His age was starting to show and I wondered how long he'd carry on running the place.
    ‘Life is like a holiday,’ he told me late one evening. ‘At the beginning, you think you
have all the time in the world; in the middle, you're having too much fun to worry about how
long you have left. Before you realise, you're at the end and your time is up.’
    ‘There’s a big difference, though,’ added John, who had stayed for a night-cap.
    ‘What’s that,’ I asked.

    ‘At the end of a holiday, you know where you’re going next.’
    The Major looked at John thoughtfully before pouring us all another glass.
He was right, but was he talking about himself or about me in his metaphor? I wondered.