Lannes must have had some reason that he could not surmise, or he would not have written the letter asking her to meet him at Chastel.
The village, he learned from one of the men in the automobile, was only ten miles away and it was built upon a broad, low hill at the base of which a little river flowed.

It was very ancient.

A town of the Belgae stood there in Caesar's time, but it contained not more than two thousand inhabitants, and its chief feature was a very beautiful Gothic cathedral.
John's automobile could have reached Chastel in less than an hour, despite the snow and the slush, but the train of the wounded was compelled to move slowly, and he must keep with it.

Meanwhile he scanned the sky with powerful glasses, which he had been careful to secure after his escape from Auersperg.

Nearly all officers carried strong glasses in this war, and yet even to the keenest eyes the hosts of the air were visible only in part.
John now and then saw telephone wires running through the clumps of forest and across the fields.