FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   8   9   10   11   12   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29   30   31   32  
33   34   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   56   57   >>   >|  
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
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   8   9   10   11   12   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29   30   31   32  
33   34   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   56   57   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

uniforms

 

herons

 
Kitchener
 
Cherry
 
officers
 

sergeant

 

rumours

 

factory

 

quartermaster

 

stores


greeny

 

driblets

 

puttees

 

arrived

 

slacks

 
offended
 

martial

 
ardour
 

defence

 
Should

Division

 

forgotten

 
duration
 

barracks

 

turning

 

Government

 

months

 

opposite

 

Immediately

 

methods


civilian

 
clothes
 

supply

 

marched

 

disgrace

 

sprinkling

 

browns

 

increased

 

greens

 

forage


Others

 

rigged

 

workhouse

 

parade

 

fallen

 

clockwork

 
ambulances
 
fitted
 
scouts
 

things