Peter saluted and retired. He reached Fredericton that night and the home village of Jim Hammond by noon of the next day. He went straight to the store, where Mr. Hammond greeted him with astonishment. Peter saw no sign of Jim. "I didn't expect to see you back so soon," said Mr. Hammond. "I got a chance, so I took it," replied Peter. "How's all the family?" The storekeeper smiled. "The womenfolk are well," he said. Peter saw that he had come suddenly to the point where he must exercise all the tact he possessed. He felt keenly embarrassed. "Did you get a telegram?" he asked. "No. Did you wire us you were coming?" "Not that, exactly. You see, it was like this, Mr. Hammond: when Jim didn't get back the day he was due the adjutant sent you a wire, and when he didn't get an answer he sent another--and when you didn't reply to that he detailed me to come along and see what was wrong." The storekeeper stared at him. "I never got any telegram. Jim came home on two weeks' furlough, and he has five days of it left. You and your adjutant must be crazy." "Two weeks," repeated Peter. "It was six days he got." "Six days! Are you sure of that, Peter Starkley?" "As sure as that's my name, Mr. Hammond. And the adjutant sent you two telegrams, asking why Jim didn't return to duty when his pass was up--and he didn't get any answer. If you didn't get one or other of those telegrams, then there is something wrong somewhere." Mr. Hammond's face clouded. "I didn't get any wire, Peter--and Jim went away day before yesterday, to visit some friends," he said. They eyed each other in silence for a little while; both were bitterly embarrassed, and the storekeeper was numbed with shame. "I'll go for him," he said. "If I fetch him to you here, will you promise to--to keep the truth of it quiet, Peter--from his mother and sister and the folk about here?" "I'll do the best I can," promised the corporal, "but not for Jim's sake, mind you, Mr. Hammond. Capt. Long is for giving him a chance because of his brother, Pat, over on Salisbury Plain--and that's why he sent me alone, instead of sending a sergeant with an escort." "I'll go fetch him, Peter," said the other, in a shaking voice. "You go along to Beaver Dam and come back to-morrow--to see Vivia. When Jim and I turn up you meet him just like it was by chance. Keep your mouth shut, Peter. Not a word to a living soul about his only having six days. He's not well, and that's the truth." A dull anger was awake in Peter by this time. "Something the matter with his feet," he said and left the store. Here he was, told to be tactful by Capt. Long and to keep his mouth shut by Mr. Hammond, all on account of a sulky, lazy, bad-tempered fellow who had been a disgrace to the battalion since the day he joined it. And not a word about stopping for dinner!