‘Dinner’s up, Corporal,’ said Corporal Marshall, putting his head in the door; and thanking Madame, they left to get their meal rather hurriedly.

‘Where’ve you bin?’ said Martlow indignantly to Bourne, and Shem burst out laughing at the way in which the question was put.

‘What the bloody ’ell is ’e laughin’ at?’ said Martlow, his face all in a pucker.

‘I have been doing my best to get you off company guard tonight.’

‘Me!’ exclaimed Martlow. ‘Me, on bloody company guard tonight, an’ the only cushy town we’ve been in! It’s a bugger, ain’t it? D’you mean to say they ’ad me on bloody guard?’

‘Well, I have taken on the job of rationing officer to the corporals’ mess, on condition they find someone else in your place: that is if they should mount a guard tonight; they may give it a miss. It isn’t a bad stew today, is it? Seems to me a long time since we had any fresh meat, except for a few weevils in the biscuits. As soon as I have had dinner, I shall go off with Corporal Greenstreet, and make the other corporals ante up. Then I shall be back in time to get my pay; and afterwards I shall go out and do the marketing with Madame. When we have had tea, the three of us had better hop it to the other side of the town right away, in case they come along and pinch us for any fatigues. There’s a cinema, up there. And look here, Martlow, you’re not going to pay for everything tonight, see? We shall have to make the most of our opportunity to have a bon time, as it may be our last chance. I hate the thought of dying young.’

‘Well, I’ll stan’ the supper,’ said Martlow reasonably. ‘I’ve got about three weeks’ pay, an’ me mother sent me a ten-bob note. I wish she wouldn’t send me any money, as she wants all she gets, but there’s no stoppin’ ’er.’

‘Shem can pay for the drinks afterwards. Of course, he has got money. To be a Jew and not to have money would be an unmitigated misfortune. Enough to make one deny the existence of Providence. He never will offer to pay unless you make him. He wouldn’t think it prudent. But all the same, if you are broke to the wide, Shem will come down quite handsomely; he doesn’t mind making a big splash then, as it looks like a justification of his past thrift. Shem and I understand each other pretty well, only he thinks I’m a bloody fool.’

‘I don’t think you’re a bloody fool,’ said Shem indulgently; ‘but I think I could make a great deal more use of your brains than you do.’

‘Shem thinks he is a practical man,’ said Bourne, ‘and a cynic, and a materialist; and would you believe it, Martlow, he had a cushy job in the Pay Office, to which all his racial talent gave him every claim, and he was wearing khaki, and he had learnt how to present arms with a fountain-pen: the most perfect funk-hole in Blighty, and he chucks the whole bloody show to come soldiering! Here you are, clean out my dixie, like a good kid, and my knife and fork. I must chase after these corporals. I wouldn’t trust any of them round the corner with a threepenny bit; not unless I were a sergeant.’