>       I am very far from being an ace in
> C++, and that's why I asked too. I 
> am reassured: there is no "=" after "return"...

Typing the equal sign in my original post was my mistake. The snippet of code to which I referred does not use equal signs. Thus, I'm the cause of your confusion. :)

I'm glad you asked because these little things help me learn. I'm getting the hang of parts of C++ but find the language peculiar. I hope six months from now I don't feel that way! :)

Darrell