"Under whose command?"
"I couldn't find out, sir."
The officer gnawed his mustache.
"Our air men report a gap in the German line, there," he said. "We're counting on it."
"There isn't such a gap, sir," the hunchback insisted, earnestly. "Every road we crossed was filled with troops, and, sir," he added, "there seemed to be an independent siege-train. It looked like a complete army."
"It would be hard to distinguish such a force from divisions of the other armies," the officer said, "unless you had more facts than you were able to gather, but I'll convey your information to headquarters. It may prove very useful. Now, just what shall I do with you?"
"I'd like to fight, sir," said the hunchback, "if I could find some one to guard the Kaiser."
The officer stared at him as though he thought Croquier had gone mad.
"What are you talking about," he said, "to 'guard the Kaiser'?"
The hunchback pointed to the cage in his hand, which he had positively refused to give up to the orderly.