Alone, unaided--'tis a sight
For men and gods!

And now his back is bowed and bent,
Now crouching, now erect, he stands,
And now the red life blood is sprent
From both his hands.

He takes his punishment on trust,
As one who sees and yet is blind,
For every lacerating thrust
Comes from behind.

The twilight creeps, the sun has gone,
But triumph fills the soldier's breast;
He's sewn his back brace-buttons on
While fully dressed!

* * * * *

JAMES FEELS BETTER.

THE Sergeant-Major was speaking.

"Company--'SHUN!"

We 'shunned. We stood motionless (all but one of us) waiting for his
next words. Then he spoke again.

"Blank blanket," he yelled, "what the blank are you doing?" He was
looking at me, and my heart was in my mouth. "Blanket," he went on, "if
you want to scratch your nose, step out here and scratch it. My blank!"
My heart dropped back again. He must be talking to James behind me. I
longed to look round and watch the generous waves of colour stealing
over James's classic features, to fix with a reproachful eye that Roman
proboscis which he had been grooming; but duty, or natural integrity of
character, or fear of the Sergeant-Major, or something, held me fast.

"Company--dis-MISS!"

We turned to the right and I took James affectionately by the arm.
"How's the neb?" I said.

And then James told me what he thought of the Sergeant-Major.

"Pretty good rot," he said, "talking like that to a man in my position.
Cursing a married man with a family as if he were a rotten schoolboy. If
I met him in ordinary life he'd say 'Sir' to me--probably ask me for a
job, and go about in a holy fear that I was going to sack him."

"Discipline, James," I said. "Think how good it is for you to be ordered
about for a change. And think how jolly it must be for the
Sergeant-Major to swear at well-known public men. Don't grudge him his
little bit of pleasure. And finally, think how stimulating it is for the
rest of us. I assure you, James, there's nothing more bracing to a man
than to hear another man being cursed."

James muttered to himself. We lit our pipes and sat down among some
other members of our platoon. James was silent, but we others talked
eagerly about the difference between "Right form" and "On the right form
company," and other matters which had suddenly become of great
importance.

"Let's go and have a little private drill," sa