“Good-morning, Colonel,” said his fellow prisoner, and in the Frenchman’s voice Colonel Gordon detected something of the longing hope that was stirring his own heart. “What do you think of it? It sounds as if they were in earnest.”
He spoke very low, and Colonel Gordon answered him as softly, “It is evident that the Allies began the attack. I’m sure the firing commenced from our own lines. The German batteries in front of the town have but just come in.”
“The attack appears to be developing on our flanks—Château-Plessis is not directly menaced yet. I fear it could not be held, even if taken, while the enemy holds Argenton.” The Frenchman’s eager voice had grown more anxious than hopeful as the situation grew clearer to his mind.
“That is probable enough,” Colonel Gordon muttered thoughtfully, “but, Captain Remy, I think the Americans are opposite us, and they are not likely to attempt an advance over this unknown terrain without good hope of success.”
Colonel Gordon was not at heart quite as confident as he appeared, as the Frenchman easily recognized, but both men knew the value of a little optimism, and Captain Remy allowed himself to be somewhat encouraged. In fact, notwithstanding the obstacle of Argenton’s formidable defenses, the thought of that American army about to strike with all the ardor of its growing strength and determination was cause for hope and even for confidence.
An hour passed while the two officers stood there, listening in silence, and occasionally exchanging a few words. When a German orderly came to call them back to the hospital they left reluctantly. The crash of the guns was the only sound they cared to hear just then, and the only sight their eyes looked for the dark puffs of bursting shells in the sky beyond the town, from which the fog had begun to clear away.
Inside the hospital Colonel Gordon caught sight of Elizabeth and stopped the German woman on her hurried way across the ward. “Where is Lucy, Elizabeth?” he asked. “She is usually here before this time.”
Elizabeth’s face was flushed and troubled, and her hands began clasping each other nervously. Colonel Gordon thought he guessed the reason for her uneasiness. Convinced as he was of his old servant’s loyalty to the Allies’ cause he could not but suppose that her feelings would undergo some conflict on the eve of another fight.
Elizabeth stammered a little as she answered, “Miss Lucy not yet is here, Colonel. She told me I should say to you that she will before very long see you.”
This vague reply satisfied Colonel Gordon for the moment, and he went in to breakfast, still deeply thoughtful over the commencing battle. It was easy to see that every one in the hospital shared his preoccupation. The Americans and their allies listened to the roaring cannon with eager, intent faces. Between patients and nurses many a hopeful word or meaning glance was exchanged, in spite of German doctors and orderlies near by. These seemed not to share in the keen interest the others showed. They looked sullen, anxious and ill-tempered. Many a poor French or American soldier was roughly handled that morning by a German orderly who saw a chance to vent his smouldering resentment. By no stretch of imagination could any German in Château-Plessis see a cheerful prospect ahead. When the French and British had exacted from them such a fearful toll during the progress of Germany’s victorious spring offensive, what would the price be now that America had joined the ranks of the Allies?