120 CHASING AND RACING 



way ranged up alongside, and in a dulcet and sympa- 

 thetic voice, inquired if I was hurt. " Oh no, thanks/' 

 I said genially, " not a bit. I'm quite all right ! " 

 Then, to my utter astonishment, his tone changed 

 completely, and he ferociously remarked, " Then you 



ought to be ! It would have served you d d well 



right if you had been killed ! " 



I was so taken aback that I was struck dumb, and 

 my usually ready tongue failed altogether to frame 

 a repartee. 



On the way home Ted and I, with one or two other 

 choice spirits, called at a wayside inn and regaled our- 

 selves with a right royal repast. When I retired to 

 bed I felt as fit as the proverbial fiddle, and on the 

 best terms with myself ; but when I awoke in the 

 morning I was in agony ! I could not move my head 

 the fraction of an inch, and I ached in every limb. I 

 felt on the verge of paralysis, and when my C.O. called 

 in the doctor, I was informed that my neck was broken 

 as near as makes no matter. After he nad strapped 

 and plastered me up I had to remain utterly quiescent 

 for more than a week. This gave me an opportunity 

 to think what I ought to have said to the young upstart 

 who, after being where he had no right to be, and so 

 imperilling that which I chose to regard as my valuable 

 life, added insult to injury by informing me that, 

 according to my deserts, that same valuable life should 

 have been extinguished ! Thank you kindly, good sir ! 



This little shake-up was the worst that ever befell me, 



