"
The three soldiers had turned what was visible of their faces towards
Mr. Lavender, and, seeing that he had riveted their attention, he
proceeded: "The apathy which hospital produces, together with the
present scarcity of labour, is largely responsible for the dangerous
position in which the disabled man now finds himself. Only we who have
not to face his future can appreciate what that future is likely to be
if he does not make the most strenuous efforts to overcome it. Boys," he
added earnestly, remembering suddenly that this was the word which those
who had the personal touch ever employed, "are you making those efforts?
Are you equipping your minds? Are you taking advantage of your enforced
leisure to place yourselves upon some path of life in which you can
largely hold your own against all comers?"
He paused for a reply.
The soldiers, silent for a moment, in what seemed to Mr. Lavender to be
sheer astonishment, began to fidget; then the one next him turned to his
neighbour, and said:
"Are we, Alf? Are we doin' what the gentleman says?"
"I can answer that for you," returned Mr. Lavender brightly; "for I can
tell by your hospitalized faces that you are living in the present; a
habit which, according to our best writers, is peculiar to the British.
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