the door, drawing in his breath and shoving with all his might.
Resistance ceased. The door flew inward, as it had done once before
that day, and closed with a bang behind him.


Long were the days and oh! wicked the weather--
Endless and thankless the round--
Grinding God's Grit into rookies together;
I was the upper stone, he was the nether,
And Gad, sir, they groaned as we ground!
Bitter the blame (but he helped me to bear it),
Grim the despair that we ate!
But hell's loose! The dam's down, and none can repair it!
'Tis our turn! Go, summon my brother to share it!
His squadron's at arms, and we wait!




CHAPTER V


A regiment is more exacting of its colonel than ever was lady of her
lord; the more truly he commands, the better it loves him, until at
last the regiment swallows him and he becomes part of it, in thought
and word and deed. Distractions such as polo, pig-sticking, tiger-
shooting are tolerable insofar as they steady his nerve and train his
hand and eye; to that extent they, too, subserve the regiment. But a
woman is a rival. So it is counted no sin against a cavalry colonel
should he be a bachelor.