and here I am installed in a very minor
office.

I am out of the front rank now, but the parades, which it is interesting
to watch, are all over, and I shall get acquainted with still another set
of our neighbors. On the hike I shall still march on the outside of the
column, which gives some freedom of action, and as Knudsen contends,
better air. Reardon is very nice about the change; the boys all recognize
it as coming from my bluff at giving orders. Yet Reardon showed, as I
drill beside him today, that he knows more of the business than I do.

Bannister shook his fist at me. "Consarn ye," (he imitates the farmer to
perfection) "yer shan't git my job!"

"Coming strong!" I answered.

Knudsen, with the energy and tact which characterize him, has reorganized
the squad on the basis of this change of mine, moving the men about so
that he has David as his rear rank man, which means that they sleep in
the same tent on the hike, and that Knudsen still has the boy in charge.
Of course Bannister agreed to it all. He and I shall tent together.

Corder feels that he has had a narrow escape. The captain sent for him
and offered him the position of equipment sergeant, or some such title,
which means some minor responsibility and a seat on one of the baggage
trucks. Corder, in a panic, begged permission to stay with the squad and
carry his gun; and the captain, saying how disgusted the bugler was with
his new job, and that two disappointed men in the company were more than
he could stand, let him off. Corder, after telling us the tale, got out
his mirror and studied himself. "It's all this confounded beard of mine,"
he complained. "I'm only forty-five, and my hair is still black, but the
thing has turned gray and makes me seem old. It's sickening to have the
fellows so thoughtful of me. Godwin, if ever you get respectful, I'll
slay you."

The shooting records are posted, and to our great satisfaction our
company stands best. That doesn't mean that we have the highest
individual score, or even the greatest number of expert riflemen. But it
does mean that we have both the most men in all three qualified grades
and the highest average score per man. Practically that means that of all
the six companies we should be deadliest against an infantry attack, also
that as a consequence we should ourselves be safest. As Pickle says, "The
captain has done one good job."

The forehanded among us (and yet after all we are at it pretty late)