the ends of their trousers and
affected a monocle. They spoke a kind of drawling English and said, "By
gad, dear old top--what perfectly beastly weathah!"

They did no work and lived on the sweat of labor. They patronized the
workman or ignored his existence, and only came to Scotland to shoot and
fish--whereon they assumed (with gillies and keepers of all kinds) the
national dress which Scotsmen never wear.

That was the old conception, and Tam almost gasped as he realized how
far he had traveled from his ancient faith. For all these boys he knew
were of that class--most of them had an exaggerated accent and said, "By
gad!"--but somehow he understood them and could see, beneath the
externals, the fine and lovable qualities that were theirs. He had been
taken into this strange and pleasant community and had felt--he did not
exactly know what he had felt. All he did know was that a brass-hatted
angel with red tabs on its collar stood at the gate of a little paradise
of comradeship, and forbade further knowledge of its pleasant places.

He pursed his lips and got to his feet, sick with a sense of his loss.
He was of the people, apart. He was a Clydeside worker and they were the
quality. He told himself this and knew that he lied--he and they stood
on grounds of equality; they were men doing men's work and risking their
lives one for the other.

* * * * *

Tam whistled a dreary little tune, took down his cap and walked over to
the workshops. There was a motorcycle which Brandspeth told him he could
use, and after a moment's hesitation, Tam wheeled the machine to the
yard. Then he remembered that he was in his working tunic, and since it
was his intention to utilize this day's leave in visiting a town at the
rear of the lines, he decided to return to his bunk and change into his
"best."

He opened his box--but his best tunic was missing.

"Weel, weel!" said Tam, puzzled, and summoned his batman with a shrill
whistle.

"To tell you the truth, Sergeant," said the man, "Mr. Walker-Giddons and
the other young officers came over for it three days ago. They got me to
give it to 'em and made me promise I wouldn't say anything about it."

Tam smiled quietly.

"All right, Angus," he nodded and went back to his cycle. He did not
know the joke, but it was one which would probably come to an untimely
end, in view of the disciplinary measures which headquarters were
taking. This incident meant