e."

"You picked them up on the battlefield, sir. They are military
equipments which you must turn over to the proper officer. I'll take
charge of them myself."

"You'll do nothin' o' the kind," roared Shorty, striding up to him.
"Give me them glasses."

"I shall do nothing of the kind," said the Aid sternly. "Don't you dare
approach me in that w-ay. Go back to your duties at once. I shall punish
you for disrespect to me and threatening an officer. Fall back, sir, I
tell you."

Shorty made a grab for the glasses, which the Aid tried to evade, but
Shorty fixed his firm clutch upon them. The Aid held on tightly, but
Shorty wrenched them from his grasp.

"You bob-tailed brevet West Pointer," said Shorty savagely, raising his
fist, "I've a notion to break you in two for tryin' to beat me out o'
what's mine. Git out o' here, or I'll--"

"Shorty! Shorty! Stop that!" shouted Si, rushing over to his partner,
and catching his back-drawn fist. He had been suspicious as to the cause
of his partner's noisiness, and ran up as soon as the disturbance began.
"Stop it, I say. Are you crazy?"

Poor little Pete, badly excited as to what was happening to his best
friend, was nervously fumbling his gun and eyeing the Aid.

"Si Klegg, go off and mind your own business, and let me attend to
mine," yelled Shorty, struggling to free himself from his partner's iron
grasp. "Am I goin' to be run over by every pin-feather snipe from West
Point? I'll break him in two."

"Sergeant," commanded the Aid, reaching to take the field-glasses from
Shorty's hand; "buck and gag that man at once. Knock him down if he
resists. Knock him down, I say."

"You tend to your own business and I'll tend to mine. Go away from here,
and don't say anything to make him madder, you wasp-waisted errand boy,"
said Si savagely, as he thrust himself in between the Aid and Shorty.
"I've got enough to do to take care of him. Go off, if you don't want
him to mash you."

Little Pete had an idea. He wriggled in between, snatched the glasses,
and made off with them.

The Brigade Provost-Marshal rode up and sternly demanded what the
disturbance was about. Shorty began a hot harrangue against young staff
officers generally, and this particular offender, but Si got his arm
across his mouth and muffled his speech. The Provost listened to the
Aid's bitter indictment against both Si and Shorty.

"Put both those men under arrest," he said to the Orderly-Sergeant,
"and mak