is loyal duty to the Fatherland. He persuaded them that
his lot being cast in France for the time, he'd resolved to serve
Germany by spying, until he could somehow bolt across the
frontier. He spun a specious tale about pretending to the French
to have French sympathies, and winning the confidence of
high-up men, by serving as a surgeon on several fronts. To
prove his German patriotism he had notes to show, realistically
made on thin silk paper, and hidden inside the lining of his
coat.

"Herter's mission in Boschland isn't my business or yours;
but I'm allowed to say that it was concerned with aeroplanes.
There was something he had to find out, and he _has_ found it
out, or he wouldn't be back on this side of the lines. Because he
hoped to be among German flying-men, he hinted to you that
he might be able to do you some service. It occurred to him
that he might learn where my grave was and let you know.
Nothing further was in his thoughts then--or until he happened
to draw out a piece of unexpected information in a roundabout
way.

"His trick of getting across to the flying-men was smart, like
all his tricks. The valuable (?) notes he'd brought into Germany
mostly concerned new French and American inventions in that
line. That was his 'speciality.' And when he had handed the
notes over with explanations, he continued his programme by
asking for a job as surgeon in a field hospital. (You see, he hoped
to get back to France before the worthlessness of his notes was
discovered.) When he'd proved his qualifications, he got his
job like a shot. They were only too glad of his services. Pretending
to have been in American training-camps, it was easy
to bring up my name in a casual way. Laughing that rather
sinister laugh of his, which you will remember, Herter told a
couple of flying chaps he had promised a girl to find Jim Beckett's
grave. One of the fellows laughed too, and made a remark
which set Herter thinking. Later, he was able to refer to
the subject again, and learned enough to suspect that there was
something fishy about the Bosch announcement of my death and
burial. He tells me that, at this point, he was able to send you a
verbal message by a consumptive prisoner about to be repatriated.
Whether you got that message or not who knows?

"His idea was to send another (in a way he won't explain
even to me) when he'd picked up further