“BROKE!”

Hokitika Guardian, 20 July 1918, Page 1

“BROKE!”

(By “ Tabs.”)

It begins with a curt notice in “ Orders ” : “All officer's to attend at the orderly room at 10 a.m tomorrow.”

“ What does it mean ?” inquires a young subaltern not yet accustomed to Army procedure. “It’s poor old F He’s for the high jump,” remarks an experienced hand.

At five minutes to the appointed hour a little group of officers converges upon the hut which serves as an orderly room for the camp, They number fifty or so, perhaps, and each of them has temporarily abandoned liis habitual expression of lightheartedness.

Inside the orderly room the commanding officer sits with a grave expression. He looks up as the officers enter, and returns their salutes. Then he rises and nods to the adjutant.

“ Fetch in Mr F and his escort,” he says. As the other disappears the colonel addresses the expectant throng who have formed a ring round the table. “ I have called yon together,” he says, “ to hear the proceedings of a general court-martial.” A moment’s panse. Then the door opens and the adjutant returns, followed by two officers. They are both in uniform, but one of them is not wearing the customary Sam Browne belt. His face is drawn and pale. Yet he stands erect and confronts the watching group steadily enough. The glances flashed upon him are curious; but nearly all of them are sympathetic. The colonel opens a big envelope and extracts a bundle of documents. There is another pause. Then he finds his voice.

“ Pay attention to the proceedings of a general court-martial held at for the trial of Second-Lieuten-ant J F ,” he begins in a crisp, clear voice.

At the sound of his name the officer thus alluded to stiffens suddenly. Then, in response to a nudge from the escort, he removes his cap and takes a step forward. “ Charge,” reads out the colonel, turning ovtr the fluttering pages. “ The accused is charged with ‘ absence without leave,’ in that he at was absent from the nit, to the inst. Finding : The Court rind the accused guilty. Sentence: The Court sentence the accused, SecondLieutenant J F , to lie dismissed the Service. Confirmed and approved.—C. I)., General Officer Commanding-in-Chief.”

The other’s face flashes, and he draws a deep breath. It is over at last. Well, the suspense is finished. He knows the worst now. Broke! No longer considei’ed fit to hold his Majesty’s commission. Yet, until this moment he has been buoying himself up with a faint hope that the penalty of his folly might be 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. He understands the signal and leaves the room together with his ex-brother officer.

‘•That will do, gentlemen," says the colonel, “yon 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 quarters to which he no longer has any right—sits the chief actor in the grim drama on which the curtain has just fallen. The adjutant enters, looking somewhat ill at ease. “ The colonel wishes me to tell yon," lie says, “ that you must get. into plain clothes as soon as you can." That’s all right,” answers the other awkwardly. “ I'll dear off by the next, train.” ***** A week later Extract from the London Gazette: “ Regt.—Second-Lieutenant ,|_J— F— -ia dismissed the Service by sentence of a General CourtMartial.”