“No, indeed; we can never thank you enough,” agreed Hal. “Had it not been for your kindness we should have been in the hands of the Germans right now, and there is no telling what they might have done to us.”
The good woman waved aside their thanks.
“Pooh! pooh!” she said. “And why shouldn’t I help you? Surely no thanks are necessary because I did my duty.”
“But women——” Hal began, when she interrupted him.
“I have a son of my own in the war,” she said, her voice growing very low and tears dimming her eyes.
“And I hope,” said Hal gently, “should he ever be in a situation similar to ours, that another good woman may be the means of saving his life, and that some day he may return to you.”
“Just so he does his duty I shall be satisfied,” said the woman, who now introduced herself as Mrs. Madeline Dersi. “He has been a very wild boy, but I am sure that his heart is true and that he will fight to the last for his country, as did his father before him.”
“And I am sure of it, too,” said Chester. “When we return to our lines we shall make it our business to hunt him up.”
And at that moment there was a hasty step outside, the door to the room in which they were sitting was flung open, and a young man, in civilian garb, burst in.
Mrs. Dersi was across the room in a moment, her arms wrapped about the newcomer. Tears streamed down her face, as she repeatedly kissed the young man, who seemed to take no great interest in the procedure.