Anon He thrusts his hat under his left armpit.' Kim illustrated the motion and stood like a stork.
The old man groaned, inarticulate with amazement; and the crowd shivered.
'So--so--so.

But what does He when He is about to give an order ?' 'He rubs the skin at the back of his neck--thus.

Then falls one finger on the table and He makes a small sniffing noise through his nose.
Then He speaks, saying: "Loose such and such a regiment.

Call out such guns."' The old man rose stiffly and saluted.
'"For"'-- Kim translated into the vernacular the clinching sentences he had heard in the dressing-room at Umballa--'"For," says He, "we should have done this long ago.

It is not war--it is a chastisement.