She said worriedly: "The only thing, Sam, is that, frankly, the Major has just about made up his mind that he wants to marry me--" "He _is_ married!" I yelped. "Naturally he's married. He's married to--so far--one hundred and nine women. He's been hitting off a marriage a month for a good many years now and, to tell you the truth, I think he's got the habit Anyway, he's got his eye on me." I demanded jealously: "Has he said anything?" She picked a sheet of onionskin paper out of her bag and handed it to me. It was marked _Top Secret_, and it really was, because it hadn't gone through his regular office--I knew that because I was his regular office. It was only two lines of text and sloppily typed at that: Lt. Amy Bankhead will report to HQ at 1700 hours 1 July to carry out orders of the Commanding Officer. The first of July was only a week away. I handed the orders back to her. "And the orders of the Commanding Officer will be--" I wanted to know. She nodded. "You guessed it." I said: "We'll have to work fast." * * * * * On the thirtieth of June, we invited the Major to come aboard his palatial new yacht. "Ah, thank you," he said gratefully. "A surprise? For my birthday? Ah, you loyal members of my command make up for all that I've lost--all of it!" He nearly wept. I said: "Sir, the pleasure is all ours," and backed out of his presence. What's more, I meant every word. It was a select party of slightly over a hundred. All of the wives were there, barring twenty or thirty who were in disfavor--still, that left over eighty. The Major brought half a dozen of his favorite officers. His bodyguard and our crew added up to a total of thirty men. We were set up to feed a hundred and fifty, and to provide liquor for twice that many, so it looked like a nice friendly brawl. I mean we had our radio operator handing out highballs as the guests stepped on board. The Major was touched and delighted; it was exactly the kind of party he liked. He came up the gangplank with his face one great beaming smile. "Eat! Drink!" he cried. "Ah, and be merry!" He stretched out his hands to Amy, standing by behind the radio op. "For tomorrow we wed," he added, and sentimentally kissed his proposed bride. I cleared my throat. "How about inspecting the ship, Major?" I interrupted. "Plenty of time for that, my boy," he said. "Plenty of time for that." But he let go of Amy and looked around him. Well, it was worth looking at. Those Englishmen really knew how to build a luxury liner. God rest them. The girls began roaming around. It was a hot day and late afternoon, and the girls began discarding jackets and boleros, and that began to annoy the Major. "Ah, cover up there!" he ordered one of his wives. "You too there, what's-your-name. Put that blouse back on!"