"Say, hold up a minute!" said Porky. "Just you hold on! Of course I was sent on an errand! Know what it was? I was told to go get Lieutenant Bogardus and fetch him over to the General's headquarters. Well, I'm bringing him, ain't I? I have got him this far, anyhow. I am doing the best I can. I wish you could have seen me chasing that loon all over the place. I'm all in! I tell you, Beany, I have had some time! It makes me sore, too. I might have brought in a prisoner all by myself if I hadn't had to fool with the Lieutenant. Go down and see what they are doing, will you, please? I'm dog tired, and I've got to get a move on and report to the General as soon as I know whether Bogardus can go along up there with me. I bet he can't; and I was told to bring him back with me!"
He leaned back and shut his eyes while Beany slid down to the first aid room. A glance showed him the condition of the unfortunate Lieutenant, and he hurried back to his brother.
"He won't go anywhere with you this evening," he said with the unconcern of those who are used to terrible scenes and fearful wounds.
"Let's get on, then," said his brother, rising stiffly and moving off in the darkness.
The other followed, and without further conversation they wound their way through the ruined streets of a devastated village where unsightly heaps of stones and mortar marked the site of pleasant homes. Stumbling along over the shell-ploughed, uneven ground, they walked for perhaps a mile until they turned into what had been a magnificent private estate. Nothing but cracked and crumbling posts were left of the splendid gateway. They passed onward through the ruins of a wonderful old park where they were twice stopped by vigilant sentries who demanded the countersign and turned a flashlight on their muddy faces. Turning and twisting, they followed the path up to the ruined castle which stood on a little rise of ground.
At the door, a high carved portal hanging and swaying on one hinge, they were stopped by another soldier, who recognized them, saluted, and stepped aside. They were not delayed again. Through what had once been a magnificent entrance hall they went, turned down one passage after another, sometimes finding themselves in unroofed and utterly wrecked portions of the great building. At last they were in a narrow, covered hallway, at the end of which was a door.
The hall was quite dark; they could just see to make their way along. As they approached the door at the end, the form of a man stooping against the panels slipped aside and seemed to disappear into space. There was no turn, no further passage down which he could have gone. One moment he was outlined against the white surface; the next he had vanished.
The boys stopped involuntarily and turned to each other.
"Did you see that?" said Porky. "Or am I getting batty?"
"Where did he go!" said Beany quickly for answer.