m together, the thing they
had all spontaneously done abolished differences between Baptists
and Jews, Methodists and Unitarians, Catholics and Protestants. The
perfumery manager and the marine engineer comprehended each other's
language; the dentist and the insurance broker "hit it off together" at
first sight; printers and plumbers, pawnbrokers and solicitors, varnish
testers and hop factors--they were all friendly and all cheerful
together. Each one of them had done a thing which all the rest secretly
admired. Respect is a good cement, and can stand a lot of testing.
In his comrades Dion was not disappointed. Among them were a few
acquaintances, men whom he had met in the City, but there was only one
man whom he could count as a friend, a barrister named Worthington, a
bachelor, who belonged to the Greville Club, and who was an intimate of
Guy Daventry's. Worthington knew Daventry much better than he knew
Dion, but both Dion and he were glad to be together and to exchange
impressions in the new life which they had entered so abruptly, moved
by a common impulse. Worthington was a dark, sallow, narrow-faced man,
wiry, with an eager intellect, fearless and energetic, one of the most
cheerful men of the battalion. His company braced Dion.

The second day at sea was disagreeable; the ship rolled considerably,
and many officers and men were sea-sick. Dion was well, but Worthington
was prostrated, and did not show on deck. Towards evening Dion went down
to have a look at him, and found him in his bunk, lead-colored, with
pinched features, but still cheerful and able to laugh at his own
misery. They had a small "jaw" together about people and things at home,
and in the course of it Worthington mentioned Mrs. Clarke, whom he had
several times met at De Lorne Gardens.

"You know she's back in London?" he said. "The winter's almost
impossible at Constantinople because of the winds from the Black Sea."

"Yes, I heard she was in London, but I haven't seen her this winter."

"I half thought--only half--she'd send me a wire to wish me good luck
when we embarked," said Worthington, shifting uneasily in his bunk, and
twisting his white lips. "But she didn't. She's a fascinating woman. I
should have liked to have had a wire from her."

"By Jove!" exclaimed Dion.

"What is it?"

"I've just remembered I got some telegrams when we were going off. I
read one, from my wife, and stuffed the others away. There was such a
lot to do an