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Updated: June 13, 2025
With the cottage as a background, and the muddy bit of garden, the picture he made was typical of the country and the people who inhabited it. Suddenly she realized that she recognized the ragged blue smock and the old droop-brimmed hat he wore. It was Nicko, the chocolate vender. This must be his place of abode. Ruth hesitated.
The sudden death of the German officer in Hut H had been an act beyond human control. The disappearance of Nicko, the chocolate peddler, was an act of the military authorities. On her own part Ruth was so confused regarding Major Henri Marchand that she dared not mention his name to Monsieur Lafrane. Matters must take their natural course for a time, at least.
Not a bad fellow at all. Yes, Nicko never fails to sell our Boche friend chocolate. He is a regular customer." "Cot 24 Hut H," Ruth repeated in her own mind. She would not forget that. And yet did it mean anything? Was there something wrong with Nicko, the chocolate peddler? She had been at the field hospital for a week.
She was glad to see so many visitors daily bringing comforts for the men; but of all those who came she noted particularly the peculiar-looking Nicko, the chocolate vender. Daily he came, and Ruth always observed both his comings and goings.
She did not wish to be discovered by the pair. She was confident now that there was something altogether wrong with Nicko the chocolate peddler and his double! Out of view of the cottage she hurried her steps. Through the gloaming she sped up the path in the valley toward the high-road on which faced the hospital stockade. Her thoughts were in a tangle of doubt.
He began to look like the mysterious Nicko, the chocolate vender! Then he unwrapped his head. There were yards of the gauze and padding. To believe his first appearance once might have thought that his jaw had been shot away. But at last Ruth saw his unmarred face so clearly that she could no longer doubt his identity. It was Major Marchand. And yet, it was Nicko!
Ruth walked on, but she was startled. Finally she turned swiftly and went back to the door of Hut H. The nurse on duty had just come from the end of the ward. Over her shoulder Ruth saw Nicko halt beside one of the cots far down the line. "Who is that Nicko converses with?" Ruth asked idly. "Oh, his friend, the Boche. Didn't you know we had a German officer with us? Cot 24.
"Pardon, Mademoiselle," said the officer softly. "It is necessary that I go disguised at times. Now he has been removed from his home and fields with the rest." "I think I understand, Major Marchand," she answered. "I was much interested in a wounded Uhlan captain who was in that hospital. He began by trying to bribe our poor Nicko, thinking the chocolate peddler too weak-minded to be patriotic.
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