REAL soldier may not stray far afield and be sure of himself." Colonel Dunois said as we resumed our walk after a sun-tanned young officer had halted us at the corner of the Rue Beaux Arts and Rue Bonaparte and inquired the way to the Boulevard Saint Michel. "A man who can find his way through a camp on the blackest night or unerringly head toward the oasis in the desert becomes lost when he is thrown into unaccustomed surroundings. The most efficient General I have ever known, a man whose judgment in battle was unerring and swift, made a faux pas at his first presidential reception that nearly caused him disgrace. He blundered as badly as did Lepard, Villalon, and I when we were detached for special duty in America." His eyes twinkled with recollection, and he laughed softly and stroked his white goatee.
"It was after the Algerian campaign, where we became known as 'The Captains Three'; yes, sometime after. Come to think of it, we had had a somewhat trying experience in Washington, had participated in that Spanish-Moroccan affair, and again returned to Paris before we were given this singular duty, more fit for detectives and secret service men than for us; but who may question the ways of the French war department? Certainly not I, who know that it seldom blunders.
"Villalon had become an enthusiast on ordnance and explosives and was giving instructions to the cadets at St. Cyr, I was dancing attendance at the President's palace, and Lepard was chafing under garrison duty, when we three were summoned to the war office. We met in the antechamber and wondered what was to answer. In the old days we had been called on many occasions to expiate reckless acts of our youth; for I suppose we were what they called us, a trio of daredevils, always slipping along the edge of discipline and escaping rating only because we performed feats that would have cost less fortunate men their lives: but we had grown circumspect, hence vaguely questioned one another as to the cause of our summons.
IKE three culprits we were ushered into the
presence of Monsieur Dupré, no less than the Minister of War, and at sight of him our spirits rose and we were convinced that had we to account for some exploit our superior officer would have been there with him.
"He smiled and studied us curiously as we saluted. 'So,' he said, 'you are the Captains Three, the men who by a ruse frightened an army of Arabs at Sid el Hama, have been rated for dueling, and yet time and again have ventured where other men dared not and miraculously returned? So you are the men!'
"Villalon and I stood like statues; but Lepard, insouciant and handsome, had the temerity to laugh aloud.
"'His Excellency, the Minister of War, is pleased to flatter and reprove us in the same breath,' he said, and laughed again.
"Monsieur Dupré joined in, motioned us to seats, and we breathed easier. His first question was terse and to the point:
"'What would the Captains Three think of an assignment requiring wit, strategy, and fearlessness, one in which others of our national secret service have failed? Would they attempt to learn something of which France, menaced by the Germans, stands in need?'
"There was a clatter of belts, a rustling of uniforms, and before him stood three men who simultaneously answered, 'At your service, sir!'
"He smiled at our enthusiasm in answering that call which none may disregard, the summons of patriotism.
'America,' he said, after we had again resumed our seats, 'has in her possession an explosive more powerful than any known to another nation in the world. That inventive genius, Hudson Maxim, has discovered and developed something that France must have. So carefully guarded is her secret that none has been able to gain knowledge of it.'
"Frowning momentarily at a bundle of reports he held in his hand, he threw them on his desk with a gesture of contempt, saying, 'So far the Germans have been no more successful than ourselves. We have learned that this explosive is manufactured in a plant standing in a Government reservation and guarded by the employees, assisted by a squad of soldiers. Although accessible, no outsider has been able to enter it. We want plans or photographs of the machinery employed, a knowledge of the process, and an analysis of the ingredients. I am told by General Rodet that Captain Villalon, being the best equipped man in France for the quest, should go, and with him you, his comrades, who are adroit and brave. Do you dare?'
"To ask us if we dared was to receive an affirmative answer, though he braved us to face an army.