“Glad to be of use, Admiral. Your car is here now. I hear the engine out in the yard.”
“Be sure to telephone your man at Solliès-Pont.”
“The corporal will do that for me. I’m off without losing a second’s time!”
“And ever so much obliged, eh, Narcy? Call and see me when you get back!”
I hung up the receiver. The telegraph corporal was standing outside the booth with my water-proof and my soft felt hat. A misty rain was falling outside.
I hurried back into the office, gave a turn at the combination on the safe, and locked the cabinet for the correspondence files. This latter operation wasted a good half minute. The lock was out of order and refused to turn. After some cursing on my part, it yielded to the key.
Through the white lace curtains hanging over the office windows a bright, though grayish light was streaming in from the waning afternoon. The stove was glowing red, giving the room a touch of cosiness that I was to exchange with some regret for the raw damp outside.
On the table I noticed Colonel Terrise’s letter, which, in my haste, I had forgotten to file. I thought of opening the cabinet again. But no, that would take too much time. Not knowing what else to do with the letter, I folded it and slipped it into the inside pocket of my waistcoat.... That is why I can see it now!
In the courtyard of Headquarters a hostler was currying the adjutant-general’s mare. He spat out the stub of his cigar and saluted me. In the west, a dim outline of the sun was visible through a thin place in the clouds. A tree near-by was dripping with great drops of moisture. The swinging of the outer gate rang a bell in the sentinel’s box. I remember that a dog, sleeping inside, raised his head lazily and looked up.
Beside the curbing on the street, the Admiral’s auto was standing, its sixty horse-power motor purring softly but powerfully. I opened the side door and stepped in....