K., and the roads, railways, quays and gangways being policed with
stalwarts whom it is impossible to circumvent and unwise to push into the
sea, the only remaining resource is to apply to the Officer in Charge. I am
told, at first hand, that there is as much variety in the reasons urged in
support of applications as there is in the manner of the applicants. They
attempt to melt him with piteous tales of their future in England, to shame
him with gruesome pictures of their recent past in France, to hustle him
with emergencies or special duties, or to bully him with dark references to
unseen powers. I had a list of them from an M.L.O. himself, who was highly
suspicious even of me, until he understood that I only wanted one thing in
the world, and that was someone interesting to talk to while I waited for
the leave boat to sail. Instance after instance he gave me of the low
cunning of my species, to all of which, as I ventured to guess, he had
proved himself equal. In the circumstances, as he said, this might suggest
some hardness of heart on his part, but I readily agreed, was even the
first to state, that there was no one in the wide world more anxious to
assist our irrepressibles when bent on their hard-earned holiday.
Pages:
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28