“I then followed him to the carpenter’s shop; but by the time I got there the thing was done. He had taken a heavy chisel, and cut his little finger right off! I helped him back to the club, sent for the doctor, and gave Simpson a dose of that 7 star whisky—you remember it, Major? I then sent four men to the changing-room armed with sticks. We upset the box and beat those shoes unmercifully—but no cobra or hooded snake! When I felt that the situation was quite safe, I myself examined the box. And there sticking up through the bottom boards were two little nails, sharp and close together! And so young Simpson had cut his finger off for nothing! Infernal bad luck I call it. Infernal bad luck. For anyone—even I myself—would easily have mistaken the ‘bite’ for that of a cobra, or hooded snake.”
Notes
The following is a study in contrasts. The rest is really quite subsidiary. Bring out this point by means of contrasting paragraphs.
Condense the descriptions of the characters as much as you can, without leaving out more points than you can help.
No. 4.—The Two Lieutenants
Extract from the Autobiography of Admiral Sir Hercules Prout, K.C.B.