CHAPTER XX
UNDER ARREST
It was morning. Hal and Chester, refreshed by a good night's rest, hadjust completed their toilets and were about to repair to the quarters ofGeneral Petain, there to report for the day's duty and also to inform theFrench commander of what they had learned the night before. But, as ittranspired, their good intentions were to go for naught and they were tobe ushered into the presence of General Petain in a manner that neitherwould have believed possible.
Came the sound of many footsteps approaching without. They stopped beforethe boys' tent. A French officer thrust his head in the entrance.
"Lieutenant Crawford! Lieutenant Paine!" he said sharply.
"Sir!" exclaimed both lads in a single breath.
They stepped from the tent.
"You are under arrest!" were the French officer's next words.
Hal and Chester stepped back in complete bewilderment.
"Wha--what's that, sir?" asked Hal, believing that he could not haveheard aright.
"You are under arrest," was the sharp reply. "I am ordered to conduct youbefore General Petain at once."
Both lads had recovered themselves by this time; they stepped forwardcoolly enough, in spite of the fact that their hearts were flutteringstrangely.
"The general might have spared himself the trouble of sending for us,"said Hal, quietly. "Even now we were about to report to him."
The French officer said nothing. He motioned to the file of soldiers whomhe commanded and Hal and Chester stepped in between the men.
"One moment," said the French soldier.
He approached the lads.
"I must ask for your swords and revolvers," he said.
Without a word the lads surrendered their weapons.
"Good!" said the French officer. Then to his men: "Forward, march!"
And in this manner Hal and Chester came before the French commander atVerdun. The latter was busy with a pile of papers when they entered hisquarters and did not look up immediately. For perhaps fifteen minutes thelads stood there, firmly erect, their eyes upon the general.
Suddenly General Petain wheeled about.
"Leave these men with me," he instructed the French officer whohad escorted the lads to his tent; "but attend me outside withincall, Captain."
The French officer saluted and withdrew.
General Petain gazed frowningly at Hal and Chester for perhaps a fullminute. The lads returned his look without flinching, though there wasnothing that might be construed as defiance in their manner; rather,nothing but respectful attention.
"So!" said General Petain at last. "So! I find you two lads, whom I havetrusted, among a band of conspirators, eh?"
"Among them, sir," said Hal, quietly, "but not of them."
"What's that?" demanded the general. "You admit you were with them andthen claim innocence? Impossible!"
"I beg your pardon, sir," said Hal, "but it is not impossible. It isthe truth."
"But I have it on high authority," returned the general, "that you havebeen the possessors of the emblem of the conspirators for some days now."
"That is true enough, sir," Hal agreed; "but we came into the possessionof those black peas accidentally and with no thought of theirsignificance."
The general sniffed contemptuously.
"My information regarding you boys comes from a source that I am afraid Imust believe," he said.
"Will you tell us the source, sir?" asked Hal.
General Petain shook his head.
"It would do no good," he returned. "It would not alter the facts in thecase. Now, I know you boys have been of great value to the cause of theAllies. My informant is authority for that statement also. You haveaccomplished much and France and the other allied countries must thankyou. But it appears now that you have been led from the proper way ofthinking; and my informant in your case says, and rightly, that fromyoung men who have done much to advance the cause of the Allies, there ismuch to be feared when they embark upon some other venture.
"You are both resourceful; I know that. That is the reason that I havehad you placed under arrest--that you may not turn your energies againstus. I shall have you sent to Paris, thence to London, and I hope thatbefore long you will be back in your own country, the United States."
"Pardon me, sir," said Hal, respectfully, "but I do not need to ask youagain to name the man who has caused us to be in this predicament. Hisname is Stubbs."
"Well, I see no need to deny it," said General Petain.
"General," said Chester, now stepping forward, "I would be glad if youwould give me an opportunity to explain this matter."
"It shall not be said that I denied any man a hearing," was the general'sreply. "Proceed."
As briefly as possible Chester recounted the manner in which they hadcome into possession of the two peas; of why they decided to keep them;of their capture the night before by Anthony Stubbs and of their escape;and last, of their attendance at the meeting of the conspirators, where,for the first time, they learned the true significance of the littleblack peas.
As Chester proceeded with his story the general listened attentively.When Chester spoke of being captured by Stubbs, the general smiledquietly, and Hal, noting the smile, guessed rightly that General Petainhad had a hand in the capture himself--or rather, that he at least hadsanctioned it; and when Chester spoke of the meeting of the conspiratorsand mentioned the name of General Pombrey, General Petain frowned.
"So," he said when Chester had concluded, "General Pombrey is mixed up inthis thing, eh?"
"He seems to be the leader of the movement, sir," replied Chester. "Ishould say that he is without doubt the directing hand."
"And what do you hope to gain by telling me all this?" asked GeneralPetain, eyeing the lad shrewdly.
"I hope to see the conspiracy crushed, sir, before it gains furthermomentum," was Chester's reply.
General Petain eyed the lad peculiarly.
"Can it be that I have been misinformed?" he muttered to himself.
Hal's keen ears caught the words.
"I can assure you that you have been misinformed, sir," he repliedfirmly.
For several moments more the general eyed the lads sternly and theyreturned his gaze without flinching. Suddenly the general clapped hishands together. The French officer who had arrested the two lads enteredhe tent and saluted.
"Captain," said General Petain. "my compliments to Mr. Anthony Stubbs andsay that I desire his presence here at once."
The French officer saluted and took his departure.
The hearts of the two lads beat high now. Apparently General Petain hadbeen convinced of the truth of their stories. They believed that whenStubbs confronted them he would weaken.
"I don't know what to think about this matter," said General Petain asthey waited for Stubbs' arrival. "I am loath to believe you would bemixed up in anything of this nature."
"How did Mr. Stubbs happen to mention us as being implicated in thisconspiracy, sir?" asked Chester.
"He said he wanted to see you get home safely and not be mixed up inanything that might mean a firing squad," said General Petain, calmly. "Ipromised him your safe return to America for his news of the conspiracy."
"I see," said Chester.
At this moment Stubbs was announced. General Petain looked at himsharply.
"These officers," he said, indicating Hal and Chester with a wave of hishand, "deny the charges you have made against them, sir."
"Surely, you didn't expect them to admit it, sir?" questionedStubbs, shifting from one foot to another, as Hal and Chester benttheir gaze on him.
"Well, no, I didn't," was General Petain's reply, "but they tell such astraightforward story that I am of the opinion you must be mistaken as totheir part in this conspiracy."
"But the peas," said Stubbs. "They had them."
"Well, somebody might have slipped one into your pocket, as far as thatgoes," said General Petain; "and then you might be standing here unde
rsuspicion."
"Tha--that's so, too," Stubbs stammered. "I hadn't thought of that."
"Well, you should have thought of it," exclaimed General Petain."It's no small thing to cast suspicion upon a man and then be able toprove nothing."
"But the peas--"
"Never mind about the peas," stormed the general. "By any chance, whenyou had these officers in your tent last night, did they admit connectionwith the plot?"
"No, sir; they professed ignorance. But they had the peas--"
"_Mon Dieu_! Can't you think of anything but peas? What kind of a warcorrespondent are you, anyhow?"
Stubbs was offended. He drew himself up and would have made reply, butGeneral Petain silenced him with a gesture.
"I don't question your loyalty," he said, "and I know that you acted withthe good of these lads at heart. But I am convinced you have beenmistaken. I am going to release these boys. Lieutenant Paine! LieutenantCrawford! you are--"
"Sir!" exclaimed Stubbs at this juncture.
The general eyed him closely.
"Well?" he demanded.
"Please, General, do not let them go until I have a few moments' start. Idon't know what they will do to me." Stubbs looked nervous.
"Very well," said General Petain with a smile. "Then hurry and take yourdeparture, Mr. Stubbs."
Stubbs needed no urging and he disappeared from the general's tent withagility; and Hal called after him:
"Better hunt a hole, Mr. Stubbs; we'll be on your trail in a fewminutes!"