have you seen them since they came to Paris?" the major proceeded.

"No, but I wish we could find them!" burst out Jack, and then he blushed
at his impetuosity, while Tom murmured something about "Bessie," and
Jack promptly told him to hold his tongue.

"Perhaps you may meet them sooner than you expect," went on the French
officer.

"Now I wonder what he could have meant by that?" asked Jack, as he and
his chum went out, after a final look at the German shell. "Does he
know where they are?"

"It wouldn't be surprising, seeing that Mrs. Gleason is probably in Red
Cross work, and Bessie may be helping her. We should have looked them up
before," went on Tom. "But what with searching for my father, and the
excitement about the bombardment, I really forgot all about them."

Jack did not say whether he had or not, the chances being that he had,
more than once, thought of Bessie Gleason.

During the next two days the monster cannon continued to shoot shells at
intervals into Paris. Some did considerable damage, as any shell would
do in a great city, and many unfortunates were killed. But there was no
reign of terror such as, undoubtedly, the Boches hoped to create. Paris
remained calm, and there were even jokes made about the cannon. It was
called a "Bertha" and other names, the former referring to Bertha Krupp,
one of the owners of the great German ordnance works.

Word was given out that the French gunners on the front were trying to
reach the big gun with their missiles. But as they were firing blindly
it could not be said what havoc had been wrought.

"But, sooner or later, we'll get the range, and get within striking
distance," said one of the French officers. "Then we'll show them a
trick or two."

"Have the aviators done anything toward trying to find the gun?" asked
Tom. "I mean anything more."

"We are perfecting our plans for the flying corps," was the answer.
"Perhaps you shall know more in a few days."

"Well, I hope we'll be here when the fun begins," said Tom, grimly.
"We've got another extension of leave, and I'm going to ask the police
now, to co-operate with the military in seeking my father."

"I think that will be a wise plan. We will give you all the help we
can."

But the quest for Mr. Raymond seemed a hopeless one, and as no
confirmation could be had of his death or injury, the idea gradually
became fixed in the minds of Tom and Jack that he had been made a German
prisoner.

"If that is