--Why, he had only been joking, of course, when he said that! It was one of those silly, careless things that he was always saying. Miss Ellison had not seemed to think it was very funny, but that had only made Roscoe laugh the more. "I'd rather kill time than kill Germans," he had said lightly. And Miss Ellison had said, "You're quite brave at killing time, aren't you?" It was just joking and jollying, thought Tom, as he turned over for the fourth or fifth time, and he wished that _he_ could joke and jolly like that. He made up his mind that when Roscoe came upstairs in the morning he would ask him whether the Germans weren't cowards to murder innocent women and children, and whether he would really want to be like them. He believed he could say that much without a tremor, even in front of Miss Ellison. He wished morning would come so that he could be sure that Roscoe ... so that he could say that when Roscoe came upstairs. "I'll bet he'll be sleepy after being out so late," thought Tom. CHAPTER IV THE CUP OF JOY Tom was to have the next day off for his patriotic activities, but he went to the Temple Camp office early in the morning to get the mail opened and attend to one or two routine duties. He found Miss Ellison already at her desk, and she greeted him with a mysterious smile. "I hear you're going to be one of the celebrities," she said, busying herself with her typewriter machine. "One of the what?" said Tom. "One of the leading figures of the day. I don't suppose you'll even _look_ at poor me to-morrow.--I was down in the bank and Mr. Temple said to send you down as soon as you came in." "Me?" stammered Tom. "Yes, you." For a few seconds Tom waited, not knowing what to say or do--especially with his feet. "You didn't notice if Roscoe was down there, did you?" he finally ventured. "I most certainly did not," answered Miss Ellison, smiling with that same mysterious smile, as she tidied up her desk. "I have something else to think of besides Mr. Roscoe Bent." Tom shifted from one foot to the other. "I thought you--maybe--kind of--I thought you liked him," said he. "Oh, did you?" He had never been quite so close to Miss Ellison before, nor engaged in such familiar discourse with her. He hesitated, moving uneasily, then made a bold plunge. "I think you can--I think a person--I think a feller can tell if a girl kind of likes a certain feller--sort of----" "Indeed!" she laughed. "Well, then, perhaps you can tell if I like _you_--sort of." This was too much for Tom. He wrestled for a moment with his embarrassment, but he was in for it now, and he was not going to back out. "I'm too clumsy for girls," said he; "they always notice that." "You seem to know all about them," said the girl; "suppose I should tell you that _I_ never noticed any such thing.--A girl usually notices if a fellow is strong, though," she added. "It was being a scout that made me strong."