fe, a voluble
little French woman, who had a husband and three sons in the army, on
learning that they were actually American boys, insisted on their
settling down while she cooked them a fine dinner.

It turned out that Madame had herself spent several years in America,
and even then had relatives living in the French Quarter in New York
City. She asked them a multitude of questions, and was especially
anxious to learn if the great republic across the sea would align itself
with the Entente Allies, who were now, she insisted, engaged in fighting
the battles of the whole world for freedom from military domination.

Taken altogether, the boys quite enjoyed that hour at noon. They learned
considerable about things that interested them, especially the lay of
the land ahead, and where they might expect to come upon trouble in
meeting some of the troops engaged in the fighting.

Josh was especially tickled when she assured them that the dull
throbbing sound they heard almost constantly was indeed the fretful
murmur of big guns. Being a French woman, and very sanguine with regard
to the valor of her countrymen, the farmer's wife could already in
imagination see the beaten Germans fleeing in mad haste before the
invincible soldiers of the republic.

In this humor then they once more started forth, feeling considerably
refreshed after that fine meal. Indeed, Rod had been unable to make the
little patriotic woman accept the three francs he offered her; and
watching his chance he had laid the money on the table where she must
later on find it.

An hour later and the throbbing had grown much more perceptible, showing
that they must be rapidly drawing closer to where the vast armies were
marching and countermarching, with the field batteries in almost
constant action.

They understood that several German armies were approaching Paris at the
same time, one coming from the north, another veering more to the east,
but the most dangerous of all, that commanded by the clever Von Kluck,
swinging around so as to come down on the devoted French capital from
the northwest.

More than forty years had passed since another hostile army had laid
siege to Paris and taken the gay city after many months of desperate
fighting. Rod wondered whether history was going to be repeated now. He
felt sure that if once those Germans managed to get their terrible
forty-two centimetre guns busy, no fort was capable of standing up under
their frightfu