Naturally he was indifferent to his twenty-year-old brother, whom he had never seen, but Kettle--his own Kettle--was the beloved of the After-Clap's heart.

Next to Kettle in his affections was Mrs.
McGillicuddy, the six-foot-two wife of Sergeant McGillicuddy, who had eight children, of assorted sizes, and still found time to do a great deal for the After-Clap.
Mrs.Fortescue, riding briskly across the plaza, and seeing Kettle, so black, holding in his arms the laughing baby, so white, smiled and waved her hand at them.

Then, catching sight of the Commanding Officer, standing at the window of his office, she smiled at him.

But Colonel Fortescue was not smiling; on the contrary, he was frowning as his eyes fell upon Mrs.Fortescue's mount, Birdseye, a light built black mare, with a shifty eye and a propensity to make free with her hind feet.

More than once Colonel Fortescue had reminded Mrs.
Fortescue that it was somewhat beneath the dignity of a Commanding Officer's wife to ride a kicking horse.