t, and became a sort of home for pets of all shapes and sizes, from Jean, a little French boy
as we discovered later, of a migratory disposition, forsook his native haunts and "took t
lete military uniform, from cap to boots. He couldn't speak a word of English-but he was a boy, and as we too had been boys not so very long ago we understood one another fr
on a warlike world at a tender age. They had both adopted us, an
of lank grey wool with legs so long that it must have made him dizzy every time he viewed the earth belo
e goat loved Jogman. Thus was established an "
watched Jean feeding the goat. "A hand like dat ain't frie
replied defensively, "but ye can't keep t
bottle up to Billy's greedy mouth. He understood only a little of
e," he cried. "Bi
Billy who with a sudden tug had
boys that swear go?" a
to de war," Jean contend
send ye back to yer aunt
ng him by the hand cried tearfully: "No!-No!-No!
r wouldn't explain it; but he was in great dread of being
y, "be a good boy, an' don't swear
he goat, but they imbibed from different bottles and with different results. He had been on his good behaviour
ging pocket the Tommy's heart throbbed nervously, until he got a chance to "blow it in." But before this fortuitous eve
ye goin'?"
th' sights," Jogman
ailin' an' don't hit de can too hard. I can't bear se
orm of military punishment Tim alluded.
rried Jogman. His life was full when his stomach was full, and the fumes of "cognac" or "whiskey blanc" beckoned him like a siren's smile. Loaded
lows and hills of sand. Time and the wind had beaten them so firmly that one might tread upon their crusted surface and scarcely leave a footprint. Craters as large as the Roman Coliseum, surrounded by tufted grass, spread before his gaze
a habitation, stranger still, by accident attracted his attention. He had lain down for a moment's rest beside some bushes, and on turning his head was surprised to see a small window on a level with his e
dresser stood against the wall. An electric light hung from the ceiling, but no wires were visible without. The clothes still lying upon the bed, the overturned chair
self in the streets of that lively little town which has been aptly called the "Monte Carlo" of northern France. Its big gambling "Ca
ian lassie who waved her hand from a shop window as he passed, he entered the Café Central and seati
veut?"
Scotch an' soda,
ur desires?" she quer
said Jogman picturing the
m'si
r. Several more followed their predecessors, and being now comfor
audlin idea was fermenting in his brain none but himself might say. The fat bu
monsieur
r to steady the shop which, ignoring the law of
g addressed in an unintelligible language. "Why t
gue! Jogman's sense of injustice was preternaturally keen just then. The butcher was a
oulez, monsieur?" he
ational customer, making a step fo
his weapon more firmly still, and
ng a large knife from the slab he rushed at the frightened man
ifying in the extreme to the peaceful denizens of the town. They ran shrieking for help, bolting into their shops o
annoyance the disturbance interrupted Sergeant Honk in a monosyllabic conversation, which he was holding with a pretty French girl. He humped himself around the corn
d to her balcony and refused to descend. Honk
won't come back, an' 'e wouldn't 'urt
ate, and turned a deaf
s about as intelligible to Honk as Chinese script,
e th' 'ole bleedin' town h'about our h'ears. Th' gals won't look at a decen
se which it cost our lads several months of good conduct to eradicate. It was simple and to the point: "Canadians no good!" For weeks afterward it was shouted at them every time they entered
to the Guard Room, Barker
el said I wuz th' first t' disgrace th' unit. By cripe
le woman who had to be bartered with, it was the iceman who sought, with true French business acumen, to
all these ridiculous and unsatisfactory arguments maintaine
r the same period, monsieur was assured, on word of honour, that the party of the first part was undercharged, and wo
s awaiting his skilled hand. The wounded man, whose thigh had been shattered with a rifle bullet, was lying upon the tab
ou this mornin
ered, with a ready smile, "but ma leg is a bit tr
eclared reassuringly. "I expect
a wife and twa wee bairnies at hame, an' I were thinkin' as
best to save it," t
as badly splintered for a distance of three inches, and one large piece was torn away. We hoped to be able to put a steel plate upon the bone, and, by screwing it down, draw the
sins, its rubber covered floor, the most modern of surgical appliances, and, most impo
ly fractured. For a space of several inches there was nothing but tiny fragments, and
ne will never regenerate. This leg should c
Might it be used as a splint? We fitted it in between the upper and lower fragment-it was just long enough to be wedged between. We drilled a
careless! Every case is a special one; every "Tommy" the private patient of the Empire. The su
lean wound-no infection-we had hopes. Six weeks later the bone had
d. This miniature military "Police-Court" sits every morning, with the commanding officer as judge. If the court is small, it is by no
cap. The sergeant-major, in equally dread attire, ordered the guard and prisoner (the latter being minus both belt and cap-these app
orried expression; his smile had disa
e Jogma
th conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline, in that he, on the
Jogman, you have heard the charge against yo
," Jogman mutter
le lifting of the brush of red hair which did service in lieu of eyebrows. T
t of the Military Police,
ct and convincing. The accused, when ask
st witness?" th
nt Honk
you know of this case?
was talkin' to a lady h'on the main street of Paree-plaige, when h'I 'e
drily. "I daresay what y
n was a-screamin' an' runnin' into their 'ouses. H'I run to the corner as fast as me legs could carry me-" Jogman looked instinctively at Ho
ke h-- (h'excuse me, sir); well, 'e were goin' som
toxicated?" the c
and afore h'I gets to 'im, th' Sergeant o' Police 'ad 'im
s to put to the witnes
nt Honk state, sir, how many beers he ha
er hue of red, and shuffled uncomf
sternly. "There is plenty of other evidence to show
all equally damning. At last the colonel asked t
d my head has been queer ever since. When I take a drink I don'
your head is queerer than before. For the crime of which you are guilty
oked up e
e that you will not touch another dro
he colonel's face; he had never seen him look so severe before. It was a big sacrifice
days First Fie
d "office" was over for the day. Remorseful recollectio
whole war fer me," he gru