"'See, the road is there to the left,' finally said the little guide. It leads to the bridge which we shall cross and take a short cut in that way. Thus, my officer, we may reach Etain before the Boches do.' "'That will be fine,' said the captain. "'Yes, monsieur. But what if the Boches should change their mind and wait for us? Surely you will not blame the little Lucien? He cannot read the mind of a Boche when the Boche is out of sight.' "'No, we shall not blame you. You have told us well and we are grateful, but what you say gives me a thought. We shall halt and send out scouts.' "This was done immediately. A short distance ahead of them were a number of farm buildings. Trees were scattered all about, giving plenty of shade, which the troops were quick to take advantage of. "A scout came running back toward the resting detachment. "'The Prussians are coming!' he shouted. "Lucien made a mad dash for a tree nearby, up which he shinned and hid far up in the foliage. There were brief smiles, but the soldiers had other things to think of at that moment. The French moved forward about five hundred yards and began digging themselves in; in other words, digging temporary trenches. "The Germans already had begun shooting, the French quickly retaliating. The former were in larger numbers than the French captain had believed them to be. Lucien was still up the tree, peering out, his eyes large and frightened. Bullets were clipping the foliage all about him. He did not realize this at first, but finally, when he did, he slid down the tree in a hurry and hid behind it. "Scouts were hastening back to the rear with messages from the captain, who had sent for assistance, seeing that the German force was too large for him to hold off indefinitely. "Night came on and the firing died down. There had been very few losses. During the night a large detachment of French troops joined the captain's force and early on the following morning the battle was resumed with great fury. Lucien had slept in a tree all night. His captain told him to go back home, but this the boy, for some reason of his own, did not care to do. "Early in the day the Germans, who also had entrenched themselves, came over the top and drove the French back, taking some prisoners and killing many. Lucien, who was hiding up in a tree, found himself between the lines, high and dry, as it were. He made himself as small as possible up there and gazed wonderingly at the furious battle that was being fought beneath him. Late in the forenoon the French drove the Prussians back. The boy took advantage of the opportunity to get down from the tree and get behind his own lines. It was observed, however, that he kept always within reach of a tree.