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We felt uncomfortable.
It was not at all likely that a Herr Over-Commander would expedite us
with the graciousness that had marked his underlings back along the line
of communication. We remarked as much to one another; and it was a true
prophecy. A staff officer--a colonel who spoke good English--received
us at the door of the villa and examined our papers in the light which
streamed over his shoulder from a fine big hallway behind him. In
everything, both then and thereafter, he was most polite.
"I do not understand how you came here, you gentlemen," he said at
length. "We have no correspondents with our army."
"You have now," said one of us, seeking to brighten the growing
embarrassment of the situation with a small jape.
Perhaps he did not understand. Perhaps it was against the regulations
for a colonel, in full caparison of sword and shoulder straps, to laugh
at a joke from a dusty, wayworn, shabby stranger in a dented straw hat
and a wrinkled Yankee-made coat. At any rate this colonel did not
laugh.


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