I hope we'll be under the command of General
Vaugirard. Do you know anything of him?"
"Not today, but he was alive yesterday. Take the glasses now, John, will
you, and be my eyes as you have been before. One needs to watch the
heavens all the time."
John took Lannes' powerful glasses, and objects invisible before leaped
into view.
"I see two or three rivers, a dozen villages, and troops," he said. "The
troops are to the west, and although they are this side of the Marne, I
should judge that they are ours."
"Ours undoubtedly," said Lannes, glancing the way John's glasses
pointed. "Not less than a hundred thousand of our men have crossed the
Marne at that point, and more will soon be coming. It's a part of the
great wedge thrust forward by our chief. But keep your eye on the air,
John. What do you see there?"
"Nothing that's near. In the east I barely catch seven or eight black
dots that I take to be German aeroplanes, but they seem to be content
with hovering over their own lines. They don't approach."
"Doubtless they don't, because they're beginning to watch the air over
the Marne as a danger zone. That pretty little signal of yours may have
scared them."
Lannes laughed. It was evident that he was in a most excellent humor.
"All right, have your fun," said John, showing his own teeth in a smile.
"If our flag didn't frighten away the German army it at least achieved
what we wanted, that is, it brought you.
Pages:
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215