"Good ole Eustace—an' good ole Blighty!" said Bill softly. "Come on, Alf. There's a sentry at the gate. We'll report to 'im." [Pg 102] [Pg 102] The sentry at once handed them over to the sergeant of the guard, who produced a piece of paper and a stubby pencil. "Nice time o' day to come in, I don't think," he observed severely. "Overstayed yer week-end leave, I s'pose. Where's your passes?" "We 'aven't got no passes, sergeant. We've...." "Names, please," interrupted the catechist. "1287 'Iggins A. an' 2312 Grant W. Which comp'ny?" "'C' Comp'ny, 5th M.F., B.E.F." "Yes, yes," said the sergeant with heavy sarcasm. "You can say yer alphabet arterwards. An' I don't want yer past 'istory, neither. This ain't the B.E.F. an' I want to know which comp'ny you belong to 'ere." "We dunno, sergeant. We been transferred from the B.E.F. an' we're just reportin'." "What, at this time o' day, an' without any kit? All right, you needn't trouble to tell me any more. You tell it all to the C.O. when 'e sees you. 'E'll 'arf skin yer, I expect, for rollin' in at this time, because the last train for 'ere gets in at eight o'clock in the evening." Alf and Bill sat in the guard-room, their first elation rather dashed. Once more things were turning out unexpectedly difficult. They were indeed back in Blighty, but were to be half-skinned as a result. If on top of this Eustace managed to make any [Pg 103]mistake in the transfer, they might reasonably expect to be completely flayed by the colonel, who had the reputation (which had reached the brigade in France by means of the drafts he sent out to it) of being a fire-eater. Bill began to regret bitterly his impulsiveness in leaving the technical details of his scheme to Eustace; but he realized that it was now too late to do anything. He and Alf would be kept under strict surveillance until the time of their interview with the C.O., and there would be no possible chance of summoning Eustace and ascertaining just what he had done. [Pg 103] They decided to do nothing, and to hope for the best. Even a guard-room in Blighty seemed to them at that moment
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