I suspected that his own contribution was the largest of all, and such I afterwards found to be the truth.
"It is well to be exact," continued Mr. Desmond, "and so we are counting it in order that Captain Reade here may give us a receipt for the exact amount. It will take us more than a half hour yet to finish the task, and you might walk into the garden while you are waiting."
He indicated the way, and going into the garden I found Mary Desmond there. She wore June roses on her shoulder, their pink and red gleaming against her white dress, and her face was bright. The charm of her eyes did not depart in the daylight.
"So you have come back unharmed," she said. "But you have returned early."
"We have not fought the battle yet," I replied.
"But you look worn," she said. "Have you not seen service?"
"Yes," I replied, "I have spent a night on duty with Wildfoot."
"I might have known," she replied, as she laughed. "That man never sleeps—at least not in the night. He is always seeking to do something for our cause, which may have friends more powerful, but never better."
"I know it," I replied earnestly.