My rôle now was in many respects more difficult than it was before the Captain learned of my identity. Then I was a man all the time and to everyone. Now I was a man one minute and a woman the next. I had to change character so quickly sometimes and with such little warning that it was a wonder I hadn’t given myself away before this. It was really very trying on the nerves to be feeling nice and comfy with the man you love and then have to effect a sudden transformation into a semihard-boiled egg of a sergeant just because somebody else blew in. And I could see that it was trying on the Captain’s nerves, too. —2— Well, part of the difficulties were solved. The Captain hit upon the idea of calling me by the same name “Leony” under all circumstances, in order not to keep him on the jump all the time. Well, I didn’t mind, but I couldn’t retaliate: I mean, I couldn’t call him Clark all the time. I had to hop around between Clark one minute and Captain Winstead the next. However, we were progressing. Ben was kinda shocked the first time he heard the Captain call me Leony instead of Sergeant or Canwick, but the Captain said, “What the hell’s the matter with you? Haven’t I as much right to call him Leony as you have?... And I call you Ben, don’t I?” “Sure—sure,” agreed Ben. “It just seems funny to hear an officer callin’ the kid here Leony, that’s all.” “Aw—go take a drink for yourself, Ben,” the Captain told him laughingly. So I guess Ben didn’t suspect anything funny. He was so used to being called Ben that it seemed perfectly natural for anyone to call him that. If General Pershing ever happened to mention the name in his hearing, Ben would have assumed at once that the Commander in Chief meant Ben Garlotz, and would have promptly reported to the General.... Ben was a good guy all right, but he didn’t need to get funny ideas just because people used my nickname as well as his. My nickname was as good as his, even if it did sound sort of effeminate and odd. But then there was a lot of odder things in the world than that. We were in the army yet: but nobody would know it to judge by the way I felt most of the time. “In the clouds” would be more appropriate as a descriptive phrase. —3— Well, we were working pretty hard those days and the General was pulling strings in an effort to take a trip up to the active sectors. Ben was determined we should all go out for a celebration one night and the Captain had a devil of a time convincing him that he was “off the wine and women.” We finally did get rid of him, however, and we spent the rest of the evening trying to dope out some way of getting married.