This time Lucy repeated the number with something like a cold chill down her back. The fifth regiment of the second division had passed with others through Château-Plessis three days ago, on its way south. She knew now what she had really never doubted, that the young Britisher was feeding false information into the brain of his questioner, and trusting to the Germans’ very imperfect knowledge of the disposition of the Allied troops at this point to make his bluff pass muster. And it had evidently done so in the case of the distant division he had joined on such short notice. The captain was not well enough informed to contradict him with much assurance. Bob had been right, Lucy thought with triumph. The Allied airplanes had kept the enemy from observing the troops’ movements. With the same ascendancy in men, he had said,—with something even approaching equality in numbers, not a foot of ground would have been captured.
“How long was your regiment at Argenton?”
While Lucy translated the Englishman’s answers, she could not reflect, for to translate the English into German was all she could manage. She spoke German far from well, though some terms much alike in the two languages, such as “corps,” “regiment,” “company,” helped her a little. But when she put the English questions to the prisoner, and in the pauses while the German captain pondered frowningly over his next words, she thought out and decided on her scheme.
Her chance came with a long question. “How was it that the British and American troops south of Argenton retired westward after their artillery?”
As Lucy translated this into rapid English, she looked hard at the prisoner, and, without pausing, added the words, “Where are they sending you?”
The Englishman did not change countenance as he answered, “The artillery had to move. Cannon are valuable. We stayed where we were posted until the guns were safe. No further than this. The old prison outside the town.”
Trembling with joy at her success, Lucy translated the first half of the reply.
The German received it with a sneering smile, demanding promptly, “How many prisoners do you claim were taken by your regiment?”
To this inquiry Lucy added, “Are you certain?”
The Englishman answered, “About five thousand in three days’ fighting. Some French prisoners told me so. What are you doing here?”