It was three days after the arrival of Mrs.Denton and her mother—whose advent had accomplished much toward promoting the young Belgian's convalescencea—when little Maurie suddenly reappeared on the deck of the Arabella.
"Oh，"said Patsy，finding him there when she came upfrom breakfast，"where is Clarette？"He shook his head sadly.
"We do not live together，just now，"said he."Claretteis by nature temperamentalb，you know；she is highly sensitive，and I，alas！do not always please her.""Did she find you in Dunkirk？"asked the girl."Almost，mamselle，but not quite.It was this way：Iknew if I permitted her to follow me she would finally succeed in her quest，for she and the dear children have six eyesamong them，while I have but two；so I reposeda within an ash—barrel until they had passed on，and then I followed them，keeping well out of their sight.In that way I managed to escape.But it proved a hard task，for my Clarette is very persistent，as you may have noticed.So I decided I would be more safe upon the ship than upon the shore.She is not likely to seek me here，and in any event she floats better than she swims."Patsy regarded the little man curiously.
"Did you not tell us，when first we met you，that you were heart—broken over the separation from your wife and children？"she inquired in severe tones.
"Yes，of course，mamselle；it was a good way to arouseyour sympathy，"he admitted with an air of pride."I needed sympathy at that time，and my only fear was that you would find Clarette，as you threatened to do.Well，"with a deep sigh，"you did find her.It was an unfriendly act，mamselle.""They told us in Ostend that the husband of Clarette is a condemned spy，one who served both sides and proved false to each.The husband of Clarette is doomed to suffer death at the hands of the Germans or the Belgians，if either is able to discover him."Maurie removed his cap and scratched the hair over his left ear reflectively.
"Ah，yes，the blacksmith！"said he."I suspected thatblacksmith fellow was not reliable.""How many husbands has Clarette？""With the blacksmith，there are two of us，"answered Maurie，brightly."Doubtless there would be more if anything happened to me，for Clarette is very fascinating.When she divorced the blacksmith he was disconsolatea，and threatened vengeance；so her life is quite occupied in avoiding her first husband and keeping track of her second，who is too kind—hearted to threaten her as the blacksmith did.I really admire Clarette—at a distance.She is positively charming when her mind is free from worry—and the children are asleep.""Then you think，"said Ajo，who was standing by and listening to Maurie's labored explanations，"that it is the blacksmith who is condemned as a spy，and not yourself？""I am quite sure of it.Am I not here，driving your ambulance and going boldly among the officers？If it is Jakob Maurie they wish，he is at hand to be arrested.""But you are not Jakob Maurie."The Belgian gave a start，but instantly recovering he answered with a smile：
"Then I must have mistaken my identity，monsieur.Perhaps you will tell me who I am？""Your wife called you 'Henri，'"said Patsy.