"Don't get rattled easy—that's what I heard."
This was gratifying if it was true. Tom had not known why he had been sent so far and he had wondered.
Presently a Signal Corps captain came out of Headquarters, spoke briefly with two officers who were near the big wire spool, and then turned toward the bench on which Tom was sitting. His neighbors arose and saluted and he did the same.
"Never been under fire, I suppose?" said the captain, addressing Tom to his great surprise.
"Not before the lines, I haven't. The machine I had before this one was knocked all out of shape by a shell. I was riding from Toul to——"
"All right," interrupted the captain somewhat impatiently. Tom was used to being interrupted in the midst of his sometimes rambling answers. He could never learn the good military rule of being brief and explicit. "How do you feel about going over the top? You don't have to."
"It's just what I was thinking about," said Tom eagerly. "If you'd be willing, I'd like to."
"Of course you'd be under fire. Care to volunteer? Emergency work."
"Often I wished——"
"Care to volunteer?"