They received bread, sausage and coffee for breakfast from one of the
huge kitchen automobiles, and nearly all ate with a good appetite. Their
German captors did not treat them badly, but John, watching both
officers and men, did not see any elation. He had no doubt that the
officers were stunned by the terrible surprise of the day before, and as
for the men, they would know nothing. He had seen early that the Germans
were splendid troops, disciplined, brave and ingenious, but the habit of
blind obedience would blind them also to the fact that fortune had
turned her face away from them.

He wished that his friend von Arnheim--friend he regarded him--would
appear and tell him something about the battle, but his wish did not
come true for an hour and meanwhile the whole heavens resounded with the
roar of the battle, while distant flashes from the guns could be seen on
either flank.

The young German, glasses in hand, evidently seeking a good view, walked
to the crest of the hillock behind which Weber had disappeared. John
presumed enough on their brief friendship to call to him.

"Do you see anything of interest?" he asked.

Von Arnheim nodded quickly.

"I see the distant fringe of a battle," he replied amiably, "but it's
too early in the morning for me to pass my judgment upon it."

"Nevertheless you can look for a day of most desperate struggle!"

Von Arnheim nodded very gravely.

"Men by tens of thousands will fall before night," he said.

As if to confirm his words, the roar of the battle took a sudden and
mighty increase, like a convulsion.

CHAPTER VII

THE TWO PRINCES

John sat with the other prisoners for more than two hours listening to
the thunder of the great battle or rather series of battles which were
afterwards classified under the general head the Battle of the Marne. He
was not a soldier, merely a civilian serving as a soldier, but he had
learned already to interpret many of the signs of combat. There was an
atmospheric feeling that registered on a sensitive mind the difference
between victory and defeat, and he was firm in the belief that as
yesterday had gone today was going. Certainly this great German army
which he believed to be in the center was not advancing, and something
of a character most menacing was happening to the wings of the German
force. He read it in the serious, preoccupied faces of the officers who
passed near. There was not a smile on the face of the youngest