Evening star., 1925-04-10
CHAPTER VIII.
I Enter the Service OF the French
Republic.

| was now seated In the back of a
| large open touring car between the
/ two men. the one on my left COM
| plete stranger and the one on my
| right the little Frenchman with the
| brown eyes, whom l had met in the
train from Lausanne on the previous
| evening, and whose dispatch case had
| fallen open at my feet. l had recog-
| nized him at once. Those brown eyes
of his were unmistakable. At the
present moment they twinkled mer-
| rily, and his whole appearance was
one OF suppressed high spirits and
| delight at what he evidently re-
garded-which indeed it was-as a
wholly unexpected encounter.
His companion was tall and dark.
| He. had a thin kindly face with an
indiscriminate sandy mustache cut
close and almost level with the ends
| of his mouth.
| Uncle James of Jebbutt & Jeb-
| butt is always impressing upon me
| the necessity of summing up men at
| glance If I am ever to succeed in
/ business, and | have consequently
formed the habit of trying to tell the
| character of any one with whom
| come into contact. The tall French
man had the eyes and habit of stu
dent, and / put him down with little
hesitation as a man of except onal
| gifts He had the downcast, STOPPING
manner of tho overtrained official,
! and, from my wide acquaintance
among French officers during the war,
| 1 Judged him to be g. brilliant product
| of the continental system of educa-
| ton, which forces the intellect at the
| expense of the more ardent and en-
| gaging qualities of youth. Nor, on
further acquaintance with him, did
my first estimate prove to be incor-
rect He was a very finished product
of the ecole normale, and typical of
! the hundreds OF able functionaries
whom France seems to possess in
| inexhaustible numbers for her ad-
/ ministrative needs. BY this 1 mean
no disparagement. They are men
trained to devotion, at all times ready
to subordinate their personal feelings
| in obedience to official instructions
Etienne Rehny has ever been my
true and stanch friend; and it was
his training, and not his character
which seemed maturely to have
thinned his blood and kept his more
| ardent emotions under control The
| real man was to emerge later in a
| fashion that has endeared him to me
| for long as L can tell one man from
another.
His friend on my other side, CASTOR
dc Blanchesarde, l have already part
| ly described, and for the moment ]
have nothing to add, except to note
the striking contrast between him and
his companion. l was shortly to real
zie that Rehmy was as clearly the
| cool, competent brain of that curious
partnership as de Blanchegarde was
| its impulsive and occasionally rash
| executive.
This, however, is by the way. and
when 7 first met Rehmy and de
Blanchegarde I had time only To
gather a first general impression
1 created upon me by two person.
whose courage and fortitude neither
Beatrice nor I shall ever be able to
forget.
We'll, gentlemen said as the car
sped through the darkness in the di-
rection of Lausanne, "to whom am
indebted, and may inquire where we
are going?"
| I was answered by merry laugh
and hand laid lightly on my shoulder
"Ha, ha, my capitaine" replied the
little brown-eyed Frenchman. "I,
was a tribe sudden, helm? And g
lucky chance we caught you. Allow
us to introduce ourselves. On your
left you have NJ. Etienne Rehmy OF
the French Secret Intelligence, Per.
! manent Staff, and on your right yoJ
have NJ. CASTOR de Blanchegarde Of
the French Flying Corps, temporarily
attached
II have met you before, at any
rate" I said, turning to NJ. dc
Blanchegarde. 1--WE travelled together
| from Lausanne yesterday evening
otherwise 1 should have been les,
ready to accept the hospitality o1
your extremely we'll appointed auto
mobile
NJ de Blanchegarde laughed again.
ain that case, my English friend
we should have found means to per
suade you"
had a sudden recollection.
we met again yesterday evening,
I said. But you were dressed some
what differently"