bored him; for he had joined the Army in
order to save an Empire and a world from being enslaved. He had lain
down in his truckle-bed and listened to the last echoing sounds in the
too-resonant corridor of the hutments, and thought of the wisdom of Sir
Isaac Davids, and of the peril to his wife, and of the peril to the
earth, and of his own irremediable bondage to the military machine. He,
with all his consciousness of power, had been put to school again;
deprived of the right to answer back, to argue, even to think. If one
set in authority said that black was white, his most sacred duty was to
concur and believe. And there was no escape....

And then, no sooner had he gone to sleep than it was bright day, and the
faint, clear call of bugles had pierced the clouds of his depression and
they had vanished! Every moment of the early morning had been exquisite.
Although he had not been across a horse for months, he rode comfortably,
and the animal was reliable. Resmith in fact had had to warn him against
fatiguing himself. But he knew that he was incapable of fatigue. The
day's trek was naught--fifteen miles or less--to Epsom Downs, at a
walk!... Lois? He had expected a letter from 'Nunks' or his mother, but
there was no letter, and no news was good news, at any rate with 'Nunks'
in charge of communications. Lois could not fail to be all right. He
recalled the wise generalization of 'Nunks' on that point ... Breakfast
was a paradisiacal meal. He had never 'fancied' a meal so much. And
Resmith had greatly enheartened him by saying sternly: "You've got
exactly the right tone with the men. Don't you go trying to alter it."
The general excitement was intense, and the solemn synchronizing of
watches increased it further. An orderly brought a newspaper, and nobody
would do more than disdainfully glance at it. The usual daily stuff
about the war!... Whereas Epsom Downs glittered in the imagination like
a Canaan. And it lay southward. Probably they were not going to France,
but probably they would have the honour of defending the coast against
invasion. George desired to master gunnery instantly, and Resmith
soothed him with the assurance that he would soon be sent away on a
gunnery course, which would give him beans. And in the meantime George
might whet his teeth on the detailed arrangements for feeding and
camping the Battery on Epsom Downs. This organization gave George pause,
especially when he remembered that the Battery was a