John's was to a Parisian regiment lying in a field, and expanding body and mind into instant action, he leaped upon the cycle and sped away.

It was often hard for him now to separate fact from fancy.

His imagination, vivid at all times, painted new pictures while such a tremendous drama passed before him.
Yet he knew afterward that the sound of the battle did increase in volume as he flew over the short distance to the regiment.

Both east and west were shaking with the tremendous concussion.

One crash he heard distinctly above the others and he believed it was that of a forty-two centimeter.
He reached the field, his cycle spun between the eager soldiers, and as he leaped off in the presence of the colonel he fairly thrust the note into his hand, exclaiming at the same time in his zeal, "It's an order to advance! The whole Army of the Center is about to attack." He called it the Army of the Center at a guess, but names did not matter now.