DeucedcleverwomanthatAyahofyoursStoppedthepunkabjustattherighttimeAdashedgoodchance!No-youdon’tgoin。
We’llpullherthroughyetIpromiseonmyreputation-underProvidenceSendamanwiththisnotetoBingleTwoheadsbetterthanone’SpeciallytheAyah!We’llpullherround。
Retreatshastilytohouse。
CAPTGHisheadonneckofM。’scharger。Jack!Ibub-bu-
believe,I’mgoingtomakeabu-bub-bloodyexhibitiodofbyself。
CAPTMSniffingopenlyandfeelmginhisleftcuff。I
b-b-believe,I’bdoingitalreadyOldbad,whatcadIsay?I’baspleasedas-Coddabyou,Gaddy!You’reonebigidiotandI’badotherPullinghimselftogether。Sittight!HerecomestheDevil-dodger。
JUNIORCHAPLAINWhoisnotintheDoctor’sconfidence。
We-weareonlymeninthesethings,GadsbyIknowthatIcansaynothingnowtohelpCAPTMfealously。Thendon’tsayitLeavehimaloneIt’snotbadenoughtocroakoverHere,Gaddy,takethechittoBingleandridehell-for-leatherIt’lldoyougoodIcan’tgo。
JUNIORCHAPLAINDohimgood!Smiling。GivemethechitandI’lldriveLethimliedownYourhorseisblockingmycart-please!
CAPTMSlowlywithoutreiningback。Ibegyourpardon-I’llapologizeOnpaperifyoulike。
JUNIORCHAPLAINFlickingM。’scharger。That’lldo,thanks。
Turnin,Gadsby,andI’llbringBingleback-ahem-“hell-for-
leather。”
CAPTMSolus。Itwouldhaveservedmerightifhe’dcutmeacrossthefaceHecandrivetooIshouldn’tcaretogothatpaceinabamboocartWhatafaithhemusthaveinhisMaker-ofharness!
Comehup,youbrute!Gallopsofftoparade,blowinghisnose,asthesunrises。
INTERVALOF’FIVEWEEKS。
MRSGVerywhiteandpinched,inmorningwrapperatbreakfasttable。Howbigandstrangetheroomlooks,andhowgladIamtoseeitagain!Whatdust,though!Imusttalktotheservants。
Sugar,Pip?I’vealmostforgottenSeriously。Wasn’tIveryill?
CAPTGIllerthanIlikedTenderly。Oh,youbadlittlePussy,whatastartyougaveme’
MRSGI’llneverdoitagain。
CAPTGYou’dbetternotAndnowgetthosepoorpalecheekspinkagain,orIshallbeangryDon’ttrytolifttheurnYou’llupsetitWaitComesroundtoheadoftableandliftsurn。
MasGQuickly。Khitmatgar,howarchikhanaseekettlylao。
Butler,getakettlefromthecook-houseDrawingdownG。’sfacetoherown。Pipdear,Iremember。
CAPTGWhat?
MasGThatlastterriblenight。
CAPT’GThenjustyouforgetallaboutit。
MasGSoftly,hereyesfilling。NeverIthasbroughtusveryclosetogether,myhusbandThere!Interlude。I’mgoingtogiveJundaasaree。
CAPTGIgaveherfiftydibs。
MasGSoshetoldmeItwasa’normousrewardWasIworthit?Severalinterludes。Don’t!Here’sthekhitmatgar-TwolumpsoroneSir?
THESWELLINGOFJORDAN
Ifthouhastrunwiththefootmenandtheyhaveweariedthee,thenhowcanstthoucontendwithhorses?Andifinthelandofpeacewhereinthoutrustedsttheyweariedthee,thenhowwiltthoudointheswellingofJordan?
SCENE-TheGADSBYS’bungalowinthePlains,onaJanuarymorningMasGarguingwithbearerinbackveranda。
CAPTMridesup。
CAPTM’Mornin’,MrsGadsbyHow’stheInfantPhenomenonandtheProudProprietor?
MasGYou’llfindtheminthefrontveranda;gothroughthehouseI’mMarthajustnow。
CAPTM,’CumberedaboutwithcaresofKhitmatgars?Ifly。
Passesintofrontveranda,whereGADSBViswatchingGADSBY
JUNIOR,agedtenmonths,crawlingaboutthematting。
CAPTMWhat’sthetrouble,Gaddy-spoilinganhonestman’sEuropemorningthisway?SeeingGJUNIOR。ByJove,thatyearling’scomm’onamaxingly!Anyamountofbonebelowthekneethere。
CAPTGYes,he’sahealthylittlescoundrelDon’tyouthinkhishair’sgrowing?
CAPTMLet’shavealookHi!HstComehere,GeneralLuck,andwe’llreportonyou。
MRSGWithin。Whatabsurdnamewillyougivehimnext?
Whydoyoucallhimthat?
CAPTMIsn’theourInspector-GeneralofCavalry?Doesn’thecomedowninhisseventeen-twoperambulatoreverymorningthePinkHussarsparade?Don’twriggle,BrigadierGiveusyourprivateopiniononthewaythethirdsquadronwentpast’Trifleragged,werentthey?
CAPTGAbiggersetoftailorsthanthenewdraftIdon’twishtoseeThey’vegivenmemorethanmyfairshare-knockingthesquadronoutofshapeIt’ssickening!
CAPTMWhenyou’reincommand,you’lldobetter,young’un。
Can’tyouwalkyet?GripmyfingerandtryToG。’Twon’thurthishocks,willit?
CAPTGOh,noDon’tlethimflop,though,orhe’lllickalltheblackingoffyourboots。
MRSGWithin。Who’sdestroymgmyson’scharacter?
CAPTMAndmyGodson’sI’mashamedofyou,GaddyPunchyourfatherintheeye,Jack!Don’tyoustandit!HithimagainI
CAPTGSottovoce。PutTheButchadownandcometotheendoftheverandaI’drathertheWifedidn’thear-justnow。
CAPTMYoulookawf’lyseriousAnythingwrong?
CAPTG’DependsonyourviewentirelyIsay,Jack,youwon’tthinkmorehardlyofmethanyoucanhelp,willyou?Comefurtherthisway-Thefactofthematteris,thatI’vemadeupmymind-atleastI’mthinkingseriouslyof-cuttingtheService。
CAPTMHwhatt?
CAPTGDon’tshoutI’mgoingtosendinmypapers。
CAPTMYou!Areyoumad?
CAPTGNo-onlymarried。
CAPTMLookhere!What’sthemeaningofitall?YouneverintendtoleaveusYoucan’tIsn’tthebestsquadronofthebestregimentofthebestcavalryinalltheworldgoodenoughforyou?
CAPTGJerkinghisheadoverhisshoulder。Shedoesn’tseemtothriveinthisGod-forsakencountry,andthere’sTheButchatobeconsideredandallthat,youknow。
CAPTMDoesshesaythatshedoesn’tlikeIndia?
CAPTGThat’stheworstofitShewon’tforfearofleavingme。
CAPTMWhataretheHillsmadefor?
CAPTGNotformywife,atanyrate。
CAPTMYouknowtoomuch,Gaddy,and-Idon’tlikeyouanythebetterforit!
CAPTGNevermindthatShewantsEngland,andTheButchawouldbeallthebetterforitI’mgoingtochuckYoudon’tunderstand。
CAPTMHotly。IunderstandthisOnehundredandthirty-sevennewhorsetobelickedintoshapesomehowbeforeLuckcomesroundagain;ahairy-heeleddraftwho’llgivemoretroublethanthehorses;acampnextcoldweatherforacertainty;
ourselvesthefirstontheroster;theRussianshindyreadytocometoaheadatfiveminutes’notice,andyou,thebestofusall,backingoutofitall!Thinkalittle,GaddyYouwon’tdoit。
CAPTGHangit,amanhassomedutiestowardhisfamily,I
suppose。
CAPTMIrememberaman,though,whotoldme,thenightafterAmdheran,whenwewerepicketedunderJagai,andhe’dlefthissword-bytheway,didyoueverpayRankenforthatsword?-inanUtmanzai’shead-thatmantoldmethathe’dstickbymeandthePinksaslongashelivedIdon’tblamehimfornotstickingbyme-I’mnotmuchofaman-butIdoblamehimfornotstickingbythePinkHussars。
CAPTGUneasily。WewerelittlemorethanboysthenCan’tyousee,Jack,howthingsstand?’Tisn’tasifwewereservingforourbreadWe’veallofus,moreorless,gotthefilthylucreI’mluckierthansome,perhapsThere’snocallformetoserveon。
CAPTMNoneintheworldforyouorforus,excepttheRegimentalIfyoudon’tchoosetoanswertothat,ofcourse-
CAPTGDon’tbetoohardonamanYouknowthatalotofusonlytakeupthethingforafewyearsandthengobacktoTownandcatchonwiththerest。
CAPTMNotlots,andtheyaren’tsomeofUs。
CAPTGAndthenthereareone’saffairsatHometobeconsidered-myplaceandtherents,andallthatIdon’tsupposemyfathercanlastmuchlonger,andthatmeansthetitle,andsoon。
CAPTM’Fraidyouwon’tbeenteredintheStudBookcorrectlyunlessyougoHome?Takesixmonths,then,andcomeoutinOctoberIfIcouldslayoffabrotherortwo,Is’poseIshouldbeaMarquisofsortsAnyfoolcanbethat;butitneedsmen,Gaddy-
menlikeyou-toleadflankingsquadronsproperlyDon’tyoudeludeyourselfintothebeliefthatyou’regoingHometotakeyourplaceandpranceaboutamongpink-nosedKabulidowagersYouaren’tbuiltthatwayIknowbetter。
CAPTGAmanhasarighttolivehislifeashappilyashecan。
Youaren’tmarried。
CAPTMNo-praisebetoProvidenceandtheoneortwowomenwhohavehadthegoodsensetojawabme。
CAPTGThenyoudon’tknowwhatitistogointoyourownroomandseeyourwife’sheadonthepillow,andwheneverythingelseissafeandthehouseshutupforthenight,towonderwhethertheroof-beamswon’tgiveandkillher。
CAPTMAside。Revelationsfirstandsecond!Aloud。So-o!
IknewamanwhogotsquiffyatourMessonceandconfidedtomethatheneverhelpedhiswifeontoherhorsewithoutpraymgthatshe’dbreakherneckbeforeshecamebackAllhusbandsaren’talike,yousee。
CAPTGWhatonearthhasthattodowithmycase?Themanmustha’beenmad,orhiswifeasbadastheymake’em。
CAPTMAside。’Nofaultofyoursifeitherweren’tallyousay。
You’veforgottenthetimewhenyouwereinsaneabouttheHerriottwomanYoualwayswereagoodhandatforgettingAloud。NotmoremadthanmenwhogototheotherextremeBereasonable,GaddyYourroof-beamsaresoundenough。
CAPTGThatwasonlyawayofspeakingI’vebeenuneasyandworriedabouttheWifeeversincethatawfulbusinessthreeyearsago-when-InearlylostherCanyouwonder?
CAPTMOh,ashellneverfallstwiceinthesameplaceYou’vepaidyourtolltomisfortune-whyshouldyourWifebepickedoutmorethananybodyelse’s?
CAPTGIcantalkjustasreasonablyasyoucan,butyoudon’tunderstand-youdon’tunderstandAndthenthere’sTheButcha。
DeuceknowswheretheAyahtakeshimtositintheevening!HehasabitofacoughHaven’tyounoticedit?
CAPTMBosh!TheBrigadier’sjumpingoutofhisskinwithpureconditionHe’sgotamuzzlelikearose-leafandthechestofatwo-year-oldWhat’sdemoralizedyou?
CAPTGFunkThat’sthelongandtheshortofitFunk!
CAPTMButwhatistheretofunk?
CAPTGEverythingIt’sghastly。
CAPTMAh!Isee。
Youdon’twanttofight,AndbyJingowhenwedo,You’vegotthekid,you’vegottheWife,You’vegotthemoney,too。
That’saboutthecase,eh?
CAPTGIsupposethat’sitButit’snotbrmyselfIt’sbecauseofthemAtleastIthinkitis。
CAPTMAreyousure?Lookingatthematterinacold-bloodedlight,theWifeisprovidedforevenifyouwerewipedouttonight。
Shehasanancestralhometogoto,moneyandtheBrigadiertocarryontheillustriousname。
CAPTGThenitisformyselforbecausetheyarepartofmeYoudon’tseeitMylife’ssogood,sopleasant,asitis,thatIwanttomakeitquitesafeCan’tyouunderstand?