wildly, hitting, biting, and scratching; he felt that
he was fighting for his life, but Heimert was a match for him.

Others soon came, too,--non-commissioned officers and men. They dragged
the raving soldier to the ground and bound him.

Wolf stood motionless, and let them tie his arms behind his back. His
head was in a whirl, and it all seemed a confused dream.

It really was quite ludicrous that his first dream, of happy release
from the service, should have such a horrible sequel. This was
certainly a nightmare.

He shook his head and tugged at the cords which bound his hands, trying
to awake from the hideous delusion. The cords pressed deeper into the
flesh, and the pain brought him back to reality.

He gazed round, not trusting his eyes.

This was indeed the old dormitory in which he had slept these two
years. A lot of people were standing together and speaking with excited
gestures. The air was thick with dust, as if from a fight; and just by
the press, near a bundle of clothing, lay a man, his arms tied behind
his back, his face deadly pale, and his chest heaving. It was
Findeisen. And four soldiers were lifting another--Sergeant Keyser--who
lay stretched out by the wall near the window. The sergeant's face was
quite white, and his limbs hung limply down from his body.

"He's done for!" said the voice of Sergeant-major Heppner. "Carry him
to his room and lay him on his bed."

And four soldiers carried the dead man past Wolf out through the door.

The sergeant-major sent away the other loitering gunners, and only the
non-commissioned officers remained in the room with the two bound men.

Heppner stepped up to Wolf and looked him over from head to foot.

"Your fine civilian clothes, my lad," he said, "will have to lie a bit
longer in the chest."

He picked out Wolf's things from the bundles scattered about the room,
and threw them over the reservist's shoulders.

"There," he said mockingly, "that will suit your complexion better. And
what'll suit you best of all is a convict's grey suit. In the meantime,
just get yourself up as a gunner again, my son."

He ordered two of the non-commissioned officers to put Wolf and
Findeisen under arrest.

"Look out!" he warned the corporals. "These two scoundrels are capable
of anything. And if they utter a word, then you know why you've got
swords dangling at your sides!"

The two prisoners were led across the yard to the guard-house. The
reservists were jus