'I am afraid not. I have no memory of it, anyhow.' 'Then let me show you around. I could introduce you to a lot of men, too. You see, as an old Army man, I know the ropes.' 'It's awfully good of you, Springfield,' I said; 'but really I don't think Edgecumbe is your sort, and it would be a shame to bother you.' I felt awkward in saying this, because I spoke as though I were Edgecumbe's guardian. To my surprise, however, Edgecumbe eagerly accepted Springfield's offer. 'I'll let you know when I am free,' he said, 'and then, as you say, you can introduce me to some of the sights of London. But we must be off now, Luscombe, I have some things to do.' 'What do you mean by that?' I said, when we were alone. He laughed gaily. 'I am not such a simpleton as I look, old man. I am able to take care of myself.' 'But do you really mean to say that you are going to let him show you round London?' 'Why not? He knows London in a way which you and I don't.' 'But don't you feel that he is your enemy, and that he has some ulterior purpose in all this?' 'Of course I do, but it would be madness to let him know it. You needn't fear, my friend; I will be a match for him. As I told you down in Devonshire, there's going to be a battle royal between us. He looks upon me as a kind of fool, who can be easily duped. But I shan't be.' It was some days after this before I heard anything of Edgecumbe again. As I think I have mentioned, I was on sick leave at the time, and after leaving him I went to see some friends in Oxford. While there I got a letter from him, saying that he had been taken ill almost immediately on his return to duty, and that a fortnight's leave had been granted to him. He asked me when I should be returning to London, as he would like me to accompany him on his peregrinations through the City. I curtailed my visit to Oxford, so as to fall in with his plans, and found that he had taken up his quarters at a Y.M.C.A. Hut, which had been erected especially for the use of officers. He was looking somewhat pale and hollow-eyed, as I entered a comfortably fitted-up lounge in the building. 'What's the matter with you?' I asked. 'Oh, nothing much. I had a sort of relapse after I got back to work, and the M.O. declared me unfit for duty. Evidently Colonel McClure wrote to him about me. He seems to think I was poisoned.' 'Did your M.O. tell you that?' 'Yes, and in his opinion the poison was not quite eradicated from my system. Funny, isn't it? Anyhow, they wouldn't let me work, and here I am. What we poor soldiers would do without the Y.M.C.A., Heaven only knows! Anyhow, it shows that Christianity is not quite dead in the country, for if ever there was a Christian body, the Y.M.C.A. is one.' 'You can hardly call it a body,' I replied; 'it is an organization representing the Christian spirit of the country.'