Here are Kipling's three comic comrades-in-arms -- clowns, very nearly, though these clowns are to be treated with respect. Set in the British Raj at the turn of the twentieth century, their lot it's to be the bane of their commanding officer -- with their drinking and brawling, and despite his best efforts to break up the threesome. When these infantrymen are up to anything, it's no good at all; but you can bet that it's a hoot to hear the tale. These stories are from Kipling's "Gunga Din" period, but they're comic and farcical; great fun, too.