Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 148, January 13th 1915Various
History
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 148, January 13th 1915
Various
English wit and humor -- Periodicals
Luckily, we have been practising amphibious warfare for some time. The
camp is mostly under water, and when the "Fall-in" is sounded we do it
quite easily. The "Emerge" is not so easily obeyed. But there were
drier days in December, and on one of these I made a curious
discovery.
We were having a field-day, and my side of the battle was advancing in
sections under shell-fire over fairly flat country. Every now and
then, however, we came to a small hill or group of hills. There seemed
to be no human reason for it, and I suggested to my section that we
were on the track of some new kind of mole.
"No," said James, "those are bunkers."
We looked at each anxiously and tapped our foreheads.
"It's a golf-course," he persisted.
I could not allow dangerous talk of this kind to go on.
"Silence in the ranks," I said sternly.
A little later, when we were halted, an old, old man, the Nestor of
the section, asked if he might speak to me.
"Certainly, my lad," I said.
"I think he du be right," he said, indicating James; "I've heerd tell
on 'un. Great-great-grandfayther used to play."
Another man said that he had seen an old print of the game in a shop,
but he thought it was called Ludo.
And then, in a most curious way, I had the sudden feeling that I
myself had played the game in some previous existence--when I was a
king in Babylon, perhaps, and James was a Christian caddie. It was
most odd. When we got back to camp, I spoke to him about it.
"On Boxing Day, James," I whispered, "one might pursue one's
researches in this matter. I should like to find out the truth about
it. We might meet at----h'r'm! To the left, to two paces, ex-_tend!_"
I added this loudly for the benefit of our platoon commander who was
passing, and James (who in ordinary life extends two paces to the
front) withdrew slowly into the darkness.
I won't refer to what happened on Boxing Day; one does not talk about
these things. But I must tell you of its unfortunate sequel.
Last week, in the course of a route-march, we were suddenly turned on
to distance-judging. I had never done this before, and a remote and
lonely tree, half-hidden in the mist, conveyed nothing definite to me.
"What do you think?" I asked James.
"A drive and a mashie, about."
"S'sh," I said warningly. However, I determined to act on the
suggestion. Remembering Boxing Day I allowed eighty yards for James's
drive, and thirty-five for a mashie off the socket. Total, 115. It
looked more, but the mist was deceptive. However, when the results
were read out, the distance was given as 385 yards, and James, if you
please, had said 350!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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