“I hear that you can. Stop the clatter, wait until your accomplishment is needed.” The boy put the drum gladly down.
“What’s your name?”
“Robert Shirtliffe, sir.”
“Age?”
“I’ll be eighteen soon.”
“You look much younger. Where do you come from?”
“Plymouth.”
“You come with your family’s consent?”
“No one had an objection to offer, sir, we are all patriots.”
“You wish to enter the service as a drummer?”