of Argenteau itself might be the last to
undergo close search for the "criminals" who had dared punish these
demi-gods. Following a cattle-path through a series of fields, he
entered a country lane about a mile from Vise. It was a narrow,
deep-rutted, winding way--a shallow trench cut into the soil by many
generations of pack animals and heavy carts. The long interregnum
between the solid pavement of Rome and the broken rubble of Macadam
covered Europe with a network of such roads. An unchecked growth of
briars, brambles, and every species of prolific weed made this
particular track an ideal hiding-place.

Gathering the party under the two irregular lines of pollard oaks which
marked the otherwise hardly discernible hedgerows, Joos explained that,
at a point nearly half-a-mile distant, the lane joined the main road
which winds along the right bank of the Meuse.

"That is our only real difficulty--the crossing of the road," he said.
"It is sure to be full of Germans; but if we watch our chance we should
contrive to scurry from one side to the other without being seen."

Such confidence was unquestionably cheering. Even Dalroy, though he put
a somewhat sceptical question, did not really doubt that the old man was
adopting what might, in the circumstances, prove the best plan.

"What happens when we do reach the other side, Monsieur Joos?" he
inquired.

"Then we enter a disused quarry in the depths of a wood. The Meuse
nearly surrounds the wood, and there is barely room for a tow-path
between the river's edge and a steep cliff. The quarry forms the
landward face, as one may say, and among the trees is a woodman's hut. I
shall be surprised if we find any Germans there."

"From your description it seems to be a suitable post for a strong
picket watching the river."

"No, monsieur. The slope falls away from the river, while the opposite
bank is flat and open. I have been a soldier in my time, and I
understand these things. It would be all right for observation purposes
if these pigs hadn't seized the bridge-heads at Vise and Argenteau; but
I saw their cursed Uhlans on the left bank many hours ago."

"Lead on, friend," said Dalroy simply. "When we come within a hundred
metres of the main road let me do the scouting. I'll tell you when and
how to advance."

"Is monsieur a soldier then?"

"Yes."

"An officer perhaps?"

"Yes."

"Ah, a thousand pardons if I presumed to lecture you. Yet I am certainly
in the right