"Looking out for any one?" he inquired, by way of opening up a conversation.
"No," answered Jack; "the fact is, I've come to enlist. D'you think you could make a soldier of me?"
"Well, at any rate, I should say you were big enough," answered the corporal briskly. "Why, we ought to make a general of a smart young fellow like you, in less than no time!"
This seemed a promising commencement; but the adjutant, in front of whom Jack was conducted after undergoing a preliminary examination as to his height, chest measurement, and strength of eyesight, did not appear to be of quite so sanguine a temperament as the non-commissioned officer.
He eyed the would-be recruit with no very favourable expression on his face, as he prepared to take down the answers to the questions on the attestation paper.
"Name?"
"John Fenleigh."
"Is that a nom de guerre?"
"No, sir, it's my real name."
"Humph! So you speak French?"