"Yes, as a private. I am not fit to be an officer."
"But didn't you belong to the Officers' Training Corps when you were at school?"
"The pater would not allow me. No, it was no use my thinking anything about it, so I went to a recruiting station and joined up. I shall have to go to the front immediately."
"How is that?" I asked. "What is the use of your going to the front without training? They won't allow you. You will be kept in England at least six months."
"No, I shan't. You see, I know the Colonel of the regiment I have joined very well, and he is off to the front immediately, and I am going too."
"But how?"
"Well, you see, for one thing, I know French and German, and for another, I am not a bad hand at mechanics. I know all about a motor-car, inside and out, and they can find work for me."
"Then you are not going as an ordinary Tommy?"
"In a way I am, and in a way I am not; but there it is. They are going to make a special case of me. I am off to-morrow to join my regiment, and from what I can hear, the regiment is off in two or three days. I don't know exactly what my duties will be; but there it is, I am off."
"What will your father say?" I asked.