baked potatoes,
salad, bread and butter and cheese. It is truly fit for a king. Madame
Crocheville, two young and starving souls, thank you."

A smile lighted up her stern, almost masculine features. Then her face,
in truth, looked feminine and tender.

"You're wild and reckless, but you're a good boy, Philip Lannes," she
said, "and I know that you'd willingly lay down your life for the France
that I've never seen, but which I love. You say again that the great war
is at hand."

"It has come. In a few days four hundred million people will be in it,
and I know that France will come out of it with all her ancient glory
and estate."

"I hope and pray so," she said fervently, and then she left them.

The two ate and drank with wonderfully keen appetites, but they did not
forget their manners. John noticed that Philip was extremely fastidious
at the table, and he liked him the better for it. And the food was
wonderfully good. John felt new life and strength flowing into his
veins.

"I suppose we stay here tonight," he said.

"Yes it would be dangerous for us to leave so soon. Madame Crocheville
will take good care of us tonight and tomorrow, and tomorrow night we'll
leave."

"I don't see just how we'll go," said John. "There are German troops in
this town, as we know, and even if we could get out of it, where then
would we be. I want to go to Munich, and you, I take it, want to reach
France. We can't go by land and we can't go by water. How then can we
go?"

"No, we can't go by either land or water, but we'll go in another way.
Yes, we'll surely do it. This filet is certainly good. Take another
piece. You haven't tasted the tomato salad yet, and it's fine. No, I
won't tell you how we're going, because in every affair of life there's
always a possible slip. You just wait upon the event, and learn
patience. Patience is a wonderful quality to have, I ought to know. I've
seen how much it does for others, and how often I've suffered from the
lack of it."

"I'll wait, because I have to. You're right about the filet. It's good.
I think I'll take some more of it."

"You can't have it. Pig of an American, it would be your third piece."

"But it would be your third, too!"

"I know it, but I saw its merits first. So, I get a discoverer's third
as a reward. Feel a lot better, don't you, John?"

"I feel like a general now. Where did you learn such good, every-day
English."

"Studied it ten years at school, and then