"Delightful!" he remarked after a few moments of cynical observation; "delightful! Lieutenant Rutter, you are to be congratulated. Mademoiselle--you are charming; all that my young friend has said, and more." He moved forward and stood by the table, while Marie--her face as white as death--clung to her lover. "Who is he, Fritz, this ugly old man?" she whispered terrified. "Permit me to introduce to you . . ." Fritz forced the words from his dry lips, only to stop at the upraised hand of the other. "My name, dear young lady, is immaterial," he remarked genially. "Just an ugly old man, who has had no time to bask in the sunshine of the smiles of your charming sex." He sat down and lit a cigar. "So you are going to become a German's wife! Ah, Fritz, my boy, you're a lucky dog! You'll have to guard your Marie carefully from the rest of the garrison, when we have finally won and the war is over." He gave a grating laugh, and blew out a cloud of smoke. "What do you want of me?" asked Marie, in a terrified whisper, looking at him like a bird at a snake. "A little service, my dear young Fraeulein to be--a little service to the Fatherland. You must not forget that Germany is now your country in spirit, if not in actual truth. You are pledged to her just as you are pledged to your Fritz--in fact, he being an officer, the two are one and the same thing." He smiled again, and waved his cigar gently in the air. "And not only will your service benefit the country that you have chosen as your own, but it will benefit you, because it will bring the end of the war, and with it your marriage, closer." He paused to let the words sink in, but she still watched him fascinated. "One thing more." His eyes gleamed dully through the haze of smoke as he fixed them on her. "Unless this little service is fulfilled, though it won't make any difference to the ultimate result as far as Germany is concerned, it will make a very considerable difference as far as you and--er--Fritz are concerned." "What do you mean?" The girl hardly breathed the words. "I mean that there will be no marriage. Painful--but true." The Kid watched the young officer's arm tighten convulsively round her waist--and began to see red. Then the harsh guttural voice continued. "Well, now, without wasting any more time, let us come to the point. I had proposed to let Lieutenant Rutter explain things to you; but--er--from one or two things I overheard, it struck me he might not make them clear." The beady eyes came slowly round to the Lieutenant. "That is why I interrupted." Once again he stared at the trembling girl. "To be brief, Mademoiselle Marie, we anticipate an attack--a big attack--by the English. We have good information that it is coming in this neighbourhood."