ing a Company. But this
makes the case still more remarkable. Take any collection of
seventy souls the sum of whose ages, divided by seventy, shall be
thirty-four, and by all the laws of probability three, at least,
ought to die in the course of a year. I speak, for the moment, of
civilians. In the military profession," the Doctor continued, with
perfect seriousness, "especially in time of war, the death-rate will
be enormously heightened. But"--with a flourish of the hand--
"I waive that. I waive even the real, if uncertainly estimated, risk
of handling, twice or thrice a week and without timidity or
particular caution, the combustibles and explosives supplied us by
Government. And still I say that we might with equanimity have
beheld our ranks thinned during these five years by the loss of
fifteen men. And we have not lost a single one! It is wonderful!"

"War is a fearful thing," commented Captain Pond, whose mind moved
less nimbly than the Doctor's.

"Dash it all, Pond! Can't you see that I'm putting the argument on a
_peace_ footing? I tell you that in five years of _peace_ any
ordinary Company of the same size would have lost at least fifteen
men."

"Then all I can say is that peace is a fearful thing, too."

"But don't you see that at this moment you're commanding the most
remarkable Company in the Duchy, if not in the whole of England?"

"I do," answered Captain Pond, flushing. "It's a responsibility,
though. It makes a man feel proud; but, all the same, I almost wish
you hadn't told me."

Indeed at first the weight of his responsibility counteracted the
Captain's natural elation. It lifted, however, at the next
Corporation dinner, when the Doctor made public announcement of his
discovery in a glowing speech, supporting his rhetoric by extracts
from a handful of statistics and calculations, and ending,
"Gentlemen, we know the motto of the East and West Looe Volunteer
Artillery to be '_Never Say Die!_' but seeing, after five years'
trial of them, that they never _do_ die, what man (I ask) will not
rejoice to belong to such a Company? What man would not be proud _to
command it_?"

After this, could Captain Pond lag behind? His health was drunk
amid thunders of applause. He rose: he cast timidity to the winds:
he spoke, and while he spoke, wondered at his own enthusiasm.
Scarcely had he made an end before his fellow-townsmen caught him off
his feet and carried him shoulder high through th