Chapters 17 through 24 Summary

In Chapter Seventeen, Tiddy announces to other officers that Matthias saved his life. He procures a uniform for Matthias and takes him in to see the headquarters commander. Tiddy tells the commander his three men were killed and says there were "thirty or forty" of the rebels and that they were "heavily armed." The commander asks Matthias how many rebels he saw. He is conflicted. He doesn't want to back up Tiddy's lie but feels a connection to Tiddy that makes him reluctant to say Tiddy is a liar. He settles for neutral ground, says he doesn't know how many people were involved but there were "a lot of bullets." The commander promises Tiddy reinforcements and Matthias begs to go when Tiddy leaves the headquarters. Tiddy says Matthias can't go but takes him to a huge cafeteria with more food than...