commander, Miss Lannes," he continued
in English, "but I'll be here early in the morning. May I wish you happy
dreams and a pleasant awakening, as they say at home?"

"But you have two homes now, France and America."

"That's so, and I'm beginning to love one as much as the other. Any
way, to the re-seeing, Miss Lannes, which I believe is equivalent to _au
revoir_."

He made a very fine bow, one that would have done credit to a trained
old courtier, and withdrew. The fierce and watchful eyes of Suzanne
followed him.

John was up at dawn, as strong and well as he had ever been in his life.
As he was putting on his uniform an orderly arrived with a note from
Lieutenant Hector Legare, telling him to report at once for duty with a
party that was going to Menouville.

The start was made quickly. John found that the women with surgical
supplies were traveling in carts. The soldiers, about twenty in number,
walked. John and the doctor walked with them. All the automobiles were
in use carrying troops to the front, but the carts were strong and
comfortable and John did not mind. It ought to be a pleasant trip.

CHAPTER XIII

THE MIDDLE AGES

The little party moved away without attracting notice. In a time of such
prodigious movement the going or coming of a few individuals was a
matter of no concern. The hood that Julie Lannes had drawn over her hair
and face, and her plain brown dress might have been those of a nun. She
too passed before unseeing eyes.

Lieutenant Legare was a neutral person, arousing no interest in John who
walked by the side of the gigantic Picard, the stalwart Suzanne being in
one of the carts beside Julie. The faint throbbing of the guns, now a
distinct part of nature, came to them from a line many miles away, but
John took no notice of it. He had returned to the world among pleasant
people, and this was one of the finest mornings in early autumn that he
had ever seen.

The country was much more heavily forested than usual. At points, the
woods turned into what John would almost have called a real forest. Then
they could not see very far ahead or to either side, but the road was
good and the carts moved forward, though not at a pace too great for the
walkers.

Picard carried a rifle over his shoulders, and John had secured an
automatic. All the soldiers were well armed. John felt a singular
lightness of heart, and, despite the forbidding glare of Suzanne, who
was in the last cart, he