"OO!" An earsplitting crack was followed by a mosquito-like voice singing in the wilderness.

"Hullo!"

"Hullo!"

"This is Pike."

"This is Possum. H-hullo, Pike!"

"Hullo, Possum!"

"I say, look here, the General w-wants to know" (here he paused to throw a dark hidden meaning into the word) "what time—it—is."

"What time it is?"

"Yes, what time it is! It. Yes, what time it is"—repeated fortissimo ad lib.

"Eleven thirty-five."