Combed Out

ly and we looked anxiously back at him

an do it.-Squad!-now when I shouts Squad it's a word o' warnin', an' it means I want yer ter be ready ter go through yer evverlutions. Now then, yer s'posed ter be standin' to attention. That's not the way ter stand to attention-yer want ter use some common sense-when yer stand to attention, yer stand wi' yer chest out, yer stomach in, yer 'eads erect an' facin' to yer front, yer sho

awkwardly, not quite knowing what to do with their hands or

rui

y to attention. Now then, Squad-Tshn!... No, no, I wants it done smarter'n that. Stand at Ease! Now then, try agin: Tshn!-No, no, that ain't 'alf smart enough. Try agin. Stand at Ease!-Tsh

e performed the movements mechanically and repeated the same mistakes time after time. The Sergeant was losing pa

e. Another Sergeant approached us and yelled "Number Four Squad-Tshn!" We sprang to attention and stoo

along we became sore-footed and thirsty, for the ground was hard and the sun very hot. From time to time we were allowed a brie

We "changed direction to the right" or to the left, we "formed squad," we advanced, we retired, we wheeled and turned and gyrated. The stultifying occupation dragged on as though it would never cease. Our sore feet, ou

et used to it. I know it's bloody awful

r and bushy eyebrows-left the ranks and flung

t orften they're to

ver the interruption had distracted us, and the next half-hour passed very quickly. But gradually our physical discomfort reasserted itself. When at last the morning'

greasy liquid on to them. We sat down on benches in front of tables that were littered with potato-peel, bits of fat, and other refuse. We were packed so closely togethe

ant it, mate?" I said "No," whereupon he exclaimed eagerly, "Giss it." A bestial, gloating look came into his face as he seized my plate and splashed the contents on to his own, so that th

of cabbage and fat were floating about in it. From a nail in the wall a torn shred of a disused woollen pant was hanging. It was black and glistening, for it had already been used ti

t took charge of us. Instead there appeared a man without a cap and wearing a jersey. He

bull, "Take those bloody glasses orf," as though the wearing of glasses were a crime against humanity. I took them off and put them into my pocket. The instructor gave me a savage look and then bawled out a n

er up a bit-by Gawd-I'll break yer bleed'n' 'earts afore I've done wi' yer-by Gawd I will. When I tells yer ter do

d down on to the ground and got up again with lightning rapidity. We ran to and fro until we were breathless. Mistakes were frequent, and whenever a mistake was made the instructor would stride up to the culprit with bared te

n on the grass one after another. It was not long before a Ser

yer left an' 'old it there while I counts six paces. At the end o' the six paces yer cuts yer 'and away an' brings

h our left hands, it may have been twenty times, it may have been fifty, we were so overcome with infinite boredom that we regarded everything with complete apathy and could not trouble to count. Then, by way of variety, we saluted with our right hands, and some more dreary minutes pass

the Sergeant with trembling knees. He was so hampered by nervous fright that he saluted awkwardly and with the wrong hand. There was loud laughter and the Sergeant, simulating an outburst of intense fury, roared at the unfortunate man, "Use a bit o' common sense, can't yer! Yer in the bleed'n'

an with long arms, a low forehead, and a protrud

nd and bellowed-he was

terfere? Mind yer own bloody business! Come an

epped out with swaggering alacrity. We hoped he would make a mistake and were ready to jeer and laugh at him. But to our great annoyance his salute was perfe

le shyness or nervous embarrassment (although errors were frequent) the proceedings began to b

es, instead of disappearing, became more numerous. Our faces and necks seemed on fire. They were so sunburnt that to touch them was acutely painfu

ock orf in ten. Only get along to yer 'uts as soon as I dismiss yer

sed the last ten minutes to pass with comparative rapidity. We were dismissed for the day, and stra

s, terrified, excited, exuberant, or calm and indifferent in the presence of danger, but I could not arrive at any conclusion. Even the term "under fire" conveyed no precise meaning. Nothing I had read about the present war was of any help to me. The reports of the war-correspondents in the daily press were so full of obviously false psychology, that I regarded them as obstacles in the way of a proper understanding of modern warfare, and no doubt that was partly the object with which they were written or rather inspired. I knew that within a few weeks I might be dead or terribly mutilated, but as I could not visualize the precise circumstances the prospect only filled me with an indefi