nd Mrs.
Chudleigh had left some weeks earlier. Foster sat down near the
Colonel.

"Here's a paragraph that may be of interest; it wasn't in the morning
papers." he remarked. "I believe I've heard Miss Graham and Mrs.
Chudleigh mention a Captain Sedgwick."

"Yes," said Millicent; "we both knew him, but what has he been doing?"

"He seems to have got into trouble, but I'll read you the account."

The interest he had roused was obvious. Challoner leaned forward with
an intent face, Blake dropped the match with which he was lighting a
cigarette, while Mrs. Keith fixed her eyes eagerly on Foster.
Millicent was the least concerned, and she wondered at the others' air
of tension while Foster unfolded his paper.

"'Telegraphic news has been received of a disaster to a small British
force in Western Africa,' he read. 'Captain Sedgwick left his
headquarters at Ambolana with a detachment of native troops to demand
guarantees of good behaviour from the headman of a fortified village
near the French frontier. The expedition was ambushed in thick jungle,
but, escaping after heavy loss, made a stand against large numbers at a
place which appears to lie outside the British boundary. Here Sedgwick
again suffered some loss before a body of French black troops appeared
upon the field. Further details are anxiously waited, since the
affair, which is complicated by a doubt about the headman's suzerainty,
may lead to strong representations from France.'"

"It looks as if your friend will get a wigging," Foster remarked to
Millicent as he laid down the paper. "As I understand it, the
Government doesn't thank too zealous officers who make trouble with our
neighbours, unless there's some substantial gain. There can't be any
in this case, because the French had to rescue the fellow."

"Then I'm sorry for Captain Sedgwick," Millicent replied. "I met him
in Quebec, but only saw him for a few weeks." She turned to Blake.
"The news seems to have made some impression on you."

"It has, in a way," Blake admitted with embarrassment, because he did
not wish his interest to be noticed. "As it happens, I've heard a good
deal about the man."

Then Mrs. Keith beckoned the girl. "I think I left my outdoor
spectacles in my room; would you mind getting them?"

Millicent went away and Mrs. Keith led Foster to talk about something
else, because she saw that his wife's curiosity was aroused. It was
undesirable that any one should guess