clutched in their
fingers, absolutely unable to move! And there they'd stand till Lord
knows when if the Sergeant didn't take it from them. I remember a
queer case once. We were saving the pins to rig up dummy bombs, and
the order was: 'Take the bomb in your right hand, remove the pin, put
the pin in your pocket, and at the word of command, throw the bomb.'
Well, this particular fellow was so wrought up that he threw away the
pin and put the bomb in his pocket!"

"Was he killed?" I asked.

"No. The sergeant just had time to dig the thing out of the man's
pocket and throw it away. Bomb exploded in the air and knocked 'em
both flat."

"Did the sergeant get the V.C. or M.C. or anything?" I enquired.

The Major smiled and shook his head.

"I have a good many sergeants here and they can't all have 'em! Now
come and see my lecture theatres."

Presently, looming through the rain, I saw huge circular structures
that I could make nothing of, until, entering the larger of the two,
I stopped in surprise, for I looked down into a huge, circular
amphitheatre, with circular rows of seats descending tier below tier
to a circular floor of sand, very firm and hard.

"All made out of empty oil cans!" said the Major, tapping the nearest
can with his whip. "I have 'em filled with sand and stacked as you
see!--good many thousands of 'em here. Find it good for sound
too--shout and try! This place holds about five thousand men--"

"Whose wonderful idea was this?"

"Oh, just a little wheeze of my own. Now, how about the poison gas;
feel like going through it?"

I glanced at K., K. glanced at me. I nodded, so did K.

"Certainly!" said I. Wherefore the Major led us over sandy hills and
along sandy valleys and so to a dingy and weatherworn hut, in whose
dingy interior we found a bright-faced subaltern in dingy uniform and
surrounded by many dingy boxes and a heterogeneous collection of
things. The subaltern was busy at work on a bomb with a penknife,
while at his elbow stood a sergeant grasping a screwdriver, who,
perceiving the Major, came to attention, while the cheery sub. rose,
beaming.

"Can you give us some gas?" enquired the Major, after we had been
introduced, and had shaken hands.

"Certainly, sir!" nodded the cheerful sub. "Delighted!"

"You might explain something about it, if you will," suggested the
Major. "Bombs and gas is your line, you know."

The sub. beamed, and giving certain directions to his sergeant, spak