"Blister gas," the doctor answered, "the newest horror of those German fiends.[25] You can't see it, can't smell it, don't know it's there, but ten minutes after you've been near it, the vile stuff raises a thousand blisters on the skin. The poison will sometimes stay in the clothes for weeks. Even the wood of a chair will hold the venom." "But is it fatal?" "Victims die from the pain, sometimes," the doctor answered. "Take this boy here. He's had an awful dose, because, as I understand, the shell burst right in the shelter and he soaked it in. He'll be unconscious for quite a while and in about three days all those blisters will break. His body will be nothing but a sheet of raw flesh. We'll have to keep him under morphine and we'll be lucky if he pulls through." For two long awful weeks Horace lay in a drugged state which left him dulled and yet conscious of pain. The agony rose above the anæsthetic. At last, exhausted, weak and still in acute torment, he came to himself, to find the hunchback standing beside his bed. The lad looked up feebly. "Oh, Croquier," he said, speaking with a still raw throat, "I've been having such a queer dream." The hunchback leaned forward to listen to the weary, croaking voice. "I dreamed that Father was over here, in American uniform, and that he said: "'We're here, my son, at last. We've lagged in late, after France and Britain's heroism, that they may show us what we still can do to save the world from the Hun.' "And, Croquier, he had in his hand the cage with the 'captive Kaiser'!" The hunchback leaned low over the bed. "Remember Madame Maubin!" he said. "That, my boy, was not a dream, but a prophecy!" THE END FOOTNOTES: [20] Official British report, April 27, 1915. No poisonous gases or bombs had been used by the Allies prior to this time. [21] This anticipates a little the development of poisonous gases. Some of these forms were not in use until 1917. [22] This is the main principle. It is to be remembered that new devices are constantly being experimented with and put into use on the front. [23] The Allies refrained from using asphyxiating gases for several months, but by 1918, they had attained superiority in their use. [24] First used in the spring of 1917. [25] This gas was a development of 1918; it is known as _gas vesical_. * * * * * * Transcriber's note: Retained some inconsistent hyphenation (e.g. gun-fire vs. gunfire). Added missing umlauts to "Würtemberg" in multiple places. Page v, changed "in not" to "is not." Page vi, changed "L'illustration" to "L'Illustration" and "Le Monde Illustré" to "Le Monde Illustre" for consistency with image captions. Page viii, changed "Liège" to "Liége" for consistency. Page 100, removed unnecessary quote before "I--I--." Page 104, changed "Evidenly" to "Evidently." Page 122, changed "in second" to "in seconds."