espair came into his eyes again, but it
rested there only a moment. He remembered his new courage and banished
it.

"Perhaps I ought to be in the sky myself with the others," he said, "but
I'd only see what I don't like to see. The _Arrow_ and I can't be of any
help now."

"You brought me here in the _Arrow_, Lannes," said John, seeking to
assume a light tone. "Now what do you intend to do with me? As everybody
is leaving Paris you ought to get me out of it."

"I hardly know what to do. There are no orders. I've lost touch with the
commander of our flying corps, but you're right in concluding that we
shouldn't remain in Paris. Now where are we to go?"

"We'll make no mistake if we seek the battle front. You know I'm bound
to rejoin my company, the Strangers, if I can. I must report as soon as
possible to Captain Colton."

"That's true, John, but I can't leave Paris until tomorrow. I may have
orders to carry, I must obtain supplies for the _Arrow_, and I wish to
visit once more my people on the other side of the Seine."

"Suppose you go now, and I'll meet you this afternoon in the Place de
l'Opera."

"Good. Say three o'clock. The first to arrive will await the other
before the steps of the Opera House?"

John nodded assent and Lannes hurried away. Young Scott followed his
figure with his eyes until it disappeared in the crowd. A back may be an
index to a man's strength of mind, and he saw that Lannes, head erect
and shoulders thrown back, was walking with a rapid and springy step.
Courage was obviously there.

But John, despite his own strong heart, could not keep from feeling an
infinite sadness and pity, not for Lannes, but for all the three million
people who inhabited the City of Light, most of whom were fleeing now
before the advance of the victorious invader. He could put himself in
their place. France held his deepest sympathy. He felt that a great
nation, sedulously minding its own business, trampled upon and robbed
once before, was now about to be trampled upon and robbed again. He
could not subscribe to the doctrine, that might was right.

He watched the fugitives a long time. They were crowding the railway
stations, and they were departing by motor, by cart and on foot. Many of
the poorer people, both men and women, carried packs on their backs. The
boulevards and the streets were filled with the retreating masses.

It was an amazing and stupefying sight, the abandonment by its
inhabitants of a g