again. Now, then--fall in!"

In a twinkling the recruits jumped to obey. Shrimp surveyed their
alignment with a scowl. Nothing that a recruit could do would satisfy
him.

"Left hand on the hips, again. Now, get the interval--get it!" roared
Shrimp. "Dress up there, ye rookie idiots!"

Shrimp would have made an excellent drillmaster had he possessed the
patience and the human decency of Sergeant Brimmer. But this corporal
made his work doubly hard, and hindered the rookies from learning, by
his persistent nagging and bad temper.

"Now, we'll see whether ye can do as well at learning the position of
the soldier," he snapped out nastily, after a while. "Whenever, in
barracks, or elsewhere, in ranks or out, if you hear the command,
'Attention,' ye'll come to the position of the soldier. Now, watch me,
ye thick-pated rookies, and, as I describe it, bit by bit, I'll come to
the position of the soldier."

After lounging for an instant Corporal Shrimp continued:

"Heels on the same line, and as near together as possible. Turn your
feet out equally so that they form an angle of sixty degrees."

Then, straightening up, this irate drillmaster went on:

"Hold your knees straight, but don't have 'em stiff. Keep your body
erect on the hips, but inclined ever so little forward; keep your
shoulders squared, and let 'em fall equally. Let your arms and hands
hang naturally, with the backs of the hands outward and the little
fingers almost touching the seams of your trousers legs. Keep your
elbows near the body. Head erect and square to the front. Draw yer chin
in slightly, but don't hold it as if it was glued there, and keep yer
eyes straight to the front."

Corporal Shrimp illustrated excellently in his own person. But then he
glared at the rookies and shouted, "Attention!"

Of course none of the rookies did it just right.

"Fall out! Overton, ye lobster, come on the carpet before me, and I'll
teach ye or make ye crazy!"

"The--the carpet?" asked Hal, staring dubiously. His head was tired from
the corporal's badgering, or he would have been brighter.

"On that spot!" glared Shrimp, pointing at the grass about six feet in
front of him, and adding an oath that made Hal's face flush. But young
Overton obeyed, nevertheless. Shrimp scolded and hounded, but Hal did
his best to keep his patience and really learn. Then it was Noll's turn.
Terry came in for a worse badgering than ever.

"Ye bandy-legged griddle-greaser!" snarle