eem to lag behind, speak sharply to me in German."

She obeyed without hesitation. They had reached the end of the
covered-in portion of the station when a sentry barred the way. He
brought his rifle with fixed bayonet to the "engage."

"It is forbidden," he said.

"What is forbidden?" grinned Dalroy amiably, clipping his syllables, and
speaking in the roughest voice he could assume.

"You cannot pass this way."

"Good! Then I can go home to bed. That will be better than cleaning
engines."

Fortunately, a Bavarian regiment was detailed for duty at
Aix-la-Chapelle that night; the sentry knew where the engine-sheds were
situated no more than Dalroy. Further, he was not familiar with the
Aachen accent.

"Oh, is that it?" he inquired.

"Yes. Look at my cap!"

Dalroy held up the lantern. The official lettering was evidently
convincing.

"But what about the lady?"

"She's my wife. If you're here in half-an-hour she'll bring you some
coffee. One doesn't leave a young wife at home with so many soldiers
about."

"If you both stand chattering here neither of you will get any coffee,"
put in Irene emphatically.

The Bavarian lowered his rifle. "I'm relieved at two o'clock," he said
with a laugh. "Lose no time, _schoene Frau_. There won't be much
coffee on the road to Liege."

The girl passed on, but Dalroy lingered. "Is that where you're going?"
he asked.

"Yes. We're due in Paris in three weeks."

"Lucky dog!"

"Hans, are you coming, or shall I go on alone?" demanded Irene.

"Farewell, comrade, for a little ten minutes," growled Dalroy, and he
followed.

An empty train stood in a bay on the right, and Dalroy espied a
window-cleaner's ladder in a corner. "Where are you going, woman?" he
cried.

His "wife" was walking down the main platform which ended against the
wall of a signal-cabin, and there might be insuperable difficulties in
that direction.

"Isn't this the easiest way?" she snapped.

"Yes, if you want to get run over."

Without waiting for her, he turned, shouldered the ladder, and made for
a platform on the inner side of the bay. A ten-foot wall indicated the
station's boundary. Irene ran after him. Within a few yards they were
hidden by the train from the sentry's sight.

"That was clever of you!" she whispered breathlessly.

"Speak German, even when you think we are alone," he commanded.

The platform curved sharply, and the train was a long one. When they
neared the engine they sa