le, he has
died!"

Ruth was amazed, and for a time dumb. Should she bring Major Henri
Marchand into the matter? The secret agent knew him and respected him.
Ruth shrank from putting suspicion upon a possibly innocent person.

And yet, his height, his manner of bowing, an indefinite air about him,
had convinced Ruth that Nicko's double was Henri Marchand. Who else
could it be? Could there be some person who so resembled the countess'
younger son?

The thought roweled her mind. There was something in it to be
considered. Who else could the mysterious man be?

And then, of a sudden, it flashed into Ruth's mind. The older son of
the Countess Marchand was probably in appearance like his brother.
Count Allaire Marchand! And where was Count Allaire now?

The story was that the young count had disappeared from Paris. He was
believed to be in the pay of the Germans. He, like Henri, had been
educated in the Prussian military schools. No matter what the secret
agents thought of the countess the loyalty of her sons was questioned
by the peasants living about the chateau.

A determination grew in Ruth Fielding's mind. She would go to the
chateau and see if there was a picture of Count Allaire in his old
home. She wished to determine if he looked like Major Henri Marchand.

Meanwhile they rode swiftly over another road toward Clair. It was the
road beside which the little inn of Mother Gervaise was situated.

Even that had been stripped of the widow's possessions and she was
gone. Like every other cot in all this sector, and back for ten miles
from the battle front, the place was deserted.

CHAPTER XV

BUBU

Ruth arrived at Clair again late in the evening and bade Monsieur
Lafrane good-night at the hospital entrance. On the following day the
girl of the Red Mill was permitted to go to the Chateau Marchand to
call.

The secret agent had made it plain to Ruth that he held her in no fault
for the seeming fiasco of their journey to the field hospital and its
vicinity. The sudden death of the German officer in Hut H had been an
act beyond human control. The disappearance of Nicko, the chocolate
peddler, was an act of the military authorities.

On her own part Ruth was so confused regarding Major Henri Marchand
that she dared not mention his name to Monsieur Lafrane. Matters must
take their natural course--for a time, at least.

Nevertheless, the American girl had a particular object in mind when