It was not his to reason why; not his to ask how the French had gained a footing in Talland Cove, or how, having gained it, they were to be dislodged.

Once satisfied of their arrival, he left them, as his soldierly training enjoined, severely alone.

Deplorable as he might deem the occurrence, it had happened; and _ipso facto_, it consigned him, in accordance with general orders, to Detachment D, with the duties and responsibilities of that detachment.

On these then--and at first on these, and these only--he bent his practical, resolute mind.

It will be seen if he stopped short with them.
Picking himself up from the dry ditch, intent only on heading for home, he was aware of a dark object on the brink above him; which at first he took for a bramble bush, and next, seeing it move, for a man.
It is no discredit to Gunner Sobey that, taken suddenly in the darkness, and at so hopeless a disadvantage, he felt his knees shake under him for a moment.
"Parley-voo ?" he ventured.
The proverb says that a Polperro jackass is surprised at nothing, and this one, which had been browsing on the edge of the ditch, merely gazed.
"I--I ax your pardon," went on Gunner Sobey, still slightly unhinged.
"The fact is, I mistook you for another person." The jackass drew back a little.