uld you
care for that?"

"Certainly."

Without saying anything else Colonel Rannion took up the telephone. In
less than half a minute George heard him saying: "Colonel Hullocher....
Ask him to be good enough to come to the telephone at once.... That you,
Hullocher?"

George actually trembled. He no longer felt that heavy weight on his
stomach, but he felt 'all gone.' He saw himself lying wounded near a
huge gun on a battlefield.

Colonel Rannion was continuing into the telephone:

"I can recommend a friend of mine to you for a commission. George
Cannon--C-a-n-n-o-n--the architect. I don't know whether you know of
him.... Oh! About thirty.... No, but I think he'd suit you.... Who
recommends him? _I_ do.... Like to see him, I suppose, first?... No, no
necessity to see him. I'll tell him.... Yes, I shall see you in the
course of the day." The conversation then apparently deviated to other
subjects, and drew to a close.... "Good-bye. Thanks.... Oh! I say. Shall
he get his kit?... Cannon.... Yes, he'd better. Yes, that's understood
of course. Good-bye."

"That will be quite all right," said Colonel Rannion to George. "Colonel
Hullocher thinks you may as well see to your kit at once, provided of
course you pass the doctor and you are ready to work for nothing until
your commission comes along."

"Oh! Naturally!" George agreed, in a dream. He was saying to himself,
frightened, astounded, staggered, and yet uplifted: "_Get my kit! Get my
kit_! But it's scarcely a minute since I decided to go into the Army."

"I may get your commission ante-dated. I haven't all the papers here,
but give me an address where I can find you at once, and you shall have
them this afternoon. I'll get the Colonel to send them to the
Territorial Association to-morrow, and probably in about a month you'll
be in the _Gazette_. I don't know when Colonel Hullocher will want you
to report for duty, but I shall see him to-day. You'll get a telegram
when you're needed. Now I must go. Which way are you going?"

"I'm going home for my breakfast," said George, writing down his two
addresses.

Colonel Rannion said:

"I'm off to Wimbledon. I can drop you in Fulham Road if you like."

In the automobile George received a few useful hints, but owing to the
speed of the vehicle the time was far too short for any extensive
instruction. The car drew up. For an instant Colonel Rannion became
freely cordial. "He must rather have cottoned to me, or he wouldn