"Artillery service? You don't mean it? And where?" he asked.
"Directly east of Amiens. We just came out of the hospital," said Alfred.
"Out of the hospital? Were you in the big drive? Wasn't that a dandy? So you got peppered up there, eh?" he asked.
"Well, yes; we were in that from the first; but they never touched us; we got hurt after the battle was over; accidental bomb explosion on the battlefield," replied Ralph.
"Tell us about yourself," said Alfred. "How did you happen to lose your right arm?"
"Tried to bring down too many of them in one day, I suppose. Oh, they gave me a tough fight; but they came down when I did."
"So you are not flying now?" remarked Alfred with a rueful voice.
"No," said Joe, looking down and slowly shaking his head. "I can do it as well as ever, but they won't let me."
"See here, Joe; we've got something that's bothering us; we believe we are on the trail of a spy. He acts like it. It's a peddler. I followed him around, and both of us noticed some suspicious-looking things on his part," said Ralph.