“Very well, then, Punch. I was at a military school, and I didn’t want to be fetched away.”
“Oh, I see,” cried the boy. “You mean one of them big schools where they makes young officers?”
“Yes.”
“Like Woolwich and Addiscombe?”
“Yes.”
“You were going to be a soldier, then—I mean, an officer?”
“An officer is a soldier, Punch.”
“Of course he is. Oh, well, I don’t wonder you didn’t want to be fetched away. Learning to be an officer, eh? That’s fine. Didn’t your uncle want you to be a soldier, then?”
“No. He wanted me to go as a private pupil with a lawyer.”
“What, and get to be a lawyer?” cried the boy excitedly. “Oh, I say, you weren’t going to stand that?”