the army, the first step is to avoid differences of
opinion with the civil and military police and non-commissioned
officers, and such-like sycophantic myrmidons of authority. Being a
man of academic education, it is with difficulty that I agree with
them when I'm sober. If I were drunk, my bonnie laddie"--he waved a
hand--"well--I don't get drunk. And as I have no use for whisky, as
merely an agreeable beverage, I have struck whisky out of my
hedonistic scheme of existence. But if you have any more of that
pleasant claret----"

Doggie rang the bell and gave the order. The landlord brought in
bottle and glasses.

"And now, my dear Marmaduke," said Phineas after an appreciative sip,
"now that I have told you the story of my life, may I, without
impertinent curiosity, again ask you what you meant when you said you
had come down to bed-rock?"

The sight of the man, smug, cynical, shameless, sprawling luxuriously
on the sofa, with his tunic unbuttoned, filled him with sudden fury:
such fury as Oliver's insult had aroused, such as had impelled him
during a vicious rag in the mess to clutch a man's hair and almost
pull it out by the roots.

"Yes, you may; and I'll tell you," he cried, starting to his feet.
"I've reached the bed-rock of myself--the bed-rock of humiliation and
disgrace. And it's all your fault. Instead of training me to be a man,
you pandered to my poor mother's weaknesses and brought me up like a
little toy dog--the infernal name still sticks to me wherever I go.
You made a helpless fool of me, and let me go out a helpless fool into
the world. And when you came across me I was thinking whether it
wouldn't be best to throw myself over the parapet. A month ago you
would have saluted me in the street and stood before me at attention
when I spoke to you----"

"Eh? What's that, laddie?" interrupted Phineas, sitting up. "You've
held a commission in the army?"

"Yes," said Doggie fiercely, "and I've been chucked. I've been thrown
out as a hopeless rotter. And who is most to blame--you or I? It's
you. You've brought me to this infernal place. I'm here in
hiding--hiding from my family and the decent folk I'm ashamed to meet.
And it's all your fault, and now you have it!"

"Laddie, laddie," said Phineas reproachfully, "the facts of my being a
guest beneath your roof and my humble military rank, render it
difficult for me to make an appropriate reply."

Doggie's rage had spent itself. These rare fits were shor