"Good night, General."
Methodically the general completed his rounds. He laughed often and joked with the men and seemed in exceptionally good spirits.
Back in his own quarters, he brought out his diary. With a weary sigh, he sat down to it. He glanced at his timepiece. The day extended backward almost beyond memory but it was not yet late.
After thumbing the diary listlessly for several minutes—pausing now and then at a paragraph—he began to write. He put the events of the day down precisely in their logical sequence.
IV
The Committee took over the dining area when the general left for his tour of inspection. While the steward's department was preparing coffee for the interviewees, now assembling in the corridor, the four members of the Committee arranged themselves at the larger of the tables. Notepaper lay before them.
Mr. Tucker lighted a cigar and fingered it. "A rather good meal," he said.
The others nodded.
"I may as well start off, while we're waiting," Mr. Wallace said. "I'll summarize my somewhat contradictory observations.