“Here,” said Frank giving Tom a push. “You’ve got gall enough to get in anywhere. Buck the line and come back with the dope.” Tom obeyed and wormed his way through the crowd until he got a good view of a board. He jotted down some of the main points and came back with his eyes bulging. “We’re going to the Rhine, fellows!” he exclaimed. “We’re going to the Rhine!” CHAPTER XVI THE MARCH OF TRIUMPH “How do you know?” asked Frank, as he and Billy made a grab for the piece of paper on which Tom had jotted down his notes. “Leave that alone,” said Tom, holding it out of reach. “I had the work of getting this stuff and I’m going to have the pleasure of telling you the news.” “Get busy then,” adjured Billy impatiently. “Before I tell you anything else,” said Tom, “listen to this: The Kaiser’s skipped.” “What?” they exclaimed in chorus. “Straight goods,” vowed Tom. “He ran away like a cur. He didn’t even wait till the armistice was signed. He struck out like a coyote for Holland yesterday. He had a special train waiting for him.” “Yellow all through!” exclaimed Frank in disgust. “He’s a hero--I don’t think,” remarked Billy. “They say that the crowd in Holland guyed him something awful while he was at the Eysden railroad station,” went on Tom. “Told him that wasn’t the road to Paris and a lot of other little things like that.” “What’s become of the Clown Prince?” grinned Frank. “Oh, he’s skipped too, just the same as papa,” laughed Tom. “They don’t know just yet where he’s gone to, but he’s also among the missing.” “They’re a precious pair,” grunted Billy. “But it won’t do them any good. The Allies will get after them yet and yank them out of their holes.” “We’ll hope so,” said Frank. “I’d like to have them both put in a cage and exhibited in every city of the world. But let’s lay off his royal nibs and get down to brass tacks. How do you know we’re going to the Rhine?” “I don’t exactly know that _we_ are,” confessed Tom. “But I do know that a big army of our men are going, and it stands to reason that since we’re the nearest to the Rhine, we’ll be in the bunch. At any rate, even if our special regiment isn’t going, I don’t think we’ll have any trouble in taking the place of some of the others who would rather go back to the States right away. Are you game to go if we can make it? I am.” “Same here,” ejaculated Billy. “I am too,” said Frank a little more slowly. “The only thing is that under other circumstances I’d be anxious to get home on my mother’s account. But I’ve got to stay over here anyway until her property affairs are all closed up. So I’m with the rest of the bunch.” “Good!” said Tom and Billy in one breath.