A guard unlocked the door of their carriage. Thad could see that the man was looking displeased, as he made gestures with his hand to indicate that they must all get out.
“Of course they mean to search us for prohibited articles, such as tobacco and spirits,” Allan went on to say, as they hastened to comply with the order.
“I hope that’s the extent of the trouble,” ventured the doubting Bumpus; “but I’m awfully afraid this means we’re going to find ourselves in the soup. I wish we could coax that fellow to give us a little information; try him, won’t you, Thad?”
There was only one way of making the guard talk, and Thad understood the value of a generous tip; so he managed to slip a coin in the willing palm of the uniformed man, and then asked him something.
Thad had picked up a little French and could manage to make himself understood. Then again the guard would readily guess just what each and every passenger aboard the detained train must be anxious about, for it concerned their chances of continuing the journey into France.
While their leader was holding this animated talk with the guard, supplemented on the part of the native with sundry expressive shrugs that spoke more eloquently than words, the other three boys stood near by, holding their luggage, and wondering what fortune had in store for them next. So many strange things had happened to the party since coming across the sea that they were rapidly getting to a point where nothing surprised them very much.
Presently Thad joined them. His face looked grave, and poor Bumpus groaned as he anticipated the worst.
“This train is going to be abandoned right here, boys,” Thad told them. “They had information that the Germans have overrun the country it must pass through, and there would be no hope of our getting to Paris. We’ve got to try some other way around.”
CHAPTER III
DOWN THE SLOPE
Upon hearing this unpleasant news poor Bumpus looked broken-hearted. He seemed to see a host of obstacles confronting him. Paris must have been something like a thousand miles away just then, according to his enlarged view.