"Follow me," he said brusquely, and ere long he found himself again in
the open, walking between lines of soldiers.

As he thought of it afterwards, his experiences that night seemed to
him almost like a dream. He was passed from guard to guard, seemingly
without reason, yet according to some pre-arranged plan. After what
appeared to him an interminable time, he was ushered into the presence
of a grave-looking military man, whose uniform bespoke the fact that he
was of the highest rank.

This man was quickly joined by another, and a whispered conversation
took place between them, and Bob saw that keen, searching glances were
constantly directed towards himself.

"He's only a lieutenant," he heard one say.

"It's no use; he will have it so," replied the other; "after he had
heard the report, he gave his orders, and there's nothing else for it."

The other shrugged his shoulders, as if impatient at something, and
then Bob was again commanded to move forward to another place.

Eventually he found himself in what seemed to him like an ante-room of
some apartment of extreme importance. Here he waited for nearly half
an hour; still on each side of him stood a soldier, erect, motionless,
silent.

Then some curtains were drawn aside, and Bob found himself in what
might have been a richly appointed room of an old French mansion.

Seated at a desk, covered with documents of all sorts, his face almost
hidden from the light, sat a man--alone. He did not look up at Bob's
entrance, but went on reading quietly, now and then making a note on
the margin of the papers which he was examining.

He was clad in an officer's uniform, but what rank he held, Bob was
unable to determine; that he was in high command, there could be no
doubt.

Minute after minute passed, and still this lonely figure sat reading
and examining.

The silence was intense; they might have been away in the heart of the
country, far from the rush and clamour of life. Had not Bob passed
through innumerable hordes of men, he would have thought himself in an
uninhabited region.

A little clock on a kind of sideboard ticked distinctly, and as minute
after minute passed by, the ticking strangely affected his nerves. On
his right hand and on his left, men on guard still stood silent,
motionless.

Presently the lonely figure at the desk lifted his head and gave Bob a
keen, searching glance. In so doing, although the young man was unable
to distinguish