. thought it would be subverse of
all discipline if, let us say, privates should be allowed to get up and
argue with the officers who might have addressed them. They all knew
what might be said in the heat of argument. Also, if he might venture to
say so, some of their lecturers, though primed with the right lecture,
might not be such experts that they could answer every question, and
plainly failure to satisfy a questioner might be disastrous. But
questions could be written and replies given at the next lecture. He
thought, smiling, that some of them would perhaps find that convenient.

The M.P. leaned back in his chair. "Well, sir," he said, "I'm sorry to be
a wet-blanket, but if that is so, the scheme is wrecked from the start.
You don't know the men; I do. They're not going to line up, like the
pupils of Dotheboys Academy, for a spoonful of brimstone and treacle."

The meeting was slightly scandalised. The chairman, however, rose to the
occasion. That, he said, was a matter for H.Q. They were there to do
their duty. And, being an able person, he did his. In ten minutes they
were formed into study-bands and were pledged to study, with which
conclusion the meeting adjourned.

Peter was almost out of the door when he heard his name called, and
turning, saw the A.C.G. beckoning him. He went up to the table and shook
hands.

"Do you know the Professor?" asked his superior. "Professor, this is Mr.
Graham."

"How do you do?" said the man of science. "You are Graham of Balliol,
aren't you? You read Political Science and Economics a little at Oxford,
I think? You ought to be the very man for us, especially as you know how
to speak."

Peter was confused, but, being human, a little flattered. He confessed to
the sins enumerated, and waited for more.

"Well," said the A.C.G., "I've sent in your name already, Graham, and
they want you to go to Abbeville for a few weeks. A gathering is to be
made there of the more promising material, and you are to get down to the
work of making a syllabus, and so on. You will meet other officers from
all branches of the Service, and it should be interesting and useful. I
presume you will be willing to go? Of course it is entirely optional, but
I may say that the men who volunteer will not be forgotten."

"Quite so," said the Professor. "They will render extremely valuable
service. I shall hope to be there part of the time myself."

Peter thought quickly of a number of things, as one do