the same direction, saw little wisps of smoke rising above the blur of
the camp, but the distance was too great for him to detect anything
else.

The low note of the trumpet called to the young troops, and they turned
back into the town. John rose from his covert, brushed the snow from his
clothing, beat his chest with his fists, and increased the circulation
which would warm his body anew. Then he stood against the wall
listening. He had no doubt that the Germans would go away
presently--there was nothing to keep them in Chastel--and he made a
sudden shift in his plans. He would go back to the Hotel de l'Europe,
and stay there until day. Lannes would surely come in the morning. He
had no doubt that at daybreak he would see the lithe and sinuous figure
of the _Arrow_ shooting down from the blue depths, and then he and her
brother would go away in search of Julie. Looking down from the air and
traveling at almost unbelievable speed, their chances of finding
Auersperg's party would be a hundred times better than if he merely
prowled along on the ground.

The thought was a happy one to him, and again there was a great uprising
of youth and hope. But the hosts of the air were already at work to
defeat his plan. The invisible powers which war could now use were ready
when the storm died. Far away the wireless stations sputtered and
crackled, and words carried on nothing, were passing directly over him.
They made no mention of John Scott, but he was vitally involved in what
they were planning. Down under the horizon little black dots that were
aeroplanes had begun to rise and to look cautiously over a field, where
wireless had already told them that something was done. Further away
telephone and telegraph wires were humming with words, and all the hosts
of the air were concentrating their energies upon Chastel.