"Get the man a revolver."
And Barrington said:
"He's got one."
And Rice said:
"Of course he has. And if we get him another, then he'd have two, and that means six less Germans some day, very likely."
But Barrington didn't approve.
"We want a testimonial that has nothing to do with actual battle," he said. "The War won't last for ever, and we ought to buy something useful, and also ornamental, that Hutchings will be able to employ in everyday life when all is over. We want something that will catch his eye a hundred times a day and pleasantly remind him and his family of his heroic past--and us."
"An heirloom, in fact," said Thwaites.
But I argued that practical comforts at the critical moment would be far better than an heirloom for future use, because if he didn't have the mouth-guard and filter and so on, he might die; and where would the heirloom come in then?
I said: