I suppose that's it. But it's not br 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 brtterly.) 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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