In a flash Lane sensed what made her different from the fifteen-year-olds he remembered before the war.

It was what made his sister Lorna different.

He felt it in Helen's scrutiny of him, in the speculation of her eyes.

Then Bessy Bell leaned toward Lane, and softly, reverently touched the medal upon his breast.
"The _Croix de Guerre_," she said, in awe.

"That's the French badge of honor....