"THANK your lucky stars that you fellows aren't in Blighty," was the greeting Setley and Danvers received on the following morning, when they put in an appearance in the building pretentiously styled the Mess. "What's wrong now?" asked Danvers. "Rotten news in the papers?" "We were referring to your escapade last night," continued the speaker. "Your efforts are like the padre's egg: good in parts. We don't deny that the fellow who was shot by the sentry was a spy, but the other----" "What about him?" enquired Ralph impatiently. "Don't jump down my throat, old chap," was the feigned indignant protest. "That's the secret of the whole business. You simply leap at erroneous conclusions like a bull at a gate. Sometimes the gate goes, sometimes it doesn't, and then the animal is sorry for itself. Do you remember what Gladstone said in 'sixty-eight?" "Nothing to do with this spy business, I'll swear," interrupted Danvers, seizing his tormentor by the scruff of the neck. "Now, you prevaricating blighter, out with it! What are you hinting at?" "I was testing your knowledge of political history before enlightening you----" The young officer had no further opportunity in that direction, for Setley gripped him by the heels and Danvers by the shoulders. Between them they bumped their victim till he yelled for mercy. "Then straight to the point," declared Danvers, "or we'll strafe you again." "I was recalling the Prime Minister's immortal quotation in the year of grace eighteen hundred and sixty-eight," gurgled the captive, whereat the bumping process proceeded, until the entry of the senior major restored things to their normal state. "Yes," he remarked, when Danvers had informed him of the reason for the impromptu "rag." "You fellows have made a mess of part of the business. The man in British uniform is a major of the Coalshires. He is suffering from shell-shock, and is now under the doctor's care. Memory gone, and all that sort of thing. Got out of touch with his battalion and wandered into the ruined farmhouse for shelter. The plan he apparently took from a German prisoner, and although in the major's present mental state it conveys nothing to him it means a lot of precious information to us. It appears to be an accurate and official plan of the system of trenches surrounding the Von der Golz Redoubt and the fortress village of Néancourt." "That's good, sir," remarked Danvers. "I agree, and so does the C.O. In any case, the plan will enable the C.O. to communicate accurate information to the Brigade Headquarters, in which event be prepared for the fall of the hitherto impregnable Von der Golz Redoubt." Outside Ralph encountered Sergeant Alderhame, who was busily engaged in dismantling a machine-gun. "You might have got me to chip in last night's affair, sir," he said reproachfully. "Couldn't be helped," replied Setley. "I would have done so, if possible. How do you like your new job?"