more about yourself."

"What do you wish to know?"

"Were you in France?"

Over the visitor's face there came a subtle change. Whereas, upon
entering, he had worn an expression of careless defiance, now he appeared
to harden in every fiber and to go on guard.

"I have been many times in France."

"I mean during the war. Did you serve?"

There was a pause. "I did." Gray's eyes remained fixed upon his
interrogator, but they had begun to smolder.

"Then you're Colonel Gray. Colonel Calvin Gray."

"Quite so." The speaker's voice was harsh, and it came with an
effort. "But you didn't read _that_ in the _Post_. Come! What's
the idea? Out with it."

The interview had taken an unexpectedly disagreeable turn. Gray
had anticipated an unpleasant moment or two, but this--well, it
was indeed the crash. Calamity had overtaken him from the very
quarter he had least expected and most dreaded, and his mind raced
off at a tangent; a dozen unwelcome queries presented themselves.

"Strange what circles we move in," Haviland was saying. "Do you