“Only half right,” von Herzmann corrected, smiling.
“No,” Cowan replied with spirit, “all right. He feared you might become suspicious and double-cross him, and with that in mind he put just enough gas in 249 the tank to carry the plane there and part way back. He made rather careful tests. But he installed another tank, with a feed line that he could cut in–in case he were flying the plane. If not–well, you see what happened.”
Count von Herzmann merely shrugged his shoulders at this piece of news which must have been irritating in the extreme. “Ah, well,” he said easily, “one cannot think of everything. In our haste to get away, neither I nor my pilot thought of that possibility. Very clever fellow, this man Schwarz. We both made good guesses, and we both lose. Kismet! We both serve our country, and we both get shot. So be it. Wars are very old, Major; death quite as common as life; and the old Hebraic law still operative–‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth!’ In this case, an ace for an ace and a spy for a spy. Even up, and the war rolls on. I wonder, Major, just when it will close?”
Seemingly, as in answer to his question, from toward the front came the sudden roaring of thousands of guns. Doors rattled, the ground quivered, and through the window the sky was alight with a pulsating red-white glare.
For a few minutes every man in the room stood listening.
“What is–that?” Count von Herzmann asked at last.
250“The beginning of the end,” Cowan answered. “You wondered when it would come. Soon now. Nearly five thousand heavy calibre guns are blowing your trenches to bits, and will continue until we go over in the morning.”
“So?” The German’s face was a picture of pained surprise. “So the attack comes here? Gott! Had I known–had we known.” He paused, obviously pained, then again resumed his jesting poise. “You can be sure, Major, that I regret I am not on the receiving end of your artillery preparation and that I shall be unable to meet your squadron with my Circus to-morrow morning over the lines.”
“I dare say,” was Cowan’s reply as he turned to the sergeant in charge of the Military Police detail. “Sergeant, take charge of the prisoner and deliver him to First Corps Headquarters. And make sure that he does not escape.”
The sergeant saluted, grinning expansively.