rift, which was also in its favor, for,
as everyone knows, if you are told off to guard anything, you mount a
guard quite close to it, and place a sentry, if possible, standing on
top of it. The place picked out by me also had the river circling
round three sides of it in a regular horseshoe bend, which formed a
kind of ditch, or, as the book says, "a natural obstacle." I was
indeed lucky to have such an ideal place close at hand; nothing could
have been more suitable.

I came to the conclusion that, as the enemy were not within a hundred
miles, there would be no need to place the camp in a state of defence
till the following day. Besides, the men were tired after their long
trek, and it would be quite as much as they could do comfortably to
arrange nice and shipshape all the stores and tools, which had been
dumped down anyhow in a heap, pitch the camp, and get their teas
before dark.

Between you and me, I was really relieved to be able to put off my
defensive measures till the morrow, because I was a wee bit puzzled as
to what to do. In fact, the more I thought, the more puzzled I grew.
The only "measures of defence" I could recall for the moment were, how
to tie "a thumb or overhand knot," and how long it takes to cut down
an apple tree of six inches' diameter. Unluckily neither of these
useful facts seemed quite to apply. Now, if they had given me a job
like fighting the battle of Waterloo, or Sedan, or Bull Run, I knew
all about that, as I had crammed it up and been examined in it, too. I
also knew how to take up a position for a division, or even an army
corps, but the stupid little subaltern's game of the defence of a
drift with a small detachment was, curiously enough, most perplexing.
I had never really considered such a thing. However, in the light of
my habitual dealings with army corps, it would, no doubt, be
child's-play after a little thought.

Having issued my immediate orders accordingly, I decided to explore
the neighborhood, but was for a moment puzzled as to which direction I
should take; for, having no horse, I could not possibly get all round
before dark. After a little thought, it flashed across my mind that
obviously I should go to the north. The bulk of the enemy being away
to the north, that, of course, must be the _front_. I knew naturally
that there must be a front, because in all the schemes I had had to
prepare, or the exams I had undergone, there was always a front,
or--"the place where