"I must tell you, captain, I am horribly fatigued. I came through the guns; very interesting and all that, but it's made my head ache."
"Have some water. It's rather muddy, but better than nothing these days."
"No, thanks; doctor warned me against drinking dirty water; dysentery and all that, don't you know. Any whisky and soda?"
"Look here, Septimus, now you are here, you must drop that nonsense."
"All right, old thing. I rather doubted the soda, but thank Heaven I've got a flask; a sort of emergency ration. Help yourself and let's drink it neat."
"How long have you been in the army, Septimus?"
"Three months. Why?"
"Not bad. Saluting seems rather absurd; but it seems to please some. I longed to come out; thought it would be interesting and all that sort of thing. But so far I've had nothing to do but get from place to place, carrying a beastly load with me."
"Probably your own fault. I have never seen a pack or haversack crammed so full. What have you brought with you?"