ing about humans, male and female, his
proposition was incontrovertible. "But where did you gather your
wisdom?"

"I suppose," he replied seriously, "that my mind is not entirely
unaffected by a very expensive education."

I looked at the extraordinary figure in sheepskin, bundles and mud, and
laughed out loud. The hands of Esau and the voice of Jacob. The garb of
Thomas Atkins and the voice of Balliol. Still, as I say, the fellow was
perfectly right. His highly trained intelligence had led him to an
exact conclusion. The festering sore demanded drastic treatment,--the
surgeon's knife. As we talked I saw how coldly his brain had worked.
And side by side with that working I saw, to my amusement, the
insistent claims of his vanity. The quickest way to the front, where
alone he could re-establish his impugned honour was by enlistment in
the regular army. For the first time in his life he took a grip on
essentials. He knew that by going straight into the heart of the old
army his brains, provided they remained in his head, would enable him
to accomplish his purpose. As for his choice of regiment, there his
vanity guided. You may remember that after his disappearance we first
heard of him at Aberdeen. Now Aberdeen is the depot of the Gordon
Highlanders.

"What on earth made you go there?" I asked.

"I wanted to get among a crowd where I wasn't known, and wasn't ever
likely to be known," he replied. "And my instinct was right. I was
among farmers from Skye and butchers from Inverness and drunken
scallywags from the slums of Aberdeen, and a leaven of old soldiers
from all over Scotland. I had no idea that such people existed. At
first I thought I shouldn't be able to stick it. They gave me a bad
time for being an Englishman. But soon, I think, they rather liked me.
I set my brains to work and made 'em like me. I knew there was
everything to learn about these fellows and I went scientifically to
work to learn it. And, by Heaven, sir, when once they accepted me, I
found I had never been in such splendid company in my life."

"My dear boy," I cried in a burst of enthusiasm, "have you had
breakfast?"

"Of course I have. At the Union Jack Club--the Tommies' place the other
side of the river--bacon and eggs and sausages. I thought I'd never
stop eating."

"Have some more?"

He laughed. "Couldn't think of it."

"Then," said I, "get yourself a cigar." I pointed to a stack of boxes.
"You'll find the Corona--Coronas the bes