"I thank your lordship, and I am very loth to trouble you," said Eager; "but there is so much dependent on these two boys that I must do all I possibly can to learn what has become of them. One could not ask by letter, I suppose?" "Did I not write to Menchikoff, Calverly, soon after they were taken? I seem to remember----" "You did, sir," replied one of the overwrought secretaries, without stopping his work for a moment. "And we got no answer." "Would it be possible for me to get in under a flag of truce?" asked Eager. "Quite possible," said his lordship, with a faint smile; "but decidedly risky, and you certainly would not come out again." "There are occasional truces for picking up the wounded, are there not?" "We have never asked for one, As a rule the Russians request it after one of their big sorties. If you wait a while--one never knows what night they will come out. What was your idea?" "Simply to inquire among the Russian officers. There could be no objection to that, I presume?" "Not the slightest. You might learn something. It is just a chance." "Then I will wait for that chance, with your lordship's permission." "By all means, Mr. Eager, and I wish you all success; also please convey to Sir George Herapath our thanks for all he has done for the men here, and accept the same yourself. They have suffered grievously. His son's death was a great loss to us. He was a fine young fellow." And Eager bowed himself out. CHAPTER LXIII EAGER ON THE SCENT Eager's lean and lively face became well known in the camps and trenches. He was keen to see all he could, and was everywhere welcomed with acclaim, but perhaps the greetings he most enjoyed were the rough grateful words of men whom he had helped and heartened in the field hospitals, and who had recovered sufficiently to get back to their work. These would do anything for him, and from morning till night he was all over the place, seeing everything, mightily interested in it all, and leaving, wherever he went, a trail of uplifting cheerfulness which was a moral tonic. He watched the perpetual fierce little fights over the rifle-pits, and went down into them and tended the wounded when chance offered. He mingled with the frequenters of the Picket House, and watched the effect of the somewhat desultory pounding of the batteries by the big guns. He crept cautiously through untold miles of muddy trenches, both French and British, and viewed with wonder the gigantic tasks which prepared the way for the second bombardment. And in the hospitals he soothed many a sufferer's passage to more peaceful quarters, and put fresh heart into those whose lot it was to go back to the front. In the officers' tents and huts he was hail-fellow-well-met everywhere, and the only fault found with him was that he could not be in many places at the same time.