to be loaded, but
this one was, and the batman was so unversed in the ways of revolvers
that he failed to recognise the fact. A revolver in the hands of a
novice is almost as dangerous as an automatic pistol. In fact it spells
considerable danger to all in the vicinity. It was therefore scarcely
surprising that the batman let off a round in his efforts to remove the
cylinder. As ill luck would have it the Divisional General chanced at
that moment to be passing through our lines preceded by an orderly. The
bullet whizzed close past the General and brought down the orderly with
a wound in the leg. The thing was, of course, a pure accident; but the
possible consequences of carelessness in handling loaded fire-arms are
so serious that the man who accidentally lets off a round is invariably
punished for his negligence, even when no serious harm has resulted. In
this particular instance the offender would have appeared in ordinary
course at the regimental orderly room the following morning, when the
circumstances would have been enquired into and the claims of justice
satisfied. But the General, who was naturally annoyed--to put it
mildly--departed from the normal procedure and, taking the matter into
his own hands, sent for the culprit and interviewed him on the spot,
whether for purposes of admonition or of punishment we know not. After
an impassioned harangue in which, with many winged words, he fully
expounded the enormity of the offence, he concluded dramatically
somewhat in this fashion: "I hope you are satisfied with your morning's
work! You see what you have done. You have wounded this poor fellow, and
you very nearly hit me! Are you satisfied?" It was an awkward question
to answer with due tact. Rattled as he was by the dressing down he had
just received the man could hardly be blamed if his reply was ambiguous.
At least it might have been more neatly expressed. It was "No, sir."

On 29th July a letter written by Lieut. J.G. Milne from hospital at
Alexandria brought us the bad news that Major Jowitt had died of septic
poisoning on the hospital ship _Rewa_ on 17th July, while on the passage
to Alexandria, and that Major Downie, who had been on the same ship, had
succumbed to his wounds in hospital on the 20th--the day after being
landed. The loss of two officers so deservedly popular was sincerely
mourned throughout the battalion. Major Jowitt's death was wholly
unexpected. His wounds had not been considered serious an