I think I hear my reader say, 'Not a very remarkable event to chronicle.' But that lunch was a memorable one to me; indeed, it was the turning-point in my career, for my host was good enough to say he should like to have me in his department some day, and this meant a great deal to me.

Joining a department at that time generally resulted in remaining in it for the greater part of one's service.

There was then no limit to the tenure of staff appointments, and the object of every ambitious young officer was to get into one department or another--political, civil, or the army staff.

My father had always impressed upon me that the political department was _the_ one to aspire to, and failing that, the Quartermaster-General's, as in the latter there was the best chance of seeing service.

I had cherished a sort of vague hope that I might some day be lucky enough to become a Deputy Assistant-Quartermaster-General, for although I fully recognized the advantages of a political career, I preferred being more closely associated with the army, and I had seen enough of staff work to satisfy myself that it would suit me; so the few words spoken to me by Colonel Becher made me supremely happy.
It never entered into my head that I should get an early appointment; the fact of the Quartermaster-General thinking of me as a possible recruit was quite enough for me.