WHEN THE GHOST WALKS

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 76, 22 December 1917, Page 9

WHEN THE GHOST WALKS

PAY DAY AT THE FRONT.

Pay day 1 The men form in alphabetical,'.order, a queue attending. As the clerk calls, his name the soldier comes to attention before th tabl, salutes the paying officer) who hands him notes in. the currency of the country. Ho salutes again in acknowledgment, and the clock takes his signature for the' money, and tho sergeant-major is there to note that the man has shaved, lias brushed his .clothes, polished nis buttons, and cleaned his boots. It is a parade, you understand. It is a part well known in every ■army that the soldier who. lacks in cleanliness- is apt to shirk all uuties, and cannot be trusted by his comrades in face of the enemy. And while the sergeant-major, notes tho long-haired man who grudges tfle barber's penny, and -harbours vermin; tho officer a' 6o alert for" manv signs and tokens'-."Neuralgia,-oh? - Tell tho cook .from • me. that you. draw soup every, morn- - ing," "Oh, -Jones," I have a lotter from your wife. Will' you writ© to her?. Yes, weekly/' "Brown, you're not properly dressed without a protective stripe. I'm going to try you as act-ing-lance-corporal—for valour, Brown. You .thought-'I didn't see .you last, night'. 1 did." "Robinsou, you'.ll ■straighten that hump off your hack of I shall introduce you to the sergeant-: major." ''Smith, I want you to report at the office. It's something about insurance." No mail may speak on parade, but when the last! i s paid the sergeant-, major calls out, "Any complaints?" Then those who want to 6ee the officer on pay or any personal affair come one at a tiftie to meet him. The officer will sign as witness to a soldier's will a pen scrawled words in the last leaf of "the pay-book, valid in law beyond any document that lawyers can engross. Tho officer is consulted as lawyer, and his letter to any civil authority is a powerful lever. He must defend his men in every trouble, guide : and advise them, help and comfort thbm as though ho were a priest—or ho is not fitted to hold His Majesty's, commission. ■ .. • -So one looks back to those pay parades with a certain wistfulness. Tho clerks' would balance the cash and report for signature to the sheets. The men would parade for supper - while the officers went off to the mess for a otfp of tea. And then the men dispersed to spend their pay at French or Belgian estaminets, millions of pounds a week to the aid of very brave and sorely stricken nations.—Captain Roger Pocock, in War Odico Publications.