bulances before the
prone form of Lieutenant Burroughs was found by the searchers. The
lieutenant lay on his back not far from the telephone and directly
under the glare of a huge arc-light. His eyes were open and he was
conscious, but when he tried to speak, only a murmur came from his
lips. There was a rattle in his chest and faint coughs tried in vain
to force their way out between his stiffened lips.

"Easy, Lieutenant," said Major Martin as he bent over him; "don't try
to talk just now. You're all right and we'll have a mask on you in a
jiffy. That damned gas isn't as thick right here as it is down the
road a way."

Two medical corps men lifted the lieutenant onto a stretcher and
started to fit a mask over his face. He feebly raised a hand to stop
them. His lips formed words which he could not enunciate, but Major
Martin understood them.

"Your men?" he said between intervals of coughing. "We've got them all
in the ambulance, I think. There were four besides yourself, weren't
there?"

The lieutenant nodded.

"Right. We have them all. Now we'll take you back to the hospital and
have you fixed up in a jiffy."

* * * * *

The entire rescue crew were coughing violently as the ambulances left
Michaelville. For a mile they drove through fog that was thicker than
had been seen in Maryland for years. They reached the point where they
had encountered the congealed moisture on the way out, but now there
was no diminution of its density. The main post was less than two
miles away when they burst out into a clear night and increased their
speed.

As the two machines drew up in front of the post hospital, the driver
of the leading ambulance swayed in his seat. Blindly he pulled on his
emergency brake and then slumped forward in his seat, his breath
coming in wheezing gasps. Major Martin hastily tore the mask from his
face and glanced at it.

"Take him in with the rest!" he cried. "His mask must have leaked."

As they entered the hospital, a sickening weakness overcame Major
Martin. From all sides a black pall seemed to roll in on him and bits
of ice seemed to form in his brain. He reeled and caught at the
shoulder of a corps man who was passing. The orderly caught at him and
looked for a moment at his livid face.

"Sergeant Connors!" he cried.

A technical sergeant hastened up. Major Martin forced words with
difficulty through stiffening lips.

"Call Captain Murdock," he wheezed