"But at present we're thinking of having lunch. Come along with us." "My 'bus," protested Alec. "Shove it round the back of the show," suggested Villiers. "Get on with it and then you can reserve a table. We'll be there in less than five minutes." Claverhouse fell in with the suggestion and rode off. Arriving at the restaurant he was fortunate in securing a corner table. Five minutes passed, but there were no signs of Villiers and Beverley. Ten minutes passed. "Wonder if they're acting the giddy goat with me?" he soliloquized as he carelessly picked up a copy of _The Times_ and began to scan the Personal Column. Why he did so he hardly knew. There was little of interest to him in the long list of appeals for work by demobilized men, though it roused his sympathy. Somehow it didn't seem right that fellows who had fought for the country should have to eat out of the hands of the stay-at-homes who for a dead certainty would have had no home had the Hun been top-dog. Half-way down the column he came across an advertisement of a length and novelty unusual even to the unique Agony Column of _The Times_. Its audacity held him until he became aware of the arrival of Villiers and Beverley by receiving a vigorous thump on his shoulder. "Sorry we're late, old son," exclaimed the former apologetically. "Ran across old Hammersley just under the Bargate. You remember him?" Claverhouse nodded, then put the paper on the table. "Cast your eye on this, old thing," he said. "A bit tall, eh, what?" "What, Rio del Oro shares? Thanks, I'm not having any," said Villiers decidedly. "No, next column," explained Claverhouse. "There, where my thumb is." "What's the wheeze?" inquired Beverley, craning his neck and looking over Villier's shoulder. "That's what I want to know," replied Alec. "If there's anything in it, I'm on." The announcement was as follows:-- "To Demobilized Officers. Those wishing for further excitement and adventure overseas and who are physically and mentally capable of taking care of themselves are invited to communicate with the under-signed. An enterprise involving the risking of two hundred and fifty pounds per head is in contemplation. The capital may be lost; on the other hand, there is a possibility of a gain of one thousand per cent upwards. Applications are especially invited from ex-members of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, and Royal Air Force, but those persons formerly serving in other branches of H.M. Services will be given consideration. Full particulars of the scheme, which will require twelve months' personal service, will be supplied to _bona fide_ applicants.--Address, 'Joystick', c/o Messrs. Steady and Strong, Richborough Chambers, Southampton." "Claptrap!" declared Villiers, taking up the menu-card, which represented something rather more concrete, and consequently rather more digestible, than the newspaper announcement.