"The connection was broken while we were speaking!" he said blankly. "That means it must have been cut by the enemy--that the enemy knows of its existence!" "Perhaps not. Perhaps an accident--a chance shot," said the vice-chief. "No, I'm sure not," Lanstron replied. "I am sure that it was cut deliberately and not by her." "The 53d Regiment is going forward in that direction--the same regiment that defended the house--and it can't go any faster than it is going," the vice-chief continued, rather incoherently. He and the others no less felt the news as a personal blow. Though absent in person, Marta had become in spirit an intimate of their hopes and councils. "She is helpless--in their power!" Lanstron said. "There is no telling what they might do to her in the rage of their discovery. I must go to her! I am going to the front!" The announcement started a storm of protest. "But you are the chief of staff! You cannot leave the staff!" "You've no right to expose yourself!" "A chance shell or bullet--" "You do not seem to realize what this victory means to you. You might be killed at the very moment of triumph." "I haven't had any triumph. But if I had, could there be a better time?" Lanstron asked with a half-bantering smile. "You couldn't reach there before the 53d Regiment anyway!" declared the vice-chief, having in mind the fact that the staff was fifteen miles to the rear, where it could be at the wire focus. "You will find the roads blocked with the advance. You'll have to ride, you can't go all the way in a car." "Terrible hardship!" replied Lanstron. "Still, I'm going. Things are well in hand. I can keep in touch by the wire as I proceed. If I get out of touch then you," with a nod to the vice-chief, "know as well as I how to meet any sudden emergency. Yes, you all know how to act--we're so used to working together. The staff will follow as soon as the Galland house is taken. We shall make our headquarters there. I'm free now. I can be my own man for a little while--I can be human!" A certain awe of him and of his position, born of the prestige of victory, hushed further protest. Who if not he had the right to go where he pleased in the Brown lines now? They noted the eagerness in his eyes, the eagerness of one off the leash, shot with a suspense which was not for the fate of the army, as he left headquarters. * * * * *