Kenneth’s French was not so good as his German, but he managed, even though haltingly, to convey to his interested auditors the gist of the scheme he had overheard. The officers were much concerned. None of them was able to identify the place from the bare description which was all that Kenneth could give them. The bridge was clearly not in the line of the Germans’ probable advance; its destruction could only be meant to assist them. But the clues, slight though they were, must be followed up, and the Colonel declared that he would communicate with headquarters about the matter. After lunch he took Kenneth aside. "I gather that you have not known your companion long?" he said. "That is true," replied Kenneth. "I met him for the first time yesterday." "You will pardon me, I am sure. Lieutenant Pariset’s voucher for you is sufficient; but in such times as these I should not be doing my duty if I allowed Mr. Granger to be at large without enquiry. Will you explain that to him, and ask him to give me a reference to a British authority?" "Certainly. I am sure you will find things all right." "The dear man!" laughed Granger when Kenneth told him this. "He needn’t have been so careful of my feelings as to ask you to break it to me. I’ve no doubt I can satisfy him." He mentioned the name of an official high in the British Foreign Office. "A telegram to that address will bring me a character," he said. "Meanwhile I am out of work, and a sort of prisoner on parole. I am sorry, because I fear it means that we shall be separated for a time. You, I suppose, will want to be up and doing." "Yes. I’ve talked things over with Pariset, and he wants me to go with him in his aeroplane in search of that bridge. But we’ll meet again before long. I’m jolly glad we came across each other." They shook hands cordially and parted. Meanwhile Lieutenant Pariset had been in consultation with the commander of the Belgian Flying Corps. It had been decided that Pariset, accompanied by Kenneth, should make a reconnaissance in his aeroplane along the railway lines with a view to discover the bridge that was threatened. The German monoplane, though faster than his own, was discarded: it would certainly have been fired upon as it crossed the Belgian lines. There was no clue as to the direction in which the bridge lay, whether north, east, south or west of Liége. But it seemed certain that the Germans would not wish to blow up any bridges on the east. They would rather preserve them, in order to facilitate their advance. It was more probable that the bridge in question was on a section of the railway by which reinforcements, either French or Belgian, might be despatched to Liége. It was therefore decided to scout to the west and south.