14/35 He nearly exterminated me once by setting a stone water-bottle to heat on my stove without unscrewing the stopper. I arrived in my tent quite late and seeing the thing on the stove quickly unscrewed it. The steam blew out with terrific force and filled the tent. A moment or two more and the bottle would have burst with disastrous consequences. When I told Stephenson of the enormity of his offence and that he might have been the cause of my death, and would have sent me to the grave covered with dishonour for having been killed by the bursting of a hot water-bottle--an unworthy end for one about to enter the greatest war the world has ever known--he only smiled faintly and asked me if I should like to hear him recite a poem. |