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Page 34
"Weber! Weber!"
The man paused and he seemed to John to look back, but the snow drifted
heavily between them just then, and when the cataract had passed he was
again moving on, more slender and dim than ever. Beyond him lay a little
wood, torn and mangled by shells and shrapnel, as the town had been, and
John, afraid that he would lose him in it, ran as fast as he could
through the deep snow, calling once more, and loudly now:
"Weber! Weber! Weber!"
The figure stopped at the edge of the wood and turned. John, holding up
his hands to show that he meant no harm, continued his panting rush
through the snow. The man stood upright, magnified into gigantic size by
the half light and the storm, and, as John came close, he saw that in
very truth it _was_ Weber. His relief and joy were great. He did not
know until then how anxious he was that the stranger should prove to be
Weber, in whose skill and resource he had so much confidence.
"Weber! Weber!" he cried again. "It's Scott. Don't you know me, or am I
so clothed in snow that nobody can recognize me?"
"I recognize you now, Mr. Scott," said Weber, "and glad am I to see that
it's you. I was afraid that I was being followed by a German scout. I
could have disposed of him, but it would not have saved me from his
comrades."
"Comrades!" exclaimed John, as he shook his hand. "Why, are Germans
about?"
"I think they are. At least, I've come out here to see. You'll forgive
my jest, Mr. Scott, in writing my name under that of your party on the
register, won't you? As Mademoiselle Lannes has doubtless told you, I
carried the letter from her brother, directing her to join him in
Chastel, and, as my duties permitted, I came here also to see that my
work was effective. I'd have gone at once, but I heard suspicious sounds
in front of the hotel, and I came out at once to investigate."
"What did you find?"
"Near the cathedral I saw footprints which the falling snow had covered
but partially. No, it's not worth while to go back and investigate them.
They're under an inch of snow now."
"Why did you think Germans had made them?"
Weber opened his gloved hand and disclosed something metallic, a spike
from a German helmet.
"This," he said, "had become loosened and it fell from the cap of some
careless fellow. It could have been there only a few minutes, because
the snow had not yet covered it. I think a considerable party has got
behind the French lines under cover of the storm and has passed through
Chastel."
"But they must have gone on. Why would they remain in a ruined town like
this?"
"I see no reason for their doing so, unless to seek shelter for a while
in some buildings not wholly wrecked, just as you and Mademoiselle
Lannes' party have done."
John felt a throb of alarm.
"Has the H�tel de l'Europe escaped their observation?" he asked.
"I think so. I did not notice any light myself when I approached it. But
I had been in Chastel before, and of course knew of the house and its
location. I went there at once, hoping that it had escaped destruction,
and found my hopes justified. Has Mademoiselle Lannes heard anything
from her brother? I did not see his name on the register?"
"He has not come, but the weather has made it impossible. Aeroplanes
can't dare such snowstorms as this."
"That's true, but he's so wonderfully skillful and bold that he might
get here in some fashion. Now I think we ought to make a good search
among these ruins, Mr. Scott. It's more than likely that the Germans
have passed on, but there's a chance that they will linger. You're
armed, of course?"
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