"And have you seen them since they came to Paris?" the major proceeded.
"No, but I wish we could find them!" burst out Jack, and then he blushed at his impetuosity, while Tom murmured something about "Bessie," and Jack promptly told him to hold his tongue.
"Perhaps you may meet them sooner than you expect," went on the French officer.
"Now I wonder what he could have meant by that?" asked Jack, as he and his chum went out, after a final look at the German shell. "Does he know where they are?"
"It wouldn't be surprising, seeing that Mrs. Gleason is probably in Red Cross work, and Bessie may be helping her. We should have looked them up before," went on Tom. "But what with searching for my father, and the excitement about the bombardment, I really forgot all about them."
Jack did not say whether he had or not, the chances being that he had, more than once, thought of Bessie Gleason.
During the next two days the monster cannon continued to shoot shells at intervals into Paris. Some did considerable damage, as any shell would do in a great city, and many unfortunates were killed. But there was no reign of terror such as, undoubtedly, the Boches hoped to create. Paris remained calm, and there were even jokes made about the cannon. It was called a "Bertha" and other names, the former referring to Bertha Krupp, one of the owners of the great German ordnance works.
Word was given out that the French gunners on the front were trying to reach the big gun with their missiles. But as they were firing blindly it could not be said what havoc had been wrought.
"But, sooner or later, we'll get the range, and get within striking distance," said one of the French officers. "Then we'll show them a trick or two."
"Have the aviators done anything toward trying to find the gun?" asked Tom. "I mean anything more."