o nobody else, but when
the Orderly speaks, you jump, and the quicker you jump the better it'll
be for you. He don't draw as much salary, nor put on as many frills as
the bigger fellers, but you hain't nothin' to do with that. You kin find
fault with the Captain, criticize the Kurnel, and lampoon the General,
but you don't want to give the Orderly no slack. He's not to be fooled
with. Russell, run up there and snatch that spade to dig ditches around
these tents."

"When I enlisted," Monty confided to Alf Russell, "I thought I'd do my
best to become a Captain or a General. Now, I'm dead anxious to be an
Orderly-Sarjint."

CHAPTER V. THE YOUNG RECRUITS

ARE GIVEN AN INITIATION INTO ARMY LIFE.

BY the time Shorty had gotten the boys fairly tented, he was ordered to
take a squad and guard some stores at the Division Quartermaster's. Si,
instead of going on camp-guard, had to go out to the grand guard. When
he came back the next morning the Orderly-Sergeant said to him:

"See here, Si, you've got to take that squad of kids you brung into your
particular charge, and lick 'em into shape. They need an awful sight
of it, and I hain't got any time to give 'em. I've something else to do
besides teaching an infant class. I never was good at bringing children
up by hand, anyway. I ain't built that way. I want you to go for them
young roosters at once, and get 'em into shape in short meter. Marching
orders may come any day, and then we want everybody up and dressed.
There'll be no time for foolishness. Those dratted little rats were all
over camp last night, and into more kinds of devilment than so many pet
crows. I've been hearing about nothing else this morning."

"Why," said Si, "I supposed that they was too tired to do anything but
lay down and go to sleep. What'd they do?"

"Better ask what they didn't do," replied the Orderly. "They done
everything that a passel o' impish school boys could think of, and what
they couldn't think of them smart Alecks down in the company put 'em up
to. I'm going to put some o' them smarties through a course o' sprouts.
I like to see boys in good spirits, and I can enjoy a joke with the next
man, but there's such a thing as being too funny. I think a few hours o'
extry fatigue duty will reduce their fever for fun."

"Why, what'd they do?" repeated Si.

"Well, in the first place, they got that Joslyn and Mackall to mark a
big number 79 on their tents, and then put the same, with their