8 a.m.
Hunger satisfied , I retired to my room and , needless to say , at once rang up my darling Zoe . By the mercy of providence she was in , but imagine my sensations when I heard that that accursed swine of a Colonel was also back from the front , and expected in at the flat at any moment , being then , she thought , engaged in his after dinner drinking bouts at the cavalry officers ' club . I could only groan . A laugh at the other end stung me to furious rage , appeased in an instant by her soothing tones as she told me that I should be glad to hear that he was only up from the Somme on a four-days leave , and was returning next morning by the 8 a.m. troop train . Glad ! I could have danced for joy . I breathed again .