I took one of his cigarettes and lit it, not bothering to answer him. “Let’s take a walk down by the river front,” he suggested. I didn’t want to walk anywhere out of the way. Night was coming on and I made up my mind that we two were not going to be together anywhere in the dark. But I couldn’t object to taking a walk, so we started out. He did practically all the talking as we stepped along toward the river, along its bank for a short distance, and turned back toward the barracks. It was dark by the time we reached the entrance and I was trying to make up my mind whether he really did have anything on me or was just acting on suspicion. He had talked so much and really said so little of actual fact that I was becoming more confident of my position. “Now, Leona,” he began finally, as we were standing in the dark beside the doorway into the barracks. “There’s no sense in your trying to bluff me on this. I know it’s you and I don’t see any reason for your being so high and mighty about it. Why not take me into the secret and not have so much to worry about?” “You’re crazy as hell!” I exclaimed impulsively, although while he had been talking I had been trying to decide whether or not it would be wise to take him into my confidence, as Aunt Elinor suggested. My impulsive answer settled the matter, and I continued on that line. “I don’t know where you got this foolish idea, but I certainly don’t relish the situation in the least. Your suggestion is positively absurd! You must be insane to think of such a thing!” “You won’t admit it then?” he demanded. “Admit something that isn’t true?” I exclaimed, with indignation. “Honestly, are you crazy?” I put as much contempt into this last question as I could muster. I knew it would make him furious. And it did. “I suppose it was you I saw in Le Mans a couple of days after I saw you here!” he declared with a sarcastic pitch of his voice. “Why, I suppose it was,” I replied evenly. “I was in Le Mans not long ago, and it is very possible that you saw me there.” Oh, what a lie! He laughed. “Yeh—but it just happens that I noticed there were no chevrons on Leon’s sleeve—and you’re a sergeant.” He laid his hand on my arm. “Laugh that off now!” he invited. And I did try to laugh it off, ending with another little lie, to the effect that on the day referred to I happened to have on a new blouse which I had to take before the tailor got through with it. “Say—do I look that dumb?” he demanded. “No—you don’t look very dumb,” I admitted, “but you sure do talk dumb as hell.” Just then I caught the sound of a whistle—a familiar whistle, and sure enough, a moment later Esky bounded into view, followed by Ben.