It was only when the limpness of his tail was mentioned that I suddenly realised we were talking about a sick monkey.
Letters from the Battalion, 7000 feet below, drift up to me occasionally, but they contain little beyond the old sentiment, expressed hundreds of times daily by Territorials from the Himalayas to the Nilghiris. India is a marvellous and unique country; to have lived in it is an education and a joy; to have guarded it a proud Imperial privilege. But most of us would give something to get out of it and into Europe. Yours ever,
The loveliest maidens in the land, Girls in rags and ladies grand, All go wandering down the Strand, Ding, dong, ding! To look for pearls in oyster-shells And listen to Saint Martin's bells, Ding, dong, ding!
Some get amber, some get jet, Silver fish-scales others get In a golden fishing-net, Ding, dong, ding! Some find crowns of seaweed there And flowers of coral for their hair, Ding, dong, ding!
All day long they have delight, Then the Thames flows in at night And sweeps the maidens out of sight. Ding, dong, ding! Down the Strand their lovely knells Echo from Saint Martin's bells, Ding, dong, ding! Ding, dong, ding!
A brother-officer attached to the King's Shropshire Light Infantry writes from the Front:--"I thought you would like to hear some details of the death in action of Lieutenant ALEC JOHNSTON, who used to write 'At the Front' in _Punch_. I knew him well and we were rather especial friends.
"On the night of the 21st of April the Battalion, which was resting at the time, was suddenly ordered to attack some six hundred yards of trenches which the enemy had taken two nights previously. JOHNSTON'S Company was in the centre, and, after the O.C. had been severely wounded just before we attacked, JOHNSTON led the Company and captured the position most gallantly with the bayonet. He then went on himself and personally reconnoitred the ground up to the German line. He found them massing for a counter-attack and came back and gave warning. When the enemy attacked they were driven off with heavy loss. He was indefatigable all night consolidating the recaptured position, exposing himself on top all the time in order to move about more quickly.