William Blake Jacob's Ladder

'About the recruits, sarge. Something they've got to take?' Carrot prompted.
Sergeant Colon rubbed his nose. Let's see . . . they had, as per standing orders, taken and signed for one shirt (mail, chain) one helmet, iron and copper, one breastplate, iron (except in the case of Lance-Constable Angua, who'd need to be fitted special, and Lance-Constable Detritus, who'd signed for a hastily adapted piece of armour which had once belonged to a he'd ever get to an oath was something like 'bugger this for a game of soldiers'.
'All right, then,' he said. 'You've all, er, got to take the oath . . . eh . . . and Corporal Carrot will show you how. Did you take the, er, oath when you joined us, Carrot?'
'Oh, yes, sarge. Only no-one asked me, so I gave war elephant), one truncheon, oak, one emergency pike or halberd, one crossbow, one hourglass, one short sword (except for Lance-Constable Detritus) and one badge, office of, Night Watchman's, copper.'I think they've got the lot, Carrot,' he said. 'All signed for. Even Detritus got someone to make an X for him.''They've got to take the oath, sarge.''Oh. Er. Have they?''Yes, sarge. It's the law.'Sergeant Colon looked embarrassed. It probably was the law, at that. Carrot was much better at this sort of thing. He knew the laws of Ankh-Morpork by heart. He was the only person who did. All Colon knew was that he'd never taken an oath when he joined, and as for Nobby, the best