time to
tell you about him.) This practice was valuable to me, helping me with my
squeeze. It was amusing to watch the other men fire (cool and clever, or
nervous and clumsy) and to listen to a little echo close behind our backs
as we waited, like a bunch of firecrackers going off all by itself.

And an incident. Before leaving the ground I gathered up ten shells and
some clips, to practice with at camp. After Recall I went to the end of
the company street, made up my clips, and had nearly finished simulating
the shooting of the second one, when we were called for calisthenics, and
I came running, and put away the gun. When later we fell in for parade,
and were given "Inspection arms!" on my opening my rifle a shell flew
out, right at the feet of the first sergeant, much to my disgust. When
later still I came back and found it, I discovered it to be not an
"empty" but a "blank," which someone this morning must excitedly have
pumped out of his gun unfired, and left lying for me to pick up. Lucky I
didn't fire it in practising at the foot of the street!

But it shows that I am still a greenhorn if I will put away my gun with
anything in it, even though I had supposed it to contain but an empty
shell. I don't intend ever to do such a thing again. There is another
trifling mistake we are liable to, as illustrated today. Halted at
"company front," that is, with the two ranks in long lines, the captain
ordered us to load. At the command the men half turn to the right, but
keep the rifle pointing forward and up; the rear rank men also come close
to the front, so that the muzzles of their guns are in advance of the
front rank men. Standing thus they open the breeches of their guns,
thrust in the clips, shove the bolt handle forward and turn it down--and
then somebody's gun goes off! So you see why the rear rank men have their
guns where no one will be hit, and why the captain stands off at one
side. My, but he read us a lecture this morning! "Who let off that
gun?--Mr. So-and-so, some blunders are crimes. That was one!" And a few
more well chosen words. One hundred and forty-nine of us were glad we
hadn't made that little slip.

After our firing the captain broke the company into two, and took my half
himself. Then he proved to us that in skirmish drill we had forgotten all
we had ever known, briefly expressed his opinion of the corporals, and
splitting us into squads, told the sub-squad-leaders to take command. Now
Reardon,