"BROKE!"

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 255, 16 July 1918, Page 8

"BROKE!"

AN OKDERLt-TtOOSt INCIDENT. (By "Tabs," in the "Daily Mail.") It begins with a curt notico in "Orders" : "All officers to attend nt the orderly room at 10 a.m. to-morrow." "What does it mean?" :nquirns a young subaltern not yet accustomed to Army procedure. "It's poor old I , '-—. He's for the high jump," remarks an experienced bund. At live minutes to tiie appointed hour a liUle group of officers converges upon the lint which serves as an orderly room foi- the tiiinp. They number fifty or so, perhaps, and each of them has leiuponuily abandoned his habitual expression vt iiglii-heartetlneai. Insido the orderly room the commnnding officer sits with a grave expression, lie looks up as the officers enter and returns their ealutes. Then In i-isee nnd nods to the ii.djutnnt, "Fetch in Mr i , ' — and his escort," lie says. As the other disappears Ihe co!oncl addresses the. expectant throng, who have fornu-d a ring round the table. "I have called you together," he says, "to hesir the proceedings of a general court-martial." A moment's pause. Thcr. the door opens and the adjutant returcs, followed by two officers. They ore both in uniform, but one of them is not wearing the customary San Biowno belt. His face is drawn and pale. Yet ho stands erect and confronts the intching group steadily enough. The clauces flashed upon him are curious; out qenrly all of them are sympathetic. The colonel opens a big envelope and extracts a bundle of document?. There is another pause, Then he finds hie voice. "Pay attention "a the proceedings of a general court-martial held at for the trial of Second-Lieutenant J — F —," he begins in a crisp, dear Toice. At the sound of his name the officer thus alluded to stiffens suddenly. Then, in response to a. nudge from the escort, ho removes his cap and takes a 6tep forward. "Charge," reads out the colonel, turning over the fluttering pages. "The accused is charged with 'absence without leave,' in that he at was absent from the tilt, to the inst. Finding: The Court find the accused guilty. Sentence: .The Court sentence the accused, Second-Lieutenant J F—, to be dismissed the Service. Confirmed and ap-proved.-C. D., General Officer Coin. manding-in-Chief;" The other's face flushes, and he draws a deep breath. It is over at last. Well, the suspense is finished. He knows tho worst now. Broke! No'longer considered fit to hold ITia Majesty's commission. Yet, until this moment he has been buoying himself up with a faint hope that the penalty of his folly might bo less severe—perhaps a reprimand or something of the sort. But he has had a fair trial! He knows that. The colonel nods to the subaltern, acting as escort. Hβ understands the eignal, and leaves the room together with bis ex-brother officer. "That will do, gentlemen," says the colonel, "you may go." One by one the officers file out into the open air. There is no talking or laughing. Everybody looks serious. In his barely-furnished quarters-quar-ters to which he no longer has any right —sits the chief actor in tho ijriui drama on which the curtnin lintj just fallen. The adjutant enters, looking somewhat ill at ease. "The colonel wishes me to tell you, he says, "that you must get into plain clothes as 6oon as you can." "That's all right," answers the ether awkwardly. "I'll clear off by the next trnifl." A week later. Extract from the "London Gazette : " " Begt.—Second-Lieutenant J — F — i 3 dismissed the Service by sentence of a General Court-Martial."