"I shan't see anyone."
I caught hold of him by the shoulders and made him look me in the eyes.
"What the devil's the matter?" I asked. "You've lost all your pluck."
"Because I've the wit to see when the game's up?" he asked, with a curl of the lip. "I'm broke——"
"You can start again, as you've done a dozen times."
"What for? I hoped once that I might rouse the public conscience and give my whole life to reducing the total of human misery.... The one thing I've done in the last month is to gather so much extra food for powder."
"The world will still have to be rebuilt when the war's over," I reminded him.
He wriggled out of my hands and picked up his cap from the table.
"If your uncle's about," he said, "I should like to say good-bye."