"Did you, indeed?" I took him up. "Then let me tell you at once that the wreckage in the workshop's yard was not my small car, so you may abandon any hopes you had built upon that." He appeared to be surprised at the attitude I adopted. "No," he said slowly--"no, I knew that wasn't _your_ car." I thought rapidly. "It was _yours_," I hazarded, "and your idea was to re-equip that battered wreck at the expense of my very slightly injured property?" He smiled shamelessly. "You are a most unscrupulous officer," I said, "and I'm beginning to think you _are_ the voice which gets me out of bed--I mean, interrupts my work--every morning at dawn." "No, really," he replied, glad to have something to be honest about. "At that hour I am always in--at work myself." We shook hands again on that and I offered him a cigarette. "Have one of mine," said he. "No, no," I pressed; "you have one of mine." Again, if the truth had been admitted, H.M. Government was the rightful owner of both. "Of course," he explained, "you saw my little 'bus from quite its worst aspect in that yard." I was for getting to business. "I want," said I, "a back axle-shaft, a head-light, a wind-screen and some mud-guards. What's yours?" "I could do with a spare wheel-holder, a horn, a couple of yards of foot-board," he said. "Two shock-absorbers and at least one wheel I must have." A little discussion proved that between us we could put up a very decent car. The only difficulty arose from a doubt as to what was to happen when we went out in it. It would still be a two-seater, and neither of our chauffeurs was small enough to be carried in the tool-box. Who was going to drive, who was going to sit by and, when occasion demanded, step out and do the dirty work? Neither of us seeing his way to give in on these points, we had to think of some other solution. "You mentioned the workshops just now," I said. "Were you going on to say that the officer in charge told you of another small car which was in trouble?" "He did," said Signals. "Same here," said I. "Did he then recommend you to get what you wanted off that other car?" "He did," said Signals. "Same here," said I. "And did you also ascertain that this officer in charge possesses a small car of his own rich in standard parts?" "I did," said Signals. "Same here," said I. "Let us go out and look for that----" "Officer in charge," said Signals. "No," said I, "his car." I felt that we were justified, in the circumstances, in dividing it between us. But there is no limit to these officers in charge of workshops. We had the greatest difficulty in finding his car at all, and, when we did, it had the appearance of being deliberately concealed. Worse still; when we found the car we found also a sentry standing over it, with rifle and fixed bayonet. Though we took this to be a direct insult to ourselves, we were too proud to go and expostulate with the officer himself about it. Yours ever, Henry.