They told him that matters of the greatest importance had been revealed by this map, such as the location of airdromes and ammunition dumps, official headquarters, etc., and, most important of all, the positions, or rather the neighborhood, of two isolated pieces of mammoth artillery which had been pounding away at Chalons near by. One of these, they said, had been located near Tagnoni and put out of business. The other was still active and creating frightful havoc in Chalons and neighboring places. Its locality was marked by a cross upon the German airman’s map and a reproduction of this section of the map was shown to Slade. It showed Talois in the hilly country about twelve or fifteen miles behind the enemy lines.
“It has been decided,” said one of the officers, “to send a flier to this place in the plane which you brought from Azoudange, to reconnoiter and report, if possible, the precise location of this piece. Specific instructions are ready and if you care to volunteer for this service your offer will be considered. You speak German, I believe?”
“Kind of,” said Slade.
“You were in the German camp how long?”
“About a month.”
“You come of German people?”
“No, I don’t,” said Slade, “but if I did it wouldn’t be my fault.”
The officer looked at him with a sort of careful scrutiny from which I infer (and so does Captain Whitloss) that they thought he had somewhat the appearance of a German and were glad of it. They explained that individuals were not detailed for such hazardous expeditions except upon their volunteering; that they gave him this opportunity because he had brought the Hun plane into allied territory, because he had been among Germans during his captivity, and because he spoke German. They said nothing about his personal bravery, for they do not do this in the army.
“Do I just have to say I volunteer?” said Slade.
“If you wish to go.”