the Field Cashier used to hand us our money. I remembered going there with Dick Tiltwood, just a year ago. Ormand was with me this time, for he had joined the Second Battalion soon after I did. He had still got his little gramophone, and we reminded ourselves how Mansfield and Barton used to be forever “chipping” him about it. “I must say I used to get jolly fed-up with them sometimes; they overdid it, especially about that record ‘ Lots of Loving .’ ” He laughed, rolling his good-humoured eyes round at me under the strongly marked black eyebrows which indicated that he had a strong temper when roused. The joke about “ Lots of Loving ” had consisted in the others pretending that it contained an unprintable epithet. On one occasion they conspired with the Adjutant, who asked Ormand to play “ Lots of Loving ” and then simulated astonishment at a certain adjective which was indistinct owing to the worn condition of the disc. Whereupon Ormand exclaimed angrily, “I ask you, is it bloody likely that ‘His Master’s Voice’ would send out a record with the word ⸻ in it?”
As we trudged back from Heilly the sun was sinking red beyond the hazy valleys, a shrewd wind blowing, and plough teams turning a last furrow along the ridges. We’d had quite a good afternoon, but Ormand’s cheerfulness diminished as we neared the Camp. He didn’t fancy his chance in the Spring Offensive and he wanted to be back with the “good old First Battalion,” though he wouldn’t find many of the good old faces when he got there. He spoke gloomily about his longing for an ordinary civilian career and his hatred of “this silly stunt which the blasted Bishops call the Great Adventure.” He had been on a Court Martial the day before, and though nothing had been required of him except to make up the quorum of officers trying the case, he had been upset by it. Some poor wretch had been condemned to be shot for cowardice. The court had recommended the prisoner to mercy, but the proceedings had been bad for young Ormand. However, he relieved the situation by exclaiming, “And tomorrow I’ve got to have my … anti-typhoid injection!” and I reminded him that he was reducing his overdraft at