"

"Thank you, sir," said both lads in one voice.

"Make all possible haste," said General Joffre, waving them from
his presence.

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE ROAD TO PARIS.

"How far are we from Paris, Hal?" asked Chester, when they were once more
on the outside.

"Not more than eighty miles," was the reply. "You heard what the Kaiser
is said to have told his troops, didn't you?"

"No; what was it?"

"He told them that they were but two hours' ride, by automobile, from
their goal; by which he meant the French capital."

"Great Scott! I didn't realize they were so close."

"It is pretty close; but still, when you stop to think, not so close
after all; for the road to Paris, for the Kaiser's troops, at least, is
strewn with insurmountable obstacles, and death and danger lurk on
every hand."

"True," said Chester. "Besides which, the Kaiser is considerably farther
from his goal than he was some months ago."

"Yes," agreed Hal, "he has been forced a long way down the field, as we
would say on the gridiron."

Besides the document which they were to carry to the French Prime
Minister, General Joffre also had given the lads an order for one of
the large army automobiles, that they might make the trip with all
possible haste.

Hal accosted the proper officer, and soon the lads had the huge car at
their disposal. The officer also offered to furnish them with a
chauffeur, but Hal declined this offer, electing to drive the machine
himself. Chester climbed into the tonneau and Hal took his place at the
wheel. Both waved a good-by to the officer, and, under Hal's guiding
hand, the large automobile started off slowly.

Gradually Hal increased the speed, till at length they were flying along
the road at the rate of forty miles an hour. There were no speed
restrictions in the war zone, and as the car dashed over the ground Hal
kept a keen eye out for machines approaching from the other direction.

Chester leaned over the front seat and clutched Hal by the shoulder.

"At this rate," he shouted, "it won't take us long to get to Paris."

"About two hours," Hal shouted back, without taking his eyes from the
road ahead.

Through the towns of Villers and Cotterets the automobile flashed,
although Hal reducing his speed a trifle when the little cities came in
sight. On the road beyond, however, he proceeded to let the car out
again, and so they dashed into Nanteul.

Here, because of somewhat more congested traffic,