Later: He has returned, foiled!
April 18th. Nothing new. Working hard at signaling. Mr. Schmidt says I am doing well and if he was an Officer he would give me a job.
April 19th. Nothing new. But Doctor Connor had told Leila that my father looks sick or at least not well. When I went to him, being frightened, as he is my only Male Parent and very dear to me, he only laughed and said:
“Nonsense! We’re rushed at the Mill, that’s all. You see, Bab, War is more than Unaforms and saluting. It is a nasty Business. And of course, between your forgetting The Emblem until midnight, when I am in my first sleep, and putting it out at Dawn, I am not getting all the rest I really need.”
He then took my hand and said:
“Bab, you haven’t by any chance been in my Dispach Case for anything, have you?”
“Why? Is something missing?” I said in a startled tone.
“No. But sometimes I think—however, never mind about that. I think I’ll take the Case upstairs and lock my door hereafter, and if the Emblem is an hour or to late, we will have to stand for it. Eight o’clock is early enough for any Flag, especialy if it has been out late the night before.”
“Father,” I said, in a tence voice. “I have before this warned you, but you would not listen, considering me imature and not knowing a Spy when I see one.”
I then told him what I knew about William, but he only said: