“Oh! that is a great honor!” exclaimed Giraffe, immediately leaping over the side of the car in his haste to alight.
Thad lost no time in carrying out the instructions given him. He moved the car further to one side, so that it might not obstruct the road. They hoped to be able to continue their journey all the way to Paris in that same car; but should it be needed in a military sense for other purposes, why, some other means must be employed for gaining their ends.
With the officer they walked along, and presently came in sight of the building which the commander-in-chief of all the French forces was using as his Headquarters.
There was plenty of bustle outside the house. Men came and went. Some of them it appeared were mounted on horses that looked lathered with sweat as though they had been whipped and spurred to do their utmost in covering the ground between some front and the place where the stout man held forth whose genius was directing every move of importance made by the French along that great battle line. Others used the more modern method of covering distances as rapidly as possible, and had motorcycles that started off with a rattle like a machine gun at work.
More or less awed by the fact that they were about to be ushered into the presence of General Joffre himself, the boys fell in behind the officer. So they passed the guard at the door, who closely scrutinized them; but the gesture made by their conductor vouched for their conduct, and they were not stopped.
Once inside and they saw the French commander-in-chief. Bumpus was greatly surprised. Could that stout man with the French military cap on his head, and wearing a white mustache, and who even seemed so genial as he turned to look toward them, be the great man upon whom all bleeding France now leaned in her time of need?
But Thad, more accustomed to reading character, saw in the firm face and the keen eyes a wonderful tactician, to whom the manipulation of armies was second nature.
Then they came to where an extended hand greeted them. General Joffre smiled at Thad as he squeezed the boy’s fingers heartily.
“I am interested in your adventure, my brave American boys,” he said to them. “Some other time perhaps I would like to hear about it in full. You will pardon me if I cut the interview short. France is deeply indebted to you for your noble assistance. I thank you from my heart in the name of my country.”
He shook hands with each scout in turn. Then the colonel managed to draw them away again, knowing that other dusty messengers were coming all the while, bringing still fresher news concerning later developments of the fighting; and that even seconds were worth everything to this overworked man in the flat-crowned military cap, who consulted the colored maps on the walls, talked with this man and that, gave orders that were instantly written down, and through it all seemed to be as calm as a storekeeper selling a bill of goods to a customer.