“I’m Benny Upsher, sir,” he said, in a tone modest yet confident, as if the name were an introduction.

“Oh——” Campton stammered, cursing his absent-mindedness and his unfailing faculty for forgetting names.

“You’re a friend of George’s, aren’t you?” he risked.

“Yes—tremendous. We were at Harvard together—he was two years ahead of me.”

“Ah—then you’re still there?”

Mr. Upsher’s blush became a mask of crimson. “Well—I thought I was, till this thing happened.”

“What thing?”

The youth stared at the older man with a look of celestial wonder.

“This war.—George has started already, hasn’t he?”

“Yes. Two hours ago.”