tenance of your officers.
Do your duty as a soldier, as you have always done, and do not allow
yourself to entertain fears of any kind."

"Thank you, sir. I shall do as you direct."

"I know it, Sergeant Overton. I have confidence in you. Now, I am going
to step down to your new squad room with you."

If Hal Overton quaked just a bit as he rested his right hand on the door
of the room in which he was henceforth to rule, nothing in his bearing
betrayed the fact.

He threw open the door for Captain Cortland to pass in ahead of him, at
the same time calling clearly:

"Squad room, attention!"

Captain Cortland strode in among his men, who, halting where they were,
faced toward him and stood at attention.

"Men," called Captain Cortland, "this is your new sergeant. He will be
obeyed and respected accordingly."

Then Captain Cortland turned and left the room.

Corporal Hyman, who belonged in this room, came forward at once, holding
out his hand.

"Aren't you the lucky one, Sergeant!" cried Hyman. "But I'm glad you got
the step up. You've won it. Well, we're all here. Fall to and reorganize
us, Sergeant."

"There will have to be very little of that, I imagine, Corporal Hyman,"
replied the boyish young sergeant, smiling. "The room has been running
all right, hasn't it?"

"So-so," laughed Corporal Hyman. "But I believe that some of these buck
doughboys need a bit of jacking up."

Corporal Hyman turned, with a grinning face, toward the men. But none of
them were looking that way at the moment. Every other man in the room
appeared interested in some other subject than the new sergeant.

"Go for 'em," muttered Hyman grimly under his breath. "It's a shame for
you to have to stand for this sort of thing, kid! Pound 'em into shape.
Make 'em stand around for you."

"I will, in matters of discipline and routine, whenever necessary,"
Sergeant Hal answered, in an equally low voice. "But if the men don't
care for me personally that's another matter. I'll never persecute any
soldier just because he doesn't like me."

"It's all that cursed misunderstanding over 'Long Green,'" muttered
Corporal Hyman. "Of course you can't very well make a yell about it, but
I see several fights on my hands from right now on, until I've gotten
these buck doughboys licked into a proper appreciation of the new boss
of their squad room."

"Don't have any fights on my account, Hyman," urged Sergeant Hal.

"Well, I won't, then," came the dry