More than one nation was deeply shocked by India's answer to
"practises" that had extended over years. But there were men in
India who learned to love India long ago with that love that casts
out fear, who knew exactly what was going to happen and could
therefore afford to wait for orders instead of running round in rings.

Athelstan King, for instance, nothing yet but a captain unattached,
sat in meagerly furnished quarters with his heels on a table. He
is not a doctor, yet he read a book on surgery, and when he went
over to the club he carried the book under his arm and continued
to read it there. He is considered a rotten conversationalist,
and he did nothing at the club to improve his reputation.

"Man alive--get a move on!" gasped a wondering senior, accepting
a cigar. Nobody knows where he gets those long, strong, black
cheroots, and nobody ever refuses one.

"Thanks--got a book to read," said King.

"You ass! Wake up and grab the best thing in sight, as a stepping
stone to something better! Wake up and worry!"

King grinned. You have to when you don't agree with a senior officer,
for the army is like a school in many more ways than one.

"Help yourself, sir! I'll take the job that's left when the scramble's
over. Something good's sure to be overlooked."

"White feather? Laziness? Dark Horse?" the major wondered. Then