“Then that’s all right,” Jim said. “And you’ll keep fit yourself; and we’ll see you ever so often.”
“Oh—do come often!” Norah whispered. They wrung each other’s hands. Then Mr. Linton came in, and also sat down on the bed, and they managed to be quite cheerful, and made great plans for excursions when Norah should be quite strong and the boys came up from Aldershot. It might be three months, or three days, before they were sent out to the fighting-line: there was nothing to be gained by speaking of it.
Jim looked at his watch, at length.
“Nearly time we went,” he said.
Norah jumped up and made a valiant attempt to tidy her curly hair—on the state of which Wally made severe comments when they rejoined him, declaring that she might have been crawling under the haystack at home.
“I know I’ve got to remember I’m in London,” said Norah penitently, “Wally, why will you be like Aunt Eva!”
“Never mind—we’ll bring you a large bunch of assorted German scalps when we come back from the Front,” said Wally. “They’ll look lovely in the hall at Billabong, among the native weapons!”
“If you bring your own scalps in good order, we’ll excuse you the Germans,” said Mr. Linton.
“If you leave untidy German oddments about Billabong, Brownie will be annoyed!” said Norah, laughing. “Oh, won’t it be lovely when we all go back!”
“It will be just the best spree we ever had—and that is saying a lot!” Wally answered. He looked down at Norah. “There’s something a bit unfair about this, you know,” he declared. “Norah has been in all our plans ever since she was a bit of a youngster; and now we’ve got to go and leave her out, for the first time. We’ll have to work up something very special when we come back, old Nor, to make up for it.”