f strong, regular
teeth.

"Then," I assured him, "you don't understand the desire to sit still for
a while. You don't understand the sheer wonder of a soft chair, white
woodwork and the regular throb of engines and the sight of
white-skinned, white-clad men and women. Look there." I held out my
copper-colored forearm.

He smiled again and nodded. "I'm going back to the States," he said,
"after three years in the Islands, capped with two months in India and
Australia. I'm Keller of the 23rd Infantry."

He paused, then went on in a matter-of-fact way. "I've been in the
jungle three months on end. I know what it means. This is my second term
of Philippine service and it's the first time I've gone home quite sane.
After the first three years the melancholia had me. When the transport
left Manila, and I thought of the three weeks before I could see the
Golden Gate, it took three good huskies to keep me from jumping
overboard. It touches one here." With a finger at the temple, he paused,
then added gravely: "And I know some fellows who weren't stopped in
time. One must readjust slowly."

I nodded, puffing with a sense of supreme luxury at the Cairene
cigarette he had offered me, and listening to the tinkle of ice in my
tall glass.

There were some days of almost pure creature contentment and as we sat
under deck awnings or burned cigars in the smoking-room our
acquaintanceship ripened to intimacy. The engines with their muffled
throb were churning out their fifteen knots an hour and the timbers
creaked their complaint to the rise and fall of the prow. Of course all
the time during those days was not spent chatting with the infantryman,
and of course the point of intimate confidence was not at once
established between us. Indeed, I, at first, let him do the talking, and
though he was a modest man he had much to tell. But in the hours I
spent alone I found my thoughts revolving about many things which I
could not generally share. A man may admit to himself without shame that
he has fallen in love with a woman of whose very existence he is
uncertain, but he hesitates to announce it to another. Now, although the
picture which had given me companionship and protection was packed away
out of sight; though I was no longer a dweller in fantastic
surroundings, I still had that presence with me. Whenever I closed my
eyes I saw again the smiling lips and gracious eyes. I knew that I was
henceforth destined to scan all faces until