“But it seems he was on guard against the very thing I was after, and I was unable to detect a suspicious look or act until after the last big drive of the enemy. Meanwhile I had managed to convey to him the idea on a number of occasions that my sympathies were on the other side of the Rhine, so that I was in a position to take up the role of a boche when he revealed his true colors.
“I made quite a hit with him, and found that he was in constant secret communication with Berlin. His second lieutenancy was a mere camouflage, for he was high up in secret service rank. I got considerable corroboration of the report that he was a relative of the kaiser, but no direct confirmation.”
“There’s just one peculiarity about him that I’d like to understand,” said Phil. “Why did he run so much risk of being killed by mixing in infantry battles right at the front?”
“There’s only one reason I can give for that,” Chance replied, “and I think it’s the true one. He was a clever, shrewd rascal, but also a brazen daredevil. There’s no doubt he had lots of courage, and it’s a wonder he wasn’t killed long ago. In spite of his misshapen physique he was powerful and quite active. He seemed to have almost a mania for proving that his big girth was no obstacle to his putting up just as good a fight as a slender athlete could put up.”
The squadron of aeroplanes made the return trip without encountering an enemy plane. No doubt there were boche air-fighters within sighting distance, but it is also probably true that they could not muster sufficient available force to meet the Yanks, so they remained in hiding. Two days later Phil met Tim, who had been transferred temporarily from trench duty to Headquarters messenger service, and they had a half hour’s conversation over their recent experiences. He met also Dan Fentress and Emmet Harding, two of the twelve Marines who made their escape from the boche prison in advance of the remaining 240. They had managed to get back with the American army in a manner similar to the scheme worked by the larger body of prisoners. The other ten, Phil learned months afterward, were recaptured by the enemy and finally were returned, after the armistice, as released prisoners of war.
And, oh, yes, by the way, before the signing of the armistice, which meant virtually the end of the war, Phil was wearing the bar of a lieutenant, and Corporal Tim became a sergeant.
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
- Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling.
- Archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings retained as printed.