But the discipline of the tram-horse, of the blinded bullock at the wheel, of the well-camel, of the galley-slave--meticulous, puerile, unending, unchanging, impossible ...?
Necessary perhaps, once upon a time--but hard on the man of brains, sensibility, heart, and individuality.
Soul and body?
Deadly for the soul--and fairly dangerous for the body in the Cavalry Regiment whose riding-master prefers the abominable stripped-saddle training to the bare-backed....
Dam yawned and looked at the tin clock on the shelf above the cot of the Room Corporal.

Half an hour yet....

Did time drag more heavily anywhere in the world ?...
His mind roamed back over his brief, age-long life in the Queen's Greys and passed it in review.
The interview with the Doctor, the Regimental Sergeant-Major, the Adjutant, the Colonel--the Oath on the Bible before that dread Superman....

How well he remembered his brief exordium--"Obey your Superiors blindly; serve your Queen, Country, and Regiment to the best of your ability; keep clean, don't drink, fear God, and--most important of all--take care of your horse.

_Take care of your horse_, d'ye hear ?" Also the drawled remark of the Adjutant afterwards, "Ah--what--ah--University ?"--his own prompt reply of "Whitechapel, sir," and the Adjutant's approving "Exactly....