"Oh well!" was Kenneth's indefinite response.
"Really, I couldn't help thinking you were hanging back. It was because you'd been seedy, I suppose."
"Perhaps."
"What was wrong with you? German measles?"
"Not so unpatriotic, my son. A trifle run down, that's all."
"Wanted a holiday, I suppose. The war scrapped holidays for most people."
"I daresay."
"Hang it all! What's the mystery? What do you mean by 'daresay' and 'perhaps' and so on and so forth? What had you been doing?"
"You're a persistent wretch, Randy. Well, I don't mind telling you now. I was in Cologne when war was declared, and I had a pretty strenuous time for a fortnight."
And he proceeded to outline the adventures which the present writer has related elsewhere.