Spain, and I never believe I'm going to get a leave until the old man
hands me the order. Even then, I'm always fearful of an order recalling
it."

"You're missing a lot of happiness, sir. Why, I really believe I've had
more fun out of the anticipation of my home-coming than I may get out of
the realization. I've planned every detail for months, and, if anything
slips, I'm liable to sit right down and bawl like a kid."

"Let's listen to your plan of operations, Farrel," the captain suggested.
"I'll never have one myself, in all probability, but I'm child enough to
want to listen to yours."

"Well, in the first place, I haven't communicated with my father since
landing here. He doesn't know I'm back in California, and I do not want
him to know until I drop in on him."

"And your mother, Farrel?"'

"Died when I was a little chap. No brothers or sisters. Well, if I had
written him or wired him when I first arrived, he would have had a week
of the most damnable suspense, because, owing to the uncertainty of the
exact date of our demobilization, I could not have informed him of the
exact time of my arrival home. Consequently, he'd have had old Carolina,
our cook, dishing up nightly fearful quantities of the sort of grub I was
raised on. And that would be wasteful. Also, he'd sit under the catalpa
tree outside the western wall of the hacienda and never take his eyes off
the highway from El Toro or the trail from Sespe. And every night after
the sun had set and I'd failed to show up, he'd go to bed heavy-hearted.
Suspense is hard on an old man, sir."