Alf winced.
The Colonel's office was in the Town Hall, and one of the first men to come and sign on there was Joe Burt.
The Colonel, as he took in the engineer, saw at once that the hurricane which was devastating the world had wrought its will upon this man too. The Joe Burt he had originally known four years ago stood before him once again, surly, shy, and twinkling.
"Good luck to you," said the Colonel as they shook hands. "And try to be an honest man. You were meant to be, you know."
"A'm as honest as soom and honester than most, A reckon," the engineer answered dogged as a badgered schoolboy.
The Colonel essayed to look austere.
"You'd better go before you get into worse trouble," he said.
Joe went out, grinning.
"Ah, A'm not the only one," he mumbled.
Outside in the passage he met Alf, and paused amazed.