e men nothing would fit. The tallest of all found
the sleeves reaching just below his elbows, and when he tried the next
size, the coat hung in folds across his chest. Others had square heads
on which the round helmets rocked about, until they were jammed on by
two or three good blows of the fist. One sturdy, thick-set, big-bellied
fellow it seemed impossible to suit; everything was far too tight for
him.

"What have you been hitherto?" asked one of the non-commissioned
officers.

"A brewer," answered the fat man.

"Did you drink all your beer yourself, then, eh?" inquired the other;
and the man who gave out the clothing flung over a fresh suit, saying,
threateningly: "Well, if that doesn't fit, by God! you shall drill in
your drawers!"

He made the trousers meet with difficulty, and the coat was abominably
tight; but the corporal gave him a dig in the stomach and said: "Cheer
up, fatty! that'll soon go. They'll get rid of your paunch here in no
time!"

When Vogt left the kit-room with his regimentals on his arm the
erstwhile perfect order of the shelves, and of the symmetrically-folded
piles of clothing, had been transformed into a scene of the wildest
confusion. "A pity so much labour should be wasted," he thought.

And in what a wretched state were the clothes he had now to wear! The
green cloth of the coat was so shabby that in parts it was positively
threadbare; dark patches had been put in near the arm-holes, and the
once red facings were quite faded. He examined them dejectedly and
shook his head; he had expected something very different, and certainly
he would not cut much of a figure in this get-up. He pulled a stool up
to his locker, and began to take his things off. Weise sat down near
him, already a full-blown soldier. The smart young fellow could adapt
himself to anything, and had known at once how to give just the right
saucy tilt to his forage-cap.

"Fine, eh?" he said, laughing, as he struck an attitude and gave his
moustache an upward twirl.

But now once more the little corporal's penetrating voice recalled
the recruits from their short breathing-space; those who were ready
dressed must go down into the yard again, and then began another
putting-to-rights all round. The presiding non-commissioned officers
were in despair, for one of the men had one leg shorter than the other,
another had crooked shoulders, and a third drew forth the exclamation:
"Why, the fellow is humpbacked!"

The corpor