The Colonel was especially glad to see him. “We were pretty bothered. You know how it is. I hadn’t any idea who we could make Adjutant if anything happened to you. Joe, here, he applied for the job.” The Colonel pointed to a short, stout Captain and everyone laughed except Joe. Major Barkison smiled to himself: Joe probably had asked for his job.
“You get seasick?” asked the Colonel.
“Certainly not,” said the Major. “You know my iron stomach.” The junior officers laughed at this bit of esoterica, and Major Barkison began to feel more normal.
“They tell me they lost one of the men.”
“Chief Engineer. He fell overboard.”
“What a shame. We heard a garbled report about it. I suppose it was too late to do any good when they picked him up.”
“Well, they never did find out when he fell over.”
“Really?” The Colonel was surprised. “That’s a new one. Those things happen, of course.”
“They certainly do.” All the officers began to ask questions about the trip.
“I don’t see how you had the nerve to take a boat out at this time of year,” commented Joe admiringly.