But not even General Gordon himself spoke to her in another tone or treated her otherwise than before the afternoon’s adventure, and, little by little, her hands ceased to tremble, her glance to avoid other eyes, and, as she worked on in humble sadness, she drew a low grateful sigh. Not one of those present but by their kind, natural behavior tried to show her that she was not held responsible for the conspiracy into which her misguided, affectionate heart had so nearly led her. Bob and Lucy spoke to her with all their old friendliness, ignoring in her presence what occupied all their thoughts, and unhappy Elizabeth warmed from her frightened aloofness, and found fresh hope and courage in their generosity.
When she had left them, and General Gordon, Lucy, Bob, Larry and Major Harding were gathered around a blazing fire, Major Harding tried to answer the questions that Lucy, most eager of the four, began to press upon him.
“There’s a lot that I don’t understand,” she said. “I know that Herr Johann, I mean von Eckhardt, plotted with Franz to smuggle ammunition to the rebels. But could those few boat-loads do much harm?”
“Franz’ little share in it, don’t you see, Lucy, is only a tiny part of von Eckhardt’s organization.” Major Harding stared into the fire as he spoke, his voice still ringing with earnestness. “Von Eckhardt is a good organizer, and he knew that not much is needed to turn the tide in Germany to-day. But he made the mistake—like a true German—of thinking too poorly of his opponents. Because he is clever he took us for fools.”
“How much did you know, Dick, when Bob wrote you?” asked General Gordon. “I blame myself, Bob, for not listening to you sooner, but I had such endless work on hand.”
“We were suspicious, but no more,” said Major Harding. “We wondered where the Spartacans got their stuff. The Berlin riots were spreading to other places. The leaflet Bob sent me was a big help.”
“The one Lucy found in the forest,” put in Bob.
“That told us where to look,” Major Harding continued. “If you remember, it ran something like this:
Farmer So-and-so of such a place ... 26.
“There was a whole list of them. We discovered, by bribing or threatening some of the fellows named in the list, that the numbers stood for cart or boat loads of arms or munitions shipped within the month. By those numbers it was plain that the plot had already grown rather sizable.”