"Not a command, no; it merely states the case. How I should feel if the cause were as dear to me as it ought to be."
"Well, I'd like to know what you're cross about," said Rig gloomily. "All the girls at your feet, and never twitted with anything by the Com. If it was me, now! You know how I shone in the blue list the other night."
Magnus nodded.
"Well, I hadn't really done anything," said Rig; "not worth mentioning, you know; and so I put in an explanation. And it was disallowed."
"Naturally."
"What do you mean by 'naturally'?"
"The way of the world, or the tactical part of it."
"But I wasn't going to stand it, if it was, you know; and I polished up my buttons, brushed the top of my head, swept my face, and went to see the Supe."
"Submitted your explanation to him?"