Show ib IDE 1 OF fil ak BATTLE 1 A P 21 N pat L az f I 1 A romance of the american army Fl ahting on t the he battlefields do of france by VICTOR ROUSSEAU L 10 13 by br W 0 CHAPTER APTER XI continued 9 ada kenson henson turned and ran nin toward mark with a scream she did not recognize him mark could see flint the discipline of a lifetime held mark steady ile iio stood confronting kellerman but did not raise ft a hand even cven to guard himself kellerman kellermann glared nt at him in liless fury aud and oven even then jt seemed a little to mark that hartley disappeared so swiftly and silently that neither the man nor the woman knew hohag been there then kellerman Kel lermon burst into hysterical laughter its the spy from lie he war depart mont ment lie cried the fellow wo wd pitched out of the briny tor for treachery masquerading here tit in uniform A blank wall and a n tiring fixing squad for you tomorrow my mant ada henson sprang between them hem ile he menn mean thail site she cried P peering leering into Al marks larks faco face dubiously she recognized mark now but mark court could see flint the recognition meant little to her probably lie holiad had been only it trivial incident in ill her career listen to me P she whispered in marks car a r lip lius tits been drinking it wili bo be nit all right just go back and keep heep tills this to yourself got a fifty dollar bill by the next post and ten every month afterward so long as you ilont dont see gee anything understand ile ho responsible mark turned awny away disgust In but lie imagined the worried warped mind that caught tit nt tills this lope of secrecy ile ho went back into the kitchen the soldiers were still there one or two hailed litin him the incident lind had occupied only ten iiii minutes annette made a little mouth nt at him from the doorway but mark wits was searching scorching in the room for hartley your friend went home I 1 think loon monsieur ie soldat said annette in banter mark strode out of the inn without a word hartless Hait Hart leys disappearance did not disturb him hartley was strange but lie ho felt that he had relied too much on Il hartley artley it wits was for him film to act ile he would go to the major in of the hospital tell tits his story andio and do the only thing possible ile he had no doubt any longer that kellerman Kelle and the lie kenson woman were partners in a far reaching conspiracy against his country though he had never before allowed himself to accept the obvious deductions from the washington episode ills his mind moved slowly ills Hs purpose had been to redeem himself he had thought hartley obsessed now lie he meant to reveal evers everything thing and suddenly out of the nilst mist of years lie he recalled colonel howards story of hampton kellerman Kel lorman had been the chief agent lh in tragic fall suppose hampton Hain had been innocent I 1 suppose that eleanors father had been a brave and loyal man whose hideous ruin and abominable death might be posthumously vindicated vindicate the blood rushed to ills his head nt at the thought of it tile the burden of the knowledge of her fathers shame and of its ita probable c effect on her it if ever site learned had find weighed heavily upon marks heart since that night in the tent in cuba then the blood receded leaving him as cold as a stone for lie ho recalled A ada da bensons Ken Ren sona sons words to kellerman so ho the hunter was liard hard upon the quarry perlin ps he hit had already snared her eleanor had bad liked kellerman ile he forced back tits his thoughts strode straight to barracks and turned in CHAPTER XII and lie he slept though lie had not expected to close his eyes that night ile he slept its as soundly as ills his comrades awakening as was tits his habit babit a few minutes before reveille with a mind singularly clarified by sleep ile he would risk ask to parade before lila ills commanding officer in tile the morning and stole the facts leaving the rest to fate ile he was rot not destined to for the same corporal who had putli lm on duty during hla his previous afternoon ofa off called him film five minutes before parade you can leave them buttons weston h he said with it grin you wont need to polish lem em where youre going tile the sergeant sei geant major wants you at onee once mark hurried to the office to find the sergeant majorin major in coni company pany with one 0 of f tile senior captains then he remembered that rumors of the preceding evening had sent the major away with the inspecting general ills his interview roust must be postponed then epston weston Wp ston better get your breakfast at once MCC said the sergeant major and have your kit twenty minutes you nod and hartley fire aro going up to the front the senior captain temporarily coro com in anding the detachment unbent troll from the official air nar which lie ho was waa trying terribly hard to assume as you specialty specially asked for front from headquarters he said with another and im sending beading hartley because lies your friend they want two more inen for tho the stretcher jt at bearers coul company pany well be ba sorry to lose you weston mark saluted and went out just as aa hartley appe appeared anred at the door the sergeant nt major enlightened hartley briefly you must have some settle bullat pull nt lien headquarters d q barters uart ers weston lie ho said do you know major kellerman ea A little sir answered mark grimly well lie he seems to know till nil about you and ho he told tile tho 0 0 over tho the telephone that lie must have you hei hall be your 0 0 C now for a n while so 80 things thing ought to run smoothly for you illes hes not a doctor sir exo no but the stretcher bearers arent a m medical edical corps attached to the th fit mark hurried away in the barrack room nt at breakfast tile the two were the subject of mingled jests anti lotions Int lons the stretcher bearers forming its n it more c tile lust lost supports of f UK infantry sinned is it anred with them tile tile the great proportion of disunities dis unities 9 aelic r innas scheme wits waa perfectly clear to mark ill lip was in it wretched state of mind when the car steamed steade d into the depot nt at the end of 0 f the narrow narron V gauge title line he descended into a city a mushroom city of tile the supply and transportation department A sergeant and corporal with nine or ten men of the stretcher bearers company waiting for the two tho the little troop was waa returning tot he trenches after five days of relief at a best rest camp youre the two men from the base hospital asked the sergeant all right 1 fall in right turn I 1 quick nick march ill I 1 they moved away down a slope and began to pick their wayn way along long the beginning of a maze ot of tren trenches chei the roar of guns had never ceased by night or day and had long ceased to be noticeable was louder now suddenly tho the sergeant stopped there wits was ten tell of you he said to to the corporal all here responded tho the corporal tile the sergeant turned to mark wheres your matel mate he asked mark who had been plodding along under the that hartley wits was following turned round to fand that lie was tho the last ot of the party hartley was nowhere to be seen the sergeant ran back a 0 few paces to return breathless and red tn in the face iles hes gone the silly fool I 1 lie he spluttered splutter ed must have taken tile the wrong turn tit at the bend go back and get him I 1 hut but hartley was not nt at the bend tile the sergeant joined mork incredulous they scrambled up tho the bank and scanned the level road there was no pedestrian in sight iles hes taken the wrong turn somewhere insisted the sergeant come along with met mel weve got to flud find ml they began doubling back shouting until they reacia reached the end of the trench system still hartley could not bo be found it if lie aint on hand ill be broke the sergeant grumbled anil and ill break ills head for him you medical corps chops chaps tire anre like a bunch ot of babies ought to have a nur nurse se a and rid baby carric carriage age for each of you reluctantly lie abandoned the search and they rejoined the others the sergeant in till an ugly mood or ordered dered them sharply onward but could not resist costing casting occasional looks back to see if the missing man was coming however nt at last lie jile resigned himself to what seemed inevitable tile the trench Nilde widened ned into a bet deep p wide parallel one extending in zigzags to right and left of them A large dugout made shellproof shell proof or its nearly as pos possible so by a roof of heavy beams sandbags sandbars sand bags and corrugated steel bore the red lied cross upon tile the door inside a num her of stretcher lier bearers were lvere lounging the sergeant halted ills hiis men and stepped into a smaller dugout beside it in a minute lie carde came out and beck boned to mark to follow him ahn mark entered to find himself in the presence of tile tho capt captain itin commanding the stretcher lier bearers company and nel lorman ile he saluted and stood to at tent lon watching eyes wonder wander over him orderly w wheres heres tile tho ninn man who came with you inquired tho the captain 1 ire I to disappeared on tho the way up sir answered mark lark what do you mean by disappeared did you see him film go back or ansho was ho with you yon ono one minute and gono gone tho lie next 1 I thought lie ho was behind ine inc sir I 1 soo see him go or know anything bout about it tho the captain who find been holding tile tho receiver of tits his telephone and evidently waiting for tits his connection got it murk heard him sending out it i general notice of tile the absent ninn mail iio gave tits his number and the name hinr ley icy no doubt lie ho had mistaken it ns as lie he rec received elved it by telephone front from tho the hospital that morning parade before mo me tomorrow mo morning said captain reyes to the sergeant till then you are under open arrest the sergeant saluted painted I Ill tight glit turn I 1 lie ho sald to murk antt it a minute 11 interposed keller mail id like to have it fow few words with this ihla limn keyes lly by nil all beatis mc ius sir relf replied fled the cap fain rising lie he strolled humming to the door of the dugout and ml mink ark together so youve enlisted under the alio name weston inquired kellerman that alint Is my namo sir it was a shock to me yesterday wallace I 1 never expected it your stirred washington a good donl deal tho the office w would have exonerated you in of tits lila loathing of the man mork mark felt ills heart begin to hammer with hope ile iio looked tit at kellerman with pathos in ills his eyes lio lie could not hide ills his feelings lie ho was groping amid tile tho ruins of tits his world and trying to reconstruct them ive no doubt you misunderstood me said kellerman Kelle my ns with tho the henson woman wits n purt part of my al duties the alie most distasteful part but ono one that had to be carried out you anda were the victims of nn an acute piece of trickery that fan was wired from your room sir said mark from my room answered kellerman and no doubt by the henson wo comans womans agent that spy who called to see you tit nt the war office the same morning colonel howard knows till all about it 11 ho means to stand fly by you on ile he heard you had enlisted but ho he did not know yow you were in tho the medical nor under an alias ile ho Is nt at the base now wallace when lie ho comes up next nest week I 1 shall make lakeit it my iny business to see gee him about you no sir galled mark it matter now it matters to me if not to yourself wallace I 1 cannot rid myself of the sense of partial response responsibility bill ty and as aa for what happened last night you took me off my iny guard ill be frnnk frank with you it was my duty to interest the henson woman I 1 succeeded too well she followed follow cl me here I 1 bring myself to denounce her for thet I 1 have placed iny own position U ri jeopardy ahen ali n you appeared I 1 didiot did not know what hat to do or say you found n courso of action answered mark torn between the desire to return blow for blo blow w and to do justice jo to kellerman whose hose story left lian doubtful and Nyon wondering dering will 1111 you accept my frank apology bogl asked kellerman extending ills his hand mark took it 1 I will major kellerman hellerman lie he answered and ad he made ills his way to the door of tho the dugout with a feeling of warmth in his heart such as he had not known tor for ninny many it a month lie ho believed kellerman and yet but lie ho fought down ills hla instinct and still believed him CHAPTER XIII no word had come of any project of attack on the morrow morning in this the serge sergeants tInts prediction had probably proved false yet the feeling i in tile the air of something impending seemed to have communicated itself to the ene mys lines A wiring party and a listening post party were out from the american trenches and mark was on luty duty with three others of the stretcher bearers bear ere company campan y ready for a call k corporal was vas at the dugout door stretcher bear cral lie he whispered the four men were on their feet immediately two stretchers ready A man mail bit between the lines bald saia the corporal Yo youve teve got to bring brine hint him in you can see him from this loop hole bole work murk step stepped IA upon n tho the sent rys platform anil and saw indistinct in the darkness it 11 huddled form nebout lit it halfway half if way way to the berin german tin 1 trenches 8 then lie he heard kellermann Keller mans voice at ills 1113 side A man of the tit th got hit ho he said bring hint him in weston make it quick job of 0 it corporal balnes anke charge you toil two will bo be ready to take out mit your stretcher Bt in case anything happens tio lie added to the lie two others tho the corporal corpor nl led tho the way crouching toward the gap in tho the wires they passed two lines traversed ft a diagonal lane one and emerged beyond the third into the open tho the body of tho the wound ed man ilion which had disappeared came into light it a black patch under the stars oct get down I 1 whispered tile tho corporal they flung themselves to tile tho ground and proceeded to wriggle forward un ter tits directions pushing the stretch er cr its as as possible across tile tho rough ground suddenly the lie man with mark uttered an exclamation what the devil devils sho rho sent us on this athla job for ho he demanded truculently shut up you yon foell whispered whimpered the corporal hoarsely that aint tile tho man lies iles been there these post past three days daya dutch mail lie ho la Is every listening post party knows him tho the good of bringing him in ile ho aint got no head to film what you talking about snarled tho the corp corporal corpor orni nl the man the major salt bold and thero there aint no other in sight they flattened themselves as a n rocket hurst burst into tho the nir above the Gerin german tin lines then the machine guns burst forth billat illat tilt tnt tilt 1 son snug the alio bullets overhead they swished through the gross a and rid pattered on tho the ground no answer came from the section of tho the ali american aerl line immediately behind tile tho defenders but on each side there come came rin volleys making tile tho air an inferno of crackling benth then gradually the alarm subsided tho the rocket showers showe rii died down now hoyal whispered the corporal they crawled onward tho the huddled form came into clear view tho the body seemed r to ho be already blending with the parth earth welling melting into formlessness anti and wert was no need to wonder whether tills this was of a dead or wounded man it n tho the corporal swore 1 I told you sol soil mumbled marks companion 1 I told you so BO he sent us hero here for the fool ills words |