Is that so?" said he. "Well, let's go above and get to know one
another."

We went on deck, he, Doe, and I, and watched the new arrivals.
Troop-trains were rolling right up to the quay and disgorging
hundreds of men, spruce in their tropical kit of new yellow drill
and pith helmets. Unattached officers arrived singly or in pairs; in
carriages or on foot. Many of them were doctors, who were being
drafted to the East in large numbers. A still greater proportion
consisted of young Second Lieutenants, who, like ourselves, were
being sent out to replace the terrible losses in subalterns.

"The world looks East this summer," mused Monty. Then he turned to
me in a sudden, emphatic way that he had when he was going to hold
forth. "But there's a thrill about it all, my lads. It means great
developments where we're going to. Six new divisions are being
quietly shipped to the Mediterranean. You and I are only atoms in a
landslide towards Gallipoli. There's some secret move to force the
gates of the Dardanelles in a month, and enter Constantinople before
Christmas. Big things afoot! Big things afoot!"

"Jove! I hope so," said I, caught by his keenness.

"Just look round," pursued Monty, switching off in his own style to
a new subject, "isn't our Tommy the most lovable creature in the
world?"

I followed his glance, and saw that the decks were littered with
recumbent Tommies, who, considering themselves to have embarked, had
cast off their equipment and lain down to get cool and rested.

"Look at them!" spouted Monty, and by his suddenness I knew he was
about to hold forth at some length. "You'll learn that the Army,
when on active service, does an astonishing amount of waiting; and
Tommy does an astonishing amount of reclining. Lying down, while you
wait to get started, is two-thirds of the Army's work. Directly the
Army begins to wait, Tommy relieves his aching back and shoulders of
equipment, and reclines. Quite right, too. There's no other
profession in the world, where, with perfect dutifulness, you can
spend so much time on your back. Active Service is two-parts
Inaction--"

What more of his views Monty would have expounded I can't say, for a
voice yelled from the promenade-deck above us:

"You there! What's your rank?"

I jumped out of my skin, and Doe out of his, for we thought the
voice was addressing us, Monty turned without agitation and looked
up at the speaker. It was Major Hardy. He was leaning against the