No More Parades by Ford Madox Ford (top 10 books to read TXT) 📕

stoves. The floor was of coke-brize shining under french polish and turpentine.

The building paused, as when a godhead descends. In breathless focusing of eyes the godhead, frail and shining, walked with short steps up to a high-priest who had a walrus moustache and, with seven medals on his Sunday tunic, gazed away into eternity. The general tapped the sergeant’s Good Conduct ribbon with the heel of his crop. All stretched ears heard him say:

“How’s your sister, Case?⁠ ⁠…”

Gazing away, the sergeant said:

“I’m thinking of making her Mrs. Case⁠ ⁠…”

Slightly leaving him, in the direction of high, varnished pitch-pine panels, the general said:

“I’ll recommend you for a Quartermaster’s commission any day you wish⁠ ⁠… Do you remember Sir Garnet inspecting field kitchens at Quetta?”

All the white tubular beings with global eyes resembled the pierrots of a child’s Christmas nightmare. The general said: “Stand at ease, men⁠ ⁠… Stand easy!” They moved as white objects move in a childish dream. It was all childish. Their eyes rolled.

Sergeant Case gazed away into infinite distance.

“My sister would not like it, sir,” he said. “I’m better off as a first-class warrant officer!”

With his light step the shining general went swiftly to the varnished panels in the eastern aisle of the cathedral. The white figure beside them became instantly tubular, motionless and global-eyed. On the panels were painted: Tea! Sugar! Salt! Curry pdr! Flour! Pepper!

The general tapped with the heel of his crop on the locker-panel labelled Pepper: the top, right-hand locker-panel. He said to the tubular, global-eyed white figure beside it: “Open that, will you, my man?⁠ ⁠…”

To Tietjens this was like the sudden bursting out of the regimental quickstep, as after a funeral with military honours the band and drums march away, back to barracks.

Colophon

No More Parades
was published in 1925 by
Ford Madox Ford.

This ebook was produced for
Standard Ebooks
by
Alex Cabal,
and is based on a transcription produced in 2007 for
Project Gutenberg Australia
and on digital scans available at the
Internet Archive.

The cover page is adapted from
The Second Battle of Ypres,
a painting completed in 1916 by
Richard Jack.
The cover and title pages feature the
League Spartan and Sorts Mill Goudy
typefaces created in 2014 and 2009 by
The League of Moveable Type.

The first edition of this ebook was released on
January 1, 2021, 10:26 p.m.
You can check for updates to this ebook, view its revision history, or download it for different ereading systems at
standardebooks.org/ebooks/ford-madox-ford/no-more-parades.

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Uncopyright

May you do good and not evil.
May you find forgiveness for yourself and forgive others.
May you share freely, never taking more than you give.

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