The young man was undeniably an[Pg 117] Englishman. He was about six feet tall and as lean as possible without illness. He wore no hat and his hair was tawny as the hay he had just been cutting. Moreover, his eyes were the almost startling blue that one only sees with a bronzed skin.

[Pg 117]

He did not look unhappy or bored, but extremely wide awake and "fit," as the English say. Besides this, he seemed enormously interested in Barbara. Obviously the young soldier was a gentleman, and yet equally obvious was the fact that he was staring.

All at once Barbara moved forward a few steps until she was nearer the prisoner than she should have been. This was because she had seen him somewhere before but could not for the moment recall his name.

"Lieutenant Hume!" Barbara exclaimed suddenly under her breath. "I am sorry; I did not know you were a prisoner!"

The young soldier did not move a muscle in his face, yet his eyes answered the girl with sufficient eloquence.

[Pg 118]

[Pg 118]

There was not a second to be lost. Barbara knew the prisoner was not allowed to speak to her. Also she was not expected to speak to him. But she had an unlooked-for chance to say a few words, and what feminine person would have failed to seize the opportunity!

"We are nursing here in Brussels, all of us," she went on rapidly, keeping as careful a lookout as possible. "The other girls will be grieved to hear of your bad luck. If possible, would you like one of us to write you?"

For half a second Lieutenant Hume's rigidity relaxed. Yet once again his answer was in the look he flashed at the girl. Then next the order came. The soldiers were marched inside the prison and the gate swung to.

Immediately after Barbara and Dr. Mason started back to the hospital.

Really, Barbara felt ashamed of herself, she was such an extraordinarily dull companion during the return journey. But she was both tired and excited.

What an extraordinary experience to[Pg 119] have spent a few hours at a German prison and to have discovered two acquaintances. True, poor Monsieur Bebé was scarcely an acquaintance, yet she had seen and spoken to him before. As for Lieutenant 

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