e back a book came flying through the air the whole
length of the class straight at the skull of Long K. And as he turned
angrily toward the aggressor, from the other side he received another
book on his head, and now there broke out a general howling: 'Knock him
down! Knock him down!' The whole class sprang up over tables and benches
and there was a rush for Long K, whose hide was now so thoroughly tanned
that it fairly smoked."

The old colonel, pleased, smiled grimly to himself and contemplated his
hand as it still lay with fist doubled on the table.

"I helped," said he, "and with hearty good-will--I can tell you."

It was as if his hand had forgotten that it had grown fifty years older;
as the fingers closed convulsively one could see that it was in spirit
once again pummeling Long K.

"But as people must belong once and forever to their own kind,"
he continued his narrative, "so this Long K had to be naturally a
revengeful, spiteful, malicious, _canaille_. He would much rather have
gone to the captain and resentfully told him everything, but in our
presence he did not dare; for that he was too cowardly.

"But that he had received a thrashing before the whole class, and that
Little L was to blame for it, for that he did not forgive Little L.

"One afternoon, then, as recreation hour came round again, the cadets
went walking in the courts; the two brothers, as usual, by themselves;
Long K linked arm in arm with two others.

"To get from the Karreehof to the other court where the trees were, one
had to pass under one of the wings of the main building, and it was
a rule that the cadets must not pass through arm in arm, so as not to
obstruct the passageway.

"On this particular afternoon, as ill-luck would have it, Long K, as he
was about to pass through with his two chums from the Karreehof to the
other court, met the two brothers at the corridor, and they, deep in
their thoughts, had forgotten to let go of one another.

"Long K, although the affair was no concern of his, when he saw this
stood still, opened his eyes wide and his mouth still wider, and called
out to the two: 'What does this mean,' said he, 'that you go through
here arm in arm? Do you intend to block the way for honest people, you
set of thieves?'"

Here the colonel interrupted himself.

"That is now fifty years ago," said he, "and more--but I remember it as
if it had happened yesterday.

"I was just going with two others from the Karreeh