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Show I VINDICATION By F. G. in Town Talk. f N UMBER 53896271, Driver Thom as Tomkins, Was, according to H all report, the worst man in the H entire British army. So, at least, H thought his Number One. Such, with H even greater intensity, was the opin- H ion of tile sergeant-major; and the H verdict of the sergeants' mess found H an echo in the breast of every man H Jack in the battery. H After nine months in France he was H still without a pal. The reasons for H his comrades' dislike were various as H their natures. A few appeared to con- H sider the fact that he was a conscript H was sufficient to render him taboo. H Many, themselves none too squeamish, H regarded with an aversion almost H amounting to horror his lavish ob- H scenity. It must be admitted, too, M that their objection was not without H foundation, for none could remember B a single occasion on which he had de- B liyered himself of two words untinc- p B tured with expletives. But by far the H greater number were of the type that , judges a man by his actions rather m than his words. M "If 'e'd only be'ave decent, I'd easy B put up with 'is talk," remarked Driver B Weeks one day to his friend Jerry M Wild. The latter fully agreed. m " 'E ain't got no notion o' self-re- M spect," continued Weeks. "I never M seen 'im wash 'isself prop'ly, and 'is M chin's always like a bloomin' packet M o' needles. An' can't 'e just swing ' H - the lead?" H "Aye," chimed in Bill Waters, "did m yer see 'im on groomin' this morn- m ing? 'E did nowt but look up at old M Jimmy Pollard yonder." And he indi- M cated an observation balloon up aloft B with a contemptuous jerk of the H ' thumb. I, t "PI'm," exclaimed Jerry, "no doubt H !e is a fool. 'E might at least 'ave H ! pretended to work, eh, Bill?" I, Waters grinned sheepishly. "Well, H i s'long as the orflcer don't notice, Hj what's the odds? I say, 'e don't arf H ) Miink somethin' of 'imself, that new H orficer, don't 'e?" H' But Weeks was not thus to be divert- H ed. "Funny, ain't it," he said ,"but H some-'ow, though 'e don't do much H groomin', 'e seems to care for 'is H 'orses in a way." H Here the wheezy notes of a trumpet Hri: that had evidently known better days Hi j broke in upon their talk. Hi "Fall In," said Waters. And so they Hi turned in to afternoon stables, which Hjl (let us hope) prevented any further Hftj conversation for the next hour or so. Hi The Sergeant-major waxed eloquent H, that evening upon the same theme. Hy "I don't Ttribw what's the matter i with him," he exclaimed, for at least I the thousandth time. "Can't get any- Hw thing out of him, nor smarten up his Hffi ideas nohow. I'm dead sick of putting ft him on fatigues. He's never been real- Iff ly tidy on main parade. This morning If it was that he hadn't shaved, and said li he hadn't any stuff to clean his but- Hfl tons. I can't do nothing with him!" M "I'd like to find the beggar as could," HJn was Sergeant Jenkins' acid retort. " 'E takes no notice o' words, and. you can't knock no sense into 'im. I'm about at my wits' end what to do, This very blessed mornin', when Mr. Ellis went round the tents, an' cbmes to m,y sub, 'e finds there, wrapped up4n the brailin', a pair o' spurs I never seen the likes of. There warn't, no steel visible, only rust, an' I'll bet it were an eighth of an inch thick. An' 'is bandolier" Here his wrath boiled over and choked further utterance for a minute. Then he proceeded with his plaint. "I'm tired of bein' strafed for 'is' shortcomin's, and the orficers don't seem to understand the job you've got. It's 'Sergeant Jenkins this' and 'Sergeant 'Ser-geant Jenkins that.' I'm fed up with the whole blamed business. If Mr. Duckworth 'ad only let 'em put 'im in the trough the other day, 'twould 'ave done 'im a sight o' good. 'Stead o' that, 'e interferes. But there! they never understands. "H'm," said the sergeant-major, "I reckon he ought to be a Christmas pudding maker: one job a year, and fifty-two weeks to do it in. Maybe he might do something as an Easter egg decorator. But he's no good in the army." "Wonder what 'e leally was in civvy life? 'E's down as a hawker, but strikes me 'e was a rose maker for Alexandra Day." With which cutting saicasm Sergeant Jenkins relapsed into silence and betook him to a cigarette. cig-arette. Indeed Driver Tomkins was notorious. noto-rious. His harness was the dirtiest in the brigade, and he himself the most disreputable individual that could have been found in the whole of the British Expeditionary force. Titanic efforts to impart to him some slight knowledge knowl-edge of the benefits of cleanliness met with only a temporary result. Within a few days further exhortation was sure to be required. It was this eternal eter-nal missionary work as the apostle of hygiene that chiefly emhitteied the hapless Sergeant Jenkins. Albeit of Celtic extraction, he was of all men most patient, but even to the endurance endur-ance of a Number One in the Roval Regiment of Artillery there are limits, and the long-suffering of Job would have been wasted on Driver Thomas Tomkins. In short, Tomkins was a blot on the earth a disgrace to the badge he wore; at least, so he had more than once been informed. The catalogue of his crimes occupied two whole sheets and the beginning of a third. The C. O. found him utterly intractable; intract-able; his section commander HalhPd the sight of him; he was absolutely detested by his Number One, and the men who should have been his chums frequently recorded their impressions of him in no uncertain manner. Amid this general concurrence there was but one dissentient voice. Lieutenant Lieu-tenant Duckworth, the left section commander, was one of those unpractical unprac-tical people called idealists, and as such refused to believe that even so hardened a sinner as Tomkins was altogether depraved. In his opinion the man had been spoiled by tactless handling. He once suggested this to his chum Coghill, to whose section the recalcitrant belonged. Coghill laughed him to scorn. But the days passed and the weeks, yet still no gleam of grace appeared. The major opened a long official envelop. "Operation orders!" he said, and then, "Let's see, isn't it your turn for F. O. O., Duckworth?" "Yes, sir!" "Right you will report at Headquarters Headquar-ters tomorrow for final instructions. We needn't bother about signallers for the present, but what about runners? run-ners? Whoni shall we say?" "If you don't mind sir, I should like to call for volunteers. I always prefer them in such cases." Now that same evening what should happen but that the sergeant-major should find Driver TomkinB in the act of stealing hay? Caught red-handed, the man pleaded insufficient food for his horses, but this the irrate warrant officer regarded as an idle excuse. Tomkins was placed under open arrest, ar-rest, and left to ponder over the injustice in-justice of all present-day systems, for on this occasion the excuse happened to be genuine. Next morning', on main parade, Driver Driv-er Tomkins appeared without his box respirator or his spurs. He had forgotten for-gotten them, it seemed. This was too much for Sergeant Jenkins, who straightway proceeded to pour out the vla.ls of his wrath. "Forget, forget! Can't yer find nothin' different to say, only that? You're always forgettin'. When the 'ell are yer ever goin' to remember, always gettln' the sub-section into trouble? You're a disgrace to the Royal Roy-al Regiment, that's what you are." The arrival of Mr. Coghill checked further comment. But the man next to Tomkins, glancing at him, chanced to observe a strange expression upon his countenance. So unusual an occurrence oc-currence chained his attention, until the sergeant-major, perceiving him, exclaimed ex-claimed sharply, "Eyes front there, Driver Willis." Why had his Number One's last remark re-mark stirred Tomkins. He had often heard the same thing before, but then it had never rankled. Now the words aroused a defiant challenge within him, and Driver Willis thought he heard him mutter, "I'll show 'em." Before the parade was dismissed, jH Mr. Duckworth came forward and JH asked for volunteer s to accompany JH him as runners on his expedition. To Wt the general surprise, Driver Tomkins stepped out immediately. The men H: stared; the sergeant-major gaped as- JW tonishment. Mr. Coghill, too, seemed l3 not a little taken aback. jH At office hour Driver Tomkins was 3 brought before the C. O. After hear- ffl ing the accusation and the prisoner's M defense, the major glanced keenly at m him for a moment before speaking. M "Driver Tomkins," he said, "you are '"m a hard case. I hear you have volun- Mt teered to go as a runner with Mr. m Duckworth. I shall let the matter m stand over for a few days, and if you behave well you may be given another l chance." Jm Forth flashed the barrage with one 1 great joar from the muzzles of a thou- sand guns. Very lights and distress signals from the enemy trenches lit up the dawn in all directions. The In- fantry were beginning to go over. Lieutenant Duckworth too was up ?J and doing. He was to reach Hill 47 and there establish his observing sta- tion, and his party was soon bn the 4 move. They ran the gauntlet of the a Bochedj:rrage with only one casualty. j The hill was reached in safety, the j lines laid out, and the Lieutenant W threw himself down and pulled out his $ glasses. 1 Presently he started. "My God!" he cried, "they are coming back." 7 He turned to the telephonist, but his instructions were never received, for S at the instant a stray shell burst almost al-most on top of them. Driver Tom- A kins was tin own violently to the ground, and half buried in dirt. For a minute or two he lay half-stunned, then slowly and painfully rose. Blood s was trickling from his right shoulder, and his left arm hung helpless. He looked around. They lay Mr. Duckworth, literally blown to pieces. The little group of signalers were all dead and horribly mutilated. One run- f ner, his lungs pierced, was coughing up blood, a ghastly sight; while of the J other nothing remained beyond a few J scraps of blood-stained clothing. H turned to assist his wounded comrade, but at that moment the man, 4 j with a stifled groan, fell back dead. 1 A moment later he was aware of a a I stream of running men, khaki-clad, w some with fixed bayonets, others un- t& w aimed and wounded. One of these lat-' lat-' Br tcr, badly hit, sank down beside him. ( fik "Oh, my God, my God!" he wailed. wk "What happened?" cried Tomkins. M "He got us with his machine? guns," j K gasped the man with a groan. "Oh, be my Godf" and then he fainted. i flf Tomkins turned to flee. He had i' I Mi gone several yards when suddenly he m: came to a dead stop. Sergeant Jen- M' kinB' angry face had risen before his m mental vision. For a long moment he H ,hesitated: They couldn't blame him when everyone else was retiring. Be- jSp sides, he was wounded, and even to M him life wiis sweet. Br He turned again. More figures in W khaki streamed into view over the w ciest. A dogged look crept into his nil' cyeSl ! i, t"After all, thej'ie my mates," he J muttered. "A disgrace to the regi-I regi-I ; r ment!" then viciously, between his I UB clenched teeth, "I'll show 'em." ' i ft Back he went to the telephone. The . ? explosion had blown away a piece of wk the wire, and it was some seconds ' mi- before he could find the loose ends. , 38, Then he moved the box a short dis- tance, until he could hook them tO-4 tO-4 4 gether. In his state it was impossible to tie them. Then he pressed the buz-I buz-I zor key, and put the receiver to his - W-' ear. fils voce -ne tber end answered mt his call. JBT "Our men are retreating, sir. M They've come back over Hill 47." IR W"Is tm' you' Duckworth?" v m, "Mr. Duckworth is killed, sir. I'm Tra T ' one of his runners." llF "Where is the enemy?" pT Tomkins glanced over his shoulder. K "They're just coming up the other iflff side,(pir, a few hundred yards off." j I; Tomkins' woik was done. In less If than a minute orders were going It E ' ' through to the different artillery 1 1 groups to meet this sudden change in ' rV the tactical situation. Meanwhile he F1 turned to the wounded infantryman. Jjl A few minutes later a long grey line jjffip of Germany infantry appeared over W the ridge. Then time shrapnel began i 1 to burst among them. lUf M'4 k. They found him there next day, rid- ,& died with bullets from the shells his e message had brought in time to stop i the enemy attack. He was still bend- . r ing over the wounded infantryman. S e The news caused a great stir in the battery. "Well," exclaimed Driver Weeks (and there was a strange gulp in his voice), "poor old Tomkins won't never get strafed again." "No," said Bill Waters. "He seemed awful bad, but he did care for 'is 'oises." I "Aye, there's good in the worst of us," added Jerry Wild. "I only wish I could shake 'ands with 'Im now." "Well, Jenkins," said the seigeant-major, seigeant-major, "we've lost the most troublesome trouble-some man in the battery. But I'm not sure I'm glad, Anyway, I wish it had been a Eighty." "He died game," said Sergeant Jenkins, Jen-kins, "and that wipes out a lot, I suppose. sup-pose. 'B might have been some good fc . . .rM ........Tir.ii V" -- after all." The news was the chief topic of conversation con-versation in the officers' mess that night. "It's extraordinary!" said the major. "After all his bad record here, the Royal-Regiment need not be ashamed of him. Had he lived, I should have put him in for a decoration. I'm sure he deserved one." "Poor old Duckworth was light after af-ter all," said Coghill musingly. ByF. G., in Town Talk. |