Set in a British regimental training school in Egypt, the story concerns the disciplinary action (corporal punishment by caning) to be taken against a young cadet, victimized by a military tradition, caste ritual and complex sexuality he cannot comprehend.

Termed "an amusing tactical exercise in psychology" by one of the officers, the savage incident reveals the attitudes and emotions of those involved with a shattering realism no reader is likely to forget. Van der Haar, the bewildered, shocked quarry; Captain Lutwyche, his company commander; Sergeants Cole and Calderon, the otraged professional soldiers forced to participate in the affair---each is affected by the horrifying consequences of the episode to a degree that stuns the imagination.