Page:No More Parades (Albert & Charles Boni).djvu/183

 —near Birkenhead. And of course there are R.G.A.'s there She had been looking away from him Cowley exclaimed:

"You were nearly off, sir," hilariously. "You had your peepers shut Lifting a champagne glass, he inclined himself towards her. "You must excuse the captain, ma'am," he said. "He had no sleep last night Largely owing to my fault Which is what makes it so kind of him I tell you, ma'am, there are few things I would not do for the captain He drank his champagne and began an explanation: "You may not know, ma'am, this is a great day for me And you and the captain are making it the greatest day of my life Why, at four this morning there hadn't been a wretcheder man in Ruin town And now He must tell her that he suffered from an unfortunate—a miserable—complaint One that makes one have to be careful of celebrations And to-day was a day that he had to celebrate But he dare not have done it where Sergeant-Major Ledoux is along with a lot of their old mates "I dare not  I dussn't!" he finished "So I might have been sitting, now, at this very moment, up in the cold camp But for you and the captain Up in the cold camp You'll excuse me, ma'am

Sylvia felt that her lids were suddenly wavering:

"I might have been myself," she said, "in a cold camp, too if I hadn't thrown myself on the captain's mercy At Birkenhead, you know I happened to be there till three weeks ago It's strange that you mentioned it There are things like signs  but you're not a Catholic! They could hardly be coincidences