"Who is it?" asked Mrs. Lewknor, keen as a knife. "Your friend, Caspar, Mrs. Lewknor," answered the senior subaltern, one Conky Joe, with the beak of a penguin, the eyes of an angel, and the heart of a laughter-loving boy. "They're sending him in last for his sins in the field--which were many and grievous." "He won't live long against their fast bowler," commented the Boy gloomily. "I know Caspar." "I never like to differ from my superiors," said the Colonel. "But I'm not so sure." "Nor am I," said Mrs. Lewknor defiantly. The Colonel and his wife proved right. Ernie batted with astonishing confidence from the first. At the end of twenty minutes it was anybody's game. Royal, well into his second century, was flogging the ball all over the ground. And Ernie's clear voice--"Yes, sir! No, sir! Stay where you are!" gave new heart to the watching Hammer-men. In the end the two men played out time with consummate ease, and were carried together off the ground. "It was like bowling at two rocks," said one of the defeated side. "Spiteful rocks too!" replied the other. "Stood up and slashed at you!" The Colonel went up and shook hands with the victorious batsmen, and Mrs. Lewknor waved her parasol. "Well done, Caspar!" she cried. "Stuck it out!" A few days later, his time being up, Ernie was detailed for a draft for home. The Colonel, on signing his papers, said that he was sorry to be parting, and meant it. "Charming fellow!" he said to the Adjutant, when Ern had left the room. "Yes," answered Captain Royal in his lofty way. "Too charming. He'll never be any good to himself or us either." "I'm not so sure," replied the Colonel. "He's the sort that never does well except when he's got to." That evening Ern went up to the Colonel's bungalow to say good-bye to Mrs. Lewknor. "Where are you going?" asked the little lady. "Back home, 'm," Ernie answered. "Old Town, Beachbourne. There's no place in the world to touch it." Mrs. Lewknor smiled at his enthusiasm. "I know it," she said. "The Colonel comes from those parts--Hailsham-way. Perhaps we shall follow you when we retire." "Beachbourne!" mused the Colonel, after Ernie had departed. "Famous for two things: Mr. Trupp, the surgeon, who by a brilliant operation saved the other day the life of the man the world could have done best without, and the Hohenzollern Hotel." "What's the Hohenzollern Hotel?" asked Mrs. Lewknor. "My dear," said the Colonel, "Captain Royal will enlighten you in his more intimate moments." CHAPTER XXI THE RETURN OF THE SOLDIER That first return to England after his long absence in the East always remained one of the land-marks in Ernie's life. It was a revelation to him, never completely to pass away.