ng our share of war work here, my boy. Come into the
drawing-room."

He put his hand affectionately on Doggie's arm and, opening the
drawing-room door, pushed him in and stood, in his kind, courtly way,
until the young man had passed the threshold. Mrs. Conover, feeble
from illness, rose and kissed him, and gave him much the same greeting
as her husband. Then a tall, lean figure in uniform, who had remained
in the background by the fireplace, advanced with outstretched hand.

"Hello, old chap!"

Doggie took the hand in an honest grip.

"Hello, Oliver!"

"How goes it?"

"Splendid," said Doggie. "You all right?"

"Top-hole," said Oliver. He clapped his cousin on the shoulder. "My
hat! you do look fit." He turned to the Dean. "Uncle Edward, isn't he
a hundred times the man he was?"

"I told you, my boy, you would see a difference," said the Dean.

Peggy ran in, having delivered the two-seater to the care of
myrmidons.

"Now that the affecting meeting is over, let us have tea. Oliver, ring
the bell."

The tea came. It appeared to Doggie, handing round the three-tiered
silver cake-stand, that he had returned to some forgotten former
incarnation. The delicate china cup in his hand seemed too frail for
the material usages of life and he feared lest he should break it with
rough handling. Old habit, however, prevailed, and no one noticed his
sense of awkwardness. The talk lay chiefly between Oliver and himself.
They exchanged experiences as to dates and localities. They bandied
about the names of places which will be inscribed in letters of blood
in history for all time, as though they were popular golf-courses.
Both had known Ypres and Plug Street, and the famous wall at Arras,
where the British and German trenches were but five yards apart.
Oliver's division had gone down to the Somme in July for the great
push.

"I ought to be there now," said Oliver. "I feel a hulking slacker and
fraud, being home on sick leave. But the M.O. said I had just escaped
shell-shock by the skin of my nerves, and they packed me home for a
fortnight to rest up--while the regiment, what there's left of it,
went into reserve."

"Did you get badly cut up?" asked Doggie.

"Rather. We broke through all right. Then machine guns which we had
overlooked got us in the back."

"My lot's down there now," said Doggie.

"You're well out of it, old chap," laughed Oliver.

For the first time in his life Doggie began really to like Oliver.