e under
your arm like a dandy's cane. Did ever an unhappy soldier find himself
called upon to make order among so motley a crew! Even my good friend
the Fleming cannot so avail here, nor does Petrinus, in his "De re
militari," lay down any injunctions as to the method of drilling a man
who is armed with a sickle or a scythe.'

'Shoulder scythe, port scythe, present scythe--mow!' whispered Reuben to
Sir Gervas, and the pair began to laugh, heedless of the angry frowns of
Saxon.

'Let us divide them,' he said, 'into three companies of eighty men. Or
stay--how many musketeers have we in all? Five-and-fifty. Let them stand
forward, and form the first line or company. Sir Gervas Jerome, you have
officered the militia of your county, and have doubtless some knowledge
of the manual exercise. If I am commandant of this force I hand over the
captaincy of this company to you. It shall be the first line in battle,
a position which I know you will not be averse to.'

'Gad, they'll have to powder their heads,' said Sir Gervas, with
decision.

'You shall have the entire ordering of them,' Saxon answered. 'Let the
first company take six paces to the front--so! Now let the pikemen stand
out. Eighty-seven, a serviceable company! Lockarby, do you take these
men in hand, and never forget that the German wars have proved that the
best of horse has no more chance against steady pikemen than the waves
against a crag. Take the captaincy of the second company, and ride at
their head.'

'Faith! If they don't fight better than their captain rides,' whispered
Reuben, 'it will be an evil business. I trust they will be firmer in the
field than I am in the saddle.'

'The third company of scythesmen I commit to your charge, Captain Micah
Clarke,' continued Saxon. 'Good Master Joshua Pettigrue will be our
field-chaplain. Shall not his voice and his presence be to us as
manna in the wilderness, and as springs of water in dry places? The
under-officers I see that you have yourselves chosen, and your captains
shall have power to add to the number from those who smite boldly and
spare not. Now one thing I have to say to you, and I speak it that all
may hear, and that none may hereafter complain that the rules he serves
under were not made clear to him. For I tell you now that when the
evening bugle calls, and the helm and pike are laid aside, I am as you
and you as I, fellow-workers in the same field, and drinkers from the
same wells of life. Lo,