The pretty trim little garden had a few flowers in bloom, so sheltered was it, and Mackay picked a red rosebud as they walked up the path.
Harold led the way without ceremony into a parlour that opened off a verandah, and, finding it empty, opened a door beyond.

"Marie! Marie!" he called.
"Ah, Monsieur le Capitaine, I come," came a girl's voice, and Marie entered.

Peter noticed how rapidly she took them all in, and how cold were the eyes that nevertheless sparkled and greeted Harold and Mackay with seeming gaiety.

She was short and dark and not particularly good-looking, but she had all the vivacity and charm of the French.
"Oh, monsieur, where have you been for so long?
I thought you had forgotten La Croix de Guerre altogether.

It's the two weeks--no, _three_--since you come here.