“No,” she reluctantly confessed.
“Why, I was a particular chum to your brother at the academy.”
Mr. Burrage stirred nervously.
“You were Walter’s friend?” said Inza.
“Correct. We entered the army together. Too bad Walter got into that muss. I’ve been stationed in the Philippines. Home on furlough. Suppose I’ll have to go back. Beastly country in some respects. No pretty women there, and women make or mar any country.”
There was something about the air of the fellow that did not please Inza.
“Well, I see it’s no use for you to try to guess,” he rattled on. “I’m Swift—Roy Swift. Now you remember me?”
Still she did not remember at first, but after a time she recalled Swift, whom she had known but slightly among many other cadets at the academy.
“It’s strange you should forget me so completely,” he said. “I could never forget you.”
He spoke the words in a very significant manner, bending on her such a meaning look that the blood rushed to her face.