ried the next afternoon,
immediately we had left Salisbury Plain, where I had been stationed.

'What?' he asked.

'This in _The Times_. They've been cracking you up to the skies.'

'Oh, that,' he replied. 'Yes, I saw it this morning. I see they've
made quite a sensational paragraph. I hardly recognize myself.'

As I read the article a second time, I wondered at his indifference.
Seldom had such a eulogy appeared in that great newspaper. Evidently
the writer had taken considerable pains to get at the facts, and had
presented them in glowing colours. There could be no doubt about it
that from the standpoint of the Army, his future, if his life was
spared, was assured. Not only was he spoken of as a man whose courage
was almost unparalleled, but his abilities as a strategist, and his
grasp of the broad issues of military affairs were discussed, and
recognized in no sparing terms. It seemed impossible that a man who a
few months before was a simple private, should now be discussed in such
glowing panegyrics.

Greatly elated as I was at the praise bestowed upon my friend, I little
realized what it would mean to him during the next few hours.

CHAPTER XXXII

THE GREAT MEETING

'Can't we go down to Devonshire to-night?' cried Edgecumbe, as our
train reached London.

'Impossible, my dear fellow,' I replied.

'But why not?' and I could see by the wild longing look in his eyes
what he was thinking of.

'Oh, there are a dozen reasons. For one thing, she may not be able to
get away from the hospital; for another--I don't think it would be
wise.'

'I simply must go, Luscombe! I tell you something's going to happen,
something great. I feel it in every breath I draw. We must go--go at
once.'

'No,' I replied. 'I wrote her last night, and told her that we should
step in London at the National Hotel till we heard from her. If she
wants us to come we shan't be long in getting her reply.'

He gave a long quivering sigh, and I could see how disappointed he was,
but he said no more about the matter, and when we arrived at the hotel
he had seemed to have forgotten all about it.

'Look here,' he cried, pointing to a paragraph in an evening newspaper,
'that's on the right lines. I'm going.'

The paragraph which interested him was a notice of a big meeting that
was to be held that night for the purpose of discussing certain phases
of the Army, and consequently of the war, about which newspapers were
us