Mrs. Lewknor met him with a little smile.
"It's all right, Jocko," she told him. "She's only playing with the man."
The Colonel shook his head.
"She's put up the shutters, and said she's out—to her own husband. It's a dangerous game."
"Trust Ruth," replied the other. "She knows her man."
"Perhaps," retorted the Colonel. "Does she know herself?"
CHAPTER XXV
RED IN THE MORNING
Joe Burt's rhetoric might not affect the Colonel greatly; but the impressions of Mr. Geddes, conveyed to him quietly a few days later in friendly conversation, were a different matter.
The Presbyterian minister was a scholar, broad-minded, open, honest. He had moreover finished his education at Berlin University, and had, as the Colonel knew, ever since his student days maintained touch with his German friends. Mr. Geddes had come home convinced that Germany was not seeking a quarrel.