'The wound's nothing, sir. I lost a little blood, that's all; and I got the M.O.'s consent to come and see you. I shall be right as ever in two or three days.' 'You are sure of that?' I asked eagerly. 'Certain, sir.' I laughed aloud, I was so much relieved. I need not send my letter to Lorna Bolivick after-all. 'I've wasted a lot of good sentiment over you, Edgecumbe,' I said. 'I've heard all sorts of things about you.' 'I did have a curious experience,' he replied, 'and at one time I thought my number was up; still I got out of it.' 'Tell me about it,' I said. 'It's very difficult, sir. As I told you, my memory has been specially good since the time when----but you know. In these skirmishes, however, it's difficult to carry anything definite in your mind, things get mixed up so. You are fighting for your life, and that's all you know. Two German chaps did get hold of me, and then, I don't know how it was, but we found ourselves in No Man's Land. The Huns were two big, strong chaps, too, but I managed to get away from them.' 'How did you do it?' 'You see they were drugged,' he replied. 'Drugged?' 'Yes, drugged with ether, or something of that sort, and although they fought as though they were possessed with devils, their minds were not clear, they acted like men dazed. So I watched for my opportunity, and got it. I spent the whole day in a shell hole,--it wasn't pleasant, I can tell you. Still, it offered very good cover, and if my arm hadn't been bleeding, and if I wasn't so beastly faint and hungry, I shouldn't have minded. However, I tied up my arm as well as I could, and made up my mind to stay there. I got back under the cover of night, and--here I am.' 'I saw nothing of the affair,' I said. 'I had a job to do farther back, and so was out of it. I wish I had been in it.' 'I wish you had, sir.' There was a change in his voice, and he looked at me almost pathetically. 'What's the matter?' 'Of course I have no right to say anything,' he said. 'Discipline is discipline, and I am only a private soldier. Are you busy, sir? If you are, I will go away. But, owing to this scratch, I am at a loose end, and--and--I'd like a chat with you, sir, if you don't mind.' 'Say what you want to say.' He was silent for a little while, and seemed to be in doubt how to express what he had in his mind. I saw the old, yearning, wistful look in his eyes, too, the look I had noticed when we were walking on The Hoe at Plymouth. 'Has your memory come back?' I asked eagerly. 'Has it anything to do with that?' 'No,' he replied, 'my memory has not come back. The old black wall stands still, and yet I think it has something to do with it. I am afraid I forget myself sometimes, sir, forget that you are an officer, and I am a private.' 'Never mind about that now. Tell me what you have to say.'