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 that the shoulder-strap of his Sam Browne belt, purchased that afternoon at the Ordnance, and therefore brand-new, did not match the abdominal part of the belt that he had had for nearly ten years—a splendid bit of leather, that!—answered nevertheless stoutly:

"Madam! If the brains of an army aren't, the life of an army is in its feet And nowadays, the medical officers say, in its teeth Your husband, ma'am, is an admirable officer He says that no draft he turns out shall

She said:

"He spent three hours in You say, foot and kit inspection

Second-Lieutenant Cowley said:

"Of course he had other officers to help him with the kit but he looked at every foot himself

She said:

"That took him from two till five Then he had tea, I suppose And went to What is it The papers of the draft

Second-Lieutenant Cowley said, muffled through his moustache:

"If the captain is a little remiss in writing letters I have heard You might, madam  I'm a married man myself  with a daughter And the army is not very good at writing letters You might say, in that respect, that thank God we have got a navy, ma'am

She let him stagger on for a sentence or two, imagining that, in his confusion, she might come upon traces of Miss Wannop in Rouen. Then she said handsomely:

"Of course you have explained everything, Mr. Cowley, and I am very much obliged Of course