“Oh! yes, and one of his friends who came back badly wounded told us Jean was showing himself almost a hero. We believed that the old failing in his blood had been conquered. Then we had word from him, and this night he came, trembling with fear, saying that he must be hidden until he could find a chance to cross over into England where he would be safe.”
“Try once more to arouse him,” said Jack. “Appeal to him by everything that he holds dear. Tell him that you would sooner see him brought home dead than that he desert in the face of danger. Perhaps the spasm of fear may have passed by then. He may have come to his senses, and realize that his true nature is not that of a coward. He has already shown that he can stand up under fire and give a good account of himself. And, François, we both hope all may come out well with you—and Jean! Now we will be glad to go up into the loft once more and get some sleep.”
The peasant looked a little more hopeful; even his wife arose from her knees, to the great relief of Amos, who disliked very much seeing her in that position.
“It is kind of you, young M’sieu!” exclaimed the man. “Then you believe what we have told you? You no longer suspect us of harboring a German spy under our poor roof?”
“We are sorry for you, that is all,” Jack told him. “You need fear nothing from us, since we would not betray your secret for worlds. All we hope is that your boy Jean will be able to shake himself together, and resolve to go back to his duty like every Belgian who is worth his salt is doing this day. Come along, Amos, let’s try for another sleep.”
When the two boys had climbed once more into the loft, to find the candle still lighted as Jack had left it, of course the first thing Amos did was to ask his chum a few questions that were burning on his tongue.
“Do you think he heard what was said, Jack; and was that the reason you spoke in such a loud tone?”
“You’ve guessed it, Amos. Somehow, I felt so sorry for that poor couple in their bitter humiliation and shame that I just wanted to see if I couldn’t arouse whatever spark of patriotism there might be in Jean’s soul. Yes, I’m sure he caught every word we said.”
“The question is, will it do him a particle of good, Jack? He must be a pretty poor specimen of a young fellow to act the way he has.”
“Well, that can only be proved by time,” Jack told him, with a shake of his head. “It would be next door to a miracle, of course, and yet such things have happened before and may again. Honestly, I don’t believe the boy’s such a terrible coward as he lets himself think.”