It was not until the hot bowl burnt his hand that Durrance snatched his arm away.
The pipe fell and broke upon the floor.

Neither of the two men spoke for a few moments, and then Calder put his arm round Durrance's shoulder, and asked in a voice gentle as a woman's:-- "How did it happen ?" Durrance buried his face in his hands.

The great control which he had exercised till now he was no longer able to sustain.

He did not answer, nor did he utter any sound, but he sat shivering from head to foot.
"How did it happen ?" Calder asked again, and in a whisper.
Durrance put another question:-- "How did you find out ?" "You stood in the mess-room doorway listening to discover whose voice spoke from where.

When I raised my head and saw you, though your eyes rested on my face there was no recognition in them.