"Do not fire! It is I--Ivan! Ivan Ivanovitch!"
For a moment Fred thought he was going to collapse, so great was the
relief and the slackening of tension. He did laugh out, but caught
himself at once.
"Ivan!" he said. "I thought it was a German officer! It is I, Ivan--Fred
Waring!"
"I knew it," said Ivan, coming up close. "I saw you for just a second as
your horse reared. It was just a flash of your face, but if I have ever
seen a face once, I never forget it. And you have the look of a Suvaroff
about you, even though you are different. I would have known you for one
of the breed had I met you anywhere in the world, had no one told me
who you were. And so I turned to find you and follow you."
"But what are you doing here? I thought you were to rejoin our own
army?"
"I was pressed into service as a chauffeur. This car was needed near the
front, and there was no one to drive it. I deceived them wholly, with my
uniform, and my motorcycle. And so they forced this car upon me! My plan
was to use it, instead of my cycle, to get past their lines."
"But you are riding straight to Gumbinnen--and they are near there in
force!"
"No, they have retreated from there.
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