ertz,
no more of your 'monsieur' and 'madame.' I am Pierre, and this lady is
Clementine. You understand?"

Dalroy spoke emphatically. Had the German retained his wits their
project might be undone. In the event, the pain of movement on the
hurdle revived the wounded man, and he asked for more water. They were
then entering the outskirts of Argenteau, so they kept on. Soon they
gained the main road, and Joos inquired of an officer the whereabouts of
a field hospital. He directed them quite civilly, and offered to detail
men to act as bearers. But the miller was now his own shrewd self again.

"No," he said bluntly, "I and my family have rescued your officer, and
we want a safe conduct."

Off they went with their living passport. The field hospital was
established in the village school, and here the patient was turned over
to a surgeon. As it happened, the latter recognised a friend, and was
grateful. He sent an orderly with them to find the major in charge of
the lines of communication, and they had not been in Argenteau five
minutes before they were supplied with a _laisser passer_, in which they
figured as Wilhelm Schultz, farmer, and wife, Clementine and Leontine,
daughters, and the said daughters' fiances, Pierre Dampier and Georges
Lambert; residence Aubel; destination Andenne.

There was not the least hitch in the matter. The major was, in his way,
courteous. Joos gave his own Christian name as "Guillaume," but the
German laughed.

"You're a good citizen of the Fatherland now, my friend," he guffawed,
"so we'll make it 'Wilhelm.' As for this pair of doves," and he eyed the
two girls, "warn off any of our lads. Tell them that I, Major von
Arnheim, said so. They're a warm lot where a pretty woman is
concerned."

Von Arnheim was a stout man, a not uncommon quality in German majors.
Perhaps he wondered why Joos looked fixedly at the pit of his stomach.

But a motor cyclist dashed up with a despatch, and he forgot all about
"Schultz" and his family. As it happened, he was a man of some ability,
and the hopeless block at Aix caused by the stubborn defence of Liege
had brought about the summary dismissal of a General by the wrathful
Kaiser. Hence, the Argenteau major was promoted and recalled to the
base. His next in rank, summoned to the post an hour later, knew nothing
of the _laisser passer_ granted to a party which closely resembled the
much-wanted miller of Vise and his companions; he read an "urgent
general