night. Do you know, I don’t think you are much of -a lawyer or you wouldn’t let your one and only client get into such -perplexing situations.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you. I agree with you on the main issue. What I should do is to -have a commission in lunacy appointed for you and then browbeat them -into believing that you are an unsafe person to be allowed to remain at -large.”</p> - -<p>“Good-night,” laughed Grace, getting into bed. “Please don’t blow out -the gas in your excitement.” Elfreda was trying to do this very thing. -“In my craziest moods, I never was so afflicted that I tried to put out -the gas by blowing it out.”</p> - -<p>Grace was soon asleep, but hers was not a wholly restful night, -dreaming as she did of plots against herself and her country, in which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">193</a></span> -Molly Marshall, Won Lue and Mrs. Chadsey Smythe were inextricably -entangled, with Doctor Klein as the chief figure in the conspiracy.</p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -</div> -<h2><a name="xviii" id="xviii"></a>CHAPTER XVIII<br /> -<small>GRACE GETS A CLUE</small></h2> - - -<p class="noi"><span class="dropcap"><span class="dropcap2">“</span>C</span>APTAIN, is it proper to ask if the Huns blew up the ammunition dump?” -asked Grace next morning upon chancing to meet Captain Boucher on the -paved plaza facing the river.</p> - -<p>“If you will put your question in a form that I can answer I will do -so,” was the smiling reply.</p> - -<p>“Was the explosion last evening an accident, sir?” Grace came back at -him quick as a flash.</p> - -<p>“It was not an accident, Mrs. Gray,” he replied gravely, then burst out -laughing. “You are the quickest-witted person I ever knew or heard of. -Have you made any headway in the matter I spoke to you about?”</p> - -<p>“Do you know a Chinaman, belonging to the labor battalion, who wears a -hideous birthmark on his left cheek?” she questioned in reply.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">194</a></span> -“Can’t say that I do. Why?”</p> - -<p>“Merely that I would suggest your making his acquaintance. I think -perhaps you may find him worth while.”</p> - -<p>“Cultivating or watching?” asked the Intelligence officer, regarding -her keenly.</p> - -<p>“The latter.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you. What is his name?”</p> - -<p>“I have not heard. I will find out if you wish.”</p> - -<p>The officer nodded.</p> - -<p>“Who is Miss Marshall, if I am permitted to ask? I know it seems an -impertinence on my part to question an officer, but I want to know,” -declared the Overton girl laughing. “I believe that is quite a common -excuse with women for asking questions, but it is comprehensive.”</p> - -<p>The captain glanced about them and invited Grace to sit down with him -on a bench. The air was quite chill, but the view up and down the river -was an attractive one.</p> - -<p>“What I am about to say is strictly confidential. I am giving it to -you for your own guidance, now that you belong to our Intelligence -Department.”</p> - -<p>“Strange, sir, that I have not heard of that.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, you are a member. To return to the subject, Molly Marshall is one -of the cleverest operators in the Secret Service.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">195</a></span> -“A spy?”</p> - -<p>The captain shrugged his shoulders.</p> - -<p>“I never liked the word when applied to our own. She is an investigator -and a brilliant operator. I shall be glad to have you know her, and -assure you that you may trust her fully.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you, but I do not believe I should care to trust any one in -these confidential matters, unless I knew her pretty well. I should -like to meet her, just the same, but she is not to know that I am doing -anything in the investigating line, if you will be so good as to keep -that fact confidential.”</p> - -<p>The captain promised, saying it was not generally customary for -Secret Service operators with the army to know each other, as such an -acquaintance opened the way for many errors of judgment.</p> - -<p>“You are perfectly right in the position you take,” he added. “You -possess all the makings of a brilliant operator yourself.”</p> - -<p>Grace thanked him.</p> - -<p>“As I have said before, I have no aspirations in that direction, -at least not beyond the point that I can serve my country. Perhaps -my woman’s curiosity in combination with my woman’s intuition is -responsible for my being in it to the extent that I am. You will -observe that I am not backward about paying my sex<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">196</a></span> compliments. -However, it will soon be ended and then we shall all return to our -previous lives—if we can. How about you, sir, shall you continue in -the Service?”</p> - -<p>“I think not.”</p> - -<p>Grace rose and, thanking the captain, said she must be on her way to -the canteen at Number Two. On her way she encountered a Chinaman and -told him if he should see Won Lue to send him to the canteen. Rather to -her amazement Won was waiting for her when she arrived there.</p> - -<p>Won shook hands with himself and smiled broadly.</p> - -<p>“You may be able to help us here to-day, Won. Are you working?”</p> - -<p>The Chinaman shook his head negatively. “You savvy plidgin?” he asked.</p> - -<p>“No.”</p> - -<p>“Me savvy plenty plidgin, a-la. Plidgin all fly away. No more plidgin.”</p> - -<p>Grace understood his meaning. The pigeon-flying came to an end when -the army reached the Rhine, for there the enemy agents could work more -directly and without much danger of being caught. That was what they -were doing at that very moment.</p> - -<p>“Oh! I knew there was something I wished to ask you. Do you know a -Chinaman with a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">197</a></span> red mark on his left cheek, so?” She ran a hand over -her cheek.</p> - -<p>Won chuckled delightedly, though what there was in her question to -amuse him, Grace could not imagine.</p> - -<p>“You savvy Yat Sen? Me savvy Yat Sen plenty much. What me do?”</p> - -<p>“Thank you. I savvy Yat Sen, too. Please clean the place, scrub the -floors nice and clean before Mrs. Smythe gets here.”</p> - -<p>“Me savvy Slith,” volunteered Won with a grimace.</p> - -<p>“Why the ‘a-la,’ Won?” asked Elfreda who came in at this juncture.</p> - -<p>“That is a Chinese round-off, as it were,” Grace informed her. “Have -you seen the supervisor this morning?”</p> - -<p>Elfreda said she had not, for Marie had said that Mrs. Smythe went out -rather early. Grace suddenly decided to go home, and asked Elfreda to -remain at the canteen to meet the supervisor.</p> - -<p>“Tell her I was obliged to return to our billet for a few moments,” -requested Grace. “She cannot be angrier than she will naturally be, in -any event.”</p> - -<p>Grace, nodding to Elfreda, hurried away.</p> - -<p>“I wonder what that child is up to now?” Miss Briggs muttered. “I have -learned one thing about Grace Harlowe, and that is that she seldom<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">198</a></span> -does anything that hasn’t a well-defined motive behind it. I suppose -that is the proper way to arrange one’s life. She should have been a -lawyer.”</p> - -<p>Reaching her billet, Grace entered the house quietly and went to her -room, apparently without having attracted attention to herself. As she -passed the doctor’s rooms she heard voices there. The voices were not -loud, but were audible enough to enable her to distinguish those of at -least one man and a woman, though it was her impression that there were -two men in the room. Now that she was in her own room the voices were -borne to her ears even more distinctly than when she had been passing -through the hallway.</p> - -<p>“I believe Miss Marshall is in there,” muttered the Overton girl after -several moments of listening. The conversation was being carried on in -German, most of it being understandable to Grace. It was only when they -lowered their voices that she failed to catch what was being said. Yet, -for all that, she did not know what they were talking about, though at -times the inference was suggestive of certain things.</p> - -<p>The conversation lasted for several minutes, then Grace heard the -doctor approaching the rear of his apartment, heard the bang of what -she took to be a trap door, then footsteps descending stairs.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">199</a></span> -“He is going down to the cellar. I suppose he has a right to do so if -he wishes, so why should I object or even be interested? Hark!”</p> - -<p>Grace heard what she took to be voices in the cellar, though she was -positive that no one had accompanied the owner below.</p> - -<p>“I was right. This is a house of mystery. There he comes!”</p> - -<p>The German’s tread, as he ascended the stairs on his return to his -apartment, she noted, was very light and elastic for a heavy man. His -speech too, this morning, was quicker than when she had spoken with him -in Mrs. Smythe’s quarters, more incisive, more like that of a German -officer than a civilian.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps he has been in the service as a surgeon,” murmured Grace in -explanation of the difference. “I wish I might get a peep into that -room, just for one little minute. Ah!” Grace caught her breath and held -it. The German doctor was speaking again, and what he said sent the red -blood pounding to Grace Harlowe’s temples.</p> - -<p>“I am right or else I am terribly mistaken!” she exclaimed in a -troubled voice.</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">200</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="xix" id="xix"></a>CHAPTER XIX<br /> -<small>A VOICE AND A FACE</small></h2> - - -<p class="noi"><span class="dropcap"><span class="dropcap2">“</span>I</span> MUST see who leaves this house!” decided the Overton girl, glancing -about her perplexedly. “The window!”</p> - -<p>Quietly raising it she crawled through, then pulled it down with the -least possible noise. A path that led past the side of the house -extended back to the next street. Out through this Grace ran, then down -one block and out to the main street, where she took up a position in a -shop across the way, from whose windows she could command a good view -of the front of the house in which she and Elfreda lived.</p> - -<p>Grace kept her vigil for the better part of an hour, but no one -emerged. She was getting restive, and the shop people now and then -regarded her curiously.</p> - -<p>“This will never do,” thought Grace. “I am making myself too -conspicuous. I believe I will move to the next shop.” She did so, -stopping at a place several doors below. Grace had been there but a few -moments when the door of the doctor’s house opened and Doctor Klein<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">201</a></span> -stepped out and walked rapidly down the street in her direction. He -halted when opposite the store and strode across toward it. She saw him -heading, as she thought, for the shop, and boldly stepped out.</p> - -<p>“Ah, Madame Gray,” greeted the doctor. “I observed you waiting in the -store and I came right over. Perhaps you were waiting for me?”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps I was.” She smiled pleasantly. “I would ask how the maid Marie -is.”</p> - -<p>“Sleeping when I saw her last. I too have been indisposed and have been -sleeping for the last two hours,” volunteered the doctor, his keen, -twinkling eyes regarding her shrewdly.</p> - -<p>Grace smiled, but not by the slightest expression of face or eyes did -she show that she knew him to be telling an untruth.</p> - -<p>“The maid is suffering from shock, nothing more. She should be able to -resume her duties before the day is done.”</p> - -<p>“I am glad to hear that, Doctor. I am going on to the canteen. Are you -going in that direction?”</p> - -<p>The doctor smiled, bowed, and, taking the outside of the walk, stepped -briskly along beside her. They chatted of the occupation by the -American troops, Grace taking the opportunity to say she hoped the -inhabitants would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">202</a></span> not take advantage of the leniency of the invaders -lest the Americans put heavy restrictive measures upon them that might -prove burdensome.</p> - -<p>“Our people are kindly disposed, but they are quite likely to be savage -when imposed upon or deceived,” she added.</p> - -<p>“Ah! They are like my own countrymen, whose hearts are tender, Frau -Gray, but those hearts are breaking to-day. We are very sad and full -of humility. Yes, I have said that we were wrong, but that is not the -fault of the German people. It is Wilhelm and his war lords who should -be blamed.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, Doctor, you forget! Did you not have an army in the field?”</p> - -<p>“Most certainly.”</p> - -<p>“And they were Germans, several millions of them. Is it not so?”</p> - -<p>He bowed profoundly.</p> - -<p>“Then why blame it all on the man who, like a coward, has run away -and left you to work out your own salvation? The German nation—the -whole nation—was behind the Kaiser in this wicked war—wicked so -far as Germany was concerned. If I may say so without offense, the -trouble—one of the shortcomings, I should say—with your people is -that they are not good sportsmen. They are unsportsmanlike<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">203</a></span> losers. -Instead of standing up like men and confessing that they were wrong and -that they are whipped, they prate about the spirit of Germany being -unbroken, and then whimper like spoiled children because the victor -says they must pay for breaking his windows!”</p> - -<p>“You are very severe on my people.”</p> - -<p>“Herr Doctor, I have been on the western front, up on the lines, for -many months, and I have seen much, too much ever to permit me to grow -sentimental about ‘the poor German nation that had nothing to do with -the war,’ that was opposed to the war, and refused to fight, but let -the Kaiser fight it out all by himself.” Grace laughed, and her laugh -took the sting out of her words, but they went home to the heart of the -Herr Doctor, and his face reddened.</p> - -<p>“I have admitted that our rulers were in error; I do not admit that -the German people were at fault. They were forced into the war,” he -answered stiffly.</p> - -<p>“And forced out of it,” retorted Grace. “Pardon me, but I should not -have said so much. When I hear Germans glibly throwing off their own -responsibility for the wounding and killing of several million men I am -inclined to be irritable. Suppose we drop the subject and not refer to -it again. When did you leave the service, Doctor?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">204</a></span> -“I—I—why, what made you think I had been in the service?” he parried.</p> - -<p>“Your walk. You have been in the German army. At times you forget -yourself and lapse into the goose-step. There I go again. That was too -personal. I ask your pardon.”</p> - -<p>“You are a keen woman, Frau Gray. I served my time in the army when a -young man, as all good Germans have done—”</p> - -<p>Grace interrupted him with a merry laugh.</p> - -<p>“Thank you for the compliment. Thank you for admitting the truth of all -that I have said about the German people. Of course there is nothing -personal, unless one chooses to assume it, in what I have said. We part -on the best of terms, do we not, Herr Doctor?” urged Grace, pausing and -extending her hand.</p> - -<p>Doctor Klein bowed stiffly over it. He appeared to be somewhat dazed -over her rapid-fire conversation.</p> - -<p>Grace backed away and saluted. She was answered by the stiff military -salute of the German officer. The doctor flushed as he realized that -he had again been caught napping by a woman. The Overton girl smiled a -guileless happy smile, and turning she walked rapidly away.</p> - -<p>“Our fine doctor, clever as he thinks he is, has been checkmated,” she -chuckled. “But<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">205</a></span> watch your step, Grace Harlowe. When he thinks it over -in his methodical German way he will be furious.”</p> - -<p>Grace hurried on to her canteen, well satisfied with her morning’s -work, but more perplexed than ever. She had been favored by a kind fate -in meeting the doctor, had turned his attempted flanking movement into -a defeat and had made him appear ridiculous. That was quite sufficient -for one morning, yet Grace could not understand why only the doctor had -emerged from the house, finally deciding that perhaps the other had -gone out by the route that she herself had taken in leaving the house, -through the yard in the rear.</p> - -<p>When Grace reached the canteen, she found Elfreda very busy assisting -in serving a crowd of doughboys, and Won Lue, wearing a happy smile, -working like a beaver, assisting. She paused to observe for a moment or -so, then stepped in.</p> - -<p>“Has the supervisor not been in yet?” she asked.</p> - -<p>Elfreda shook her head.</p> - -<p>“I wonder why?”</p> - -<p>“I shouldn’t worry my head about it were I in your place,” returned -Miss Briggs briefly. “Miss Cahill and Miss O’Leary were here a few -moments ago inquiring for you. They are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">206</a></span> located about four miles -from here and find themselves very lonely. Miss Cahill said the only -compensation about it is that they do not have to listen to the -supervisor’s unpleasant remarks all day long. I am glad she has left us -alone this morning. Anything doing over at the quarters?”</p> - -<p>“Quiet. I walked down most of the way with the doctor and we had a -delightful chat. That is, I enjoyed it. I am not so certain about his -enjoyment.”</p> - -<p>“Poor Doctor! Here, Buddy, don’t try to play tricks on me. I am a -lawyer at home, and I am likely to use my legal knowledge to advantage -if you try to slip a bar of chocolate in your pocket when you think I -am not looking. Come across, please.”</p> - -<p>The doughboy did so shamefacedly, while his companions laughed -uproariously.</p> - -<p>“Here! I don’t believe in taking candy from babies. Here are two pieces -for you because you have promised to be good. This army has the biggest -sweet tooth in the world,” she said, handing two bars of chocolate to -the discomfited doughboy.</p> - -<p>“I—I’m sorry,” muttered the doughboy.</p> - -<p>“That is all right, Buddy. I was just making conversation, and you -happened to furnish the makings. When you wish any more and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">207</a></span> haven’t -the money to buy, come in just the same. If I am here you will get it, -and if I am not ask for Mrs. Gray. She is even easier than I am.”</p> - -<p>Grace, talking to a group of soldiers, overheard and smiled to herself. -She was proud of Elfreda. The war had done wonders for the young -lawyeress; it had made her more tolerant of her fellow man; it had -filled her heart with a human sympathy that she had never known before; -it had made her a womanly woman, at the same time sharpening her wits. -Elfreda would turn her back on war and return to her profession a -better and bigger woman mentally than when she had joined the colors. -Grace’s heart was full of gladness as these thoughts filtered through -her mind.</p> - -<p>“You savvy Missie Slith?” questioned a voice in her ear.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I savvy her, Won. What about her?”</p> - -<p>“Me savvy Missie Slith.” Won chuckled and shook hands with himself. -Grace regarded him half amusedly, then turned to her customers.</p> - -<p>All at once the Overton girls found themselves alone, so far as -customers were concerned. The doughboys had remained as long as they -could find an excuse for remaining, for they were happy to be able to -talk to two bright,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">208</a></span> good-looking American girls, the “girls from God’s -country,” as they expressed it, but they were careful not to outstay -their welcome. Had they known it both girls were just as eager to talk -with the soldiers as the soldiers were to talk with them.</p> - -<p>“Now that we aren’t busy, tell me about the doctor,” urged Elfreda.</p> - -<p>Grace perched herself on the counter with her back to the door and told -the story of her walk with the German physician, but failed to mention -what had occurred in the house. She did admit that she was waiting in -the shop to see who came out of the house, and mentioned the doctor’s -bold move in going directly to the store. Grace was convinced, after -her talk with the physician, that he did not know that she had been in -the house. It was probable, as she reasoned it out, that he must have -seen her enter the second store, if not the first.</p> - -<p>“That was fine. I could not have given it to him straighter myself,” -declared Miss Briggs mischievously. “You made him dizzy, I’ll warrant. -I know just how you did it. You could talk a deaf and dumb man to -death, I really believe. Why were you so curious about seeing who came -out of the house?”</p> - -<p>“Just a little idea that I had in mind. I—” The expression on her -companion’s face caused<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">209</a></span> Grace to pause. Elfreda’s face had suddenly -assumed a strained expression, the lines had hardened ever so little -and the eyes had narrowed.</p> - -<p>It was not necessary for “Captain” Grace to turn around facing the door -to see who or what had so changed her companion.</p> - -<p>“Girl, you will please get down from the counter!” commanded the cold -voice of Mrs. Chadsey Smythe, though it was a more restrained tone than -she had ever employed in speaking to Grace.</p> - -<p>“You are right, Mrs. Smythe. It is not a dignified position,” answered -Grace laughingly, hopping down from the counter.</p> - -<p>“Why bother her? She seems to be enjoying it so much,” urged a voice -that was pleasing. “I know I should be perched up there all the time -were I on duty here.”</p> - -<p>Grace suddenly felt the color mounting to her cheeks. She had not -yet turned about to face the newcomers, but the Overton girl knew -that voice, and at the same time knew that she must control herself -before she faced the owner of it. When she finally did turn, after a -meaningless word or two to Elfreda to aid the process of control, Grace -presented a smiling face and laughing eyes that offered no trace of -recognition as she looked into the eyes of the woman who accompanied -Mrs. Smythe.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">210</a></span> -“You will kindly remain standing while on duty after this,” added the -supervisor. “Are all of our supplies here, none missing?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, Mrs. Smythe, all that were sent over last evening from the -wreck.” Grace was wondering what had come over Mrs. Smythe that she was -exercising so much self-control. Ordinarily in the circumstances the -supervisor would have worked herself into a towering rage. Then wonder -of wonders! Mrs. Smythe introduced her companion.</p> - -<p>“This is Mrs. Gray. Miss Marshall, Mrs. Gray.” It was done sourly and -resentfully, but it was better than Grace Harlowe had any reason to -expect of her immediate superior.</p> - -<p>Grace extended a hand and greeted the young woman smilingly.</p> - -<p>“I am glad to meet you,” she said, but as she said it “Captain” Grace -again saw this same face beside that of a German officer on the other -side of the Rhine, and heard these smiling lips utter the words: “She -is as hideous and as ugly as no doubt her soul is black.”</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">211</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="xx" id="xx"></a>CHAPTER XX<br /> -<small>IN A MAZE OF MYSTERIES</small></h2> - - -<p class="noi"><span class="dropcap"><span class="dropcap2">“</span>I</span> HEAR you have been having a most unpleasant time, Mrs. Gray,” -volunteered Molly Marshall. “Between falling from the skies and being -made a prisoner by the enemy you have had, I should consider, enough -thrills to satisfy any one.”</p> - -<p>“<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">C’est la guerre</i> (it is war),” answered Grace smiling and shrugging -her shoulders.</p> - -<p>“<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Oui</i>,” agreed Miss Marshall. “I shall hope to see more of you. -Mrs. Smythe has kindly offered to share her apartment with me, and I -understand that you are billeted in the same house, so we should have -some pleasant chats. I should love to know you better.”</p> - -<p>Grace said the sentiment was reciprocated. While they were speaking, -the supervisor was taking her revenge on the Chinaman. She was abusing -him shamefully, so much so that Grace could stand it no longer.</p> - -<p>“Won, you go now. You savvy too much talk,” declared Grace nodding to -him.</p> - -<p>“Me savvy talk like machine glun, a-la. Me go.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">212</a></span> -Grace smiled and handed him the promised gift, whereupon Madame’s rage -broke out afresh.</p> - -<p>“Girl, how dare you!”</p> - -<p>“Won has been working for me, Mrs. Smythe. It is best that he go now. -He has worked too faithfully for me to stand by and see him abused, -begging your pardon.” Grace signalled to the Chinaman to be gone. -He lost no time in leaving the place, giving Grace a sly wink and -a grimace as he backed from the doorway. Molly Marshall saved the -situation by leading Mrs. Smythe to the rear of the canteen, where she -soon had the supervisor laughing. Shortly afterwards the young woman -walked out with her, much to Grace’s relief.</p> - -<p>“Chad came in here intending to keep her temper, but she lost it,” -declared Elfreda.</p> - -<p>“It was my fault that she did, Elfreda. Some one has been advising -her to behave herself. It is my idea that she went to headquarters to -enter a complaint against me this morning, but that she was advised -to be good if she wished to remain with the Army of Occupation. Here, -Buddy, are you headed in the direction of the Intelligence Department?” -she called to a soldier who was passing. He said he could go that way, -whereupon Grace asked him to carry a note and leave it there. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">213</a></span> -note, which she scribbled on a piece of wrapping paper, was addressed -to Captain Boucher and read: “Yat Sen,” and was signed, “G. G.”</p> - -<p>“More mystery?” questioned Elfreda.</p> - -<p>“Oceans of it. Miss Marshall is a good-looking woman, isn’t she?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I suppose so, but I can’t get over my first impression that there -is something queer about her. Doesn’t she impress you that way?”</p> - -<p>“Considering what I know about her, she does.”</p> - -<p>“Eh? What do you know?” demanded Elfreda.</p> - -<p>“Do you recall my telling you about a German officer and a woman who, -the day I was released on the other side, stood making remarks as I -passed—how the woman said, ‘She is as hideous and as ugly no doubt as -her soul is black’?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“You ask me what I know of Miss Marshall. When I tell you that she -is the woman who made that remark, you will understand that I know -altogether too much about her.”</p> - -<p>“A spy!” gasped Miss Briggs.</p> - -<p>Grace nodded.</p> - -<p>“Yes, but which way?”</p> - -<p>“Captain Boucher informs me that she is an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">214</a></span> American spy and a -brilliant one. It is difficult for me to believe that, in view of what -I saw and heard. She at least appears to be playing the game both ways.”</p> - -<p>“Have you told Captain Boucher of that?”</p> - -<p>“Not yet, but I shall at the first opportunity. I intended to do so, -but after what he said to me I decided to wait. He told me further that -I might with perfect safety coöperate with Miss Marshall, which I shall -not do.”</p> - -<p>“Loyalheart, you are wonderful. How you could meet her, as you did -after what you knew of her, is beyond me. I could no more have done it -than I could fly. I don’t believe she even suspects that you recognized -her.”</p> - -<p>“I hope not for the sake of the work I have before me. Of course this -is between us only, and I wish you would not breathe a word of it or -any other confidential matter while we are in our rooms. I suspect -those walls have ears.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Smythe did not return to the canteen again that afternoon, being -engaged, as Grace surmised, in arranging for a new building to take the -place of the one destroyed when the ammunition dump blew up. At six -o’clock Grace went home to prepare their supper, leaving Elfreda to -wait for their relief at the canteen. There was no effort on Grace’s -part this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">215</a></span> time to enter her home quietly, still she made no noise that -she was conscious of, but she had no more than gotten to her room than -there came a tap on the door. It was Marie.</p> - -<p>Grace welcomed her smilingly.</p> - -<p>“I am glad to see you out again. How do you feel?”</p> - -<p>“Not very well, Madame. I am sore all over. All Huns are brutes!”</p> - -<p>“Do you include the good doctor?”</p> - -<p>“Ah, the doctor. He is fine on the outside, but the soul, Madame! Why -should one say it when one does not know?”</p> - -<p>Grace nodded thoughtfully and asked who was with Mrs. Smythe. Marie -informed her that Miss Marshall was taking supper with Madame and -talking of the war.</p> - -<p>“Madame told me to say to you when you came in that you were to go to -the new canteen in the morning. It is near the river on the same street -as the old one. You are to be there at six o’clock in the morning. Is -there anything I can do for you?”</p> - -<p>“I believe you have already done something for me. Did you make up the -bed and slick up the room?” Grace regarded her smilingly.</p> - -<p>“Yes, Madame.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you very much. Did Madame go to headquarters this morning?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">216</a></span> -Marie nodded and grinned.</p> - -<p>“She went to ask them to send you home, but instead they told her she -was the one who should be sent home. Was that not glorious? Oo-lá-lá, -how I should have loved to hear it and to see the face of Madame.”</p> - -<p>“That will do, please, Marie,” rebuked the Overton girl. “She is our -superior. Thank you for your kindness about the room.”</p> - -<p>Marie smiled and nodded as she backed to the door, then closed it -softly behind her. Grace stepped over and locked the door, and pulling -the shade down began a thorough examination of the room. First she -examined the furniture, then the fireplace, the lighting fixtures and -the baseboard that extended all the way around the room.</p> - -<p>“All clear,” muttered the girl.</p> - -<p>Next, the walls came in for a scrutiny. Not only did she look the walls -over, but felt them gingerly with her finger tips. What the result of -that search was Grace Harlowe did not even confide to Elfreda Briggs, -but she was satisfied that her intuition again had served her well, and -was now determined to be more watchful than ever.</p> - -<p>Her suspicions were still further confirmed when she heard the voices -of Mrs. Smythe and Miss Marshall in conversation with the doctor<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">217</a></span> in -his apartment that evening. They were making merry and Madame was -actually laughing. When Grace discovered that they were discussing -subjects that she knew were of military value she was horrified that -Mrs. Smythe could so far forget herself, but what to do about it she -did not know. Grace felt that she should take the matter to Captain -Boucher, yet she could not quite bring herself to carry tales about the -woman she did not like. It looked petty to her, beneath her, so Grace -decided to await developments and continue with her work.</p> - -<p>That night as she lay wide awake in her bed, she heard the doctor go to -the cellar. She heard him fix the furnace for the night; then the sound -of distant conversation floated up to her. After a time the doctor came -up and the house settled down to silence.</p> - -<p>This same thing, so far as the cellar excursion was concerned, -continued for three nights. During that time Grace did not get much -sleep. Much of the time, after Elfreda went to sleep, Grace spent -sitting in a chair tipped back against the wall where she appeared to -be resting in profound thought. On the third night she was aroused -by an alarm of fire in the street. She did not learn the cause of it -until the following morning, when she was informed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">218</a></span> that the fire had -been discovered in the basement of the main barracks, where nearly a -thousand American soldiers were sleeping.</p> - -<p>Grace asked few questions about this blaze, though in the light of -what she already knew she had certain well-founded suspicions. The -next night nothing occurred to disturb the Army of Occupation, though -Grace Harlowe increased her rapidly enlarging fund of information to an -extent that alarmed even her. She saw that she must turn over some of -it to the Intelligence Department without delay. Human lives depended -upon her doing so. It was too late to do so that night, for to leave -the place might upset all her plans were she discovered.</p> - -<p>After pondering over the subject from all angles the Overton girl -went to bed. How she did wish she might confide in Elfreda Briggs. -Grace, however, had learned that in these secret matters there was -but one safe course—to keep one’s own counsel. Well-intentioned as -those in whom one confided might be, there was always the possibility -of a word slipping out, of a facial expression or of an unconsciously -antagonistic attitude toward the wrong person.</p> - -<p>“Dear Elfreda shall know all that I know after I have completed my -work. I must confess to myself that it is the most interesting work I -have ever done, this pitting one’s wits<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">219</a></span> against some of the keenest -ones in Europe. However, I still have some distance to go before I -arrive at my objective.” These thoughts and many others drifted through -Grace Harlowe’s mind before she got to sleep.</p> - -<p>In the morning she asked Elfreda to report for her at the canteen, as -she expected to be late in arriving there. After breakfast, during -which the girls discussed nothing beyond their own personal affairs, -“Captain” Grace went out, this time by way of the front door, heading -straight for the canteen.</p> - -<p>The place was not yet open, so, unlocking the door, the Overton girl -stepped in and, sitting down, studied the street keenly. What Grace was -seeking to determine was whether or not she had been followed. There -being no indication that she had been followed she went out, locking -the door behind her, and proceeded directly to the headquarters of the -Intelligence Department, which was located in the executive building on -the river front.</p> - -<p>Captain Boucher had not yet come in, and Grace waited for the better -part of an hour for him, preferring not to have him called up, for -reasons known only to herself. The captain came in briskly, humming -to himself, but stopped short when he discovered the demure figure of -“Captain” Grace seated at his desk.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">220</a></span> -The Overton girl rose and saluted.</p> - -<p>“Ah! I have been looking for you. Thank you for the name you sent over. -We have been watching that gentleman since, but while his actions at -times have been suspicious, we have as yet nothing on him. Can you give -me further information that will assist?”</p> - -<p>Grace said she was not prepared to do so, that what knowledge she had -of Yat Sen was only circumstantial, but that she expected to round out -the matter very soon and have something more definite for the Bureau.</p> - -<p>“I suppose, sir, that you discovered that the cause of the fire in -Barracks Number One was due to a short circuit?” she questioned -innocently.</p> - -<p>“What! How did you know that?”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps I surmised it, sir. If I may do so I would offer the -suggestion that the wiring of Number Two Barracks be looked over before -to-night. If you do not watch out the place will be on fire before you -know it.”</p> - -<p>“Mrs. Gray, what do you mean?”</p> - -<p>“That there is a Hun plot to cut the ground from under the Army of -Occupation, if I may put it that way. There is a big plot on foot here, -reaching out through many lines.”</p> - -<p>“I know it, but that is about all I do know on the subject. If you -succeed in leading us to a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">221</a></span> solution of this problem you will have done -quite the biggest thing that has been done yet for the American Army of -Occupation. What do you know?”</p> - -<p>“I know that it is part of the plan to burn down the barracks. Of -course the Huns do not wish to destroy Coblenz, but they are perfectly -willing to lose such buildings as the barracks. Then again, according -to Hun reasoning, the moral effect on the Army of Occupation will be of -great value.”</p> - -<p>“The fools! They haven’t learned their lesson yet. You believe that -this attempt is to be made by short-circuiting the electric wires?”</p> - -<p>“It may be. I should advise that the building be closely watched, even -to the extent of hiding watchers in the cellar, but you must be very -careful. Personally I hope you do not catch any one to-night, nor for -several nights, until I have completed my work. Of course I don’t mean -that you are to let a building burn down,” added Grace smilingly. “Are -you quite certain of Miss Marshall?”</p> - -<p>“Yes! No doubt at all about her.”</p> - -<p>Grace told him of what she had heard and seen on the other side of the -Rhine when she was on her way across to the American lines.</p> - -<p>“Thank you!” he exclaimed after a brief reflection over what she told -him, but offered no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">222</a></span> further comment on the subject of the woman who -appeared to Grace to be playing a double game. “How long do you believe -it will take you to gather in the ends of the clues you have? I take it -that is what you mean?”</p> - -<p>“That is it exactly, sir. Perhaps a day or two; perhaps longer. If -I make as much headway in the next twenty-four hours as I have done -in the last, I may be able to close my case in less time. Please be -careful how you communicate with me and never do so at my billet. What -do you know about Doctor Klein, my landlord? I wish to be certain about -what sort of a house I am living in. You see Miss Briggs and I being -alone makes some difference.”</p> - -<p>The captain chuckled and stroked his chin, Grace regarding him -solemnly. The Intelligence officer understood in a way why she asked -the question.</p> - -<p>“He is one of the finest Germans I know, Mrs. Gray, and that is much -for me to say about a Hun. I might say -<a name="considerably" id="considerably"></a><ins title="Original has considerable">considerably</ins> -more, but I am going to let you work out your own problem. You will be -surprised when you get yourself set straight on this matter.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you. I am sure I do not know what you mean. I will report -as soon as I have something further of a definite nature for you,” -promised Grace, rising to go to her work.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">223</a></span> -“Do you need assistance?”</p> - -<p>“No, thank you. There are too many persons mixed up in this affair -already.”</p> - -<p>“Clever woman! If you wish anything, let me know.”</p> - -<p>“Well, sir, so long as you have made the offer, I do need some -assistance. If convenient I should like the loan of an auger.”</p> - -<p>“A what?”</p> - -<p>“Auger, sir, to bore holes with.”</p> - -<p>“Are you in earnest?”</p> - -<p>“I am, sir. I wish one about two inches in diameter if I can get it, -but if not I can use a smaller one. I should like to have a saw, but I -fear I cannot use it to advantage.”</p> - -<p>“Are you thinking of building a house?” questioned the officer -whimsically.</p> - -<p>“No, sir, but I am going to partially tear down one. When may I have -it?”</p> - -<p>“Now. I will order it, or shall I send it to the canteen?”</p> - -<p>“Neither, I think,” decided Grace after refection. “I think I shall -have some one call for it. Please see that it is well wrapped so -that no one can tell from the appearance of the package what is in -it. Good morning, sir. I must return to the canteen or I shall be in -difficulties,” she added laughingly, and saluting, walked out without -another word.</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">224</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="xxi" id="xxi"></a>CHAPTER XXI<br /> -<small>A MOUSE IN THE TRAP</small></h2> - - -<p class="noi"><span class="dropcap">T</span>HE Intelligence officer spent some moments in profound meditation -after the departure of “Captain” Grace, but what his conclusions were -did not appear, either in words or in the expression of his face. The -captain ordered the package for Grace and, addressing it, left it with -his orderly to be turned over to any one bearing Mrs. Gray’s order.</p> - -<p>It was a doughboy who called for the package later in the day and who -handed it to Grace on the street according to arrangement. She went -home with her package concealed in a bag of groceries which she had -purchased on her way.</p> - -<p>After listening for some time and being convinced that there was no one -in the adjoining rooms, Grace covered the keyhole, pinned her overseas -cap on the wall, pulled down the shades and very carefully moved the -bed out a few feet from the wall. She then removed the tacks down one -side of the carpet at the back of the bed, and as many more from the -end of the floor covering at the head of the bed. She drew<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">225</a></span> the carpet -back, estimated distances with her eyes and, putting the bit in its -stock, began boring a hole in the floor.</p> - -<p>The auger went through the soft pine flooring with rather too great -ease and made a noise that led the girl to fear that she would arouse -the household. Not only that, but, should there chance to be some one -in the cellar, discovery would be certain.</p> - -<p>“If any shavings have gone down to the cellar floor I am lost anyway,” -she muttered. Applying her eye to the hole she had made in the floor -Grace was relieved to find that only the point of the bit had gone -through the lower side of the pine flooring. The job could not have -turned out more to her satisfaction. She would have liked to make the -opening wider so that she could look into the cellar, but the Overton -girl was dealing, as she believed, with keen people, people who were -ever on the alert, and who would not hesitate at anything to protect -themselves and their interests.</p> - -<p>“Now that I have made the hole, I must hide it,” reflected Grace.</p> - -<p>This was easily done. A piece of cardboard was laid over the opening, -the carpet replaced and the tacks pressed back into place without a -sound that could have been heard a dozen feet away.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">226</a></span> -Having accomplished all this the Overton girl locked the hammer in her -trunk, removed her cap from the wall and also all traces that might -indicate that something unusual had been going on, after which she -wrapped the auger in paper and tucked it inside of her blouse, over -which she threw her cloak and walked out on her way to the canteen.</p> - -<p>Elfreda and Marie, with the assistance of Won Lue, had arranged the -stock and were nearly ready to open, though it had been decided that -this should not be done until the following day for the reason that the -lights would not be in place that evening.</p> - -<p>Just before leaving the canteen for home Grace wrote a note to Captain -Boucher in which she said, “The house is demolished, thank you.” This -she wrapped about the handle of the bitstock, enclosing the whole in -heavy wrapping paper, and gave it to Won.</p> - -<p>“Captain Boucher,” she said in a low tone. “You savvy?”</p> - -<p>“Me savvy, la.”</p> - -<p>“You savvy nobody, see?”</p> - -<p>Won chuckled and nodded. She turned to answer a question asked by -Elfreda and when she looked around again Won was not there, not even -Elfreda Briggs’ sharp eyes having seen him go.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">227</a></span> -“Those Orientals give me the creeps,” declared Miss Briggs. “Now you -see them, now you don’t. Did you send him on an errand?”</p> - -<p>“Please don’t ask questions. Some one might hear. Marie is down in the -cellar and—”</p> - -<p>Elfreda interrupted with a laugh.</p> - -<p>“Marie is a thick-head. Don’t worry about her, Grace.”</p> - -<p>“I am not worrying about any one. Just the same, think before you -speak, no matter if only a cat is within hearing. There is serious -business on foot; serious for our boys and for you and myself.”</p> - -<p>“So serious as that, Grace?” whispered Elfreda.</p> - -<p>“Captain” Grace nodded and gave her companion a warning look, for Marie -was faintly heard coming up the stairs. Grace said it was time to close -and go home.</p> - -<p>“Marie, you have done well. Thank you. Madame should be pleased.”</p> - -<p>“Nothing will please her,” complained the French girl.</p> - -<p>Elfreda said she agreed with Marie, and declared that the maid was -a girl of good common sense, which made Marie smile, a thing she -seldom did. The three went home together, Grace engaging the maid in -conversation most of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">228</a></span> way, asking her questions about her home in -France, her family and how she came to be with the Army of Occupation. -Marie said that Madame was billeted in her home and had asked her to -come along with the welfare workers.</p> - -<p>Reaching the house Grace thrust a hand to the maid, a bright new -shining franc piece resting in the palm.</p> - -<p>Marie Debussy drew herself up, shook her head, and smiled as she opened -the door and entered Mrs. Smythe’s apartment.</p> - -<p>“My! What offended dignity,” exclaimed Elfreda when the girls had -gained their own room. “Did you see the look she gave you?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” answered Grace meekly, placing a finger on her lips and giving -Miss Briggs a warning glance. “Remember, Elfreda,” she reminded in a -low tone, “if I talk rather erratically at any time this evening and -place my finger on my cheek this way, you will understand that I have -a motive, and that you are not to express any opinions out loud,” -whispered Grace in her companion’s ear.</p> - -<p>“It is my opinion that you have too many motives,” whispered Miss -Briggs in reply. “My head is swimming already. Well, here we are home -again,” she added out loud. “I’m sick of war and everybody in it. -Suppose we have some chow and forget war.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">229</a></span> -“For the present, yes.”</p> - -<p>They chatted over their meal, which was served on their center -table, on a white table cloth, with real silver and china which had -been supplied by the owner of the house. It was really homelike, so -different from what these two loyal girls had been accustomed to since -they had been on the western war front, and they gave themselves up to -the fullest possible enjoyment of the moment.</p> - -<p>“Have you heard from Tom recently?” asked Elfreda.</p> - -<p>“I had a letter from him two days ago. He tells me that he expects to -be ordered away on some military mission soon. What it is or where, I -do not know, but he says perhaps it may be possible for me to go with -him provided it is not too confidential a mission,” she added in a -lower tone. “You see officers’ wives are not supposed to be able to -keep a secret.”</p> - -<p>“I know one who is,” declared Elfreda in a half whisper. “There are -others who know it, too.”</p> - -<p>“Meaning?” inquired Grace.</p> - -<p>“Oh, most any old person,” returned Elfreda. “I had a letter from Anne -this morning. She says she is just dying from loneliness, that she -hasn’t seen her husband in ages, and that unless this war ends pretty -soon she is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">230</a></span> either coming out to see us or desert. Jessica Brooks, she -says, had a visit from Reddy when he last had shore leave. She wishes -to know if any one has heard from Hippy, who she said, a flier told -her, had had a bad fall.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t believe the report is correct,” declared Grace. “We would have -heard of it through Nora, who isn’t very far from here. Does Anne say -anything about the girls of the unit in Paris?”</p> - -<p>“She said she had heard from them through Arline Thayer, whose letter -was mostly made up of remarks laudatory of <em>our</em> daughter Yvonne. Grace -Harlowe, I believe I am actually getting jealous of that child, and I -don’t see how you can be so passive.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t wear my heart on my sleeve, dear. I love that dear little -golden-haired darling more than I ever loved anything in my life, -outside of my dear mother and Tom, and I am looking forward with every -fiber of my being to the day when we three shall be together in our -beautiful Haven Home. I hope she will be happy there.”</p> - -<p>“She will be, Loyalheart. Don’t worry about that. I wonder if the -doctor has come in?” she asked in a whisper.</p> - -<p>“He came in as we were sitting down to our mess.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">231</a></span> -“You must have ears in the back of your head. I never saw anything like -you in all my experience.”</p> - -<p>Grace got up and stretched herself, placed a finger against her cheek -and faced the end of the room.</p> - -<p>“Have you heard the rumor, Elfreda? It is said that the American -artillery is trained on the Germans, and that some hot-headed officers -are planning to shoot up our friends across the Rhine one of these -nights.”</p> - -<p>“No? You don’t say!” cried Elfreda, speaking loudly enough to be heard -in the next room. “I hope they will not do anything like that.”</p> - -<p>“So do I, but it appears to be a possibility.”</p> - -<p>Grace winked at Elfreda and changed the subject. After the dishes were -washed and put away the two girls sat down to study their German, which -they had been studying for some time. Since coming to the Rhine Grace -had taken advantage of every opportunity to speak German, feeling -certain that it would prove to be a good investment. Her knowledge of -the language was destined to be very useful to her in the near future.</p> - -<p>They turned in shortly after nine o’clock, Elfreda to go to sleep, -Grace to lie awake and think. Before getting into bed she had whispered -to Miss Briggs not to be alarmed if she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">232</a></span> were awakened suddenly in the -night with a feeling that something was wrong in the room.</p> - -<p>“That something will be only unimportant little I. I may be walking in -my sleep for several nights to come.”</p> - -<p>After ages of effort to keep heavy eyelids from falling, Grace was -rewarded by hearing the trap raised in the adjoining room and light -footsteps descending the cellar stairs. The Overton girl crept under -the bed at the sound of the opening trap, and ere the footsteps had -reached the cellar she had pulled aside the carpet just far enough for -her purposes, removed the cardboard and pressed her ear to the hole in -the floor. Every sound down there was almost as audible to her as if -she had been in the cellar.</p> - -<p>“Now for the test of my plan,” she told herself.</p> - -<p>Significant sounds were borne to her ears, then a human voice, speaking -in a low guarded tone, drifted up through the hole in the floor. What -she heard amazed even Grace Harlowe. She learned too that one mouse had -walked into the trap that had been cleverly set for it.</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">233</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="xxii" id="xxii"></a>CHAPTER XXII<br /> -<small>“CAPTAIN” GRACE DECIDES TO ACT</small></h2> - - -<p class="noi"><span class="dropcap">W</span>HEN finally Grace Harlowe had replaced the carpet and crawled out, her -face wore a serious look. She stood in the middle of the floor for a -long time, thinking over what her resourcefulness had produced in the -way of definite information.</p> - -<p>“I shall at last have to take Elfreda into my confidence. The time to -act is at hand,” she muttered. “This is bigger than even I, with all -my suspicions, dreamed. The Intelligence captain surely will have a -good laugh at my expense when I tell him what I have discovered.” Grace -grinned mirthlessly and returned to bed and went to sleep.</p> - -<p>“I have something to tell you this morning, Elfreda,” she whispered -at the breakfast table. “Don’t ask me now. I haven’t decided where or -when, but I shall think it over between now and the time we finish -breakfast. Remember, the walls have ears. To-night something will be -doing.”</p> - -<p>Elfreda looked at her curiously, but Grace<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">234</a></span> merely kissed her and -proceeded to put the breakfast on the table. After finishing, Grace -said she thought their best plan was to stroll down to the river, where -they would be certain to be alone.</p> - -<p>On the same seat where she had talked with Captain Boucher, Grace told -her companion all that she had learned up to that moment. Elfreda’s -amazement was for the moment beyond words.</p> - -<p>“I never dreamed of anything so terrible as this. What brutes!”</p> - -<p>“We knew that before, dear. Time is precious. No telling what they may -not be up to next. The propaganda plan is in full swing. While I do -not believe the uprising will amount to much, it will at least cause -the loss of some American lives, but if we save only one American life -we shall have justified our existence. I shall probably see Captain -Boucher some time to-day and plan for him to verify all that I have -told you, by the evidence of his own ears.”</p> - -<p>“What about Miss Marshall? Do you believe she is in this plot?”</p> - -<p>“The evidence of my eyes and ears tells me that she is, that she is a -German spy, but my woman’s intuition is directly the opposite. If one -were guided by intuitions one would make fewer mistakes. The trouble is -that we fight<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">235</a></span> that intuition and try to reason with it. I am a great -believer in impressions that come to the human mind, apparently out -of nowhere. I know that had I followed mine I should have been better -off. In a way it is an advantage to be blind and deaf and dumb,” she -added smilingly, while Miss Briggs regarded her with a curious light -in her eyes. “I wish I might get in communication with the captain -without the necessity of going to headquarters. I suspect that we are -being watched, at least that I am. Keep your eyes open to-day, Elfreda. -That’s all for now.”</p> - -<p>Grace rose and the two girls proceeded to the canteen, which they -opened and began preparing for the day’s work. They knew that the -supervisor would not arrive until late in the forenoon, if then, for -she was, as a rule, a late sleeper. They had not been there long before -Grace discovered the grinning face of Won Lue at the door. She nodded -to him to enter.</p> - -<p>“You savvy Missie Slyth?” he asked, bowing and smirking.</p> - -<p>“Not yet, Won.”</p> - -<p>“You savvy Yat Sen?” he next questioned, eyeing her shrewdly.</p> - -<p>Grace nodded.</p> - -<p>“I want you to take a letter to headquarters for me. You savvy no one -must know?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">236</a></span> -“Me savvy plenty, la.”</p> - -<p>Grace nodded and penciled a line to the Intelligence officer as follows:</p> - -<p>“Important that I see you to-day. Do not wish to go to headquarters. -Can you arrange to meet me elsewhere? Answer by messenger. He is -perfectly reliable, but send no verbal messages, please.</p> - -<pre> -“G. G.” -</pre> - -<p>The answer came back in about an hour, the captain directing her to -meet him accidentally on the river front where they met before. The -hour was to be two o’clock. Grace informed Miss Briggs, directing her -to say, in case Madame should come in and inquire for her, that she had -gone for a walk, but would return soon. Grace set out a few minutes -before the hour named and went by a roundabout way to the river front, -strolling along aimlessly, hesitating now and then as if uncertain -where she had better go.</p> - -<p>This aimless wandering finally brought her to the Rhine, and eventually -Grace sank down on a bench and began studying her German grammar. She -saw the captain approaching, but did not look up, for there were many -persons, German and American, strolling along, enjoying the view. -Doughboys arm in arm with rosy-cheeked frauleins passed and repassed, -prospective war brides, many of them; women<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">237</a></span> going to the river to -wash their rough clothing, and dignified Germans with chins elevated, -marching back and forth with a suggestion of the goose-step in their -stride.</p> - -<p>The captain was nearly past her, when he appeared suddenly to have -discovered the Overton girl. He halted and saluted.</p> - -<p>“Why, good morning, Mrs. Gray,” he exclaimed.</p> - -<p>“You must be a late riser, sir,” chided Grace. “It is now well into the -afternoon. Won’t you sit down, if I may be so bold as to ask an officer -to sit down beside me?” The conversation had been carried on in tones -loud enough to be heard by any one passing.</p> - -<p>“There is a man down near the water’s edge who appears to be interested -in us. I would suggest that we seem to be indulging only in airy -persiflage,” suggested the Overton girl, raising her voice in a merry -laugh, the captain bowing and smiling to keep up the illusion.</p> - -<p>Grace opened her German book and pointed to the page, speaking in a low -tone.</p> - -<p>“I observe that the mouse walked into the trap,” she said.</p> - -<p>“What mouse do you refer to?”</p> - -<p>“The mouse that is now on his way to a certain building near Paris -known as the American prison.” Grace laughed merrily.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">238</a></span> -“Yat Sen! How did you know?”</p> - -<p>“Got it out of the air, sir.”</p> - -<p>“Thanks to you we caught him. The screws in the hinges of the cellar -window, we discovered in advance, had been loosened so that all one had -to do was to pull the window out. There was no short-circuit about this -affair. The man crept in and actually started a fire in the rubbish -down there. The men we had planted there pounced upon him, but they had -a time getting the fire out without calling for assistance, which we -did not wish them to do. We tried to make him confess.”</p> - -<p>“A waste of time,” observed Grace.</p> - -<p>“Yes. Chinamen lose the power of speech absolutely when you try to drag -information from them. The situation is really serious. It is those -back of such cut-throats as Yat Sen that we wish to get. You have done -a very great service to us, but you began at the wrong end. It isn’t -the little man that we are after, it is the head and brains of the plot -against the Army of Occupation.”</p> - -<p>“I think it can be arranged to put that information into your hands -too, sir.”</p> - -<p>“If you can do that you ought to be promoted to the rank of General. -You have discovered something! Gordon said you would. Tell me. We -mustn’t sit here long.” They were keeping<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">239</a></span> up a semblance of merry -chatter through the conversation.</p> - -<p>“You know where we are living, Captain?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“I wish you to visit us secretly to-night, when I think I may be able -to give you the evidence you are in search of. Of course it may require -more than one visit to place you in possession of all the facts, but -with what I can tell you should be fully prepared to act.”</p> - -<p>“Mrs. Gray, do you mean to tell me that you have discovered those who -are directly at the bottom of the plot here against the Allies?”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps, sir. Please listen. You know where the Schutzenstrasse is, -the street to the rear of our billet?”</p> - -<p>He nodded.</p> - -<p>“An alley leads from that directly to our house, but the alley may be -under observation from the rear street. I would suggest, therefore, -that you get into a rear yard somewhere to the east or west of that -alley and follow along until you reach our billet. Our room will be -dark, but I shall be at the window to let you in through it. Miss -Briggs will be with me. The utmost caution must be observed, you must -not speak a loud word while in our apartment; even a whisper may be -overheard. I think it would be advisable for you to remove your<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">240</a></span> shoes -before you climb in through the window, as you might scrape the side of -the house with them and give alarm.”</p> - -<p>The Intelligence officer regarded her narrowly.</p> - -<p>“Were I not in possession of more or less information as to your past -performances, I might wonder if you were all there,” declared the -officer, tapping his own head.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps I am not,” laughed Grace. “This evening should prove whether -I am or not,” answered the Overton girl laughingly. “I am making a -peculiar request, but we are dealing with peculiar people, shrewd, -unscrupulous—desperate people. I think you had better come in at ten -o’clock. You will have to wait a couple of hours, and perhaps I shall -have to secrete you. You will not be over-comfortable, but I promise -you that you will consider it well worth while, if things develop as I -am expecting them to. May I depend upon you, sir?”</p> - -<p>“You may, Mrs. Gray.”</p> - -<p>“I would suggest that this matter be kept absolutely confidential -between us. Miss Briggs knows that I am going to invite you to visit -us, and it will be best that no other human being, outside of yourself, -knows about it. I have come to the point where I am afraid to trust any -one.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">241</a></span> -“Your wishes in the matter shall be observed. I thank you, Mrs. Gray,” -answered the captain rising. “Happy to have come up with you,” he said -in a louder tone. “One of these days we will make up a party for a sail -on the river. You will find it well worth while.”</p> - -<p>The captain strolled away and Grace resumed her study of the language -that she had come to loathe. The Overton girl was on the verge of a -great achievement, but from her attitude of indifference to all outside -influences, and the absorption in her book that she was showing, one -would not have imagined that she was planning the most important -coup that had fallen to the lot of the American Secret Service since -the beginning of the war, so far as its activity with the army was -concerned.</p> - -<p>Grace remained seated for half an hour longer, then started back to the -canteen to take up her day’s work for the doughboys.</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">242</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="xxiii" id="xxiii"></a>CHAPTER XXIII<br /> -<small>A DESPERATE PLOT REVEALED</small></h2> - - -<p class="noi"><span class="dropcap">E</span>LFREDA had been informed of the proposed visit and carefully -instructed by her companion as to her part in it. The girls spent a -quiet evening until ten o’clock, when Grace got up and pinned her -blouse on the wall, then put out the light and raised the shade. -Peering out she saw a shadowy figure outlined in the darkness. After -observing it keenly for a moment the Overton girl cautiously raised the -window, that she had greased in the grooves to prevent squeaking. No -sooner had she done so than the figure moved forward quickly.</p> - -<p>The visitor was Captain Boucher, in his stockinged feet. He peered up -into the face of Grace Harlowe, and climbed into the room with no more -disturbance than a cat would have made. Not a word had been spoken. -Grace lowered the window and stood motionless gazing out into the -darkness, which vigil she kept for several moments, then pulled down -the shade and lighted a candle.</p> - -<p>“Take a seat,” whispered Grace. “Should<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">243</a></span> any one knock, crawl under the -bed, and be sure to take your shoes with you. They wouldn’t look well -standing out in the middle of our room.”</p> - -<p>The captain nodded and glanced curiously at the blouse pinned up on -the wall, but Grace pretended not to have observed his exhibition of -curiosity. She handed him a book, beckoned him to a chair, whereupon -she and Elfreda sat down and began chatting in their ordinary tone, -discussing their German study. Captain Boucher now and then would lay -down his book, to listen and observe the faces of the two girls, which -he found an interesting study, especially Grace’s with its rapidly -changing expression that left one in a state of bewilderment as to what -particular emotion was predominant.</p> - -<p>A slight sound as of some one opening a door in the front room was -heard. Grace’s head turned ever so little, and though the expression on -her face did not change, attentiveness and intelligence swam instantly -into her eyes. The captain, observing, bent his own ears to the sound -that had arrested Grace Harlowe’s attention. She glanced at her watch, -nodded to Elfreda, and greatly to the amazement of her caller, got down -and crawled under the bed.</p> - -<p>Grace emerged, a moment later, her face flushed, her hair in slight -disorder, and smiled<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">244</a></span> radiantly at the visitor. She offered no -explanation to the captain, but nodding to Elfreda, the latter began -speaking of the girls of the Overton unit. It was half after eleven -when Grace, hearing movement again in the front room, got up and went -over to the captain. Leaning over him she placed her lips close to his -ear.</p> - -<p>“You will please crawl under the bed,” she whispered. “You will find -the carpet drawn back, and by groping you will find a hole in the -floor, made by the auger that you so kindly loaned to me. Place your -ear to the hole and listen. Do not move and be sure to control your -breathing to the limit. Have a handkerchief ready in case you find you -have to cough or sneeze. I think you will hear something interesting. -Afterwards I will supply any points that may be required to explain -any remarks you may hear and not understand. Do not come out or move -until I snap my finger. Here! You forgot your shoes,” she reminded him, -picking up and handing them to him. The captain flushed and accepted -the shoes and the rebuke with a profound bow.</p> - -<p>The Overton girls watched him with interest, and both were obliged -to admit that the captain was very agile. He wriggled under and out -of sight without making a sound, then all was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">245</a></span> silence. Listening as -intently as she might she failed to hear his breathing.</p> - -<p>Grace then removed the blouse from the wall.</p> - -<p>“Let’s turn in, Elfreda. I’m terribly sleepy,” yawned Grace.</p> - -<p>Putting out the light the two girls threw themselves on the bed, and -apparently went to sleep. There was a long wait, without a sound coming -from the man under the bed.</p> - -<p>Grace heard the trap raised, though she had not heard any one walking. -She snapped her fingers once, receiving a similar signal from the -man on watch at the auger hole. Silence settled over the house until -perhaps five minutes later the Overton girls heard the drone of a -far-away voice. It came from the cellar, and the chief of the Army -Intelligence Department was listening to every word that the voice -uttered.</p> - -<p>Grace Harlowe found herself wishing that she might see the expression -on the face of Captain Boucher at that moment.</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">246</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="xxiv" id="xxiv"></a>CHAPTER XXIV<br /> -<small>THE TRAP IS SPRUNG</small></h2> - - -<p class="noi"><span class="dropcap">I</span>T must have been fully half an hour later when Grace Harlowe’s -straining ears told her that the conversation was ended. Hearing -footsteps on the stairs she snapped her fingers sharply.</p> - -<p>“Quietly, Elfreda!” she warned, slipping out to the floor about the -time that Captain Boucher rose from the floor before her. “Any luck?” -she whispered.</p> - -<p>“I should say so. I must speak with you. Go to headquarters directly -and I will meet you there. Two blocks below here on the Schutzenstrasse -you will find a drosky. The driver is one of our operators. Hand him -this card and tell him to take you to the office. If you get there -before I do, tell the orderly to summon General Gordon in my name for -an immediate conference.”</p> - -<p>The Overton girls slipped into their blouses, after which Grace crawled -under the bed and replaced the carpet. This done she opened the window, -all this without making a sound likely<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">247</a></span> to attract attention. Elfreda -climbed out first, followed by the captain, then Grace herself. The -window was lowered and three persons were swallowed up in the darkness -of the night, the captain going to the left, the girls to the right.</p> - -<p>Grace and Elfreda found the carriage and quickly reached headquarters, -where Grace delivered her message. General Gordon came in about the -time that Captain Boucher arrived, and looked his amazement at finding -the Overton girls there.</p> - -<p>“What’s wrong, Boucher?” he demanded.</p> - -<p>“Nothing except that our very good friend, Mrs. Gray, has run down -the plotters. I haven’t all of the story yet, but I have this evening -listened to one of them giving the plans for blowing up the second -ammunition dump and sacrificing the town for the sake of smoking the -Americans out. This includes a desperate attempt to fire the barracks -so that many men must perish. It’s damnable!”</p> - -<p>Captain Boucher then related briefly all that had occurred that evening.</p> - -<p>“This man Klein must be arrested immediately. How did you know that -we had caught Yat Sen, Mrs. Gray?” he demanded, turning to the demure -figure of the Overton girl.</p> - -<p>“I heard the doctor reporting it over the telephone<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">248</a></span> in the cellar. -The telephone evidently leads across the river. He reports every night -at about the same time. It was from overhearing him that I was able to -warn you about the proposed firing of Barracks Number Two.”</p> - -<p>“Now that the matter is in my mind, will you tell me why you had your -tunic pinned to the wall?” questioned Captain Boucher.</p> - -<p>“There is a dictaphone behind the wallpaper at that point, with an -opening through the paper so small that one never would notice it.”</p> - -<p>“I thought so. How did you chance to discover it?”</p> - -<p>“I looked for it.”</p> - -<p>The two officers exchanged meaning glances.</p> - -<p>“How did you come to suspect the doctor?” continued the captain.</p> - -<p>“He was too suave to be genuine. Then, too, I presume my intuition -had something to do with it. Little things, expressions on faces, -mannerisms, all these things always did make an impression on me.” -Grace then went on to relate conversations that she had heard when the -doctor was talking at the cellar telephone.</p> - -<p>“The doctor in his conversation this evening referred to some person as -the Babbler. Do you know whom he meant?”</p> - -<p>“Mrs. Smythe.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">249</a></span> -“Is it possible?” exclaimed the captain.</p> - -<p>“I am not at all surprised,” interjected the general. “She must go, -even if she succeeds in clearing herself.”</p> - -<p>Grace hastened to urge that no suspicion be directed at Mrs. Smythe, -who, she declared, was a vain woman who had been used by the German -spies because they knew how to appeal to her vanity. In this way they -obtained information that the supervisor did not realize she was giving.</p> - -<p>“You speak of <em>spies</em>. I heard references made to at least one this -evening. Do you suspect any others?” asked the captain.</p> - -<p>“I know one other, sir. That one is the supervisor’s maid, Marie -Debussy!”</p> - -<p>“Are you positive?” asked the general.</p> - -<p>“I am, sir. I have heard conversations between her and the doctor. I -have seen her acting suspiciously and in conference with men that I was -certain were enemy officers, and I have heard her holding telephone -conversations that connected her with plots against our men.”</p> - -<p>“I wonder who she can be?” marveled the captain.</p> - -<p>“Who she is? She is Rosa von Blum, the famous German agent.”</p> - -<p>Both officers started, and stared at her in amazement.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">250</a></span> -“I presume you also would like to know who this other spy, that you -call Doctor Klein, is. He is Captain Carl Schuster of the German Secret -Service, a man who, I have heard said, is perhaps the cleverest of -the Imperial operators. You no doubt wonder how I have obtained this -information. It was quite simple, not due to any unusual ability or -cleverness on my part. I did not know definitely until last night, when -he said upon opening the telephone conversation, ‘This is Carl! No, -Carl Schuster—B One!’ I then knew. The revelation of Rosa von Blum’s -identity occurred in a somewhat similar manner.”</p> - -<p>“This is most remarkable!” exclaimed Captain Boucher.</p> - -<p>“Remember what I told you, Boucher,” interjected the general. “I think -you will agree with my expressed estimate of Mrs. Gray’s ability. I may -say, Mrs. Gray,” he added, turning to the Overton girl, “that we have -wondered about Doctor Klein, and that Miss Marshall has been working on -his case, but without results beyond mere suspicion. Before the army -reached the Rhine our operatives here reported their suspicions of him. -That was the reason you were billeted in his house. I told Captain -Boucher that if there was the slightest basis for our suspicions, you -would discover<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">251</a></span> that basis. We decided that nothing should be said -to you of those suspicions. I wished to prove to the captain that -my estimate of your ability was not influenced by the fact that you -saved my life in the Argonne. We therefore gave you the opportunity to -demonstrate, and you did.”</p> - -<p>“That was what I referred to when I told you you would be surprised -when you had set yourself straight on the matter of the doctor,” spoke -up Captain Boucher. “You doubted Miss Marshall too, and with very -good reason. That shows what a clever worker she is. You and she will -compare notes to-morrow. But this that you tell me about Schuster and -von Blum is a blow between the eyes. I never even considered such a -possibility. It should be some satisfaction to you to know that you -have turned up two of the most dangerous agents in the enemy service. -It surely is a source of satisfaction to us. I suppose we should have -Mrs. Smythe dismissed to-morrow, General? Why not recommend that Mrs. -Gray take charge as supervisor in her place?”</p> - -<p>“I had hoped to get home soon, sir,” answered Grace, after a slight -hesitancy.</p> - -<p>“Take it until some one else is selected,” urged the general. “How -about those two spies, Captain?”</p> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">252</a></span> -“We will arrest them at once.”</p> - -<p>“If I may offer a suggestion, gentlemen, I would urge that it be done -with a speed that will not permit either to do away with evidence that -may be in their possession. It might be wise for you to have your men -enter the doctor’s house through our quarters, which will give access -to the hall. Once in the hall, the doors of the doctor’s apartment, -and that occupied by Mrs. Smythe, should be burst in without warning. -The doctor sleeps in the rear room next to ours, and the maid occupies -the corresponding room in Mrs. Smythe’s quarters. If you wish I will -accompany you.”</p> - -<p>“You two ladies will remain here, Mrs. Gray!” commanded the general. -“You have done quite enough for one night. Then again, there may be -shooting, and you might get hurt. You see we cannot afford to lose you -just yet.”</p> - -<p>“It would not be the first time I had been under fire, sir,” replied -“Captain” Grace in a mild voice.</p> - -<p>“Then, too, for obvious reasons, we do not wish you to appear in -the case. The doctor may have surmised that you have had something -to do with it, but that will be the extent of his knowledge of your -participation. Boucher, get your men and go after those people.”</p> - -<p>Grace and Elfreda occupied General Gordon’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">253</a></span> quarters for the rest of -the night, and were weary enough to sleep the night through without -even once turning over. In the early morning they were summoned to -Captain Boucher’s office, where they were informed that the doctor had -been taken only after a fight in which two soldiers were wounded—that -both he and the woman were being held for trial, and that considerable -documentary evidence had been found in a secret receptacle in the -doctor’s cellar.</p> - -<p>“We shall hope to accomplish something by using his cellar telephone -late this evening,” added the Intelligence officer.</p> - -<p>“What about Mrs. Smythe?” questioned Grace.</p> - -<p>“She undoubtedly will be recalled to-day. The woman may consider -herself fortunate that she too is not under arrest.”</p> - -<p>“I’m sorry,” murmured Grace. “Do you not think, Captain, that, with the -lesson she has learned, Mrs. Smythe may more clearly see her error and -do better?”</p> - -<p>“No!” exploded Captain Boucher. “Besides, there is no place for a -woman with her lack of brains in this army. You ought to have the -Congressional Medal, but we of the Intelligence Service not only work -in the dark, but must be content to be retiring heroes destined<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">254</a></span> to -blush unseen in the shadows, while the other fellows are the objects of -the world’s acclaim. Your house is under guard, but you are at liberty -to return there and make yourselves at home. It has been decided to -keep a guard there so long as you ladies occupy the house. Mrs. Smythe -has been removed to other lodgings. It will not be necessary for you to -see her, and I prefer that you do not report for duty until after her -departure. Thank you. You are a clever woman, Mrs. Gray. General Gordon -will see to it that you have proper recognition in reports.”</p> - -<p>Both German spies were tried within a few days before a military -tribunal and sentenced to prison. Grace took charge of the welfare work -on the second day after their arrest, Mrs. Smythe then being well on -her way toward Brest, whence she was booked for passage to America, a -disgraced and unhappy woman, but the Overton girl found no joy in the -downfall of her enemy. Rather was she deeply depressed over it, and -wished that she might have been able to do something to soften the -blow, but the supervisor had made that impossible.</p> - -<p>Grace’s mind, however, was at once filled with other affairs, and -especially in what her husband wrote to her. He was writing from Paris, -which city he was leaving that very day,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">255</a></span> he having been ordered to -Russia on military duty.</p> - -<p>Now that Tom Gray had left Europe, Grace began to long for home, -but it was a little more than a month later that “Captain” Grace -finally severed her connection with the army and bidding good-bye to -her friends, entrained for Paris. She and most of the Overton Unit, -including Yvonne and the yellow cat, sailed for America and Home, early -in the following week.</p> - -<p>Grace had passed through experiences on the western front such as -few women could boast of; she had won honors, she had made friends -in high places, but it was the same Grace Harlowe, gentle, sweet, -lovable, unsullied by the scenes through which she had passed, that -was returning to the “House Behind the World,” where she hoped to -spend many happy, peaceful years with her much loved husband and her -new-found daughter Yvonne.</p> - -<p>The further adventures of Grace and the splendid girls of the Overton -College Unit will be found in a following volume, entitled, “<span class="smcap">Grace -Harlowe’s Overland Riders on the Old Apache Trail</span>.”</p> - - -<p class="center p150 mt3">THE END</p> - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -</div> -<div class="book-container"> -<p class="center p150">HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY’S</p> - -<p class="center p180">Best and Least Expensive<br /> -Books for Boys and Girls</p> - -<hr class="double" /> - -<p class="center p180">The Motor Boat Club Series</p> - -<p class="center p120">By H. 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CHALMERS</p> - -<p class="hang">1 MADGE MORTON—CAPTAIN OF THE MERRY MAID.</p> - -<p class="hang">2 MADGE MORTON’S SECRET.</p> - -<p class="hang">3 MADGE MORTON’S TRUST.</p> - -<p class="hang">4 MADGE MORTON’S VICTORY.</p> - -<p class="center p120">Cloth, <span class="wordspacing">Illustrated Price,</span> per Volume, $1.00</p> - -<hr class="double" /> - -<p class="center p180">West Point Series</p> - -<p class="center p120">By H. IRVING HANCOCK</p> - -<p class="hang">The principal characters in these narratives are manly, young Americans -whose doings will inspire all boy readers.</p> - -<p class="hang">1 DICK PRESCOTT’S FIRST YEAR AT WEST POINT; Or, Two Chums in the -Cadet Gray.</p> - -<p class="hang">2 DICK PRESCOTT’S SECOND YEAR AT WEST POINT; Or, Finding the -Glory of the Soldier’s Life.</p> - -<p class="hang">3 DICK PRESCOTT’S THIRD YEAR AT WEST POINT; Or, Standing Firm for -Flag and Honor.</p> - -<p class="hang">4 DICK PRESCOTT’S FOURTH YEAR AT WEST POINT; Or, Ready to Drop -the Gray for Shoulder Straps.</p> - -<p class="center p120">Cloth, <span class="wordspacing">Illustrated Price,</span> per Volume, $1.00</p> - -<hr class="double" /> - -<p class="center p180">Annapolis Series</p> - -<p class="center p120">By H. IRVING HANCOCK</p> - -<p>The Spirit of the new Navy is delightfully and truthfully depicted in -these volumes.</p> - -<p class="hang">1 DAVE DARRIN’S FIRST YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; Or, Two Plebe Midshipmen -at the U. S. Naval Academy.</p> - -<p class="hang">2 DAVE DARRIN’S SECOND YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; Or, Two Midshipmen as -Naval Academy “Youngsters.”</p> - -<p class="hang">3 DAVE DARRIN’S THIRD YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; Or, Leaders of the -Second Class Midshipmen.</p> - -<p class="hang">4 DAVE DARRIN’S FOURTH YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; Or, Headed for -Graduation and the Big Cruise.</p> - -<p class="center p120">Cloth, <span class="wordspacing">Illustrated Price,</span> per Volume, $1.00</p> - -<hr class="double" /> - -<p class="center p180">The Young Engineers Series</p> - -<p class="center p120">By H. IRVING HANCOCK</p> - -<p>The heroes of these stories are known to readers of the High School -Boys Series. In this new series Tom Reade and Harry Hazelton prove -worthy of all the traditions of Dick & Co.</p> - -<p class="hang">1 THE YOUNG ENGINEERS IN COLORADO; Or, At Railroad Building in -Earnest.</p> - -<p class="hang">2 THE YOUNG ENGINEERS IN ARIZONA; Or, Laying Tracks on the -“Man-Killer” Quicksand.</p> - -<p class="hang">3 THE YOUNG ENGINEERS IN NEVADA; Or, Seeking Fortune on the Turn -of a Pick.</p> - -<p class="hang">4 THE YOUNG ENGINEERS IN MEXICO; Or, Fighting the Mine Swindlers.</p> - -<p class="center p120">Cloth, <span class="wordspacing">Illustrated Price,</span> per Volume, $1.00</p> -</div> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -</div> -<div class="book-container"> -<p class="center p180">Boys of the Army Series</p> - -<p class="center p120">By H. IRVING HANCOCK</p> - -<p>These books breathe the life and spirit of the United States Army of -to-day, and the life, just as it is, is described by a master pen.</p> - -<p class="hang">1 UNCLE SAM’S BOYS IN THE RANKS; Or, Two Recruits in the United -States Army.</p> - -<p class="hang">2 UNCLE SAM’S BOYS ON FIELD DUTY; Or, Winning Corporal’s Chevrons.</p> - -<p class="hang">3 UNCLE SAM’S BOYS AS SERGEANTS; Or, Handling Their First Real -Commands.</p> - -<p class="hang">4 UNCLE SAM’S BOYS IN THE PHILIPPINES; Or, Following the Flag -Against the Moros.</p> - -<p class="hang"> -<a name="six" id="six"></a><ins title="Original has 6">5</ins> UNCLE SAM’S BOYS AS LIEUTENANTS; Or, Serving -Old Glory as Line Officers.</p> - -<p class="hang"> -<a name="seven" id="seven"></a><ins title="Original has 7">6</ins> UNCLE SAM’S BOYS WITH PERSHING; Or, Dick -Prescott at Grips with the Boche.</p> - -<p class="hang"> -<a name="eight" id="eight"></a><ins title="Original has 8">7</ins> UNCLE SAM’S BOYS SMASH THE GERMANS; Or, -Winding Up the Great War.</p> - -<hr class="double" /> - -<p class="center p180">Dave Darrin Series</p> - -<p class="center p120">By H. IRVING HANCOCK</p> - -<p class="hang">1 DAVE DARRIN AT VERA CRUZ; Or, Fighting With the U. S. Navy in -Mexico.</p> - -<p class="hang">2 DAVE DARRIN ON MEDITERRANEAN SERVICE.</p> - -<p class="hang">3 DAVE DARRIN’S SOUTH AMERICAN CRUISE.</p> - -<p class="hang">4 DAVE DARRIN ON THE ASIATIC STATION.</p> - -<p class="hang">5 DAVE DARRIN AND THE GERMAN SUBMARINES.</p> - -<p class="hang">6 DAVE DARRIN AFTER THE MINE LAYERS; Or, Hitting the Enemy a Hard -Naval Blow.</p> - -<hr class="double" /> - -<p class="center p180">The Meadow-Brook Girls Series</p> - -<p class="center p120">By JANET ALDRIDGE</p> - -<p class="hang">1 THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS UNDER CANVAS.</p> - -<p class="hang">2 THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS ACROSS COUNTRY.</p> - -<p class="hang">3 THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS AFLOAT.</p> - -<p class="hang">4 THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS IN THE HILLS.</p> - -<p class="hang">5 THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS BY THE SEA.</p> - -<p class="hang">6 THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS ON THE TENNIS COURTS.</p> - -<hr class="double" /> - -<p>All these books are bound in Cloth and will be sent postpaid on receipt -of only $1.00 each.</p> -</div> - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -</div> -<div class="book-container"> -<p class="center p180">High School Boys Series</p> - -<p class="center p120">By H. IRVING HANCOCK</p> - -<p>In this series of bright, crisp books a new note has been struck.</p> - -<p>Boys of every age under sixty will be interested in these fascinating -volumes.</p> - -<p class="hang">1 THE HIGH SCHOOL FRESHMEN; Or, Dick & Co.’s First Year Pranks -and Sports.</p> - -<p class="hang">2 THE HIGH SCHOOL PITCHER; Or, Dick & Co. on the Gridley Diamond.</p> - -<p class="hang">3 THE HIGH SCHOOL LEFT END; Or, Dick & Co. Grilling on the -Football Gridiron.</p> - -<p class="hang">4 THE HIGH SCHOOL CAPTAIN OF THE TEAM; Or, Dick & Co. Leading the -Athletic Vanguard.</p> - -<p class="center p120">Cloth, <span class="wordspacing">Illustrated Price,</span> per Volume, $1.00</p> - -<hr class="double" /> - -<p class="center p180">Grammar School Boys Series</p> - -<p class="center p120">By H. IRVING HANCOCK</p> - -<p>This series of stories, based on the actual doings of grammar school -boys, comes near to the heart of the average American boy.</p> - -<p class="hang">1 THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL BOYS OF GRIDLEY; Or, Dick & Co. Start Things -Moving.</p> - -<p class="hang">2 THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL BOYS SNOWBOUND; Or, Dick & Co. at Winter -Sports.</p> - -<p class="hang">3 THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL BOYS IN THE WOODS; Or, Dick & Co. Trail Fun -and Knowledge.</p> - -<p class="hang">4 THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL BOYS IN SUMMER ATHLETICS; Or, Dick & Co. -Make Their Fame Secure.</p> - -<p class="center p120">Cloth, <span class="wordspacing">Illustrated Price,</span> per Volume, $1.00</p> - -<hr class="double" /> - -<p class="center p180">High School Boys’ Vacation Series</p> - -<p class="center p120">By H. IRVING HANCOCK</p> - -<p>“Give us more Dick Prescott books!”</p> - -<p>This has been the burden of the cry from young readers of the country -over. Almost numberless letters have been received by the publishers, -making this eager demand; for Dick Prescott, Dave Darrin, Tom Reade, -and the other members of Dick & Co. are the most popular high school -boys in the land. Boys will alternately thrill and chuckle when reading -these splendid narratives.</p> - -<p class="hang">1 THE HIGH SCHOOL BOYS’ CANOE CLUB; Or, Dick & Co.’s Rivals on -Lake Pleasant.</p> - -<p class="hang">2 THE HIGH SCHOOL BOYS IN SUMMER CAMP; Or, The Dick Prescott Six -Training for the Gridley Eleven.</p> - -<p class="hang">3 THE HIGH SCHOOL BOYS’ FISHING TRIP; Or, Dick & Co. in the -Wilderness.</p> - -<p class="hang">4 THE HIGH SCHOOL BOYS’ TRAINING HIKE; Or, Dick & Co. Making -Themselves “Hard as Nails.”</p> - -<p class="center p120">Cloth, <span class="wordspacing">Illustrated Price,</span> per Volume, $1.00</p> - - -<hr class="double" /> - -<p class="center p180">The Circus Boys Series</p> - -<p class="center p120">By EDGAR B. P. DARLINGTON</p> - -<p>Mr. Darlington’s books breathe forth every phase of an intensely -interesting and exciting life.</p> - -<p class="hang">1 THE CIRCUS BOYS ON THE FLYING RINGS; Or, Making the Start in -the Sawdust Life.</p> - -<p class="hang">2 THE CIRCUS BOYS ACROSS THE CONTINENT; Or, Winning New Laurels -on the Tanbark.</p> - -<p class="hang">3 THE CIRCUS BOYS IN DIXIE LAND; Or, Winning the Plaudits of the -Sunny South.</p> - -<p class="hang">4 THE CIRCUS BOYS ON THE MISSISSIPPI; Or, Afloat with the Big -Show on the Big River.</p> - -<p class="center p120">Cloth, <span class="wordspacing">Illustrated Price,</span> per Volume, $1.00</p> - -<hr class="double" /> - -<p class="center p180">The High School Girls Series</p> - -<p class="center p120">By JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A. M.</p> - -<p>These breezy stories of the American High School Girl take the reader -fairly by storm.</p> - -<p class="hang">1 GRACE HARLOWE’S PLEBE YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; Or, The Merry Doings -of the Oakdale Freshman Girls.</p> - -<p class="hang">2 GRACE HARLOWE’S SOPHOMORE YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; Or, The Record -of the Girl Chums in Work and Athletics.</p> - -<p class="hang">3 GRACE HARLOWE’S JUNIOR YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; Or, Fast Friends in -the Sororities.</p> - -<p class="hang">4 GRACE HARLOWE’S SENIOR YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; Or, The Parting of -the Ways.</p> - -<p class="center p120">Cloth, <span class="wordspacing">Illustrated Price,</span> per Volume, $1.00</p> - -<hr class="double" /> - -<p class="center p180">The Automobile Girls Series</p> - -<p class="center p120">By LAURA DENT CRANE</p> - -<p>No girl’s library—no family book-case can be considered at all -complete unless it contains these sparkling twentieth-century books.</p> - -<p class="hang">1 THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT NEWPORT; Or, Watching the Summer -Parade.—2 THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS IN THE BERKSHIRES; Or, The Ghost -of Lost Man’s Trail.—3 THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS ALONG THE HUDSON; -Or, Fighting Fire in Sleepy Hollow.—4 THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT -CHICAGO; Or, Winning Out Against Heavy Odds.—5 THE AUTOMOBILE -GIRLS AT PALM BEACH; Or, Proving Their Mettle Under Southern -Skies.—6 THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT WASHINGTON; Or, Checkmating the -Plots of Foreign Spies.</p> - -<p class="center p120">Cloth, <span class="wordspacing">Illustrated Price,</span> per Volume, $1.00</p> -</div> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -</div> -<div class="tn"> -<p class="center p120">Transcriber’s Note</p> - -<p class="noi">Changes from the original publication are as follows:</p> - -<ul class="nobullet"> -<li><ul><li>Page 6<br /> -intelligence captain smoothes <i>changed to</i><br /> -intelligence captain <a href="#smooths">smooths</a></li></ul></li> - -<li><ul><li>Page 75<br /> -grace Harlowe informed them <i>changed to</i><br /> -<a href="#Grace">Grace</a> Harlowe informed them</li></ul></li> - -<li><ul><li>Page 222<br /> -I might say considerable more <i>changed to</i><br /> -I might say <a href="#considerably">considerably</a> more</li></ul></li> - -<li><ul><li>Book lists<br /> -<a href="#five">Battleship Boys Series</a> and<br /> -<a href="#six">Boys of the Army Series</a><br /> -numbers 6, 7 and 8 <i>changed respectively to</i> 5, 6 and 7</li></ul></li> -</ul> -</div> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Grace Harlowe with the American Army -on the Rhine, by Jessie Graham Flower - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GRACE HARLOWE WITH AMERICAN ARMY *** - -***** This file should be named 51697-h.htm or 51697-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/1/6/9/51697/ - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Rod Crawford, Dave Morgan -and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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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