general saw the approaching figure too, and he began to whistle
melodiously like the note of a piccolo, with the vast thunder of the
guns accompanying him as an orchestra. John knew that the cyclist was a
messenger, and that he was eagerly expected. An order of some kind was
at hand! All the members of the staff had the same conviction.

The cyclist stopped at the bottom of the hill, leaped from the machine
and ran to General Vaugirard, to whom he handed a note. The general read
it, expelled his breath in a mighty gust, and turning to his staff,
said:

"My children, our time has come. The whole central army of which we are
a part will advance. It will perhaps be known before night whether
France is to remain a great nation or become the vassal of Germany. My
children, if France ever had need for you to fight with all your hearts
and souls, that need is here today."

His manner was simple and majestic, and his words touched the mind and
feeling of every one who heard them. John was moved as much as if he had
been a Frenchman too. He felt a profound sympathy for this devoted
France, which had suffered so much, to which his own country still owed
that great debt, and which had a right to her own soil, fertilized with
so many centuries of labor.

General Vaugirard, resting a pad on his knee, wrote rapid notes which he
gave to the members of his staff in turn to be delivered. John's was to
a Parisian regiment lying in a field, and expanding body and mind into
instant action, he leaped upon the cycle and sped away. It was often
hard for him now to separate fact from fancy. His imagination, vivid at
all times, painted new pictures while such a tremendous drama passed
before him.

Yet he knew afterward that the sound of the battle did increase in
volume as he flew over the short distance to the regiment. Both east and
west were shaking with the tremendous concussion. One crash he heard
distinctly above the others and he believed it was that of a forty-two
centimeter.

He reached the field, his cycle spun between the eager soldiers, and as
he leaped off in the presence of the colonel he fairly thrust the note
into his hand, exclaiming at the same time in his zeal, "It's an order
to advance! The whole Army of the Center is about to attack."

He called it the Army of the Center at a guess, but names did not matter
now. The colonel glanced at the note, waved his sword above his head and
cried in a loud voice:

"My lads,