f saddle, holding his own
splendidly disciplined mount by the bridle while he bent over
his class-mate.

Dodge lay on the tan-bark, his uniform awry and dirty, and his face
blanched with fear of the horse.

"Are you much hurt, Dodge?" asked Dick.

"No, confound you!" muttered Bert under his breath.

As if to prove his lack of injury, he sat up, then rose to his feet.

"Mount, Mr. Prescott, and join the line," noting all with quick
eyes. "Mr. Dodge, recapture your horse, mount and fall in."

That was the discipline of the tan-bark. If a cadet falls from
a horse and has no bones broken, or no other desperate injury,
he must wait until his horse comes around, catch it and mount
again. If the horse be excited and fractious, all the more reason
why the cadet should capture the beast and mount instantly. A
horse must always be taught that a cavalryman is his master.

The riderless brute had fallen in at the tail of the line now,
behind Cadet Corporal Haslins, and was going along peaceably
enough---until Bert Dodge made a lunge for the bridle. Then the
beast shied, and got past.

"Run after your horse, Mr. Dodge; catch him and mount him," called
Captain Hall, fuming that this episode should steal away drill
time from the other more capable young horsemen.

"Mr. Dodge," rapped out the cavalry instructor sharply, after
Bert had made two more efforts to get hold of the bridle, "are
you waiting for a groom to bring your horse to you?"

At this some of the pent-up merriment broke loose. Half a dozen
yearlings chuckled aloud.

"Silence in ranks!" ordered the instructor sharply. Then, patiently,
though with more that a tinge of rebuke in his tone, the captain
added:

"Mr. Dodge, you've taken all the time we can spare you, sir.
Catch that horse instantly and mount!"

By sheer good luck Bert managed to obey. But his nerve was gone
for the afternoon. He made a sad bungle of all the work, though
he was not again unhorsed.

There was bareback riding, and riding by pairs, in which latter
feat one man of each pair passed his bridle to the comrade beside
him, then rode with folded arms. Then came riding by threes,
with the center man holding the bridles from either side, while
each of the outer men rode with folded arms. Then, cautiously,
the men were taught to stand on the bare backs of their horses
and to move at a walk. By and by they would be required to ride,
standing, at a gallop.

All through this dri