“I suppose you have made all your arrangements with Arturus before now, boys,” the Colonel remarked presently.
Jack explained to him what they had done, and after hearing all about it the Colonel shook his head.
“I’m more than half sorry now I promised to let you make the attempt,” he told them. “The dangers will be multiplied after the defeat the Turks have suffered today. They come down in places to the very shore, and you are apt to run upon some of them at any time. I’m afraid they will be feeling unusually ugly after the way my boys handled them.”
“But there seems to be no other way for me to get to the upper camp, Colonel,” remarked Amos eagerly.
“I’m sorry to say there isn’t at present, since we have no boat; and I understand just how anxious you must be to learn the truth. So I suppose I’ll have to salve my conscience by saying there’s no help for it. But I sincerely hope nothing may befall you on the road.”
The heartiness of his words, as well as his manner, convinced Jack that the Colonel felt more than a passing interest in their welfare. Perhaps the fact that Jack seemed to remind him of his own son, thousands of miles away from there, had more or less to do with that circumstance, though not everything.
They continued to chat as they sat there. When Jack began to see that the mind of their host was evidently turning toward his own affairs, of which he had enough to worry over, to be sure, he concluded that it might be well for himself and Amos to say good-bye.
“Here’s wishing you every good thing that your hearts long for,” said the Colonel, as he squeezed their hands at parting. “I hope you find your brother, Frank, and take him home with you to that old father who longs so to see him once more. I also deplore the necessity for his going, because he will be sorely missed here where every good man is needed.”
The boys would often think of the valiant Colonel. Should they return in safety to their native shores he had given them his home address where they could, if they chose, learn what his fate turned out to be. He spoke of the uncertain future with the grim look of a brave man, and said the chances were his life would have to be laid down, like countless others, for the cause they fought to win.
Jack had already glimpsed the young Greek, Arturus, who seemed to be hovering near by as though waiting for them to leave the hospitable board of the commanding officer. Presently they were joined by the intended guide. Jack, looking him over again, saw no reason to alter the former good opinion he had held of Arturus. He would prove loyal through everything, and they could place the utmost reliance on his honesty as well as his courage.