hat do the fellows mean by firing like that? They might as well pelt
the Turks with potatoes! _I_'ll soon settle them! Here, Vanya (Ivan)!'

"Away he went, I after him; and he burst into the battery like a storm,
and roared out:

"'Where's the blockhead who commands this battery?'

"A young officer stepped forward and saluted; and who should this be but
the light-haired lad with the blue eyes, whom I had noticed that night
at Varna.

"'Well, you wont command it to-morrow, my fine fellow, for I'll have you
turned out this very day. Do you know that not a single shell that
you've thrown since I've been watching you has exploded at all?'

"'With your excellency's leave,' said the young fellow, respectfully,
but pretty firmly too, 'the fault is none of mine. These fuses are
ill-made, and will not burn down to the powder.'

"'Fuses!' roared the general. 'Don't talk to _me_ of fuses; I'm too old
for that rubbish! Isn't it enough for you to bungle your work, but you
must tell me a lie into the bargain?'

"At the word 'lie,' the young officer's face seemed to turn red-hot all
in a moment, and I saw his hand clench as if he would drive his fingers
through the flesh. He made one stride to the heap of bomb-shells, and,
taking one up in his arms, struck a match on it.

"'Now,' said he, quietly, 'your excellency can judge for yourself. I'm
going to light this fuse; if your excellency will please to stand by and
watch it burn, you will see whether I have "lied" or not.'

"The general started, as well he might. Not that he was afraid--you may
be pretty sure of _that_; but to hear this quiet, bashful lad, who
looked as if he had nothing in him, coolly propose to hold a lighted
shell in his arms to see if it would go off, and ask _him_ to stand by
and watch it, was enough to startle anybody. However, he wasn't one to
think twice about accepting a challenge; so he folded his arms and stood
there like a statue. The young officer lighted the fuse, and it began to
burn.

"As for me and the other men, you may fancy what _we_ felt like. Of
course, we couldn't run while our officers were standing their ground;
but we knew that if the shell _did_ go off, it would blow every man of
us to bits, and it wasn't pleasant to have to stand still and wait for
it. I saw the men set their teeth hard as the flame caught the fuse; and
as for me, I wished with all my heart and soul that if there _were_ any
good fuses in the heap, this might turn o