early afternoon, the typhoid candidates, more than
half the company, were gathered up and taken away to be punctured. The
small remainder of us were taken to the drill field and were delivered to
the sergeants, apparently that they might show their mettle in the
presence of the officers. Now you know that every calling has its tests
of a man; in this soldier business the first lies in the ability to stand
up and give your orders with such confidence in yourself that your men
shall feel confidence in you. There were two of the sergeants that I
noticed for their difference in this respect. The one was sunburned,
tall, and lean; his brows jutted, his eyes under them were steady and
sharp, his shoulders were square, and he had a very firm pair of
bow-legs, which in some men is not displeasing. He knew his job; his
voice rolled like the deep notes of an organ; we knew what he meant for
us to do, and we did it. The other man was narrow and chicken-breasted,
his long legs weak, his smile a smirk, his pronunciation so affected that
we disgraced him because we blundered from pure lack of comprehension.
Why is it that men's outsides so often correspond to their innards? And
how did the latter of these two get his job? I suppose he has done some
service to warrant his sergeant's stripes.

Corder and I went to the lake to swim. He interests me by the careful
study of his condition; is afraid that some sign of old age will develop
to send him away, and is almost boyishly pleased to find himself able to
do all the work. "And I hope," said he, "that I shall learn to stand
straighter. One feels a certain pride when in uniform, and I try to fill
mine out, if only to escape hearing some youngster say, 'Gee, get onto
that hollow-chested professor chap as a rookie!' But it's hard to keep
straight." The prime of life, he said to me again, isn't so very prime.

When we came back the street was full of invalids. Army serum must work
quick, for half the arms of the inoculees were lame, and when I
thoughtlessly touched Pickle on the shoulder he howled. "The guy that
counted out my half billion bugs," said he, "must have thrown in an extra
hundred thousand for good measure. And they're all working overtime." At
Retreat there was some difficulty in coaxing arms into blouses, and a
number of men asked to be excused from evening duties for the sole
purpose of lying upon their couches and staring at the canvas.

The rest of us marched to our first