a name, which was that of an army surgeon whom
he knew fairly well. The sounds of the flute ceased, and the musician
appeared at the window, his instrument still in his hand, peering into
the street.

"Who calls? You, D'Hubert? What brings you this way?"

He did not like to be disturbed at the hour when he was playing the
flute. He was a man whose hair had turned grey already in the thankless
task of tying up wounds on battlefields where others reaped advancement
and glory.

"I want you to go at once and see Feraud. You know Lieut. Feraud? He
lives down the second street. It's but a step from here."

"What's the matter with him?"

"Wounded."

"Are you sure?"

"Sure!" cried D'Hubert. "I come from there."

"That's amusing," said the elderly surgeon. Amusing was his favourite
word; but the expression of his face when he pronounced it never
corresponded. He was a stolid man. "Come in," he added. "I'll get ready
in a moment."

"Thanks! I will. I want to wash my hands in your room."

Lieut. D'Hubert found the surgeon occupied in unscrewing his flute, and
packing the pieces methodically in a case. He turned his head.

"Water there--in the corner. Your hands do want washing."

"I've stopped the bleeding," said Lieut. D'Hubert. "But you had better
make haste. It's rather more than ten minutes ago, you know."

The surgeon did not hurry his movements.

"What's the matter? Dressing came off? That's amusing. I've been at work
in the hospital all day but I've been told this morning by somebody that
he had come off without a scratch."

"Not the same duel probably," growled moodily Lieut. D'Hubert, wiping
his hands on a coarse towel.

"Not the same. . . . What? Another. It would take the very devil to
make me go out twice in one day." The surgeon looked narrowly at Lieut.
D'Hubert. "How did you come by that scratched face? Both sides, too--and
symmetrical. It's amusing."

"Very!" snarled Lieut. D'Hubert. "And you will find his slashed arm
amusing, too. It will keep both of you amused for quite a long time."

The doctor was mystified and impressed by the brusque bitterness of
Lieut. D'Hubert's tone. They left the house together, and in the street
he was still more mystified by his conduct.

"Aren't you coming with me?" he asked.

"No," said Lieut. D'Hubert. "You can find the house by yourself. The
front door will be standing open very likely."

"All right. Where's his room?"

"Ground floor. But you had bett