And as it progressed I was more and more struck by the change in the O'Keefe.

All flippancy was gone, rarely did his sense of humour reveal itself in any of his answers.

He was like a cautious swordsman, fencing, guarding, studying his opponent; or rather, like a chess-player who keeps sensing some far-reaching purpose in the game: alert, contained, watchful.

Always he stressed the power of our surface races, their multitudes, their solidarity.
Their questions were myriad.

What were our occupations?
Our system of government?
How great were the waters?
The land?
Intensely interested were they in the World War, querying minutely into its causes, its effects.