"I have come, Colonel," Captain O'Connor said, when he called upon his
commanding officer, "to speak to you about Terence."
The colonel smiled grimly. "It is a comfort to think that we are going to
get rid of him, O'Connor; he is enough to demoralize a whole brigade, to
say nothing of a battalion, and the worst of it is he respects no one. I
am as convinced as can be that it was he who fastened that baste of a bird
in my shako the other day, and made me the laughing stock of the whole
regiment on parade. Faith, I could not for the life of me make out what
was the matter, there was a tugging and a jumping and a fluttering
overhead, and I thought the shako was going to fly away. It fairly gave me
a scare, for I thought the shako had gone mad, and that the divil was in
it. I have often overlooked his tricks for your sake, but when it comes to
his commanding officer, it is too serious altogether."
"Well, you see, Colonel, the lad proved clearly enough that he was out of
the way at the time; and besides, you know he has given you many a hearty
laugh."
"He has that," the colonel admitted.
"And, moreover," Captain O'Connor went on, "even if he did do this, which
I don't know, for I never asked him" ("Trust you for that," the colonel
muttered), "you are not his commanding officer, though you are mine, and
that is the matter that I came to speak to you about.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25