Pierre pointed to a white-walled, red-roofed house that lay against a hillside, about a mile ahead, making a vivid spot in the dull grays and greens of the early April landscape.  It consisted of a square two-story block, with one-story wings projecting to give it an L-shaped floorplan.  It reminded Rand of farmhouses he had seen in Sicily during the War.

“Come on in and see my stuff, if you have time,” Pierre invited, as Rand pulled to a stop in the driveway.  “I think I told you what I collect—­personal combat arms, both firearms and edge-weapons.”

They entered the front door, which opened directly into a large parlor, a brightly colored, cheerful room.  A woman rose from a chair where she had been reading.  She was somewhere between forty-five and fifty, but her figure was still trim, and she retained much of what, in her youth, must have been great beauty.

“Mother, this is Colonel Rand,” Pierre said.  “Jeff, my mother.”

Rand shook hands with her, and said something polite.  She gave him a smile of real pleasure.

“Pierre has been telling me about you, Colonel,” she said.  There was a faint trace of French accent in her voice.  “I suppose he brought you here to show you his treasures?”

“Yes; I collect arms too.  Pistols,” Rand said.

She laughed.  “You gun-collectors; you’re like women looking at somebody’s new hat....  Will you stay for dinner with us, Colonel Rand?”

“Why, I’m sorry; I can’t.  I have a great many things to do, and I’m expected for dinner at the Flemings’.  I really wish I could, Mrs. Jarrett.  Maybe some other time.”

They chatted for a few minutes, then Pierre guided Rand into one of the wings of the house.

“This is my workshop, too,” he said.  “Here’s where I do my writing.”  He opened a door and showed Rand into a large room.

On one side, the wall was blank; on the other, it was pierced by two small casement windows.  The far end was of windows for its entire width, from within three feet of the floor almost to the ceiling.  There were bookcases on either long side, and on the rear end, and over them hung Pierre’s weapons.  Rand went slowly around the room, taking everything in.  Very few of the arms were of issue military type, and most of these showed alterations to suit individual requirements.  As Pierre had told him the evening before, the emphasis was upon weapons which illustrated techniques of combat.

At the end of the room, lighted by the wide windows, was a long desk which was really a writer’s assembly line, with typewriter, reference-books, stacks of notes and manuscripts, and a big dictionary on a stand beside a comfortable swivel-chair.

“What are you writing?” Rand asked.