o buy his supplies, leaving John to entertain the
guests.

John felt deeply that little period of rest and kindly simplicity and
the time was soon to come, when he would look back upon it as the
greenest of green spots in the desert.

Lannes returned in an hour and announced that they were ready for
another flight. They went back to the _Arrow_ which the stalwart youths
were still guarding, proud of their trust.

"Must you really go?" said the burgomaster to Lannes. "Why not stay with
us until tomorrow? Look, the clouds are gathering on the mountains.
There may be a storm. Better bide with us till the morrow."

"We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your kindness," said
Lannes, as he and John took their seats, "and under any other
circumstances we would stay, but Herr Schankhorst there is a call for
us, a call that is sounding all over Europe, a call louder than any that
was ever heard before on this old continent."

Lannes raising his voice spoke in clear, loud tones, and he had the
impressive manner that he knew so well how to assume. The crowd, eager
and expectant, pressed nearer, all about the Arrow. John saw that the
dramatic instinct, always alive within his partner, had sparkled into
flame.

"And there is reason for this call," continued Lannes, raising his voice
yet further, until the most distant were sure to hear every syllable.
"The trumpet is sounding throughout Europe. You may well thank the good
God that you dwell here in your little valley, and that all around you
the mountains rise a mile above you. There were many trumpets when the
great Napoleon rode forth to war, but there are more now."

A gasp arose from the crowd, and John saw faces whiten.

"All Europe is at war," continued Lannes. "The nations march forth
against one another and the continent shakes with the tread of twenty
million soldiers. But stay here behind your mountain walls, and the
storm will pass you by. Now push!"

Twenty youths shoved the _Arrow_ with all their might and the plane
rising gracefully in the air, soared far above the village. John looked
down and again he saw the whole population with heads craned back and
eyes turned upward, but he knew now that they were swayed by new and
powerful emotions.

"Lannes," he said, "I never saw such an actor as you are."

"But think of the opportunity! How could I overlook such a chance! They
knew absolutely nothing of the war, did not dream of it, and here was I
with