"Well, if it has to be done, it has to be," said Joe, with a philosophic
sigh. "And making retakes may delay us in getting to Europe."

"That's right!" agreed Blake. "But who is this fellow, anyhow, Charlie?
And what made him so careless? An accident like this means a lot to us
and to the Government."

"I should say it did!" agreed Macaroni. "And it was the funniest
accident I ever saw!"

"How so?" asked Joe.

"Well, a little while before you finished these films this same French
officer was talking to me, asking if there were to be any duplicates of
them, and questions like that."

"And you told him?"

"Yes. I didn't see any reason for keeping it secret. He isn't a German.
If he had been I'd have kept quiet. But he's an accredited
representative from the French Government, and is supposed to be quite a
fighter. I thought he knew how to run an auto, but he backed and filled,
came up on the wrong side of the road, and then plunged into me. Then he
said his steering gear went back on him.

"Mighty funny if it did, for it was all right just before and right
after the accident. He was all kinds of ways sorry about it, offered to
pay for the damage, and all that. I told him that wouldn't take the
pictures over again."