Shelled by an Unseen Foe | Page 9

he continued calmly, "that you are now a private in
the army of Greece."
"Me? Oh, no!" said Velo hastily. "It is impossible. I--I--have other
things to consider. You will have to excuse me, Captain."
"I am Lieutenant," said the officer, "but you will learn the difference in
rank shortly."
"But I can't do it!" said Velo violently, a red flush mounting to his
forehead. "I simply can't do it! Why, my uncle died last night, and
unless we find his son I am the only heir. I have got to stay here. I am
the heir doubtless."
"That's fine!" said the officer, smiling. "In case you are shot, which is
likely, all your property will revert to the crown. Greece is going to
need all she can raise. I hope your uncle is rich."
Velo could not keep from boasting.
"One of the richest men in the country!" he bragged.
"Fine, fine!" said the officer. Then his manner changed. "Now, my boy,
your name and address. This is straight. We need you."
Velo mumbled his name, a deadly fear growing in him. He was a
coward and the thought of bloodshed filled him with a cold, deadly
terror.
He regarded the Lieutenant with staring eyes. His teeth chattered.
The young officer smiled. He called two soldiers.
"Take this man to the South Barracks," he said coldly. "Under guard,"
he added significantly. He knew men. He saw that the boy before him
would have to be whipped into shape. He thought of a recruit made the
day before. Zaidos his name was. He remembered with respect and

appreciation the manner of the lad. He looked once more at the new
recruit. Then he took a piece of paper from his desk, wrote one word on
it, addressed it "Officer in Command at South Recruiting Station,"
handed it to one of the soldiers standing beside Velo, and turned away.
For him the incident was closed.
But Velo, feeling as though he was under arrest, walked miserably and
fearfully through the streets, a soldier on either side, wondering with all
his might what was written in the folded paper.
He finally asked the bearer to let him see it, but the soldier refused
scornfully. As they neared the South Station his fears grew, if such a
thing could be possible. Once more he tried to get the mysterious note.
He had some money with him. He tried to bribe the man. For answer
the soldier struck him in the face. Velo sunk into a sulky silence, and
stood with eyes on the ground while the officer in charge opened the
message and read the single word therein.
"Good enough!" he exclaimed. "Just what we need!" and waved the
two men toward an inner room where Velo was stripped of his
comfortable clothes and fitted to the new uniform of the Greek Army.
And not until then did he find out his fate. A third man sauntered up
and stood watching.
"Rank and file?" he said jestingly.
"No," said the man who had carried the note. "Stoker!"
Velo thought his heart would break.
CHAPTER III
ONLY A STOKER
Zaidos was the last person in the room to awaken. Half a dozen of the
groups nearest the door had filed out, answered roll call, and stood at
attention in the street when a man shook him roughly by the shoulder

and roused him.
"Get up, lazy-bones," he cried gruffly, "else you will feel the flat of a
sword! Here you have been snoring since early last evening. How can
there be so much sleep in thee, I wonder? One would nearly think thou
hadst been wandering about all last night instead of sleeping here on
thy good soft bed."
"All right!" said Zaidos, nodding. He smiled at the speaker the bright
and winning smile that always won a way for him. He was on his feet
in an instant.
"That's the way to do it!" commended the man. "Wake when you wake,
not rubbing thy eyes out."
Zaidos was soon standing in a line in the office while the twenty men in
his group answered to name. Then what Zaidos had feared came to pass.
A name was called and no one answered. Again it rang out sharply.
There was a consultation between the two officers at the desk. The
young mountaineer who had led the perilous way through the chained
door was gone! Zaidos, keeping his face as free from interest and
expression as he could, stood stiffly at attention while the count was
made and questions put to the men. As luck would have it, Zaidos was
asked but one thing. Had he seen the fellow on his pallet before he
himself went to bed? He answered honestly that he had. He was
conscious