o all appearance he was in authority at the station.

"I'm rather surprised to see you here, Nancarrow," he said, when he had
taken his seat behind a business-looking desk, and pointed Bob to a
chair.

"I'm rather surprised myself, sir."

"What have you been doing since I saw you last?"

Bob told him.

"And now you want to enlist?"

"If I can, sir."

"What as?"

"Anything, sir. For the front, if it is possible. I want to be at it."

The Captain smiled at Bob's eagerness.

"But, my dear chap," he said, "this is surely a big change for you. If
I remember aright, you joined the O.T.C. only to please your mother,
and you hated soldiering and all its doings as you hated the devil."

"I expect I do still, sir; but--but I am afraid it would take too long
to explain why--why I feel I must go to the front. I've had a bad time
in one way and another. You see, my father was a Quaker, and I was
brought up to believe in his teachings. I do still, for that matter.
War is hell, there's no doubt about that. But I've gone through the
whole business, and now I want to be at it. I don't want to stay in
England five minutes longer than I can help. I must get to the
firing-line. I feel like a man who wants to kill a mad dog."

"Commissions aren't so easily obtained."

"I'm not troubling about a commission, sir. We can't be all officers,
and I feel that all I ever learnt about soldiering would come back to
me in a week. If I can help it, I don't want to be idling around in a
barracks, or in camp; I just want to go to France as soon as ever I
can. I'll do anything, be anything; I don't care what, so long as I
can get into action."

"That's the spirit," replied Captain Pringle; "and I can't tell you how
glad I am to see you here. Of course I remember you when you were in
the O.T.C. You did jolly well--distinguished yourself, in fact. You
remember what I said to you."

"Yes, sir, I remember very well."

The Captain was silent for a few seconds. He seemed to be thinking
deeply, as if he were uncertain what to say.

"Naturally you know that even although you took a kind of double first
in the O.T.C., in the ordinary course of things you would have to have
further training before you could go into active service as a private."

"That's what's bothering me, sir. I did think of joining one of the
Public School or University Corps, but from what I can find out, they
are kept down at Epsom or some such place.