y
respectable horse should, and the Captain is well over six feet in his
socks; I, on the other hand, am nearer five feet than six, and the pack
pony is none too big for me. Again, the Captain is thin and I am fat, so
that even the sentry could scarcely repress his smile as we set forth on
our quest--a modern Don Quixote, and a Sancho Panza with a hole in the
back of his tunic.

But we had little time to think of our personal appearances, for our way
lay over the Mont Noir, and there are few places from which you can get
a more wonderful view, for you can follow the firing line right away
towards the sea, and your field glasses will show you the smoke rising
from the steamers off Dunkirk. We paused a moment, and gazed over the
level miles where Poperinghe and Dixmude and the distant Furnes lay
sleepy and peaceful, but, even as we looked, a "heavy" burst in Ypres,
and a long column of smoke rose languidly from the centre of the town.

"We shan't do much more shopping in that old spot," said the Captain as
he turned his horse off the road, and set forth across country to
Bailleul.

The Captain has hunted with nearly every pack of hounds in England,
while I have hunted with none, so that I was hot and thirsty and
uncommonly sore when we clattered into the town. Leaving the Captain to
see the horses stabled at the Hotel du Faucon, I slipped off to get a
drink.

"Here," said the Captain when he tracked me down, "don't try that game
on again or you'll have to take the early parade to-morrow. Besides,
you're supposed to be Company Interpreter, and you've no right to leave
me to the mercy of two savage grooms like that. I advise you to take
care, young man."

My qualifications for the post of Company Interpreter lie in the fact
that I once, in company of various other youths of my age, spent a
fortnight in and around the Casino at Trouville. Peters of our company
knows a long list of nouns taking "x" instead of "s" in the plural, but
my knowledge is considered more practical--more French.

And now comes a confession. To retain a reputation requires a lot of
care, and to keep my position as Company Interpreter and outdo my rival
Peters I always carried about with me a small pocket dictionary--if
anyone ever noticed it, he probably mistook it for a Service Bible--in
which I searched for words when occasion offered. I had carefully
committed to memory the French equivalents for all the articles on our
shopping list--a pot