III.
General Pom-Pom came to our school one day. He went through the same performance. Even Ginger borrowed my Vinolia to have a wash. Pom-Pom stumped on to the parade in a way that shook the earth, looked at us very keenly, and muttered, ‘Good stuff! Good stuff!’
One of his ideas was that a company officer must know the name of every man in his company. While he was inspecting our company he arrived at me.
‘What’s this man’s name?’ he asked Captain Bloggs.
‘Eh? Smith, sir.’
‘Is that right?’ he inquired of me.
‘Yes, sir,’ I replied with emphasis. I wouldn’t have let our company officer down for worlds. After all, it is a good deed to keep an old general happy.
‘Where’s your pull-through?’ he asked Tosher.
‘I guess it’s broken, general.’