TOLD AFTER MESS 343 



" ' And that I must mean Eadnor, and Eadnor 

 was the 'orse as was sent up, sir.' 



" The Major turned on his heel without a word, 

 and walked' again into the Yet.'s office, followed by 

 me. The ' Tommy ' remained at ' attention,' and 

 may be in the same attitude now, as far as I know. 



" ' This is a relief, anyhow,' said Laughton, 

 ' Eadnor would have been " cast " very soon, and so 

 his sudden death won't be so surprising to the Board.' 



" Up to this point the Vet. had been silent ; now 

 a smile hovered over his face as he said, ' Leave the 

 whole business to me, Major. Where's the defunct ? ' 



" The Major described the place, and the interview 

 ended, and we walked back to Laughton's quarters. 

 ***** 



" The Board assembled, and briefly, the result of 



their deliberations was to find that the bay gelding 



Eadnor was discovered dead in his stall, the certified 



cause of death being fatty degeneration of the heart." 



***** 



" Yes, that's all very fine and large, but how 



the ? what the ? when the ! ! ! " broke 



in a Babel of voices. 



" Hold on, boys, and you shall know one or two 

 things which the Board didn't know. Picture a 

 scene in the barrack yard like this : a dark night, 

 moon only showing in fitful gleams now and then ; 

 a trolly with a couple of horses ; four stalwart 



