"
"Yes, I noticed that when I saw them at Leirya," the colonel said. "Of
course it was of no consequence at all as far as their efficiency went,
but to the eye of an English officer, naturally, something seemed
wanting."
"I should be glad of at least four more officers to each company, and at
one time thought of writing to Lord Beresford to ask him to supply me with
some, but I came to the conclusion that we had better leave matters as
they were. In the first place young officers would know nothing of their
work, and nothing of me; and in the second place, if they were men of good
family they would not like serving under officers who have been raised
from the ranks; and lastly, if they became discontented, they might render
the men so. We have done very fairly at present, and we had better go on
as we are; and when I get a sufficient number of trained men to furnish a
full supply of non-commissioned officers, I shall do better than with
commissioned ones, for the men are of course carefully selected, and I
know them to be trustworthy, whereas those they sent me might be idle, or
worse than useless."
"You spake like King Solomon, Terence," O'Grady said; "not that he can
have known anything whatever about military matters."
A roar of laughter greeted this very doubtful compliment.
"Thank you, O'Grady," Terence said.
Pages:
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507