Thank your wife for me."
So the Lieutenant made a light, and lo! and behold, the plate was
there, but the quail was gone! In the darkness, our great kangaroo
hound had stolen noiselessly upon his master's heels, and quietly
removed the bird. The two officers were dumbfounded. Major Worth
said: "D - n my luck;" and turned his face again to the wall of
his tent.
Now Major Worth was just the dearest and gentlest sort of a man,
but he had been born and brought up in the old army, and everyone
knows that times and customs were different then.
Men drank more and swore a good deal, and while I do not wish my
story to seem profane, yet I would not describe army life or the
officers as I knew them, if I did not allow the latter to use an
occasional strong expression.
The incident, however, served to cheer up the Major, though he
continued to deplore the loss of his beautiful dog.
For the next two days our route lay over the dreariest and most
desolate country. It was not only dreary, it was positively
hostile in its attitude towards every living thing except snakes,
centipedes and spiders.
