Latest / Miss Pims Camouflage / Somewhere in France-Richard Harding Davis

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Somewhere in France-Richard Harding Davis · Miss Pims Camouflage

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  Speaker 1: Part one of Somewhere in France. This is a LibriVox recording.
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  Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: information not to volunteer, please visit librevox dot org. Recording
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  Speaker 1: by Caroline Somewhere in France by Richard Harding Davis, Part one.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: Marie Goesler, known as marichau Montell Jean d'avrichi, the Comtesse
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  Speaker 1: Doriac was German. Her father, who served through the Franco
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Prussian War, was a German spy. It was from her
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: mother she learned to speak French sufficiently well to satisfy
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: even an academician, and among Parisians to pass as one.
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  Speaker 1: Both her parents were dead. Before they departed, knowing they
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: could leave their daughter nothing save their debts, they had
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  Speaker 1: her trained as a nurse. But when they were gone,
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  Speaker 1: Marie in the Berlin hospitals, played politics, intrigued, indiscriminately, misused
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  Speaker 1: the appealing violet eyes. There was a scandal, several scandals.
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  Speaker 1: At the age of twenty five, she was dismissed from
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  Speaker 1: the municipal hospital and as now save for the violet eyes,
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  Speaker 1: she was without resources. As a compagnon de voyage with
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  Speaker 1: a German doctor. She traveled to Monte Carlo. There she
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  Speaker 1: abandoned the doctor for Auur Ravignac, a captain in the
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  Speaker 1: French aviation Corps, who, when his leave ended, escorted her
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  Speaker 1: to Paris. The duties of Captain Ravignac kept him in
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  Speaker 1: barracks near the aviation field, but Marie he established in
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  Speaker 1: his apartments on the Boulevard Houseman. One day he brought
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  Speaker 1: from the barracks a roll of blueprints, and, as he
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  Speaker 1: was locking them in a drawer, said the Germans would
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  Speaker 1: pay through the nose for those. The remark was indiscreet,
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  Speaker 1: but then Marie had told him she was French, and
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  Speaker 1: anyone would have believed her. The next morning, the same
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  Speaker 1: spirit of adventure that had exiled her from the Berlin
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  Speaker 1: hospitals carried her with the blueprints to the German embassy. There.
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  Speaker 1: Greatly shocked, they first wrote down her name and address,
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  Speaker 1: and then, indignant at her proposition, ordered her out. But
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  Speaker 1: the day following, a strange young German, who was not
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  Speaker 1: at all indignant, but on the contrary, quite charming, called
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  Speaker 1: upon Marie for the blue prints. He offered her a
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  Speaker 1: very large sum, and that same hour with them and
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  Speaker 1: Marie departed for Berlin. Marie did not need the money,
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  Speaker 1: nor did the argument that she was serving her country
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  Speaker 1: greatly impress her. It was rather that she loved intrigue,
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  Speaker 1: and so she became a spy. Orie Ravignac, the man
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  Speaker 1: she had robbed of the blueprints, was tried by court martial.
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  Speaker 1: The charge was treisen, but Charls Ravignac, his younger brother,
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  Speaker 1: promised to prove that the guilty one was the girl,
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  Speaker 1: and to that end obtained leave of absence and spent
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  Speaker 1: much time and money at the trial. He was able
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  Speaker 1: to show the record of Marie and Berlin and Monte
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  Speaker 1: Carlo that she was the daughter of a German secret agent.
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  Speaker 1: That on the afternoon the Prince disappeared, Marie, with an
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  Speaker 1: agent of the German embassy, had left Paris for burte Erlin.
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  Speaker 1: In consequence of this, the charge of selling military secrets
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  Speaker 1: was altered to one of gross neglect, and Henri Ravignac
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  Speaker 1: was sentenced to two years in the military prison at Tool.
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  Speaker 1: But he was of an ancient and noble family, and
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  Speaker 1: when they came to take him from his cell in
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  Speaker 1: the Cherge Midi, he was dead. Charles, his brother, disappeared.
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  Speaker 1: It was said he also had killed himself, that he
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  Speaker 1: had been appointed a military attache in South America, that
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  Speaker 1: to revenge his brother, he had entered the Secret Service.
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  Speaker 1: But whatever became of him, no one knew. All that
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  Speaker 1: was certain was that, thanks to the act of Marie
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  Speaker 1: Goesler on the roles of the French Army, the ancient
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  Speaker 1: and noble name of Ravignac no longer appeared in her
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  Speaker 1: chosen p fashion. Marie Goesler found nothing discreditable of herself.
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  Speaker 1: Her opinion was not high, and her opinion of min
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  Speaker 1: was lower. For her smiles, she had watched several sacrifice honor, duty, loyalty,
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  Speaker 1: and she held them and their kind in contempt. To lie.
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  Speaker 1: Took a jol to rob men of secrets they thought important,
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  Speaker 1: and of secrets the importance of which they did not
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  Speaker 1: even guess, was to her merely an intricate and exciting game.
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  Speaker 1: She played it very well, so well that in the
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  Speaker 1: service her advance was rapid. On important missions. She was
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  Speaker 1: sent to Russia, through the Balkans, even to the United States.
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  Speaker 1: There with credentials as an army nurse, she inspected our
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  Speaker 1: military hospitals and unobtrusively asked many innocent questions when she
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  Speaker 1: begged to be allowed to work in her beloved Paris.
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  Speaker 1: They told her when war came they intended to plant
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  Speaker 1: her inside that city, and that until then, the less
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  Speaker 1: Paris knew of her, the better. But just before the
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  Speaker 1: Great War broke to report on which way Italy might jump,
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  Speaker 1: she was sent to Rome, and it was not until
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  Speaker 1: September she was recalled. The telegram informed her that Aunt
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  Speaker 1: Elizabeth was ill and that at once she must return
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  Speaker 1: to Berlin. This, she learned from the coat book wrapped
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  Speaker 1: under the cover of her thermos bottle, meant that she
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  Speaker 1: was to report to the general commanding the German forces
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  Speaker 1: at Swassan. From Italy, she passed through Switzerland, and, after
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  Speaker 1: leaving Basel on military trains, was rushed north to Luxembourg
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  Speaker 1: and then west to Lan. She was accompanied by her companion, Berta,
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  Speaker 1: an elderly and respectable, even distinguished looking female in the
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  Speaker 1: Secret Service. Her number was five hundred twenty eight. Their
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  Speaker 1: passes from the War Office described them as nurses of
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  Speaker 1: the German Red Cross. Only the Intelligence Department knew their
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  Speaker 1: real mission with her, also, as her chauffeur was a
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  Speaker 1: young Italian soldier of fortune paul Anfossi. He had served
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  Speaker 1: in the Belgian Congo, in the French Foreign Legion in Algiers,
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  Speaker 1: and spoke all the European languages. In Rome, where as
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  Speaker 1: a wireless operator he was serving a commercial company in
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  Speaker 1: selling Marie copies of messages he had memorized. Marie had
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  Speaker 1: found him useful, and when war came she obtained for
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  Speaker 1: him from the Willem Strasse the number two hundred ninety
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  Speaker 1: two from Law. In one of the automobiles of the
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  Speaker 1: General staff, the three spies were driven first to Suisson
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  Speaker 1: and then along the road to MoU and Paris to
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  Speaker 1: the village of Nefschel. They arrived at midnight, and in
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  Speaker 1: a chateau of one of the Champagne princes found the
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  Speaker 1: colonel commanding the intelligence bureau. He accepted their credentials, destroyed them,
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  Speaker 1: and replaced them with a leasse passe signed by the
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  Speaker 1: Mayor of Law that dignitary, the colonel explained to citizens
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  Speaker 1: of Law fleeing to Paris and the coast had issued
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  Speaker 1: many passes, but as now between Law and Paris were
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  Speaker 1: three German armies, the refugees had been turned back and
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  Speaker 1: the confiscated from among them, said the officer, we have
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  Speaker 1: selected one for you. It is issued to the wife
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  Speaker 1: of Count Dourriac, a captain of reserves, and her aunt
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  Speaker 1: Madame Benny. It asks for those ladies under their Chauffeur Brian,
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  Speaker 1: a safe conduct through the French military lines. If it
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  Speaker 1: gets you into Paris, you will destroy it and assume
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  Speaker 1: another name. The Count doria quis now with his regiment
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  Speaker 1: in that city. If you learned of the presence there
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  Speaker 1: of his wife, he would seek her, and that would
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  Speaker 1: not be good for you. So if you reach Paris,
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  Speaker 1: you will become a Belgian refugee. You are high born
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  Speaker 1: and rich. Your chateau has been destroyed, but you have money.
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  Speaker 1: You will give liberally to the Red Cross. You will
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  Speaker 1: volunteer to nurse in the hospitals, with your sad story
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  Speaker 1: of ill treatment by us, with your high birth and
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  Speaker 1: your knowledge of nursing, which you are quiet, of course,
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  Speaker 1: only as an amateur. You should not find it difficult
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  Speaker 1: to join the ladies of France or the American Ambulance.
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  Speaker 1: What you learn from the wounded English and French officers
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  Speaker 1: and the French doctors, you will send us through the
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  Speaker 1: usual channels. When do I start, asked the woman. For
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  Speaker 1: a few days, explained the officer. You remain in this chateau.
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  Speaker 1: You will keep us informed of what is going forward
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  Speaker 1: after we with the draw withdraw. It was more of
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  Speaker 1: an exclamation than a question. Marie was too well trained
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  Speaker 1: to ask questions. We are taking up a new position,
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  Speaker 1: said the officer. On the end. The woman, incredulous, stared,
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  Speaker 1: and we do not enter Paris. You do, returned the officer.
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  Speaker 1: That is all that concerns you. We will join you
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  Speaker 1: later in the spring. Meanwhile, for the winter, we entrench
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  Speaker 1: ourselves along the Enn in a chimney of this chateau.
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  Speaker 1: We have set up a wireless outfit. We are leaving
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  Speaker 1: it intact. The Chauffeur Brion, who you must explain to
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  Speaker 1: the French you brought with you from Lan and who
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  Speaker 1: has been long in your service, will transmit whatever you discover.
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  Speaker 1: We wish especially to know of any movement toward are left.
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  Speaker 1: If they attack us in front from Sooisson, we are prepared,
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  Speaker 1: But of any attempt to cross the was and take
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  Speaker 1: us in flank, you must warn us. The officer rose
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  Speaker 1: and hung upon himself his field glasses, nap cases, and
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  Speaker 1: side arms. We leave you now, he said. When the
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  Speaker 1: French arrived, you will tell them your reason for halting
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  Speaker 1: at this chateau was that the owner, Monsieur y Vernet,
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  Speaker 1: and his family are friends of your husband. You found
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  Speaker 1: us here, and we detained you, And so long as
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  Speaker 1: you can use the wireless, make excuses to remain. If
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  Speaker 1: they offered to send you on to Paris, tell them
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  Speaker 1: your aunt is too ill to travel. But they will
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  Speaker 1: find the wireless, said the woman. They are sure to
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  Speaker 1: use the towers for observation, and they will find it.
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  Speaker 1: In that case, said the officer, you will suggest to
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  Speaker 1: them that we fled in such haste we had no
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  Speaker 1: time to dismantle it. Of course, you had no knowledge
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  Speaker 1: that it existed, or as a loyal French woman, you
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  Speaker 1: would have at once told them to emphasize his next words,
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  Speaker 1: the officer pointed at her. Under no circumstance, he continued,
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  Speaker 1: Must you be suspected if they should take Brion the act,
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  Speaker 1: Should they have even the least doubt concerning him, you
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  Speaker 1: must repudiate him entirely, if necessary, to keep your own
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  Speaker 1: skirts clear. It would be your duty yourself to denounce
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  Speaker 1: him as a spy. Your first orders, said the woman
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  Speaker 1: were to tell them, Brion has been long in my service,
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  Speaker 1: that I brought him from my home in law. He
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  Speaker 1: might be in your service for years, returned the colonel.
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  Speaker 1: And you not know he was a German agent. If
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  Speaker 1: to save myself I inform upon him, said Marie. Of
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  Speaker 1: course you know you will lose him. The officer shrugged
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  Speaker 1: his shoulders. A wireless operator, he retorted, we can replace,
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  Speaker 1: but for you, and for the service you are to
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  Speaker 1: render in Paris, we have no substitute. You must not
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  Speaker 1: be found out. You are invaluable. The spy inclined her head.
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  Speaker 1: I thank you, she said. The officer sputtered indignantly. It
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  Speaker 1: is not a compliment, he exclaimed, it is an order.
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  Speaker 1: You must not be found out. With a drawn some
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  Speaker 1: two hundred yards from the Paris road, the chateau stood
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  Speaker 1: upon a wooded hill. Except directly in front, trays of
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  Speaker 1: great height surrounded it. The tips of their branches brushed
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  Speaker 1: the windows, interlacing. They continued until they overhung the wall
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  Speaker 1: of the estate, where it ran with the road. The
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  Speaker 1: wall gave way to a lofty gate and iron fence,
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  Speaker 1: through which those passing could see a stretch of noble
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  Speaker 1: turf as wide as a polo field, borders of flowers
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  Speaker 1: disappearing under the shadows of the trees, and the chateau itself,
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  Speaker 1: with its terrace, its many windows, its high pitched sloping
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  Speaker 1: roof broken by towers and turrets. Through the remainder of
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  Speaker 1: the night, there came from the road to those in
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  Speaker 1: the chateau the roar and rumbling of the army in retreat.
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  Speaker 1: It moved without panic, disorder, or haste, but unceasingly. Not
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  Speaker 1: for an instant was there a breathing spell. And when
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  Speaker 1: the sun rose, the three spies, the two women and
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  Speaker 1: the chauffeur, who in the great chateau were now alone,
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  Speaker 1: could see as well as hear, the gray column of
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  Speaker 1: steel rolling past below them. The spies knew that the
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  Speaker 1: gray column had reached Clay, had stood within fifteen miles
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  Speaker 1: of Paris, and then upon Paris had turned its back.
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  Speaker 1: They knew also that the reverberations from the direction of
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  Speaker 1: mir that each moment grew more loud and savage, were
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  Speaker 1: the French seventy five's whipping the gray column forward. Of
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  Speaker 1: what they felt. The Germans did not speak in silence.
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  Speaker 1: They looked at each other and in the eyes of
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  Speaker 1: Marie was bitterness and resolve toward noon meriment on foresee
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  Speaker 1: in the great drawing room that stretched in the length
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  Speaker 1: of the terrace, and from the windows of which through
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  Speaker 1: the park gates they could see the Paris road. This
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  Speaker 1: that is passing now, said Marie, is the last of
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  Speaker 1: our rear guard. Go to your tower, she ordered, and
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  Speaker 1: send word that, except for stragglers and the wounded, are
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  Speaker 1: a column has just passed through Nafchelle into that any
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  Speaker 1: moment we expect the French. She raised her hand impressively.
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  Speaker 1: From now, she warned, we speak French, we think French.
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  Speaker 1: We are French. Unfossis or brian As. Now he called
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  Speaker 1: himself addressed her in that language. His tone was bitter.
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  Speaker 1: Pardon my lease, majesty, he said, but this chief of
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  Speaker 1: your intelligence department is a dumma menche. He is throwing
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  Speaker 1: away a valuable life, Marie exclaimed in dismay. She placed
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  Speaker 1: her hand upon his arm, and the violet eyes filled
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  Speaker 1: with concern. Not yours, she protested, absolutely returned the Italian,
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  Speaker 1: I consent nothing by this knapsack, wireless that they will
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  Speaker 1: not to learn from others from Ermin uhlans, the peasants
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  Speaker 1: in the fields, and certainly I will be caught dead.
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  Speaker 1: I am dead, but alive. And in Paris the opportunities
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  Speaker 1: are unending. From the French Ligion E Troge, I have
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  Speaker 1: my honorable discharge. I am an expert wireless operator, and
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  Speaker 1: in their signal corps I can easily find a place.
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  Speaker 1: Imagine me then on the Eiffel Tower. From the air,
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  Speaker 1: I snatch news from all of France. From the channel
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  Speaker 1: the North Sea. You and I could work together as
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: in Rome. But here between the lines, with a pass
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  Speaker 1: from a village suprefet, it is ridiculous. I am not
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  Speaker 1: afraid to die, but to die because someone else is stupid,
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  Speaker 1: that is hard. Marie clasped his hand in both of hers.
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  Speaker 1: You must not speak of death, she cried. You know
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  Speaker 1: I must carry out my own orders, that I must
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  Speaker 1: force you to take this risk, and you know that
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: thought of harm to you tortures me. Quickly, the young
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  Speaker 1: man disengaged his hand. The woman exclaimed with anger. Why
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  Speaker 1: do you doubt me, she cried. Brion protested vehemently, I
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: do not doubt you my affection. Then, in a whisper
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: that carried with it, the feeling of a caress. Marie
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: added softly, my love. The young man protested miserably. You
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  Speaker 1: make it very hard, Mademoiselle, he cried, You are my
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  Speaker 1: superior officer, I am your servant. Who am I that
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  Speaker 1: I should share with others? The woman interrupted eagerly, Ah,
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  Speaker 1: you are jealous? She right? Is that why you are
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  Speaker 1: so cruel? But when I tell you I love you
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  Speaker 1: and only you, can you not feel it is of
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  Speaker 1: the truth. The young man frowned, unhappily. My duty, Mademoiselle,
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: he stammed with an exclamation of anger. Marie left him
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: as the door slumped behind her. The young man drew
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: a deep breath on his face was the expression of
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: ineffable relief. In the hale. Marie met her elderly companion Berta,
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: now her aunt Madame Binny. I heard you quarreling. Berta protested,
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  Speaker 1: it is most indiscreet. It is not in the part
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: of the Comtesse Doriac that she makes love to her chauffeur.
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: Marie laughed noiselessly and drew her further down the hall.
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  Speaker 1: He is imbecile, she exclaimed. He will kill me with
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: his solemn face and his conceit. I make love to him. Yes,
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: that he may work the more willingly, but he will
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: have none of it. He is jealous of the others,
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: Madame Beny frowned. He resents the others, she corrected, I
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: do not blame him. He is a gentleman and the others,
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: demanded Marie. Were they not of the most noble families
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: of Rome. I am old and I am ugly, said Bertin.
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: But to me, old Fossier is always as considerate as
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: he is to you, who are so beautiful. An Italian
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: gentleman returned, Marie does not serve in Belgian congo, unless
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: it is the choice of that or the marble queries.
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  Speaker 1: I do not know what his past may be, sighed
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  Speaker 1: Madame Bnet, nor do I ask. He is only a number,
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: as you and I are only numbers, and I beg
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: you to let us work in harmony at such a
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: time your love affairs threaten our safety. You must wait,
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: Marie laughed insolently. With the du barris. She protested, I
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: can boast that I wait for no man. No, replied
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: the older woman. You pursue him. Marie would have answered sharply,
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: but on the instant her interest was diverted for one week.
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: By day and night, she had lived in a world
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: peopled only by German soldiers. Beside her in the railroad carriage,
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: on the station platforms, at the windows of the trains
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  Speaker 1: that passed the one in which she rode, at the crossings,
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  Speaker 1: on the bridges, in the roads that paralleled, the tracks
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  Speaker 1: choking the streets of the villages, and spread over the
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: fields of grain. She had seen only the gray green uniforms.
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: Even her professional eye no longer distinguished regiment from regiment, Dragoon,
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: from Grenadier Ulan from Hussar or lunch doorm. Stripes, insignia, numerals,
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  Speaker 1: badges of rank had lost their meaning. Those who wore
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: them no longer were individuals. They were not even human.
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: During the three last days, the automobile, like a motor
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: boat fighting the tide, had crept through a gray green
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  Speaker 1: river of min stained as though from the banks by
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: mud and yellow clay, And for hours, while the car
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: was blocked and in fury, the engine raced and puss
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  Speaker 1: and the gray green river had rolled past her, slowly
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  Speaker 1: but as inevitably as lava down the slope of a volcano,
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  Speaker 1: bearing on its surface faces with staring eyes. Thousands and
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: thousands of eyes, some fierce and bloodshot, others filled with
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: the wariness, homesickness, pain. At night she still saw them,
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: the white faces, under the sweat and dust, the eyes dumb, inarticulate,
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: asking the answer. She had been suffocated by German soldiers,
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: by the mass of them, engulfed and smothered. She had
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: stifled in a land inhabited only by gray green ghosts.
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: And of Part one, Part two of Somewhere in France
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: by Richard Hudding Davis. This LibriVox recording is in the
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: public domain recording by Caroline Parts two and Suddenly, as
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: though a miracle had been wrought, she saw upon the
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: lawn riding toward her a man in scarlet, blue and silver,
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: one man riding alone, approaching with confidence but alert, his
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: reins fallen, his hands nursing his carbine. His eyes searched
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: the shadows of the trees, the empty windows, even the
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: sun swept sky. His was the new face at the door,
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: the new step on the floor, And the spy knew
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: had she beheld an army corps, it would have been
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: no more significant, no more menacing, than the solitary chasseur
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: racheval scouting in advance of the enemy. We are safe,
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: exclaimed Marie with irony. Go quickly. She commanded to the
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: bedroom on the second floor that opens upon the staircase,
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: so that you can see all who pass. You are
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: too ill to travel. They must find you in bed,
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: and you said berta ay, cried Marie rapturously, hasten to
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: welcome our preserver. The preserver was a peasant lad under
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: the white dust. His cheeks were burnt a brown red,
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: his eyes honest and blue, threw much staring at the
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: skies and at horizon. Lines were pocket and enriched with
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: tiny wrinkles. Responsibility had made him older than his years.
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: And in speech brief with the beautiful lady, who with
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: tears of joy ran to great hymn, and who, in
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: an ecstasy of happiness, pressed her cheeks against the nose
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: of his horse, he was unimpressed. He returned to her
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: her papers and gravely echoed her ancest to his questions.
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: This chateau, he repeated, was occupied by their general staff.
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: They have left no wounded here. You saw the last
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: of them pass a half hour since he gathered up
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: his reins. Marie shrieked in alarm. You will not leave us,
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: she cried for the first time. The young man permitted
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: himself to smile. Others arrived soon, he said, he touched
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: his shacko wheeled his horse in the direction from which
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: he had come, and a minute later Marie heard the
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: hoofs echoing through the empty village. When they came. The
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: others were more sympathetic. Even in times of war. A
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: beautiful woman was still a beautiful woman, and the staff
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: officers who moved into the quarts so lately occupied by
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: the enemy, found, in the presence of the Countess Duriac
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: nothing to distress them. In the absence of her dear friend,
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: Madame Verni, the chatelain of the chateau, she acted as
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: their hostess. Her chauffeur showed the company cooks the way
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: to the kitchen, the larder, and the charcoal box. She herself,
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: in the hands of General Andre, placed the keys of
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: the famous wine cellar, and to the surgeon that the
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: wounded might be freshly bandaged, intrusted those of the linen closet.
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: After the indignities she had suffered well detained by Les Bosche,
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: her delight and relief at again finding herself under the
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: protection of her own peace. People would have touched a
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: heart of stone, and the hearts of the staff were
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: not of stone. It was with regret they gave the
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: contest permission to continue on her way. At this, she
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: exclaimed with gratitude. She assured them, were her aunt able
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: to travel, she would immediately depart. In Paris, she will
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: be more comfortable than here, said the kind sergeant. He
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: was a reservist, and in times of peace, a fashionable physician,
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: and as much at his ease in a boudoir as
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: in a field hospital. Perhaps if I saw Madame Binny.
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: At the suggestion, the contest was overjoyed. But they found
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: Madame Binni in a state of complete collapse. The conduct
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: of the Germans had brought about a nervous breakdown. Though
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: the bridges are destroyed, meur urged the surgeon. Even with
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: a detour, you can be in Paris in four hours.
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: I think it is worth the effort. But the mere
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: thought of the journey threw Madame Benny into hysterics. She
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: asked only to rest. She begged for an opiate to
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: make her sleep. She begged also that they would leave
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: the door open, so that when she dreamt she was
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: still in the hands of the Germans, and awoke in terror.
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: The sound of the dear French voices and the sight
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: of the beloved French uniforms might reassure her. She played
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: her part well. Concerning her, Marie felt not the least anxiety.
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: But toward Brion, the chauffeur, the new arrivals were less
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: easily satisfied. The General sent his adjutant for the countess.
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: When the adjutant had closed the door, General Andre began
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: abruptly the chauffeur Brion. He asked, you know him, you
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: can vouch for him. But certainly, protested Marie, he is
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: an Italian, as though with sudden enlightenment. Marie laughed. It
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: was as if now in the suspicion of the officer
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: she saw a certain reasonable ness. Brion was so long
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: in the foreign legion in Algier, She explained, where my
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: husband found him, that we have come to think of
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: him as French, as much French as ourselves, I assure you.
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: The General and his adjutant were regarding each other questioningly.
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: Perhaps I should tell the comtesse. Began the General, that
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: we have learned the signal from the adjutant was so slight,
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: so swift, that Marie barely intercepted it. The lips of
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: the General shut together like the leaves of a book.
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: To show the interview was at an end. He reached
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: for a pen. I thank you, he said, of course,
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: prompted the adjutant, Madame Doryac understands. The man must not
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: know we inquired concerning him. General Andrea frowned at Marie.
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: Certainly not, he commanded. The honest fellow must not know
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: that even for a moment he was doubted. Marie raised
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: the violet eyes, reprovingly, I trust, she said, with a reproach,
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: I too well understand the feelings of a French soldier
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: to let him know his loyalty as questioned. With a
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: murmur of appreciation, the officers bowed, and with a gesture
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: of gracious pardon, Marie left them outside in the hall
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: with a no but orderlies to observe. Like a cloak,
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: the graciousness fell from her. She was drawn two ways
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: in her work on for sea was valuable, but nfo See, suspected,
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: was less than of no value. He became a menace,
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: a death warrant. General Andre had said, we have learned,
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: and the adjutant had halted him. What had he learned
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: to know that Marie would have given much? Still, one
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: important fact comforted her, and for Sea alone was suspected.
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: Had there been concerning herself the slightest doubt, they certainly
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: would not have allowed her to guess her companion was
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: under surveillance. They would not have asked one who was
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: herself suspected to vouch for the innocence of a fellow conspirator.
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: Marie found the course to follow so difficult with unfo
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: see under suspicion. His usefulness was for the moment at
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: an end, and to accept the chance offered her to
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: continue on to Paris seemed most wise. On the other hand,
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: if concerning on for Sea she had succeeded in allaying
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: their doubts, the results most to be desired could be
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: attained only by remaining where they were. Their position inside
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: the lines was of the greatest strategic value. The rims
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: of the servants were under the roof, and that Brionn
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: should sleep, and one of them was natural. That to
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: reach or leave his room he should constantly be ascending
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: or descending the stairs. Also was natural. The field wireless outfit,
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: or as they had disdainfully described it, the knapsack wireless
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: was situated not in the bedroom he had selected for himself,
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: but in one adjoining. At other times this was occupied
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: by the maid of Madame Verni. To summon her maid,
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: Madame Verni from her apartment on the second floor, had
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: but to press a button. And it was in the
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: apartment of Madame Verni, and on the bed of that lady,
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: that Madame Beny now reclined. When through the open door
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: she saw an officer or soldier mount the stairs, she
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: pressed the button that rang a bell in the rim
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: of the maid. In this way, long before whoever was
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: ascending the stairs could reach the top floor. Warning of
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: his approach came to Enfesea. It gave him time to
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: replace the dustboard over the fireplace in which the wireless
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: was concealed, and to escape into his own bedroom. The
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: arrangement was ideal, and already information picked up in the
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: holts below by Marie had been conveyed to Unfoesee to
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: relay in a French cipher to the German general staff
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: at Reims. Marie made an alert and charming hostess to
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: all who saw her, it was evident that her mind
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: was intent only upon the comfort of her guests. Throughout
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: the day. Many came and went, but each she made welcome.
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: To each. As he departed, she called beauchance, efficient, tireless, tactful.
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: She was everywhere, in the dining room, in the kitchen,
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: in the bedrooms for the wounded, finding mattresses to spread,
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: in the gorgeous salons of the champagne prince, for the
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: soldier chauffeurs, carrying wine, into the courtyard, where the automobiles
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: panted and corraled, and the arriving and departing shrieked for
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: right of way. At all times an alluring person, now
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: the only woman in a tumult of men, her smart
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: frock covered by an apron, her head and arms bare,
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: undismayed by the sight of the wounded or by the
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: distant rumble of the guns, the Comtesse Doriac was an
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: inspiring and beautiful picture. The eyes of the officers, young
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: and old informed her of that fact, one of which
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: already she was well aware. By the morning of the
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: next day, she was accepted as the owner of the chateau,
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: and though continually she reminded the staff, she was present
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: only as the friend of her schoolmate, Madame Verni. They
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: deferred to her as a hostess. Many of them she
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: already saluted by name, and to those who with messages
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: were constantly motoring to and from the front at swas
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: so she was particularly kind. Overnight. The legend of her charm,
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: of her devotion to the soldiers of all the ranks,
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: had spread from Sisson to Mur, and from Mur to Paris.
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: It was noon of that day when from the window
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: of the second story Marie saw an armored automobile sweep
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: into the courtyard. It was driven by an officer, young
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: and appallingly good looking, and, as was obvious by the
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: way he spun his car, one who held in contempt
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: both the law of gravity and death. That he was
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: someone of importance seemed evident. Before he could alight, the
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: adjutant had raced to meet him. With her eye for detail,
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: Marie observed that the young officer, instead of imparting information,
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: received it. He must, she guessed, have just arrived from Paris,
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: and his brother officer either was telling him the news
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: or giving him his orders, whichever it might be. In
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: what was told him, the new arrival was greatly interested.
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: One instant in indignation, his gauntleted fist beat upon the
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: steering wheel. The next he smiled with pleasure. To interpret
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: his pantomime was difficult, and the better to inform herself.
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: Marie descended the stairs. As she reached the lower hall,
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: the two offices entered to the spy. The man last
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: to arrive was always the one of greatest importance, and
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: Marie assured herself that through her friend the adjutant to
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: meet this one would prove easy. But the chauffeur, commander
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: of the armored car made it most difficult. At sight
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: of Marie, much to her alarm, As though greeting a
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: dear friend, he snatched his keeping from his head and
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: sprang toward her. The major he cried, told me you
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: were here, That you are, Madame Doriac. His eyes spoke
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: his admiration. In delight, he beamed upon her. I might
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: have known it, he murmured, with the confidence of one
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: who is sure he brings good news. He laughed happily.
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: And I, he cried, am Pierot. Who the devil Piero
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: might be? The spy could not guess. She knew only
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: that she wished by a German shell. Piero and his
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: car had been blown to tiny fragments. Was it a trap,
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: she asked herself, or was the handsome youth really someone
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: the Comtesse Doriac should know. But as from his introducing himself,
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: it was evident he could not know that lady very well.
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: Marie took courage and smiled, which Piero she parried. Pierre
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: Tierrie cried the youth, to the relief of Marie. He
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: turned upon the adjutant and to him explained who Pierre
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: Tierri might be. Poul d'uriac, he said, is my dearest friend.
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: When he married this charming lady. I was stationed in Algier,
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: and but for the war, I might never have met her.
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: To Marie, with his hands on his heart, in a
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: most charming manner, he bowed his admiration. He made no
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: effort to conceal, and so he said, I know why
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: there's war. The adjutant smiled indulgently and departed on his duties,
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: leaving them alone. The handsome eyes of Captain Tierrie were
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: raised to the violet eyes of Marie. They appraised her boldly,
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: and as boldly expressed their approval in burlesque, the young
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: man exclaimed indignantly. Paul deceived me, he cried. He told
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: me he had married the most beautiful woman in law.
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: He has married the most beautiful woman in France. To Marie,
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: this was not impertinence, but gallantry. This was a language
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: she understood, and this was the type of man. Because
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: he was the least difficult to manage, she held most
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: in contempt. But about you, Paul did not deceive me,
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: she retorted, in apparent confusion. Her eyes refused to meet his.
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: He told me Pierot was a most dangerous man, she continued, hurriedly,
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: with wifely solicitude. She asked concerning Paul. She explained that
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: for a week she had been a prisoner in the chateau,
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: and since the mobilization of her husband, save that he
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: was with his regiment in Paris, she had heard nothing.
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: Captain Tierrie was able to give her later news. Only
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: the day previous, on the boulevard, he had met Count d'uriac.
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: He was at the Grand Hotel, and as Tyrie was
• 43:25
  Speaker 1: at once motoring back to Paris, he would give Paul
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: news of their meeting. He hoped he might tell him
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: that soon his wife also would be in Paris. Marie
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: explained that only the illness of her aunt prevented her
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: from that same day joining her husband. Her manner became serious.
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: And what other news have you, she asked, Here on
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: the firing line, we know less of what is going
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: forward than you in Paris. So Pierre Tierrie told her
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: all he knew they were preparing dispatches. He was at
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: once to carry back to the general staff, and for
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: the moment his time was his own. How could he
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: better employ it than talking of the war with a
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: patriotic and charming French woman. In consequence, Marie acquired a
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: mass of facts, gossip and guesses. From these she mentally
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: selected such information as to her employers across the Annes
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: would be of vital interest. And of Part two, Part
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: three of Somewhere in France by rich Tarding Davis. This
• 44:46
  Speaker 1: LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Carolyne
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: Part three. And to rid herself of Tierri and on
• 44:57
  Speaker 1: the fourth floor Sicon Foussie was no now her only wish,
• 45:02
  Speaker 1: But in attempting this by the return of the Atjutant,
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: she was delayed to Tierri. The Atjutant gave a sealed envelope.
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: Thirty one boulevardis invalid, he said with a smile. He
• 45:16
  Speaker 1: turned to Marie, and you will accompany him, I exclaimed Marie.
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: She was sick with sudden terror, but the tolerant smile
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: of the adjutant reassured her. The Count, your husband, he explained,
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: has learned of your detention here by the enemy, and
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: he has besieged the general staff to have you conveyed
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: safely to Paris. The adjutant glanced at a field telegram
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: he held open in his hand. He asks, he continued,
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: that you be permitted to return in the car of
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: his friend, Captain Tierrie, and that honorriving you join him
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: at the Grand Hotel. Tierrie exclaimed with a delight, But
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: how charming, he cried, to night. You must both dine
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: with me at Larouse. He saluted his superior officer. Some petrol, sir,
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: he said, and I am ready to Marie, he added,
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: The car will be at the steps in five minutes.
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: He turned and left them. The thoughts of Marie, snatching
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: at an excuse for delay, raised madly the danger of
• 46:36
  Speaker 1: meeting the Count Doriac. Her supposed husband did not alarm her.
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: The Grand Hotel has many exits, and even before they
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: reached it for leaving the car, she could invent an
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: excuse that the gallant Tyrie would not suspect. But what
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: now concerned her was how before she was whisked away
• 46:58
  Speaker 1: to Paris she could convey Toine Foresee the information she
• 47:02
  Speaker 1: had gathered from Tierrie. First, of a woman overcome with
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: a delight at being reunited with her husband, she gave
• 47:11
  Speaker 1: an excellent imitation. Then she exclaimed, in distress, But my aunt,
• 47:17
  Speaker 1: Madame Benay, she cried, I cannot leave her. The sisters
• 47:23
  Speaker 1: of Saint Francis, said, the adjutant arrive within an hour
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: to nurse the wounded. They will care also for your aunt.
• 47:34
  Speaker 1: Marie concealed her chagrin. Then I will at once prepare
• 47:38
  Speaker 1: to go, she said. The adjutant haunted her a slip
• 47:43
  Speaker 1: of paper urlessee passe to Paris. He said, you leave
• 47:48
  Speaker 1: in five minutes, Madame. As temporary hostess of the chateau,
• 47:55
  Speaker 1: Marie was free to visit any part of it, and
• 47:58
  Speaker 1: as she passed her door signal from Madame Benni told
• 48:02
  Speaker 1: her that on Foesee was on the fourth floor, that
• 48:05
  Speaker 1: he was at work, and that the coast was clear,
• 48:09
  Speaker 1: softly and the felt slippers she always wore, as she explained,
• 48:14
  Speaker 1: in order not to disturb the wounded, She mounted the staircase.
• 48:19
  Speaker 1: In her hand, she carried the housekeeper's keys, and as
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: an excuse, it was her plan to return with an
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: armful of linen for the arriving sisters. But Marie never
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: reached the top of the stairs. When her eyes rose
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: to the level of the fourth floor, she came to
• 48:37
  Speaker 1: a sudden halt at what she saw. Terror gripped her,
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: bound her hand and foot, and turned her blood to
• 48:47
  Speaker 1: eyes at her post. For an instant Madame Bini had slept,
• 48:53
  Speaker 1: and an officer of the staff, led by curiosity, chance
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: or suspicion, had unobserved and unannounced, mounted to the fourth floor.
• 49:04
  Speaker 1: When Marie saw him, he was in front of the
• 49:07
  Speaker 1: room that held the wireless. His back was toward her,
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: but she saw that he was holding the door to
• 49:14
  Speaker 1: the room ajar, that his eye was pressed to the opening,
• 49:19
  Speaker 1: and that through it he had pushed the muzzle of
• 49:22
  Speaker 1: his automatic. What would be the fate of Fontfousie Marine knew,
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: nor did she for an instant consider it. Her thoughts
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: were of her own safety, that she might live, not
• 49:38
  Speaker 1: that she might still serve the Vleemstrasse, the Kaiser or
• 49:42
  Speaker 1: the fatherland, but that she might live. In a moment
• 49:47
  Speaker 1: on Foresi would be denounced, the chateau would ring with
• 49:50
  Speaker 1: the alarm, and though she knew and Foesee would not
• 49:53
  Speaker 1: betray her by others, she might be accused. To avert
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: suspicion from herself. She saw only one way open. She
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: must be the first to denounce on foresea. Like Ida,
• 50:09
  Speaker 1: she leaped down the marble stairs, and, in a panic
• 50:13
  Speaker 1: she had no need to assume, burst into the presence
• 50:17
  Speaker 1: of the staff. Gentlemen. She gasped, my servant, the Chauffeur
• 50:24
  Speaker 1: Brionde is a spy. There is a German wireless in
• 50:28
  Speaker 1: the chateau. He is using it. I have seen him.
• 50:32
  Speaker 1: With exclamations, the officers arose to their feet. General Andre
• 50:37
  Speaker 1: alone remained seated. General Andre was a veteran of many
• 50:43
  Speaker 1: colonial wars Cochin, China, Algiers, Morocco. The Great War when
• 50:49
  Speaker 1: it came found him on duty in the intelligence department.
• 50:54
  Speaker 1: He is aquiline nose, bristling, white eyebrows and flushing, restless eyes.
• 51:02
  Speaker 1: Gave him his nickname of lell In amazement. The flashing
• 51:08
  Speaker 1: eyes were now turned upon Marie. He glared her as
• 51:12
  Speaker 1: though he thought she suddenly had flown mad. A German wireless,
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: he protested, it is impossible. I was on the fourth floor,
• 51:24
  Speaker 1: panted Marie, collecting linen for the sisters. In the room
• 51:28
  Speaker 1: next to the linen closet. I heard a strange buzzing sound.
• 51:32
  Speaker 1: I opened the door softly. I saw Brien with his
• 51:35
  Speaker 1: back to me, seated by an instrument. There were receivers
• 51:38
  Speaker 1: clamped to his ears. My God, the disgrace, The disgrace
• 51:43
  Speaker 1: to my husband and to me who vouched for him.
• 51:46
  Speaker 1: To you, apparently in an agony of ramase, the fingers
• 51:52
  Speaker 1: of the woman laced and interlaced. I cannot forgive myself.
• 51:58
  Speaker 1: The officers moved to the door, but General Andrea halted
• 52:03
  Speaker 1: them still. In a tone of incredulity, he demanded, when
• 52:08
  Speaker 1: did you see this? Marie knew the question was coming.
• 52:13
  Speaker 1: Knew she must explain how she saw Brion and yet
• 52:17
  Speaker 1: did not see the staff officer, who with his prisoner,
• 52:21
  Speaker 1: might now at any instant appear. She must make it
• 52:25
  Speaker 1: plain that she had discovered the spy and left the
• 52:29
  Speaker 1: upper part of the house before the officer had visited it.
• 52:33
  Speaker 1: When that was, she could not know, But the chance
• 52:37
  Speaker 1: was that he had preceded her by only a few minutes.
• 52:41
  Speaker 1: When did you see this, repeated the General. But just now,
• 52:48
  Speaker 1: cried Marie. Not ten minutes. Since why did you not
• 52:53
  Speaker 1: come to me at once? I was afraid, replied Marie.
• 52:59
  Speaker 1: If I moved, I was afraid he might hear me,
• 53:01
  Speaker 1: and he, knowing I would expose him, would kill me
• 53:05
  Speaker 1: and so escape you. There was an eager whisper of
• 53:10
  Speaker 1: approval for silence. General Andre slapped his hand upon the table,
• 53:17
  Speaker 1: then continued Marie. I understood. With the receivers on his ears,
• 53:22
  Speaker 1: he could not have heard me open the door, nor
• 53:25
  Speaker 1: could he hear me leave. And I ran to my aunt.
• 53:29
  Speaker 1: The thought that we had harbored such an animal sickened me,
• 53:32
  Speaker 1: and I was weak enough to feel faint, but only
• 53:35
  Speaker 1: for an instant. Then I came here. She moved swiftly
• 53:41
  Speaker 1: to the door. Let me show you the room, she begged,
• 53:46
  Speaker 1: you can take him in the act. Her eyes, wild
• 53:50
  Speaker 1: with the excitement of the chase, swept the circle. Will
• 53:55
  Speaker 1: you come, she begged of the crisis. He interrupted. The
• 54:03
  Speaker 1: orderly on duty opened the door. Captain Tierrie's compliments, he
• 54:09
  Speaker 1: recited mechanically, and is he to delay longer for Madame Doriac.
• 54:15
  Speaker 1: With a sharp gesture, General Andre waved Marie toward the
• 54:19
  Speaker 1: door without rising. He inclined his head. Adieu, Madame, he said,
• 54:26
  Speaker 1: we act at once upon your information. I thank you.
• 54:31
  Speaker 1: As she crossed from the hall to the terrace, the
• 54:34
  Speaker 1: ears of the spy were assaulted by a sudden tumult
• 54:38
  Speaker 1: of voices. They were raised in threats and curses. Looking back,
• 54:44
  Speaker 1: she saw a Foussie descending the stairs. His hands were
• 54:48
  Speaker 1: held above his head behind him with his automatic the
• 54:52
  Speaker 1: staff officers she had surprised on the fourth floor was
• 54:55
  Speaker 1: driving him forward above the clinched fists of the soldiers
• 55:01
  Speaker 1: that ran to meet him. The eyes of Mofussie were
• 55:04
  Speaker 1: turned toward her. His face was expressionless, his eyes neither
• 55:10
  Speaker 1: accused nor reproached. And with the joy of one who
• 55:14
  Speaker 1: has looked upon and then escaped the guillotine, Marie ran
• 55:19
  Speaker 1: down the steps to the waiting automobile with a pretty
• 55:23
  Speaker 1: cry of pleasure. She leaped into the seat beside Tiri gaily.
• 55:29
  Speaker 1: She threw out her arms to Paris. She commanded. The
• 55:34
  Speaker 1: handsome eyes of Tyrie, eloquent with admiration, looked back into hers.
• 55:40
  Speaker 1: He stopped, threw in the clutch, and the great gray car,
• 55:45
  Speaker 1: with the machine gun and its crew of privates guarding
• 55:49
  Speaker 1: the rear, plunged through the park to Paris, echoed Tirie,
• 55:57
  Speaker 1: in the order in which Marie had last seen them.
• 56:01
  Speaker 1: AFO see and the staff officer entered the room of
• 56:05
  Speaker 1: General Andre, and upon the soldiers in the hall. The
• 56:09
  Speaker 1: door was shut. The face of the stuff officer was grave,
• 56:14
  Speaker 1: but his voice could not conceal his elation. My General,
• 56:20
  Speaker 1: he reported, I found this man in the act of
• 56:23
  Speaker 1: giving information to the enemy. There is a wireless General
• 56:28
  Speaker 1: Andrea rose slowly. He looked neither the officer nor at
• 56:32
  Speaker 1: his prisoner. With frowning eyes, he stared down at the
• 56:37
  Speaker 1: maps upon his table. I know, he interrupted, Someone has
• 56:43
  Speaker 1: already told me. He paused, and then, as though recalling
• 56:49
  Speaker 1: his manners, but still without raising his eyes, he added,
• 56:53
  Speaker 1: you have done well, sir, in silence. The officers of
• 56:58
  Speaker 1: the staff stood motionless. With surprise. They noted that as
• 57:04
  Speaker 1: yet neither anger nor curiosity had General Andre glanced at
• 57:09
  Speaker 1: the prisoner but of the presence of the General, the
• 57:13
  Speaker 1: spy was most acutely conscious. He stood erect, his arms
• 57:18
  Speaker 1: still raised, but his body strained forward, and on the
• 57:22
  Speaker 1: averted eyes of the General, his own were fixed in
• 57:28
  Speaker 1: an agony of supplication. They asked a question. At last,
• 57:35
  Speaker 1: as though against his wish, toward the spy. The General
• 57:39
  Speaker 1: turned his head and their eyes met, and still General
• 57:44
  Speaker 1: Andre was silent. Then the arms of the spy, like
• 57:48
  Speaker 1: those of a runner who has finished his race, and
• 57:51
  Speaker 1: beats the tape, exhausted, fell to his sides. In a
• 57:57
  Speaker 1: voice low and vibrant, he spoke his question. It has
• 58:01
  Speaker 1: been so long, sir, he pleaded, May I not come home?
• 58:08
  Speaker 1: General Andre turned to the astonished group surrounding him. His
• 58:13
  Speaker 1: voice was hushed, like that of one who speaks across
• 58:17
  Speaker 1: an open grave. Gentlemen, he began, My children, he added,
• 58:25
  Speaker 1: a German spy, a woman involved in a scandal. Your
• 58:29
  Speaker 1: brother in arms, Henri Ravignac. His honor, he thought, was concerned,
• 58:36
  Speaker 1: and without honor, he refused to live. To prove him guiltless.
• 58:41
  Speaker 1: His younger brother Shall asked leave to seek out the
• 58:45
  Speaker 1: woman who had betrayed Henrie, and by us was detailed
• 58:50
  Speaker 1: on secret service. He gave up home, family, friends, He
• 58:56
  Speaker 1: lived in exile, in poverty, at all times in danger
• 58:59
  Speaker 1: of swift and ignoble death. In the War office, we
• 59:03
  Speaker 1: know him as one who has given to his country services.
• 59:06
  Speaker 1: She cannot hope to reward, for she cannot return to
• 59:11
  Speaker 1: him the years he has lost. She cannot return to
• 59:15
  Speaker 1: him his brother. But she can and will clear the
• 59:19
  Speaker 1: name of Erie Ravignac, and upon his brother Charyl, bestow
• 59:25
  Speaker 1: promotion and honors. The General turned and embraced the spy.
• 59:32
  Speaker 1: My children, he said, welcome your brother, he has come home.
• 59:41
  Speaker 1: Before the car had reached the fortifications, Marie Gesler had
• 59:45
  Speaker 1: arranged her plan of escape. She had departed from the
• 59:49
  Speaker 1: chateau without even a handbag, and she would say that
• 59:52
  Speaker 1: before the shops closed she must make purchases. Le Bronton
• 59:58
  Speaker 1: lay in their way, and she asked that when they
• 1:00:01
  Speaker 1: reached it for a moment, she might alight. Captain Tierrie
• 1:00:05
  Speaker 1: readily gave permission from the department store. It would be
• 1:00:10
  Speaker 1: most easy to disappear, and in anticipation Marie smiled covertly.
• 1:00:16
  Speaker 1: Nor was the picture of Captain Tierrie impatiently waiting outside unamusing,
• 1:00:22
  Speaker 1: but Before le Bronton was approached, the car turned sharply
• 1:00:26
  Speaker 1: down a narrow street. On one side, along its entire
• 1:00:30
  Speaker 1: length ran a high gray wall, grim and forbidding in
• 1:00:36
  Speaker 1: it was a green gate studded with iron bolts. Before this,
• 1:00:42
  Speaker 1: the automobile drew suddenly to a halt. The crew of
• 1:00:46
  Speaker 1: the armored car tumbled off the rear seat, and one
• 1:00:49
  Speaker 1: of them beat upon the green gate. Marie felt a
• 1:00:53
  Speaker 1: hunt of ice clutch at her throat, but she controlled herself.
• 1:01:00
  Speaker 1: And what is this, she cried gayly at her side.
• 1:01:06
  Speaker 1: Captain Tierree was smiling down at her, but his smile
• 1:01:11
  Speaker 1: was hateful. It is the prison of Saint Lazaar, he said.
• 1:01:17
  Speaker 1: It is not becoming. He added sternly that the name
• 1:01:22
  Speaker 1: of the Comtesse Douriac should be made common as the
• 1:01:25
  Speaker 1: Paris road. Fighting for her life, Marie thrust herself against him.
• 1:01:33
  Speaker 1: Her arms that throughout the journey had rested on the
• 1:01:36
  Speaker 1: back of the driving seat, caressed his shoulders. Her lips
• 1:01:41
  Speaker 1: and the violet eyes were close to his. Why should
• 1:01:46
  Speaker 1: you care, she whispered fiercely. You have me Let the
• 1:01:51
  Speaker 1: Count Dourriac look after the honor of his wife himself.
• 1:01:56
  Speaker 1: The charming, Tyrie laughed at her mockingly. He means too,
• 1:02:02
  Speaker 1: he said, I am the Count d'urac end of Part
• 1:02:08
  Speaker 1: three and of Somewhere in France by Richard Harding Davis,
• 1:02:13
  Speaker 1: recorded by Caroline in Groningen in the Netherlands in May
• 1:02:17
  Speaker 1: two thousand and sixteen. Thank you for listening.