That's about the case, eh?
Capt. G. I suppose that's it. But it's not for myself. It's because of them. At
least I think it is.
Capt. M. Are you sure? Looking at the matter in a cold-blooded light, the Wife
is provided for even if you were wiped out tonight. She has an ancestral home
to go to, money and the Brigadier to carry on the illustrious name.
Capt. G. Then it is for myself or because they are part of me. You don't see
it. My life's so good, so pleasant, as it is, that I want to make it quite
safe. Can't you understand?
Capt. M. Perfectly. "Shelter-pit for the Off'cer's charger," as they say in the
Line.
Capt. G. And I have everything to my hand to make it so. I'm sick of the strain
and the worry for their sakes out here; and there isn't a single real
difficulty to prevent my dropping it altogether. It'll only cost me--Jack, I
hope you'll never know the shame that I've been going through for the past six
months.
Capt. M. Hold on there! I don't wish to he told. Every man has his moods and
tenses sometimes.
Capt. G. (Laughing bitterly.) Has he? What do you call craning over to see
where your near-fore lands?
Capt. M. In my case it means that I have been on the Considerable Bend, and
have come to parade with a Head and a Hand.
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