12 
LAND & WATER 
August 23, 1917 
information that the officer .was very brave. The AiPiM. 
modestly replied that there were- others of whom the same 
might be said. It suddenly struck him that the lady was 
rather pretty ; he noted how her copper-coloured hair glmtcd 
with gold where it caught the sun. And undeniably, when 
you came to think of it, it was rather nice of her t(« call lum a 
Colonel. Perhaps, he reflected, he rather looked like one. 
If .you had told the A.P.M. at this moment that ln^ was 
PubVlv influenced by the lady's charm he would have denied 
it with no less sincerit\- than warmth. 
Kventuallv he elicited the information that the officer , 
had two " pips " on his sleeve and a strange beast on the lapels 
of his coat— data which were sufficient to enable the .\.P.M. 
to class him as a lieutenant in a certain Line regiment. The 
rest was easv. Enquiiies at the Base Commandant's office 
revealed the "fact that there were at the Base six junior officers. 
'.ieutenants and second lieutenants, belonging to different 
battalions of th^ regiment -some of them convalescents, one 
ot them a Base " detail," the others belonging to a diait which 
was being put through its paces at the Base Training Camp. 
The first step was identitication. Within twenty-iour 
hours messages had been sent out to the si.\ lieutenants and 
second- lieutenants to attend at the A.P.M.'s office. He 
included the se<*ond-lieutenants in order to make the itlcntifica- 
tion as convincing as possible, for he saw himsell giving weighty 
evidence at the " Summar\- " and being congratulate-l on 
his astnteness bv the P.M.' to the I., of C. A proposal of 
his to his friend the R.T.O. that he should allow himself 
to be included in the batch of suspects as a super, so as to 
give variety to the performance, was coldly received as 
soon as he heUrd there was a woman in it. hor the 
firrit time, the A.P.M. felt suspicious of the R.T.O., which 
was unreasonable. He also issued invitations to the D.A.A.G., 
the Embarkation Officer, the Censor, and an Intelligence man, 
but they all with one consent began to make excuses. The 
lact was the A.P.M., being very young, was rather apt to 
overdo things in his desire for theatrical effect. He was 
nothing if not elaborate. It had struck him that as a 
scheme of mural decoration it would look rather well if he 
could distribute among his six suspects about the same 
number of staff-officers. But he had to give this up. ' 
At the appointed hour six officers, in a state of extreme 
ner\ous trepidation, presented themselves at the A.P.M.'s office. 
Each one was in a mood of gloomy introspection, searching 
his past for anything that might be construed as " conduct 
prejudicial." For in the Army the most innocent of us may 
have done something which we ought not to have done or 
left undone a thing which we ought to ha\e done. Army 
" crime " is an elastic conception and includes many things 
not to be found in the Decalogue or the common law. That 
tempting souvenir from a crushed aeroplane which you 
neglected to hand over to your Battahon H.Q., that in- 
judicious letter in which you expressed your frank opinion 
about the Brigadier or gave the location of your unit in 
order to enable your fiancee to find you on the map, that 
photograph of a cadaverous Hun; which you took with a 
secretive pocket-kodak — all these may rise up and accuse 
you. None of them knew what scent the A.P.M. was on. 
And each officer eyed the others furtively, hoping that 
one of them was the man " wanted." The atmosphere of an 
A.P.M.'s office does not conduce to charity. 
\\ hile they waited in one room the A.P.M. was glancing 
impatiently at his wrist-watch in the other and reflecting on 
the incorrigible unpunctuality of women. Meanwhile,- each 
of the unfortunate six was growing more and more convinced 
that his case was hopeless and had decided to make a clean 
breast of his individual delinquency. AH of them except 
one. 
At last the lady arrived. The A.P.M. noticed that she had 
dressed herself with extreme care and a sprig of azalea rose 
and fell upon her bosom as it panted in agitation. The A.P.M. 
thought the decorative effect was intended for himself. But 
in this he was mistaken. 
" Madame," he said impressively, " I think I have suc- 
ceeded." 
And, feeling he was addressing the representative of a nation 
which likes a touch of the panache, he added with a han 
gcsle towards the door, " I will see that justice is done." The 
A.P.M. was feeling like that. 
"• Bon D'cn ! He is in there, he ? " she said staring at the 
closed door and clasping jier hands in agitation. 
"I have every reason to think so, madame," said the 
A.P.M. majestically. 
" And what will happen to him, monsieur le capitaine." 
"He will be cashiered, dismissed, fired, degomme, bnse!" 
said the A.P.M. destructively. And he overdid it. 
" Ah, it is impossible. Nov, ! non ! I cannot." 
This was a contretemps the A.P.M. had not looked for. 
That the lady would at the last moment refuse to identify 
La Qu^tHeme \ Annee 
'i.\ 
By Emile Cammaerts 
Voici que tes soeurs sont parties. 
Descendant pas a pas le large escalier d'or, 'f 
Et que le son deleur voix affaiblie 
S'eteint au fond des corridors.' 
La pcemifere, I'oeil brillant, nous apporta Ic glaive 
Et, la poitriiie''n'iie, poussa le cri d'alarmo. 
Elle nous dUy'H{''l'es yeux ct dissipa nos revcs 
Et nous la,,^ju;vinjcv^ dans le sang, dans Ics larmcs. 
La deuxieme^pfpusement nous tendit la couronnc. 
La couronne d'epines de ceux qui luttcnt ct pcincut 
Pour qu'a force de foi la verite rayonne 
Et fleurisse de roses les ronccs incertaincs. 
La troisieme, en stmriant, nous offrit uiic palme 
Et, d'un voPlkrj^e' et sur, guida dans I'ouragan 
ISios espoirs c^hMtibelants vers Ic havre de calmc 
Oii, les deux bras tendus, la \'ictoire nous attend. 
Mais toi, Et'rljin'gere, que nous apportes-tu? 
Que nous d!riqnt,tfs,^-^ux:, que nous dira ta voix ? 
\'ers quels. nouveaiUx,<lestins, vers quels cicux inconnus 
Entraineras-tu nos pas ? 
— ^Je vous apporte la balance , 
Ou se pesent les vertus et les crimes. 
J'attendrai pour partir que votre Sainte Alliance 
Ait chatie les bourreaux et vcnge leurs victimos. 
[All rights reserved.] 
the culprit had never entered into his calculations. He 
reasoned with her, cajoled, upbraided, even threatened, and 
talked mistily of compounding a felony. This was a mistake. 
A woman may be inveigled, but she cannot be forced, and 
the more the A.P.M. stormed the more did she refuse. He saw 
a second " stunt " escaping him, and he grew., bitter. He 
thought of all the stab' officers and others whom he- bad 
invited to the reception, and he saw himself the derisive •object 
of many pleasantries. ■ n 
" Very well, madame," he said at last, '■ there is nothing 
to do but show you out." 
Now what followed may have been design' — the A.P.M. 
of course, has convinced himself that he designed it — or it 
may have been accident. My own opinion is that the A.P.M. 
in his discomfiture forgot which was the door leading to the 
street and which was the door giving access to the suspects. 
Be that as it may, it was the latter door he opened. 
The lady .stepped into the room and saw six officers. She 
drew back with a cry, stared at them, and then rushing 
forward, as if urged by an irresistible impulse, she threw 
her arms round the neck of one of them and cried : " OU! 
chei;i, why did you do it ? " 
ff)). )/;^> iii ■ , * * * * 
iiThe'AlP.M. looks forxvard to being mentioned in despatches. 
Btit he lias ceased to generalise about women. He says 
you never know what they will do next. And he thinks he 
has been the first man to find this out. 
A publication, new 'in every way, Recalled to Life, under 
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