That morning there was a conference in the little house--Colonel Lilias,
who had come in before for a mute but appreciative call on Sara Lee, and
for a cup of chocolate; Captain Tournay, Jean and Henri. It was held
round the little table in the salle a manger, after Marie had brought
coffee and gone out.
"They had information undoubtedly," said the colonel. "The same thing
happened at Pervyse when an ammunition train went through. They had the
place, and what is more they had the time. Of course there are the
airmen."
"It did not leave the main road until too late for observation from the
air," Henri put in shortly.
"Yet any one who saw it waiting at the crossroads might have learned its
destination. The drivers talk sometimes."
"But the word had to be carried across," said Captain Tournay. "That is
the point. My men report flashes of lights from the fields. We have
followed them up and found no houses, no anything. In this flat country
a small light travels far."
"I shall try to learn to-night," Henri said. "It is, of course,
possible that some one from over there--" He shrugged his shoulders.
"I think not." Colonel Lilias put a hand on Henri's shoulder
affectionately. "They have not your finesse, boy. And I doubt if, in
all their army, they have so brave a man."
Henri flushed.
"There is a courage under fire, with their fellows round--that is one
thing. And a courage of attack--that is even more simple. But the
bravest man is the one who works alone--the man to whom capture is death
without honor."
The meeting broke up. Jean and Henri went away in the car, and though
supplies came up regularly Sara Lee did not see the battered gray car
for four days. At the end of that time Henri came alone. Jean, he said
briefly, was laid up for a little while with a flesh wound in his
shoulder. He would be well very soon. In the meantime here at last was
mutton. It had come from England, and he, Henri, had found it lying
forgotten and lonely and very sad and had brought it along.
After that Henri disappeared on foot. It was midafternoon and a sunny
day. Sara Lee saw him walking briskly across the fields and watched him
out of sight. She spoke some French now, and she had gathered from Rene,
who had no scruples about listening at a door, that Henri was the bravest
man in the Belgian Army.