"Yes, I know that, but there is one difficulty, Doctor, he is under the
regulation age."

O'Flaherty thought for a moment and then sat down at the table, and taking
a sheet of paper, be began:

_I certify that Terence O' Connor is going on for seventeen years of
age, he is five feet eight in height, thirty-four inches round the
chest, is active, and fully capable of the performance of his duties
as an officer either at home or abroad.__

Then he added another line and signed his name.

"As a member of a learned profession, Colonel," he said, gravely, "I would
scorn to tell a lie even for the son of Captain O'Connor;" and he passed
the paper across to him.

The colonel looked grave, and Captain O'Connor disappointed. He was
reassured, however, when his commanding officer broke into a laugh.

"That will do well, O'Flaherty," he said; "I thought that you would find
some way of getting us out of the difficulty."

"I have told the strict truth, Colonel," the doctor said, gravely. "I have
certified that Terence O'Connor is going on for seventeen; I defy any man
to say that he is not. He will get there one of these days, if a French
bullet does not stop him on the way, a contingency that it is needless for
me to mention."

"I suppose that it is not strictly regular to omit the date of his birth,"