Part 2 (1/2)
”Well, Geronimo,” he said, ”having seen, what do you say?”
”The sight is unpleasant, but it is not hopeless. They call us decadent.
I read, Monsieur Scott, more than you think! Ah, it has been the bitterness of death for Frenchmen to hear all the world say we are a dying race, and it has been said so often that some of us ourselves had begun to believe it! But it is not so! I tell you it is not so, and we'll soon prove to the Germans who come that it isn't! I have looked for a sign. I sought for it in all the skies through your gla.s.ses, but I did not find it there. Yet I have found it.”
”Where?”
”In my heart. Every beat tells me that this Paris of ours is not for the Germans. We will yet turn them back!”
He reminded John of Lannes in his dramatic intensity, real and not affected, a true part of his nature. Its effect, too, upon the American was powerful. He had given courage to Lannes, and now Bougainville, that little Apache of the b.u.t.te Montmartre, was giving new strength to his own weakening heart. Fresh life flowed back into his veins and he remembered that he, too, had beheld a sign, the flash of light on the Arc de Triomphe.
”I think we have seen enough here, Geronimo,” he said lightly, ”and we'll descend. I've a friend to meet later. Which way do you go from the church?”
”To the army. I shall be in a uniform tonight, and tomorrow maybe I shall meet the Germans.”
John held out his hand and the Apache seized it in a firm clasp.
”I believe in you, as I hope you believe in me,” said young Scott. ”I belong to a company called the Strangers, made up chiefly of Americans and English, and commanded by Captain Daniel Colton. If you're on the battle line and hear of the Strangers there too I should like for you to hunt me up if you can. I'd do the same for you, but I don't yet know to what force you will belong.”
Bougainville promised and they walked down to the second platform, where Father Pelletier was still standing.
”What did you see?” he asked of John, unable to hide the eagerness in his eyes.
”Uhlans, Father Pelletier, and I fancied that I heard the echo of a German forty-two centimeter. Would you care to use the gla.s.ses? The view from this floor is almost as good as it is from the lantern.”
John distinctly saw the priest shudder.
”No,” he replied. ”I could not bear it. I shall pray today that our enemies may be confounded; tomorrow I shall throw off the gown of a priest and put on the coat of a soldier.”
”Another sign,” said John to himself, as they continued the descent.
”Even the priests will fight.”
When they were once more in the narrow streets of Montmartre, John said farewell to Bougainville.
”Geronimo,” he said, ”I expect to see you leading a victorious charge directly into the heart of the German army.”
”If I can meet your hopes I will, Monsieur Scott,” said the young Frenchman gayly, ”and now, _au revoir_, I depart for my uniform and arms, which must be of the best.”
John smiled as he walked down the hill. His heart had warmed toward the little Apache who might not be any Apache at all. Nevertheless the name Geronimo seemed to suit him, and he meant to think of him by it until his valor won him a better.
He saw from the slopes the same endless stream of people leaving Paris.
They knew that the Germans were near, and report brought them yet nearer. The tale of the monster guns had traveled fast, and the sh.e.l.ls might be falling among them at any moment. Aeroplanes dotted the skies, but they paid little attention to them. They still thought of war under the old conditions, and to the great ma.s.s of the people flying machines were mere toys.
But John knew better. Those journeys of his with Lannes through the heavens and their battles in the air for their lives were unforgettable.
Stopping on the last slope of Montmartre he studied s.p.a.ce with his gla.s.ses. He was sure that he saw captive balloons on the horizon where the German army lay, and one shape larger than the rest looked like a Zeppelin, but he did not believe those monsters had come so far to the south and west. They must have an available base.
His heart suddenly increased its beat. He saw a darting figure and he recognized the shape of the German Taube. Then something black shot downward from it, and there was a crash in the streets of Paris, followed by terrible cries.
He knew what had happened. He caught another glimpse of the Taube rus.h.i.+ng away like a huge carnivorous bird that had already seized its prey, and then he ran swiftly down the street. The bomb had burst in a swarm of fugitives and a woman was killed. Several people were wounded, and a panic had threatened, but the soldiers had restored order already and ambulances soon took the wounded to hospitals.