Then he would return to the
western front, where he was one of the great generals around the Kaiser.
He had brought with him two Frenchwomen, spies, who would be imprisoned
in the dungeons of Zillenstein until the war was over, if, indeed, they
were not shot before. One, it was said, was very young, and beautiful,
but she was the more dangerous of the two.
Poor Julie! there was a conspiracy of fate against her, but John shook
himself and felt his courage rising anew, powerful, indomitable,
invincible. He had come so far alone, and he would rescue her with his
single hand! He went back to the inn and sat for a while among peasants
and listened to their talk. They knew little of what was passing beyond
the Teutonic empires. As usual in Germany and Austria, they accepted
what the men higher up told them. They were always winning victories
everywhere, and it would be but a short time before the treacherous
English, the wicked French and the ignorant Russians were crushed.
John yawned after a while and went to his room. He intended to be fresh
and strong the next morning when he started on the last stage of his
search, and when the dawn came he was glad to see that it was clear and
bright. By noon he was deep among the hills, and so far had answered all
questions without arousing any suspicion. But he knew that trouble
about his identity was bound to come in time.
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