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Kipling, Rudyard, 1865-1936

"Soldiers Three"

_) Vanity let it be!'
MRS. G. (_Defiantly to the gray of the evening sky._) 'Vanity let
it be!'
ECHO. (_From the Fagoo spur._) Let it be!


FATIMA
And you may go into every room of the house and see everything that
is there, but into the Blue Room you must _not_ go.
--_The Story of Blue Beard._
SCENE.--_The_ GADSBYS' _bungalow in the Plains. Time,_ 11 A. M. _on
a Sunday morning._ CAPTAIN GADSBY, _in his shirt-sleeves, is bending
over a complete set of Hussar's equipment, from saddle to
picketing-rope, which is neatly spread over the floor of his study.
He is smoking an unclean briar, and his forehead is puckered with
thought._
CAPT. G. (_To himself, fingering a headstall._) Jack's an ass. There's
enough brass on this to load a mule--and, if the Americans know anything
about anything, it can be cut down to a bit only. 'Don't want the
watering-bridle, either. Humbug!--Half a dozen sets of chains and
pulleys for one horse! Rot! (_Scratching his head._) Now, let's consider
it all over from the beginning. By Jove, I've forgotten the scale of
weights! Ne'er mind. 'Keep the bit only, and eliminate every boss from
the crupper to breastplate.


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