He showed them and all was well.
John, after carefully scraping all the mud and snow from his boots was allowed to go in the big kitchen and sit on a stone bench beside the wall, while two stout women cooked at a great furnace, and trim maids came for the food which they took upstairs.
When he sank down upon the bench he realized that he was tired through and through.

It was no light task even for a hardened soldier to walk all day in bad weather.

One of the cooks, a stout middle-aged woman whom the others called Johanna, gave him a glance of sympathy.

She saw a young man pale from great exertion, but with a singularly fine face, a face that was exceedingly strong, without being coarse or rough.

Johanna thought him handsome, and so did the other cook, also stout and middle-aged, who bore the French name of Nanine.
"Poor young man!" said one and, "Poor young man!" repeated the other.
Then they filled a plate with warm food and handed it to him.