brilliant blue eyes, and both his hair
and skin burned red by exposure to the outdoors.

"Come along then and be introduced to my friends; a good many of you
fellows know them already," Carlo Navara answered. "Mrs. David Clark and
six Red Cross nurses are motoring over from the Red Cross hospital. I
suppose you have been told that sometime this afternoon half a dozen of
our men are to be cited. An officer is coming from headquarters to
represent the commander in chief, and present the medals. In a short
time we must be ready for inspection."

Moving off together the two men formed an interesting contrast.

Carlo Navara was dark, a little below medium height, with closely cut
brown hair, rather extraordinary black eyes and an olive skin.

The young singer, an American of Italian ancestry, had first fought
among the snow-clad hills of Italy. Wounded, he had afterwards returned
to the United States, where a great career as a singer was opening
before him. Then the desire to fight in France had driven him to
surrender his art and to serve as a volunteer in the marine corps.

A moment later the two men disappeared within their tents. An automobile
with the Red Cross insignia soon after drove up before one of the
entrances to the camp where a sentry stood guard.

Stepping out of it first came a woman, youthful of face and form, but
whose hair was nearly white, her eyes a deep blue with dark lashes, and
her color a bright crimson from her drive through the winter air.

Following her immediately was a young girl, scarcely eighteen years old,
who was small and fair with pale blonde hair and surprisingly dark brown
eyes. Both the woman and girl were wearing heavy fur coats and small
hats fitting close down over their hair.

The older woman was Mrs. David Clark, the wife of the chief surgeon of
the Red Cross hospital which was situated a few miles from the present
camp. Before her marriage which had taken place only a little more than
six months before, she had been Sonya Valesky.

The young girl was her ward, Bianca Zoli.

"I declare, Sonya, I don't see how you always manage to get ahead of the
rest of us considering your advanced years," another girl exclaimed,
jumping out of the car and slipping on the icy ground until her older
friend caught firm hold of her.

"Do be careful, Nona Davis, and don't be humorous until you are more
sure of your footing," Sonya Clark replied. "You know when you return to
New York I want