A momentary glimpse
"Penny for your thoughts, my tender lovelings?"
Six privates - the entire complement of section C-2, as a matter of fact - looked up, quickly and guiltily, to meet their Captain's eyes. Five stammered out versions of "nothing," with or without appended "sir" depending on how long they'd been there. The sixth opened his mouth, and was waved off with a preemptive charge of insubordination, to which he could respond only with spluttering.
"No, on second thought, darlings, I do believe I'll save my change. I dare say I can state with accuracy what your thoughts are." Martin gazed past the lads in amusement; the goat was just a few feet away, chewing contentedly on a piece of barbed wire. "You look hence, and you see no living beast; you see a mutton-chop, roasted and basted and topped with one of those little curly-uppy bits of paper on the shank-end. Perhaps a little bit of mint jelly on the side. The phantasm lurks before you in your minds' eyes; could this creature be dinner? Perhaps he could. I dare say a goat is similar enough to a sheep."
"Does that mean - " Twelve hopeful eyes turned toward him.
"No, we are not allowed to eat Pan."
Six sad sighs.
Six privates - the entire complement of section C-2, as a matter of fact - looked up, quickly and guiltily, to meet their Captain's eyes. Five stammered out versions of "nothing," with or without appended "sir" depending on how long they'd been there. The sixth opened his mouth, and was waved off with a preemptive charge of insubordination, to which he could respond only with spluttering.
"No, on second thought, darlings, I do believe I'll save my change. I dare say I can state with accuracy what your thoughts are." Martin gazed past the lads in amusement; the goat was just a few feet away, chewing contentedly on a piece of barbed wire. "You look hence, and you see no living beast; you see a mutton-chop, roasted and basted and topped with one of those little curly-uppy bits of paper on the shank-end. Perhaps a little bit of mint jelly on the side. The phantasm lurks before you in your minds' eyes; could this creature be dinner? Perhaps he could. I dare say a goat is similar enough to a sheep."
"Does that mean - " Twelve hopeful eyes turned toward him.
"No, we are not allowed to eat Pan."
Six sad sighs.