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Page 85
THE CONTINUING BATTLE
The _Arrow_ bore in toward the _Omnibus_. Wharton had put his rifle
aside and was staring downward as if he would see the wreck that he had
made. Lannes called to him loudly:
"You've saved us all!"
Wharton looked rather white, but he shouted back:
"I had no other choice."
The French aeroplanes were around them now, their motors drumming
steadily and the aviators shouting congratulations to Lannes and
Caumartin, whom they knew well. It was a friendly group, full of pride
and exultation, and the _Arrow_ and the _Omnibus_ had a triumphant
escort. Soon they were directly over the French, and then they began
their descent. As usual, when they reached the army they made it amid
cheers, and the first man who greeted John was short and young but with
a face of pride.
"You have come back to us out of the air, Monsieur Scott," he said, "and
I salute you."
It was Pierre Louis Bougainville, made a colonel already for
extraordinary, almost unprecedented, valor and ability in so young a
man. John recognized his rank by his uniform, and he acknowledged it
gladly.
"It's true, I have come back, Colonel Bougainville," he said, "and right
glad I am to come. I see that your country has had no cause to complain
of you in the last week."
"Nor of hundreds of thousands of Frenchmen," said Bougainville. "Your
company, the Strangers, is close at hand, and here is your captain now."
Captain Daniel Colton, thin and ascetic, walked forward. John gave him
his best salute and said:
"Captain Colton, I beg to report to you for duty."
A light smile passed swiftly over Cotton's face.
"You're a little late, Lieutenant Scott," he said.
"I know it, sir, but I've brought Lieutenant Carstairs and Lieutenant
Wharton with me. There have been obstacles which prevented our speedy
return. We've done our best."
"I can well believe it. You left on horseback, and you return by air.
But I'm most heartily glad to see all three of you again. I feared that
you were dead."
"Thank you, sir," said John. "But we don't mean to die."
"Nevertheless," said Captain Colton, gravely, "death has been all about
us for days and nights. Many of the Strangers are gone. You will find
the living lying in the little valley just beyond us, and you can resume
your duties."
Lannes, after a word or two, left them, and Caumartin took the
_Omnibus_ to another part of the field. Lannes' importance was
continually growing in John's eyes, nor was it the effect of
imagination. He saw that under the new conditions of warfare the ability
of the young Frenchman to carry messages between generals separated
widely could not be overrated. He might depart that very night on
another flight.
"May I ask, sir," he said to Captain Colton, "to what command or
division the Strangers are now attached?"
"To that of General Vaugirard, a very able man."
"I'm glad to hear it, sir. I know him. I was with him before I was taken
by the Germans."
"It seems that you're about to have a general reunion," said Carstairs
to young Scott, as they walked away.
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