age
in the place, as a dozen others would be sleeping in it, making it a
news center.

He bought a supper of cheese and sausage, and continued to watch the
people who came to the Inn of the Golden Lion. He thought Weber might
return, and if so he meant to speak with him, if a possible chance
should occur, but there was no sign of the Alsatian.

The heat and the smoke made him doze, by and by, and knowing that it
would be long before the room could be cleared, he resigned himself at
last to sleep, a circumstance that attracted no attention as others also
were sleeping in their chairs.

When he awoke it was past midnight, and only those who were to make it a
bedroom remained. Then he stretched his hardy form, wrapped in his
blankets, on a bench beside the wall and fell promptly into the deep
slumber of the young and just.

He awoke once or twice in the night and heard healthy snores about him.
German civilians and Lorrainers were asleep on the benches and they
slept well. The fire in the great, ancient fireplace had burned low, but
a fine bed of coals glowed there and cast quivering lights over the
sleepers. John thought he beard from afar that mutter of the guns, with
which he was so familiar, but he did not know whether it was fancy or
reality, as he always returned quickly to his deep slumber.

CHAPTER IX

THE GREAT CASTLE

John himself the next morning saw the departure of Prince Karl of
Auersperg and his suite, and it was not altogether chance that brought
it about. He was aroused as the other sleepers were by the waiters who
were preparing the room for the day. The Inn of the Golden Lion was
doing a rushing business in a town full of German troops, who ate well
and drank well and who paid.

His night's rest was refreshing to both mind and body, and, after a good
breakfast, he went once more toward the hotel which was frequented by
the highborn and the very highborn. He had no plan in mind, but he knew
that the magnet drawing him was Julie.

The morning was clear and cold, the streets slippery, but vivid with
life, mostly military. He carried his knapsack full of food, and his
blankets in a pack on his back, which his passport showed to be his
right as a peasant trading in horses, and returning from the front to
his home for a fresh supply. But there was little danger to him at
present, as there were many other peasants and farmer folk in Metz on
one errand or another.

He walked about the hotel