Lieutenant-Colonel E. F. B. Bethune, D.S.O., Commanding Second Battalion Royal Covenanters—
He stopped suddenly—as I knew he would. I looked up, and watched his face go white, as he read the message to the end. I saw him re-read it, again and again. Then he examined the date, and hour of despatch. Then came a long, deathly silence.
At last he lifted his face to me—the face of a man suddenly aged. He pushed the pink slip in my direction.
"Have you ever seen that before?" he asked, in a hoarse voice.
I read the message mechanically through, though I knew it by heart. It said:
Lt.-Col E. F. B. Bethune, D.S.O., Commanding Second Battalion, Royal Covenanters, will return home forthwith, and report to War Office.
CHAPTER XXIII
THE SOUL OF ERIC BETHUNE
How long we sat there I do not know. But at last I was conscious that Eric was speaking again.
"When did Roy Birnie get this?"