making of it, and I can well believe as you do that it belonged to a
prince."

John's sleepiness increased. The motion was so smooth and pleasant! And
the absence of danger and strained effort lulled one to slumber. He
fought it off, and then concluded that he was foolish. Why shouldn't he
go to sleep? Carstairs was asleep already and Wharton, who felt such a
tremendous weight of responsibility, was nodding. His eyelids fell. He
raised them with a desperate effort, but they fell again and remained
closed.

When John awoke a dimness over the western hills showed that the
twilight was advancing. Through sleepy eyes he saw Weber's back as he
bent a little over the wheel, steering steadily. The road now led
through forest.

"Where are we, Weber?" he asked.

"Ah, awake are you," said the Alsatian, not looking back. "You saved my
life, but it was most fortunate that you had the chance of doing it.
Otherwise all of you would have perished from lack of sleep."

"Lack of sleep? What's that?" exclaimed Carstairs, waking up and hearing
the last words. "Why, I'm always lacking sleep. I believe the greatest
hardship of war is the way it deprives you of sleep. When I've helped
take Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and other important German cities, and this
war's over, I'm going back to England to sleep a month, and if anybody
wakes me before the right time there'll be a merry civil war in that
blessed isle."

Wharton, who had been somewhat uneasy in his sleep, woke up in turn, and
his hand flew to his tightly buttoned coat. But he felt the papers
safely there and his heart resumed its natural beat. Yet he was angry
with himself. No man who carried perhaps the fate of a continent should
ever close his eyes a moment.

"We're crossing a range of hills," said Weber, replying as soon as he
could to John's question. "We've been making good time. We ought to
strike the French line by midnight and then our journey will be over."

"And I'll be glad when we get there," said Carstairs. "I love
automobiles, but I've had enough for the present even of such a fine
machine as this. I judge that we slept well, Mr. Weber."

"I never saw two sleep better," replied Weber. "Mr. Wharton was a little
troubled in his slumbers though."

"Oh, he's a very grave individual with great responsibilities," said
Carstairs.

But he did not add anything about the dispatches.

"A little farther back," said Weber, "I saw a biplane. Although it was
high in air I