I am in No. 3 Platoon, and I confess I shuddered. The rocks at the north end of the beach are abominably slippery. A year ago I should have hesitated about climbing down in broad daylight in the finest weather. My military training had done a good deal for me physically, but I still shrank from those rocks at midnight with a tempest howling round me. When I reached home I put a good face on the matter. I was not going to admit to my wife or Janet--particularly to Janet--that I was afraid of night operations in any weather. “Please have my uniform left out for me,” I said, “I shall put it on before dinner.” “Surely,” said my wife, “you’re not going out to-night? I don’t think you ought to.” “Duty, my dear,” I said. “Just fancy,” said Janet, “if the Germans came and father wasn’t there! We might be murdered in our beds!” I am sometimes not quite sure whether Janet means to scoff or is in serious earnest On this occasion I was inclined to think that she was poking fun at the Veterans’ Corps. I frowned at her. “You’ll get dreadfully wet,” said my wife. “Not the least harm in that,” I said cheerily. “It’ll give you another cold in your head,” said Janet This time she was certainly sneering. I frowned again. “Of course,” said my wife, “it won’t matter to you. You’re so strong and healthy. Nothing does you any harm.” I suspected her of attempting a subtle form of flattery, but what she said was quite true. I am, for a man of fifty-three, extremely hardy. “I’m thinking,” she said, “of poor old Mr. Cotter. I don’t think he ought to go. Mrs. Cotter was round here this afternoon. She says he’s suffering dreadfully from rheumatism, though he won’t admit it, and if he goes out to-night... But he’s so determined, poor old dear. And she simply can’t stop him.” “Cotter,” I said, “must stay at home.” “But he won’t,” said my wife. “Military ardour is very strong in him,” said Janet. “I’ll ring up Dr. Tompkins,” I said, “and tell him to forbid Cotter to go out. Tompkins is Medical Officer of the corps, and has a right to give orders of the kind. In fact, it’s his duty to see that the company’s not weakened by ill-health.” “I’m afraid,” said my wife, “that Dr. Tompkins can do nothing. Mrs. Cotter was with him before she came here. The fact is that Mr. Cotter won’t give in even to the doctor’s orders.” I rang up Tompkins and put the case very strongly to him. “It will simply kill Cotter,” I said, “and we can’t have that. He may not be of any very great military value, but he’s a nice old boy, and we don’t want to lose him.” Tompkins agreed with me thoroughly. He said he’d been thinking the matter over since Mrs. Cotter called on him in the afternoon, and had hit upon a plan which would meet the case. “If only the C.O. will fall in with it,” he added.