h the
fatherless. She is very old, very highborn, and of irascible temper.
All men call her Mother. The Colonel himself salutes her. Thus are all
sorts mingled in this country of France."

MOTHER. Ha! Well, at least that holy woman was well-born, but she is
too free with her tongue. Go on!

SON. He says: "Through my skill with my rifle, I have been made a
sharp-shooter. A special place is given to me to shoot at the enemy
singly. This was old work to me. This country was flat and open at the
beginning. In time it became all _kandari-kauderi_--cut up--with
trenches, _sungars_ and bye-ways in the earth. Their faces show well
behind the loop-holes of their _sungars_. The distance was less than
three hundred yards. Great cunning was needed. Before they grew
careful, I accounted for nine in five days. It is more difficult by
night. They then send up fireballs which light all the ground. This is
a good arrangement to reveal one's enemy, but the expense would be too
great for poor people."

FATHER. He thinks of everything--everything! Even of the terrible cost
for us poor people.

SON [_reading_]. "I attended the funeral of a certain French child. She
was known to us all by the name of 'Marri' which is Miriam. She would
openly claim the Regiment for her own regiment in the face of the
Colonel walking in the street. She was slain by a shell while grazing
cattle. What remained was carried upon a litter precisely after our
custom. There were no hired mourners. All mourners walked slowly behind
the litter, the women with the men. It is not their custom to scream or
beat the breast. They recite all prayers above the grave itself for
they reckon the burial-ground to be holy. The prayers are recited by
the Imam of the village. The grave is not bricked and there is no
recess. They do not know that the Two Angels visit the dead. They say
at the end, 'Peace and Mercy be on you'."

MOTHER. One sees as he writes! He would have made a great priest, this
son of ours. So they pray over their dead, out yonder, those
foreigners?

FATHER. Even a Kafir may pray, but--they are manifestly Kafirs or they
would not pray in a grave-yard. Go on!

SON. "When their prayers were done, our Havildar-Major, who is
orthodox, recited the appropriate verse from the Koran, and cast a
little mud into the grave. The Imam of the village then embraced him. I
do not know if this is the custom. The French weep very little. The
French women are small-handed