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Page 49
Seen from a height the opposing trenches appeared to be almost together,
and the fire of the hostile marksmen blended into the same line of
light. But John did not look at them long. He had seen so much of foul
trenches for weary months that it was a pleasure to let the eye fill
with something else.
He looked instead at the high hills which were fast coming near, and
although covered with snow, with trees bare of leaves, they were a
glorious sight, an intense relief to him after all that monotony of
narrow mud walls. He knew that trenches or other earthworks ran among
the hills also, but the nature of the ground compelled breaks, and it
would be easier anyhow to pass through a forest or a ravine.
"Where do you wish me to put you down?" asked Delaunois.
"At some place in those low mountains there, where the German lines are
furthest from ours."
"I think I know such a point. You won't mind my speaking of you as a
spy, Mr. Jean Castel of America, will you?"
"Not at all, because that's what I am."
"Then don't take too big a risk. It hasn't been long since you were a
boy, and I don't like to think of one so young being executed as a spy."
"I don't intend to be."
"It's likely that I may see Philip Lannes before long. I go westward in
two or three days and I shall find a chance to visit him in the
hospital. If I see him what shall I tell him about a young man whom we
both know, one John Scott, an American?"
"You tell him that his sister, Mademoiselle Julie Lannes, came to the
village of Chastel to meet him, in accordance with his written request,
and while she was waiting for him with her servants, Antoine and Suzanne
Picard, not knowing that he had been wounded since the writing of his
letter, she was kidnapped and carried into Germany with the Picards by
Prince Karl of Auersperg. Prince Karl is in love with her and intends to
force her into a morganatic marriage. Otherwise she is safe. The
American, John Scott, in addition to his duties as a spy for France, a
country that he loves and admires, intends, if human endeavor can
achieve it, to rescue Mademoiselle Lannes and bring her back to Paris."
Delaunois took one hand from the steering rudder and turned glistening
eyes upon John.
"It's a knightly adventure," he said. "It will appeal to Frenchmen when
they hear of it, and yet more to Frenchwomen. I should like to shake the
hand of this American, John Scott, and since he is not here, I will, if
you will let me, shake the hand of his nearest French relative, Jean
Castel."
He opened his gloved palm and John's met it in a strong grasp.
"I'm glad," said Delaunois, "that I saw you, and that I am able to give
you this lift. We're over the edge of the mountains now, and presently
we'll cross the French lines. I think I'd better go up a considerable
distance, as they won't know we're French, and they might give us a few
shots."
The machine rose fast and it grew intensely cold. John looked down now
upon a country, containing much forest for Europe, and sparsely
inhabited. But he saw far beneath them trenches and other earthworks
manned with French soldiers. Several officers were examining them
through glasses, but Delaunois sailed gracefully over the line, circled
around a slender peak where he was hidden completely from their view,
and then dropped down in a forest of larch and pine. "So far as I know,"
he said, when the plane rested on the snow, "nobody has seen our
descent. We're well beyond the French lines here, but you'll find
German forts four or five miles ahead. As you see, this is exceedingly
rough ground, not easy for men to occupy, and so the French stay on one
side of this little cluster of mountains while the Germans keep to the
other. And now, Monsieur Jean Castel, I leave you here, wishing you
success in your quest, success in every respect."
Again the two strong hands met. A minute later the aeroplane rose in the
air, carrying but one of the men, while Jean Castel, peasant of
Lorraine, was left behind, standing in the snow, and feeling very
grateful to Delaunois.
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