Koran.

By this time I was a full-blown sergeant. I made a mistake in walking
into the sergeants' mess with the Koran under my arm. It was
difficult to explain what sort of book it was. One day the regimental
sergeant-major said--

"You know, Hargrave, I can't make you out."

"No, sir?"

"No;--you're not a soldier, you never will be--you act the part pretty
well. But you don't take things seriously enough."

We were often out on the Clare Mountains for field-days with the
stretcher-squads. Coming back one day, I spotted two herons wading among
some yellow-ochre sedges in a swampy field. I determined there and then
to come back and stalk them. The following Saturday I set out with a
fellow we called "Cherry Blossom," because he never cleaned his boots. I
took a pair of field-glasses, and "Cherry" had a bag of pastries, which
we bought on the way. We stalked those herons for hours and hours. We
crept through the reeds, hid behind trees, and crawled into bushes, but
the herons were better scouts. We only got about fifty yards up to one.
For all that, it was like my old scout life--and we had had a break from
the gray walls and the everlasting saluting of officers.

There were rumours of war, and that's all we knew of it. There were
fresh rumours each day. We were going to Egypt. We were to be sent to
the East Coast for "home defence." That offended our martial ardour.
When were we going out? Should we ever get out? Had we got to do squad
drill for "duration"? Had Kitchener forgotten the Xth Division?

Now and then a batch of men were put into khaki which arrived at the
quartermaster's stores in driblets. Some had greeny puttees and sandy
slacks, a "civvy" coat and a khaki cap. Others were rigged out in
"Kitchener's workhouse blue," with little forage caps on one side. The
sprinkling of khaki and khaki-browns and greens increased every time we
came on parade: until one day the whole of the three field ambulances
were fitted out.

The drill went on like clockwork. It was as if some curse had fallen
upon us. The officers were "fed up" you could see.

And now, just a word as to army methods. Immediately opposite the
barracks was a cloth factory, which was turning out khaki uniforms for
the Government every day.

For five months we went about in civilian clothes. We were a disgrace as
we marched along. Yet because no order had been given to that factory
to supply us with uniforms, we had to wait till the uniforms ha