He merely nodded and went to start the engine. Again I was forcibly reminded of my old captain, and the way in which he became calmer and more silent than ever the moment the crisis was passed. But surely this crisis had been mine and not his! Anyhow, I felt a singularly strong sense of reaction and seated myself beside Eileen without a word. We had gone for a little way on our homeward road before either of us spoke, and then it was to exchange some quite ordinary remark. I put out my hand gently, but hers was nowhere to be found, and this increased my depression. I fell very silent, and then suddenly, when we were nearly back, I exclaimed-- "I wonder whether you are really glad that I returned?" "Very!" she said, and there was such deep sincerity in her voice that the cloud began to lift at once. Yet I was not in high spirits when I re-entered my familiar room. PART IV. LIEUTENANT VON BELKE'S NARRATIVE CONCLUDED I. WEDNESDAY. I woke on Wednesday morning with an outlook so changed that I felt as if some magician must have altered my nature. Theoretically I had taken a momentous and dangerous decision at the call of duty, and all my energies ought to have concentrated on the task of carrying it through safely, thoroughly, and warily. I had need of more caution than ever, and of the most constant vigilance--both for the sake of my skin and my country. As a matter of fact I was possessed with the recklessness of a man drifting on a plank down a rapid, where taking thought will not serve him an iota. In vain I preached theoretical caution to myself--exactly how vainly may be judged by my first performance in the morning when I found myself alone with Eileen in the parlour. She suggested that for my own sake I had better be getting back to my room. "Will you come and sit there with me?" I asked. "I may pay a call upon you perhaps." "After hours of loneliness! And then leave me lonelier than ever! No, thank you, I shall stay down here." "In your uniform?" she asked, opening her eyes a little. "No, no, Mr Belke!" "Well then, get me a suit of mufti!" She looked at me hard. "You will really run that risk?" "It is now worth it," I said with meaning. She looked away, and for a moment I thought she was pained--not displeased, I am sure, but as if something had given her a pang of sorrow. Then the look passed, and she cried-- "Well, if Tiel agrees!" "Tiel be hanged! I don't care what he says!" She began to smile. "Do you propose to wear my clothes?" she inquired. "Yours!" I exclaimed. "Otherwise," she continued, "you must persuade Tiel to agree, for it is only he who can provide you with a suit of mufti."