Bourne whistled the air of Mademoiselle from Armentieres, leaving the corporal to draw his own conclusions from it.

‘Look ’ere,’ said Corporal Greenstreet, with sudden ferocity. ‘If you tell any o’ them other buggers what ’as ’appened I’ll …’

‘Oh, don’t be a bloody fool,’ said Bourne, suddenly firing up too. ‘If there’s one thing that fills me with contempt, it is being asked not to tell. Do you think I have got no more sense than a kid or an old woman? You would look well with that tin can tied to your tail, wouldn’t you? We had better get moving. They will have started to pay out by now.’

‘Wish to God I knew a bit o’ French,’ said the corporal earnestly.

‘I wish to God you wouldn’t mix the little you do know with Hindustani,’ said Bourne.

The whole company were in the street, waiting to be paid: they formed in little groups, and men would pass from one group to another, or two groups would merge together, or one would suddenly split up completely, distributing its members among the others. Their movements were restless, impatient, and apparently without object. Corporal Greenstreet, finding Lance-Corporal Eames, collected his subscription to the mess, and then handed over the whole eighty francs to Bourne. Presently a couple of men brought a table and an army blanket out of one of the houses. The table was placed on the footpath parallel to the street, and the blanket was spread over it. One of the men went back into the house and returned with two chairs, followed by Quartermaster-Sergeant James, who detailed the same two men as witnesses. Almost immediately afterwards Captain Malet appeared with a new subaltern, a Mr Finch, who was not yet twenty, though he had already been in action with another battalion, and had been slightly wounded. The quartermaster-sergeant called the company, now grouped in a semi-circle in front of the table, to attention, saluted, and Captain Malet, acknowledging the salute, told them to stand easy.

There was a moment’s pause; and then one of the witnesses brought a third chair for the quartermaster-sergeant, who sat on Captain Malet’s left. The three then proceeded to count the notes and arrange them in bundles, while the men in front shifted from one foot to another, and whispered to each other. The sergeant-major, who had been to the orderly-room, returned and saluted Captain Malet. He was the first man to be paid, and then the quartermaster-sergeant, and Sergeant Gallion and Sergeant Tozer. The others were paid in alphabetical order; and as each man’s name was called he came forward, saluted, and was ordered to take off his cap, so that the officer could see whether his hair had been properly cut. Men had a strong objection to their hair being cropped close. They had been inclined to compromise by having it machined at the back and sides, and leaving on the crown of the head a growth like Absalom’s, concealing it under the cap. In the case of a head wound, this thick hair, matted with dried blood, which always became gluey, made the dressing of the wound much more difficult for the doctor and his orderlies, delaying other equally urgent cases. In consequence, all men were ordered to remove their caps before receiving their pay, and if a man’s hair were not cropped it was only credited to him; and there were formal difficulties in the way of any attempt to recover arrears.