So he had one companion. Several times Mr. Conne looked back at him and smiled. And once he said in that funny way of his,
"All right, Tommy?"
"Yes, sir," Tom answered, trudging along. He had been greatly agitated, but his wonted stolidness was returning now. Probably he felt more comfortable and at home coming along behind with _Uncle Sam_ than he would have felt in the midst of this group where the vilest treason walked baffled, but unashamed, in the uniform of Uncle Sam.
Once Mr. Conne turned to see if Tom were following. His cigar was stuck up in the corner; of his mouth as usual and he gave Tom a whimsical look.
"You hit the Piff family at both ends, didn"t you, Tommy."
"Y-yes, sir," said Tom.
CHAPTER THIRTY
HE DISAPPEARS
Swiftly and silently along the quiet, winding road sped the dispatch-rider. Away from the ocean he was hurrying, where the great ships were coming in, each a fulfilment and a challenge; away from scenes of debarkation where Uncle Sam was pouring his endless wealth of courage and determination into bleeding, suffering, gallant France.
Past the big hotel he went, past the pleasant villa, through village and hamlet, and farther and farther into the East, bound for the little corner of the big salient whence he had come.
He bore with him a packet and some letters. One was to be left at Neufchatel; others at Breteuil. There was one in particular for Cantigny. His name was mentioned in it, but he did not know that. He never concerned himself with the contents of his papers.
So he sped along, thinking how he would get a new headlight for _Uncle Sam_ and a new mud-guard. He thought the people back at Cantigny would wonder what had happened to his machine. He had no thought of telling them. There was nothing to tell.
Swiftly and silently along the road he sped, the dispatch-rider who had come from the blue hills of Alsace, all the way across poor, devastated France. The rays of the dying sun fell upon the handle-bar of _Uncle Sam_, which the rider held in the steady, fraternal handshake that they knew so well. Back from the coast they sped, those two, along the winding road which lay on hill and in valley, bathed in the mellow glow of the first twilight. Swiftly and silently they sped. Hills rose and fell, the fair panorama of the lowlands with its quaint old houses here and there opened before them. And so they journeyed on into the din and fire and stenching suffocation and red-running streams of Picardy and Flanders--for service as required.
(END)
EVERY BOY"S LIBRARY BOY SCOUT EDITION SIMILAR TO THIS VOLUME
The Boy Scouts of America in making up this Library, selected only such books as had been proven by a nation-wide canva.s.s to be most universally in demand among the boys themselves. Originally published in more expensive editions only, they are now, under the direction of the Scout"s National Council, re-issued at a lower price so that all boys may have the advantage of reading and owning them. It is the only series of books published under the control of this great organization, whose sole object is the welfare and happiness of the boy himself. For the first time in history a _guaranteed_ library is available, and at a price so low as to be within the reach of all.
ALONG THE MOHAWK TRAIL Percy K. Fitzhugh
ANIMAL HEROES Ernest Thompson Seton
BABY ELTON, QUARTER-BACK Leslie W. Quirk
BARTLEY, FRESHMAN PITCHER William Heyliger
BE PREPARED, THE BOY SCOUTS IN FLORIDA A. W. Bimock
BEN-HUR Lew Wallace
BOAT-BUILDING AND BOATING Dan. Beard
THE BOY SCOUTS OF BLACK EAGLE PATROL Leslie W. Quirk
THE BOY SCOUTS OF BOB"S HILL Charles Pierce Burton
THE BOYS" BOOK OF NEW INVENTIONS Harry E. Maule
BUCCANEERS AND PIRATES OF OUR COASTS Frank R. Stockton
THE CALL OF THE WILD Jack London
CATTLE RANCH TO COLLEGE Russell Doubleday
COLLEGE YEARS Ralph D. Paine
CROOKED TRAILS Frederic Remington
THE CRUISE OF THE CACHALOT Frank T. Bullen
THE CRUISE OF THE DAZZLER Jack London
DANNY FISTS Walter Camp
FOR THE HONOR OF THE SCHOOL Ralph Henry Barbour
A GUNNER ABOARD THE "YANKEE"
From the Diary of Number Five of the After Port Gun
THE HALF-BACK Ralph Henry Barbour
HANDBOOK FOR BOYS, REVISED EDITION Boy Scouts of America
HANDICRAFT FOR OUTDOOR BOYS Dan. Beard
THE HORs.e.m.e.n OF THE PLAINS Joseph A. Altsheler
JEB HUTTON; THE STORY OF A GEORGIA BOY James B. Connolly
THE JESTER OF ST. TIMOTHY"S Arthur Stanwood Pier
JIM DAVIS John Masefield
KIDNAPPED Robert Louis Stevenson
LAST OF THE CHIEFS Joseph A. Altsheler
LAST OF THE PLAINSMEN Zane Grey