forward in his chair. “I had been tipped off that there would be an air raid.” His voice was low. He glanced over his shoulder. “I have had a great deal of experience with men soldiers and nurses, but none at all with lady soldiers. I had my own ideas regarding their reactions once they were under fire. Others,” he paused, “Er—well—they had different ideas.

“I hope you’ll forgive me if—”

“Oh! You’re forgiven!” the girl exclaimed softly. “I—I thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

“For what?” he asked simply.

“For believing that I wasn’t soft—that I could take it.”

“That’s all right,” he beamed. “That’s exactly what I did believe, and now I know.

“Listen.” He leaned forward in his chair. “I lived in China a long time before the war. I speak Chinese like a Chinaman. I was in China for three years as an observer, watching the Japs fight the Chinese.

“I’m a hard man. War is my business. But China wrung my heart. I have seen whole families, men, women and children who had tramped five hundred miles to a place of safety where they could start again. And always with a merry laugh on their lips, a laugh at Fate. The Chinese people will win the war. A people who laugh at Fate as they have laughed, cannot lose.

“That does not mean that they have not suffered,” he went on. “I have seen women and children blown to bits by shells and bombs; seen them burned in their homes; watched delicately bred women trudge on foot weary miles day after day. And I have asked myself, ‘Are American women more important in the sight of God than these?’ Like American women Chinese women bear children and love them. They help to make a home for them. If occasion arises, they die for them cheerfully. No woman can do more. And these are the people we are to fight for. China is our destination—China and then Tokio. Time is precious. Too many already have perished. We must do all we can, all of us, men and women alike.”

“Yes.” Gale’s voice was husky. “Yes. That’s what I think. I—I would like to start tomorrow for Burma and then China.”

“I believe you would. I believe you would,” the colonel repeated solemnly.

They talked for some time about the mystery, the beauty and the enchantment of India.

“The temples are unusual and quite 

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