pockets.

"Pearl Harbor!" he blurted. "How in.... How could they have let them get
_that_ far?"

"But _Frank_!" the woman gasped. She had not worried much about her
husband; but Frank, her son.... "He'll have to go...." Her voice died
away.

"Not a chance in the world." Kinnison did not speak to soothe, but as
though from sure knowledge. "Designing Engineer for Lockwood? He'll want
to, all right, but anyone who was ever even exposed to a course in
aeronautical engineering will sit this war out."

"But they say it can't last very long. It can't, can it?"

"I'll say it can. Loose talk. Five years minimum is my guess--not that
my guess is any better than anybody else's."

He prowled around the room. His somber expression did not lighten.

"I knew it," the woman said at length. "You, too--even after the last
one.... You haven't said anything, so I thought, perhaps...."

"I know I didn't. There was always the chance that we wouldn't get drawn
into it. If you say so, though, I'll stay home."

"Am I apt to? I let you go when you were really in danger...."

"What do you mean by _that_ crack?" he interrupted.

"Regulations. One year too old--Thank Heaven!"

"So what? They'll need technical experts, bad. They'll make exceptions."

"Possibly. Desk jobs. Desk officers don't get killed in action--or even
wounded. Why, perhaps, with the children all grown up and married, we
won't even have to be separated."

"Another angle--financial."

"Pooh! Who cares about that? Besides, for a man out of a job...."

"From you, I'll let that one pass. Thanks, Eunie--you're an ace. I'll
shoot 'em a wire."

The telegram was sent. The Kinnisons waited. And waited. Until, about
the middle of January, beautifully-phrased and beautifully-mimeographed
letters began to arrive.

"The War Department recognizes the value of your previous military
experience and appreciates your willingness once again to take up arms
in defense of the country ... Veteran Officer's Questionnaire ... please
fill out completely ... Form 191A ... Form 170 in duplicate ... Form
315.... Impossible to forecast the extent to which the War Department
may ultimately utilize the services which you and thousands of others
have so generously offered ... Form ... Form.... Not to be construed as
meaning that you have been permanently rejected ... Form ... Advise you
that while at the present time the War Department is unable to use
you...."

"Wouldn't that fry you to