He was not sleepy yet, and he listened a long time.

The sound seemed to come from both sides of him, and he felt that the abandoned cottage among the trees was merely a little oasis in the sea of war.
The rain ceased and he concluded to scout about the house to see if any one was near, or if any farm animals besides the horse had been left.
But Marne was alone.

There was not even a fowl of any kind.

He concluded that the horse had probably wandered away before the peasant left, as so valuable an animal would not have been abandoned otherwise.
His scouting--he was learning to be very cautious--took him some distance from the house and he came to a narrow road, but smooth and hard, a road which troops were almost sure to use, while such great movements were going on.

He waited behind a hedge a little while, and then he heard the hum of motors.
He had grown familiar with the throbbing, grinding sound made by many military automobiles on the march, but he waited calmly, merely loosening his automatic for the sake of precaution.