Two of these lancers wheeled and accompanied the automobile at a canter. One of the riders was a trumpeter; and very soon the car halted and the Uhlan set his trumpet to his lips and sounded it.
Almost immediately a distant bugle answered. The cavalryman on the rumble stood up, hung one of the lanterns to a white flag, and waved it slowly to and fro. Then the mounted Uhlan tied the flag to his lance-tip, hung the lantern to it, and raised it high in the air. Already the chauffeur had piled their luggage by the roadside; the officer got out, came around, and opened the door. As Karen descended he gave her his arm, then saluted and sprang to his place. The car backed in a half circle, turned, backed again, swung clear around, and went humming away into the darkness.
From the shadowy obscurity ahead came the trample of horses.
"Halt! Who goes there?" cried the mounted lancer.
The Uhlan trumpeter sounded the parley again, then, reversing his trumpet, reined in and sat like a statue, as half a dozen cloaked riders walked their horses up under the rays of the lantern which dangled from the Uhlan's lifted lance.
A cavalryman wearing a jaunty Belgian forage cap leaned from his saddle and looked earnestly at Guild.
"Who is this, if you please?" he asked curiously.
"Reserve cavalry officer and his wife," said the Uhlan crisply. "Orders are to deliver them to you."
The Belgian lieutenant had already recognized the uniform of the Guides; so had the other cavalrymen; and now they were hastily dismounting and leading their horses forward.
"Karen," said Guild unsteadily, "it's my own regiment!" And he stepped forward and took the lieutenant's hands in both of his. His features were working; he could not speak, but the troopers seemed to understand.
They gave Karen a horse; Guild lifted her to the saddle, shortened the stirrup, and set her sideways.
They offered him another horse, but he shook his head, flung one arm over Karen's saddle and walked on slowly beside her stirrup.
Behind them the clatter of retreating hoofs marked the return of the Uhlans. From somewhere in the darkness a farm cart rumbled up and cavalrymen lifted in their luggage.
Now, under the clustered planets the cart and the troopers moved off over a wide, smooth road across the plain.