'May I offer my congratulations?' said Selwyn.
'Come outside,' said the colonel.
They adjourned to the terrace, and Smyth placed his hand in the other's arm. 'Do you know who I am?' he said.
'Eh?' said Selwyn, rather bewildered by the mysterious nature of the question.
'I, my dear Americano, am A.D. Super-Camouflage Department, War Office.' The colonel chuckled delightedly, but checking himself, reared his neck with almost Roman hauteur. 'I have one major, two captains, five subalterns, and eleven flappers, whose sole duty is to keep people from seeing me.'
'Why?' asked the American.
'I don't know,' said the colonel; 'but it's a fine system.'
'You have done wonderfully well.'
'Moderately so,' said the A.D. Super-Camouflage Department. 'I have been decorated by eleven foreign Governments and given an honorary degree by an American university. I also drive the largest car in London.'
'You amaze me.'