Evening star., 1917-12-23

said. simply "I'n not tell them word
of our adventures till you are present.
you could have heard q pin drop
was the excited comment of the flap
per sister when endeaVoring subse-
arentIy to thrill another girl with the
sensation created by Irene's quiet
words. Literally. this trope was not
accurate. because the station was
noisier than usual. Figuratively, 1t
met the case exactly
Lady glastonbury, gray-hafred
woman with wise eyes, promptly emu
lated the action of the British army
during the retreat from Mons. and
saved the situation"
.'Of course, you'll stay with US, too.
Capt. Dalroy," she said with pleasant
insfstence. Like Irene, you must
have lost everything, and need time to
refit"
Dalroy. murmured some platitude,
lifted his hat. and only regained his
composure after two narrow escapes
from being run over by taxis while
crossing Northumberland avenue.
A newsboy tore past, shouting in the
vernacular. Great Stand by Sir John
French"
Dalroy was reminded of smithy. and
Shiney, and Corp. Bates. <e saw again
Jan MaertZ waving a farewell from the
quay at Ostend. He wondered how old
Jeos was faring. and Leontine. and NJ.
Pochard. and the cure of Veryiers.
Another boy scampered by. He car
ried contents bill. Heavy black type
announced that the British were "hold-
ing" Won Kluck on the Marne. Dali
roy's eyes kindled. Hts work lay there.
When the soldiers task was ended he
would come back to Irene.
CHAPTER Ky.
CARRY ON"
After few delightful days in Lon
don Dalroy walked down Whitehall
one fine morning to call at the war Of
fee for orders. Irene went with him.
He expected to be packed off to France
that very evening. SO the two meant
making the utmost of the fast speeding
hours. The intelligence department
had assimilated all the information
Dalroy could give, had found it good,
and had complimented him. AS Ben
gal Lancer, whose regiment was pre-
sumably in India, he would probably
be attached to some cavalry unit of the
expeditfonary force; from being
hunted outlaw, with a price on his
head. he would be quietly absorbed by
the military machine. Very smart he
Irene. who one short week earlier
deemed sabots en- CUR the height of
luxury. was dressed de rigueur for
luncheon at the Savoy.
d
crossed Trafalgar Square and lodged
the traffic flowing around the base of
King Charles statue. An alert recruit
ing sergeant. clnching the argument,
pointed out the tail, we'll groomed Off
Ger to a lanky youth whose soul was
almost afre with martial decision
There y'are.' he said, with emphatic
thumb jerk. that's wot the British
army viii make of YOU in couple of
months. An Just twig the sort O girl
YOU can sort out of the bunch. Cock
yer eye at that. will your"
Thus all unconsciously, Irene started
the great adventure for one of Kitch-
eners first half-mfllion.
She was not kept waiting many min
utes in an anteroom. Dalroy reap
peared. smiling mysteriously, yet, as
Irene quickly saw. not quite SO con-
tent with life as when he entered those
magic portals. wherein man wrestles
with an algebraicai formula before he
finds the department he wants.
Well" she inquired. having picked
Your brains, are they going to court
martial You for being absent without
leave?"
~ cross tonight" he said, leading her
toward the Horse Guards Parade. IT'S
Belgium. not France. I'm on the STAFF.
zette tomorrow. That's fine. but I'd
Irene stopped. almost in the middle
of the road
band and a golden lion, and those
ducky little red tabs on the collar!
Come at once. and buy them, l refuse
to lunch with you otherwise"
"A man must not wear the staff in
sigma until he is gazetted." he re-
minded her.
OH She was pathetically disap-
pointed.
But in my case" he went on. "I am
specifically ordered to travel in star
uniform. SO. as / leave London at
O'clock"
You can certainly lunch in all your
glory" she vowed. There's an empty
taxi"
OF course. 1t was pleasant to be on
the stan. and thus become even more
admired by Irene, If there is a degree
surprising that which is already su-
perlative; but the fly in the ointment
of Dalroy's new career lay in the fact
that the battle of the Aisne was Just
beginning, and every British heart
throbbed with the hope that the Teuton
hordes might be chased back to the
frontier as speedily as they had rushed
on Paris. Dalroy himself, an expe-
rienced soldier. though he had watched
those grim columns pouring through
the valley of the Meuse, yielded mo-
mentarily to the vision splendid He
ionged to be there, taking part in the
drive. Instead, he was being sent to
Belgium, some shrewd head in the war
omce-haytnG decided. that. his linguistic