“Andrews.”

“Folks come from Virginia?”

“Yes.” Andrews got to his feet.

“Then you're related to the Penneltons.”

“I may be related to the Kaiser for all I know.”

“The Penneltons... that's it. You see my mother was a Miss Spencer from Spencer Falls, Virginia, and her mother was a Miss Pennelton, so you and I are cousins. Now isn't that a coincidence?”

“Distant cousins. But I must go back to the barracks.”

“Come in and see me any time,” Spencer B. Sheffield shouted after him. “You know where; back of the shack; And knock twice so I'll know it's you.”

Outside the house where he was quartered Andrews met the new top sergeant, a lean man with spectacles and a little mustache of the color and texture of a scrubbing brush.

“Here's a letter for you,” the top sergeant said. “Better look at the new K. P. list I've just posted.”