"I don't know, but it looked pretty good to me. The swelling didn't get any worse, which was what Jourdin wanted," declared Captain Brent, leaning down to play with Happy, who was growling at one of his boots.
"Won't you tell some of the things he's done?" begged Lucy, afraid it would be bedtime before she heard anything.
"Why, it would take a week to tell all of them," said Captain Brent, straightening up again and speaking thoughtfully. "I heard about his service in France from a British officer who was over on Long Island last month. Jourdin would never tell anything. He thinks he made a mess of things—getting out of the fight so early."
"How long was he in the war?" asked Mrs. Gordon.
"Two years, just about. The information he brought back from the German lines was instrumental in winning the Battle of the Somme, according to this Englishman. There is nothing Jourdin would not undertake to do, if the object were worth gaining. His last flight before his discharge was made over enemy territory after he received two bullets in his leg and another through the shoulder. He wouldn't go back until he learned what he was told to find out. But the bones of his ankle were injured beyond repair."
"Was he ever taken prisoner?" Lucy could not help repeating.
"No, never—though he had several narrow escapes when he was forced to go down behind the German lines. His brother, an infantry colonel, is in a German prison now."
"Does he hear from him? Can he get letters?" Lucy questioned eagerly.
"I don't know. I'll ask him if you like. We've never got on that subject."
Lucy's knitting had fallen, forgotten, at her feet, and only Happy's excitement as he grabbed the ball and rolled over on it made her stoop to rescue the sock, while Marian snatched up the puppy from the tangle of yarn. Major Gordon had begun talking to Captain Brent, and Lucy felt she had asked her share of questions, but she longed to find out more about the Frenchman and obtain Captain Brent's promise to learn from him whatever he knew about German prisons. Captain Brent would be glad enough himself, she was sure, to learn something about Bob's fortunes, and he saw the aviator almost every day. However, just then she had to be patient, for Mrs. Gordon drew her attention to the clock, and she and Marian got up and said good-night.