The Likes o' Us by Rudyard Kipling — Read

It was the General Officer Commanding, riding down the Mall, on the Arab with the perky tail, and he condescended to explain some of the mysteries of his profession. But the point on which he dwelt most pompously was the ease with which the Private Thomas Atkins could be "handled," as he called it. "Only feed him and give him a little work to do, and you can do anything with him," said the General Officer Commanding. "There's no refinement about Tommy, you know; and one is very like another. They've all the same ideas and traditions and prejudices. They're all big children. Fancy any man in his senses shooting about these hills. " There was the report of a shot-gun in the valley. "I suppose they've hit a dog. Happy as the day is long when they're out shooting dogs. Just like a big child is Tommy. " He touched up his horse and cantered away. There was a sound of angry voices down the hillside.[14]

"All right, you _soor_ -- I won't never forget this -- mind you, not as long as I live, and s' 'elp me -- I'll -- -- " The sentence finished in what could be represented by a blaze of asterisks.