"I wonder," she said, "if you are doing all this only because I--well,
because I persuaded you." Which she had not. "Do the men really need
me here?"

"Need you, mademoiselle?"

"Do they need what little I can give? They were smiling, all the ones
I saw."

"A Belgian soldier always smiles. Even when he is fighting." His voice
had lost its gayety and had taken on a deeper note. "Mademoiselle, I
have brought you here, where I can think of no other woman who would
have the courage to come, because you are needed. I cannot promise you
entire safety"--his mouth tightened--"but I can promise you work and
gratitude. Such gratitude, mademoiselle, as you may never know again."

That reassured her. But in her practical mind the matter of supplies
loomed large. She brought the matter up again directly.

"It is to be hot chocolate and soup?" he asked.

"Both, if I find I have enough money. Soup only, perhaps."

"And soup takes meat, of course."

"It should, to be strengthening."

Henri looked up, to see Jean in the doorway smiling grimly.