“That must be your car over there, Major,” said Miss Lewis.

“So ’tis. Let’s get our baggage and be off.”

CHAPTER TWO HURDLES

CHAPTER TWO

HURDLES

At Major Reed’s request a young private brought Nancy’s baggage from the Pullman and packed it in the car. The major gave the local doctor last minute instructions about some of the injured, while Nancy and Captain Mary Lewis waited for him. It was the first five minutes Nancy had had since the accident to think quietly about the catastrophe.

With a sudden inner jolt she recalled the two German-speaking passengers who had sat behind her the previous afternoon. Could there possibly be any connection between their whispered conversation and this tragedy? The demand for her services during these last horrible hours had driven out all other thoughts except the use of her skill in helping the injured.

When the doctor returned to the car and started to get in, Nancy said, “Major Reed, there’s something I believe I should tell you before we leave here.”

He glanced at her, his foot lifted to the step, and said absent-mindedly, “Yes?”

“This may or may not have any connection with the wreck.”

“They’ve already found evidence that it’s the work of saboteurs,” he told her frankly.

Nancy felt the blood drain from her cheeks. What would they think of her not mentioning her suspicions sooner? She had gone too far now to remain silent. Briefly she gave an account of the German conversation behind her the previous afternoon.

“I might have thought little of it,” she hastened to add, on seeing the scowl on the major’s face, “but on boarding the train last night I noticed there were eight troop cars. Instantly I thought of what the two men behind me had said. I also noticed the blond corporal watching the entraining men. He stood at the edge of the crowd outside my coach.”

“You 

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