“All for your good, sir: all for your good. Look at the consequences. As I say, I never flatter anybody. I wouldn’t, even if I was teaching one of a king’s sons. But I do say this, that I’m proud of you, sir. I never saw a beginner do that gallop better than you’ve just done yours.”
“Then I can pass now, I suppose?”
“Oh, no, sir, not yet. You’ve got the right form, but if I don’t keep you at it you won’t grow stiff in it. You’ll begin to bend and bulge and dance about in your saddle again. Wait a bit.”
“Oh, very well, I suppose I must; but it comes hard when I know I could challenge any man in the troop to sit an awkward horse.”
“Oh, yes, I dare say, sir; but that’s just sticking on—it isn’t riding like a soldier.”
“Have it your own way, Sergeant. But, I say, what about that fellow Hanson? He rides splendidly.”
“Yes, sir—now. When he first joined he could stick on a horse well enough, but he always seemed to be reaching forward to see what was between his trooper’s ears.”
“He always looks to me the smartest soldier in the troop.”
“That’s just what he is, sir.”
“But you speak in a way that sounds as if you meant he was the worst.”