The sun was warm in the field and the twin brothers spent a most enjoyable hour talking with their new comrades. Like all the French troops they were talkative, enthusiastic and hospitable. They were eager for news; they were certain that France and her allies would be victorious; they also brought hot coffee and sweet chocolate for the young Americans. They were delighted to think that people from a land so distant should think enough of France to fight for her in her struggle for freedom and justice.
Leon and Earl were particularly interested to learn that large forces of Russian troops were now fighting side by side with their allies on the western front. They had not heard that there were Russian soldiers in France, although such reports had often been freely circulated. A soldier knows little about the war in which he fights; he sees what takes place on the ground in the immediate vicinity of the place where he is located but the general outcome or fortunes of battles he knows nothing about. People at home or in neutral countries know much more about the actual trend of the war than does the soldier who fights its battles.
Finally Jacques went back to the monoplane and preparations for an immediate return were made.
"All ready to go back?" he inquired cheerily.
"Yes," said Leon. "Did you deliver your dispatches all right?"
"Yes, indeed, and now we have nothing to think about except getting back home to the _douzième_ once more."
"I'd hardly call it home," laughed Earl. "I hope there aren't as many bullets and shells flying around our homes as there are around the _douzième_. Home wouldn't be very comfortable under those circumstances."
"Well we'd better start anyway," said Jacques. "All aboard!"
The boys quickly scrambled back to their places. The little group of soldiers they were leaving wished them the best of luck and then the machine started.
"Do you suppose we'll have as easy a trip home as we did coming?" asked Earl as they began to soar higher and higher.
"We can go the long way if you want to," said Jacques.
"What do you think, Leon?" demanded Earl. "Don't you think we might as well take the longer but the safer route on the return trip?"
"I don't see why not," exclaimed Leon. "We can fly just behind the battle-line all the way back. I'd like to see what it looks like."