“By the way,” remarked the colonel, in the course of the conversation that ensued as they rode side by side, “I heard from Andre two days ago, and he said that things were not progressing as favorably as he could hope in regard to the De Latour property. Quite unexpectedly additional obstacles have come up. I was not going to bother you about this, for I knew you would be greatly worried. But the war has changed many things, and things in law are not so easy to adjust as they were. I am still hoping that all will come out right in the end. He, however, expects that he will be able to have the title perfected before Christmas, which is now less than two months off. I know the delay is exasperating, but that is to be expected in all legal affairs. I thank the stars,” he added with a smile, “that I was made a soldier instead of a lawyer.”
“I agree with you,” returned Frank, “and yet we couldn’t very well do without them, and I am very thankful to your brother as well as yourself for the kindness you have shown in trying to secure my mother’s rights.”
Frank tried to speak lightly but he was forced to heave a heavy sigh. There had been so many delays in the past! Would his mother ever be able to prove her claim to that property and really take possession of it?
In a little while they had reached the French lines.
“You see,” smiled the colonel, “that I was right when I said it would be a race between us to see who would get first to Sedan. We’ve kept pretty well up with you, although your task has been far the harder. Oh, you Americans! I’m glad that you’re our friends instead of our enemies as I should hate to have to face your soldiers in the field.”
“We’ll never meet except as brothers in arms,” returned Frank. “That’s what Washington and Lafayette were, and our nations have been the closest of friends ever since. The greatest republic of the old world and the greatest of the new have always stood and will always stand for liberty and civilization.”
They soon reached the colonel’s quarters, and the latter then confided Frank to the charge of a young lieutenant, with instructions that he should be given refreshments and be treated with every courtesy and attention. The young fellow was of about the same age as Frank, and was delighted to find that the latter spoke French almost as perfectly as himself. They were soon chatting together like old friends.
Throughout the regiment there was an attitude of solemnity and expectation. The men had been told of what was coming and it had thrilled them with a feeling too deep for words. They stood at rest in the darkness, and few words were interchanged. Each was realizing that the end of the four years of agony was in sight. France and her Allies had won their fight. The brutal, beastly power that had sought to drench the world in tears and blood and sow it with graves had been brought to its knees. Right had conquered. Men could stand erect instead of crouching as slaves. The would-be oppressor, cowed and cringing, had come to beg for mercy.
Suddenly at a turn of the road a stream of light flashed out, and there was a stir in the ranks. The light came nearer, and it could be seen that it came from a large automobile that was rapidly approaching. Other cars followed and the landscape was flooded with light.
But the thing that thrilled Frank to the marrow was this: