automobile at which
men were obtaining coffee and food.

"Has Lannes come?" asked John.

"Not yet, but of course he'll be here soon; by noon, I fancy."

John went out and took his breakfast with his comrades of the Strangers.
The morning was uncommonly bright. There was not a trace of cloud in the
heavens, which had turned to the soft, velvety blue that one sometimes
sees in winter, and which can make a man fancy that it is summer when he
looks up, rather than winter when he looks down.

While John ate and drank, he continually scanned the skies looking for
the coming of the _Arrow._ He saw aeroplanes hovering here and there
over the French and German lines, but none coming toward Chastel.

He had expected, too, that Weber might return in the morning, but he did
not reappear and John felt a distinct disappointment. Many had been
killed, but Wharton and Carstairs had reported that no body had
resembled Weber's. Then it was certain that he had not fallen. Perhaps
the Germans had driven him ahead of them, and he would rejoin the French
at some distant point.

The morning passed, slow and bright, but it did not bring Lannes.
General Vaugirard himself came about noon, a huge purring man in a huge
puffing automobile. He cast an approving eye over Bougainville's work,
and puffing his cheeks still wider whistled a low, musical note.

"It could not have been done better," he said. Then he caught sight of
John and exclaimed:

"Ah, here is our young American, he who has been transformed into a
good Frenchman! Glad am I to see you alive and unhurt, but I bring you
news which is unpleasant. Ah, well, such is life! It must be expected in
a war like this."

Alarm leaped up in John's heart. He felt instinctively that it concerned
Lannes! Was he dead? But he steadied his voice and said:

"May I ask what it is, General?"

"That young friend of yours and great servant of his nation, Philip
Lannes, the famous aviator. He has been wounded. No, don't be alarmed,
it's not mortal, but it will keep him in hospital for some time. It
happened two days ago, nearly a hundred miles west of here. He had just
landed from his aeroplane, and he was fired at by some German
skirmishers hidden in a wood. Fortunately French cavalry were near and
drove off the Germans. Lannes is so young and so healthy that his
recovery will be complete, though slow."

"What a misfortune at such a time!" exclaimed John.

"What do you mean by 'at such a time'