A Maid and a Million Men: the candid confessions of Leona Canwick, censored indiscreetly by James G. Dunton — John Stuart Mill — John Shaqi
A Maid and a Million Men: the candid confessions of Leona Canwick, censored indiscreetly by James G. Dunton
John Stuart Mill · en
I waited for Leon to say something, then suddenly—realized that it was
I he was addressing, so I spoke up, saying with a grin of thanks,
“Oh—that’s all right, Sergeant. Guess I’ll live through it.” I stopped
and looked at Leon, who had turned his face away. “By the way,
Sergeant,” I offered, “I’d like to introduce you to my twin brother.”
“Surely—glad to meet you.” And he shook hands with Leon before the
other could realize what was going on. Then he added with a laugh, “I
thought you looked a lot alike.”
We all smiled then and I finally tore us away after remarking that my
twin had come down to drive me home, not knowing that I couldn’t get
away. The sergeant-major said “Sorry” again and we separated—I, with a
huge sigh of relief and not a little pride in my ability as a mime.
Well, we didn’t lose any more time, but hurried to the car and out of
the camp. About a quarter of a mile away, I got out, said good-by to
Esky, told Leon not to fail to get back by to-morrow evening, and waved
after them as they rolled away toward Wakeham. Esky acted as if he were
going crazy. He barked and squirmed and yapped, and I guess he had Leon
about crazy by the time they got home.
While walking back to the camp gate, I tried every kind of mental
exercise to make myself think and act like Private Canwick, U.S.A. By
the time I got to the man who took my pass, I was stepping along like a
regular soldier, although my heart skipped about a dozen beats when the
guard looked me up and down as he took my pass.
Once within, however, my self-confidence came back and I wandered
aimlessly around the camp for an hour or more, familiarizing myself with
the location of the main buildings. I visited the Camp Headquarters and
stopped at the Y.M.C.A. Hut, where I purchased some of the stationery
for a souvenir of this unusual adventure. I enjoyed my tour of
inspection immensely and took real delight in saluting every officer I
met. This was certainly a pleasure; every time I saluted, I looked
straight at the officer and said, under my breath, “O Mister, if you
only knew!” It was great fun.