Page:Traffics and Discoveries.djvu/259

Rh 'A room apiece, four bob a day and all found,' said Verschoyle. 'Don't forget that.'

'Of course!' I said. 'It probably beats off recruits with a club.'

'No, with the ballot-box,' said Verschoyle, laughing. 'At least in all R.C. companies.'

'I didn't know Roman Catholics were so particular,' I ventured.

They grinned. 'R.C. companies,' said the Boy, 'mean Right of Choice. When a company has been very good and pious for a long time it may, if the C.O. thinks fit, choose its own men—all same one-piecee club. All our companies are R.C.'s, and, as the battalion is making up a few vacancies ere starting once more on the wild and trackless "heef" into the Areas, the Linesman is here in force to-day sucking up to our non-coms.'

'Would some one mind explaining to me the meaning of every other word you've used,' I said. 'What's a trackless "heef"? What's an Area? What's everything generally?' I asked.

'Oh, "heef's" part of the British Constitution,' said the Boy. 'It began long ago when they first mapped out the big military manoeuvring grounds—we call 'em Areas for short—where the I.G. spend two-thirds of their time and the other regiments get their training. It was slang originally for beef on the hoof, because in the Military Areas two-thirds of your meat-rations at least are handed over to you on the hoof, and you make your own arrangements. The word "heef" became a parable for camping in the Military Areas and all its miseries. There are two Areas