n in creation; but--there are
difficulties . . . I can't put it plainer--and I'm thinking of
applying for a Staff appointment. My uncle in the Secretariat would
give me a helping hand, if you'd forward the thing with a decent
recommendation. But if you think me too much of a duffer for Staff
work, I must try--for an exchange----"

He could get no further; and Lenox, leaning across the corner of the
table, scrutinised his face with eyes that penetrated like a
searchlight.

"Well . . . I'm damned!" he said slowly. "Am I to understand that
after all we've pulled through together, you want to get away from the
Battery at any price?"

"It's not a question of what I want to do; it's what I've got to do,"
the other answered, averting his eyes.

"My good Dick, you're talking in riddles. Have you taken temporary
leave of your senses? Or is it a case of 'urgent private affairs'?"

Lenox's tone had an edge to it. Of course the man was free to go where
he chose. But it had grown to be an understood thing between them that
they would work together as long as might be, and he could not conceal
his disappointment. Richardson knew this, and looked up quickly. It
was the worst quarter of an hour he had ever known. Facing Waziri
bullets was a small matter compared with this despicable business of
disappointing and deceiving his friend.

"It's urgent enough, God knows!" he answered desperately. "I can't say
more than that, Lenox. I swear I can't."

He looked straight at Lenox in speaking. And this time the older man's
gaze held him, in spite of himself, till the blood burned under his
fair skin; till he perceived, between shame and relief, that his secret
was his no longer; that Lenox had seen, and understood. His first
instinct was--to escape. Such knowledge shared was enough to strike
any man dumb.

"You _will_ recommend me, won't you, old chap?" he asked all in a
breath, with a forward movement, as if to rise and depart.

But Lenox reached across the table, and a heavy hand on his shoulder
pressed him back into his seat.

"No need to hurry away, Max. We've settled nothing yet."

The assurance of unshaken friendship in his altered manner, and in the
sudden use of Richardson's first name, automatically readjusted the
situation, without need of so much as a glance of mutual understanding,
which neither could have endured.

"I'm afraid I can't recommend you for Staff work," Lenox went on
quietly, as though