into his mouth
and sucked off the wine drops that sparkled on the hair. Recollection of
the "cross lieutenant" made him plainly furious.

"When one considers what sort of meanness it takes to so deprive a poor
little fellow of the Sunday holiday he has been hugging for a whole
week, and all for a trifle--bah! it's downright--whenever I have seen
any one annoying my men--in later days that sort of thing didn't happen
in my regiment; they knew this, that I was there and would not tolerate
it.--To be rough at times, ay, even to the extreme if necessary, to
throw one into the guard-house, that does no harm--: but to nag--for
that it takes a mean skunk!"

"Very true!" observed the waiter from the back part of the room, and
thus made it known that he was following the colonel's story.

The old man calmed himself and went on with his story.

"Things went on this way for a year, and then came the time for
examinations, always a very special occasion.

"The Primaners took their ensign's examination, and the Selektaners,
who, as I have said, Were called 'Onions,' the officer's examination,
and as fast as any had passed the examination, they were dismissed
from the cadet corps and sent home, and it came about that the second
classmen, or Sekundaner, who were to be promoted to first class, still
remained Sekundaner for a time.

"Well, this state of affairs lasted until the new Sekundaner entered
from the preparatory school and the newly dubbed 'Onions' returned, and
then once more the wheelbarrow trudged along its accustomed way. But in
the meantime a kind of disorder prevailed, more especially just after
the last of the Primaners had left--they were examined in sections, you
know, and then despatched, after which everything went pretty much at
sixes and sevens.

"There was now in the dormitory where the two brothers lived a certain
Primaner, a 'swell,' as he was called by the cadets, and because he had
made up his mind, as soon as he should pass the examination and breathe
the fresh air again, to conduct himself like a fine gentleman, he had
had made for himself, instead of a sword-belt like those the cadets
procured from the institution and wore, a special patent-leather belt of
his own, thinner and apparently finer than the ordinary regulation belt.
He was able to afford this much, you see, for he had money sent to him
from home. He had displayed this belt about everywhere, for he was
inordinately proud of it, and the ot