"Not so much X’s as definites, sir," responded Macrombie’s assistant. "He was upset about ten minutes before he broke out by getting an ’Urgent’ without a Preparative Call. Then comes ’Important’ in International Code, and ’Administration’ and ’Emergency.’ Then ’War Office,’ and ’Documents,’ and ’Enforcement of the Law.’ By that time ’e was purple in the face and ’arf crazy. ’If I had my way wi’ you, ye bung-nosed intemperates,’ he says, groaning-like—’I wad keep ye on grits an’ caller watter for a fortnicht! Oh, that men, as auld Hosea says in the inspired Screeptures’—an’ I ’appen to know myself it was Shakespeare—’should pit an enemy intil their mooths to steal awa’ their brains!’ An’ ’e snatches off the telephone ’ead-band and chucks it into the corner, and just as my own instrument starts to tick out a call, he ketches me by the neck as if I’d bin a tame rabbit, an’ slings me out o’ the office an’ locks the door. ’Out o’ this!’ ’e says, puttin’ the cabin key in ’is pocket. ’I will no’ have your lugs, dirr-ty as they are, polluted by the unclean counsels o’ the wicked. I’m awa’ to cool the wrath o’ the righteous wi’ anither lemon squash!’ An’ the winder is blocked by the Morse key instrument, an’ even if it wasn’t, it’s too small for me to get in through!" Macrombie’s victim ended, with an injured sniff. "Well, well! Better hang about the cabin a bit and possess your soul in patience. If any pupils drop along, tell them they’ll have to wait! Perhaps Macrombie’ll turn up sober enough to take them on by-and-by. As for the message in transmission, I daresay it will keep. Mr. Fanshaw’s not expecting any particularly important communication that I know of. Oh, hang it!" Sherbrand whistled dismally. "I’d forgotten. That’s just what I am!" "Shall I go and see if I can find Rumball?" suggested Macrombie’s assistant helpfully. "He’s at the engine-sheds. He’s been a locksmith. ’Twouldn’t take him more than a sec. to open the office door!" "Cut then!" acceded Sherbrand, and the telegraph-clerk touched his pen—discovering by a jab of the inky nib that he was wearing it—and set off at a trot in the direction of the engine-sheds. You are to suppose that von Herrnung’s sharp ears had gathered the pith of the communication. Some meaning in the isolated words the clerk had repeated had had a palpable effect upon his nerves. His face looked bluish-grey and streaky, as he said to Sherbrand, stammering in his eagerness: "So then, it is agreed about my flying your machine?" "I see no objection." "_Gut!_" Von Herrnung went on, concealing a huge joy under a careless camaraderie: "Can you lend me a cap and coat and a pair of _Schulzbrille_? Goggles you call them, yes! The coat should better to be a large one"—he stumbled in his English now through sheer excitement—"I am so much a bigger man than you!"