in his capacity of brigadier-general, mark you, had wrote to the papers highly approvin’ o’ Dicky Bridoon’s mechanical substitutes an ’ad thus obtained promotion—­all same as a agnosticle stoker psalm-singin’ ’imself up the Service under a pious captain.  At that point of the narrative we caught a phosphorescent glimmer why the rocking-horse might have been issued; but none the less the navigation was intricate.  Omitting the fact it was dark and cloudy, our brigadier-uncle lay somewhere in the South Downs with his brigade, which was manoeuvrin’ at Whitsum manoeuvres on a large scale—­Red Army versus Blue, et cetera; an’ all we ’ad to go by was those flapping bicycle-maps and your Mr. Leggatt’s groans.’

‘I was thinking what the Downs mean after dark,’ said Leggatt angrily.

‘They was worth thinkin’ of,’ said Pyecroft.  ’When we had studied the map till it fair spun, we decided to sally forth and creep for uncle by hand in the dark, dark night, an’ present ’im with the rocking-horse.  So we embarked at 8.57 P.M.’

‘One minute again, please.  How much did Jules understand by that time?’ I asked.

’Sufficient unto the day—­or night, perhaps I should say.  He told our Mr. Morshed he’d follow him more sang frays, which is French for dead, drunk, or damned.  Barrin’ ‘is paucity o’ language, there wasn’t a blemish on Jules.  But what I wished to imply was, when we climbed into the back parts of the car, our Lootenant Morshed says to me, “I doubt if I’d flick my cigar-ends about too lavish, Mr. Pyecroft.  We ought to be sitting on five pounds’ worth of selected fireworks, and I think the rockets are your end.”  Not being able to smoke with my ’ead over the side I threw it away; and then your Mr. Leggatt, ’aving been as nearly mutinous as it pays to be with my Mr. Morshed, arched his back and drove.’

‘Where did he drive to, please?’ said I.

’Primerrily, in search of any or either or both armies; seconderrily, of course, in search of our brigadier-uncle.  Not finding him on the road, we ran about the grass looking for him.  This took us to a great many places in a short time.  Ow ’eavenly that lilac did smell on top of that first Down—­stinkin’ its blossomin’ little heart out!’

’I ‘adn’t leesure to notice,’ said Mr. Leggatt.  ‘The Downs were full o’ chalk-pits, and we’d no lights.’

’We ’ad the bicycle-lamp to look at the map by.  Didn’t you notice the old lady at the window where we saw the man in the night-gown?  I thought night-gowns as sleepin’ rig was extinck, so to speak.’

’I tell you I ‘adn’t leesure to notice,’ Leggatt repeated.

’That’s odd.  Then what might ’ave made you tell the sentry at the first camp we found that you was the Daily Express delivery-waggon?’

‘You can’t touch pitch without being defiled,’ Leggatt answered. ’’Oo told the officer in the bath we were umpires?’