Assignment in Brittany Read Online Free PDF Page A

believe in a wine toddy. It cures a lot of things, but not your trouble. Herbal tea is good, and plain unseasoned macaroni or potatoes. It all tastes rotten, though.”
    “Yes, doctor.”
    “And you’d better listen to me. You’ve a long sail ahead of you. Now come on.”
    This time Hearne led the way.
    There were still more roads to cross now, little straggling roads which twisted and turned from village to village. And there was a German patrol to be avoided. They managed that by throwing themselves flat into a ditch beside the road which they had been on the point of crossing. It was unpleasant but effective. The motor-cycles swept past them, and they could breathe again in spite of the mud. When they crawled out of their hiding-place, Hearne looked anxiously at the boy. But the haggard young face gave an attempt at a smile.
    “All right for another half-hour, I think,” he said. “Come on, Sam; breakfast in bed tomorrow.” Sam only gave that slowgrin of his. And then they were moving silently again: walking, slipping, crouching, crawling, but always moving forward.
    They had passed the village Hearne had been expecting. There was no mistaking that church tower. Norman-Gothic, English influence, interesting, the guide-books would say. It was interesting all right. This was where they’d branch off, and he could make up for the time he had lost. Matthews would have been apoplectic if he could have seen him in these last two hours. “Well, I’m damned,” he would say. “Of all the infernal stupidity...”
    Hearne halted. He pointed to a line of trees. “There’s your road,” he said. “When you reach it, turn left and that will take you west to Dinan in six miles or so. I’ll leave you here, now that we are getting towards the towns. Three’s a crowd in this game, too.”
    They saw reason in that. “By the way, what would have happened if I had put up a real fight or tried to dodge you?” he asked, as they parted.
    “Our suspicions would have been aroused,” the boy said. He handed over the revolver to Hearne. He was beginning to shiver again. His eyes were looking towards the line of trees.
    “In plain English, I’d’ve twisted, your damned neck with my two bare hands,” Sam said amiably, and then he noticed the shivering too. “Time to be off, lad,” he added, and taking the boy’s arm, pulled him quickly away. Hearne watched them go—two shadows as he had first seen them, merging cautiously into the blackness of the trees.
    “With my two bare hands,” he repeated to himself. Then, “See, Matthews?” as if to the stars overhead.
    I wonder, he was thinking, just what did happen to that train.Well, he wouldn’t know now. Good chap, that Sam. Hearne remembered how carefully he had listened to his advice about the diet for the boy. Sam would see that young man did rest up. Yes, they were a strange couple all right, each of them thinking he was responsible for the other. That way, even with the odds against them, they might have a chance. For a minute Hearne envied them. The worst of his job was that he was always so completely alone. But, he reminded himself, that could also be the best thing about it, too. He looked at his watch, and smiled to himself as he noted he now called it his quite naturally. He had about four hours left and twelve miles or so to go. If the ground was easy and patrols not too frequent, the distance could be lessened. He should manage it all right.
    As he turned eastward, he felt more confident. In these last two hours, he had felt all the old tricks and instincts coming back to him. He was covering the ground more quickly now, decisions were easier, movements were surer. The footling pessimism and nervousness which had attacked him at the beginning of this night were gone. When dawn came he would be home.

4
    THE SLEEPING VILLAGE
    The last obstinate stars were fading in the sky when Hearne came to Saint-Déodat. His arrival at this hour solved some minor problems for