"Let me help you on with your sword," interrupted Prescott dryly.
"You"re getting it tangled up between your legs."
"I"m excited, that"s why," returned Ferrers. "It all comes of having a colonel who understands nothing of the social life. There; now I"m ready, and I must get away on the bounce."
"I"ll walk along with you and explain the nature of your offense of to-day, if you don"t mind," proposed Prescott.
Algy Ferrers reported at Colonel North"s office and soon came out.
"Now I"m off," cried Ferrers gayly, as he came out again.
"I don"t believe you"ve ever been anything else but "off,"" murmured Prescott, as he stood in front of headquarters and watched Algy, who was actually walking briskly.
As Lieutenant Prescott stood there Colonel North came out. The younger officer wheeled, saluting respectfully.
"Mr. Prescott, if you"ve nothing important on this evening, will you drop down to the guard house for a little while? You may be able to prevent Mr. Ferrers from doing something that will compel me to resort to almost as strong measures as I would adopt with a really responsible being."
"Yes, sir; I"ll pay Mr. Ferrers a visit soon after dinner."
"Of course, the young man has to break in at guard duty some time,"
continued the regiment"s commander. "But I am very glad to know that young Overton is sergeant of the guard to-night. He will prevent anyone from stealing the guard house!"
"I rather think Sergeant Overton would, sir. He"s pretty young, but he"s an all-around soldier."
"I wish," muttered the colonel, as he turned to stride toward his own quarters, "that Overton were the lieutenant and Mr. Ferrers the sergeant. Then I could reduce Ferrers and get the surgeon to order him into hospital!"
CHAPTER IX
PRIVATE HINKEY DELIVERS HIS ANSWER
THANKS to a most capable sergeant of the guard, Lieutenant Algy got through his balance of the tour of guard duty without setting the post on fire.
There was no rest, however, for the irresponsible young lieutenant.
For three successive mornings Ferrers had to grub hard at drill, with Lieutenant Prescott standing by to coach him.
Then, on the fourth morning, Lieutenant Algy was ordered out to take A Company on a twenty-mile hike over rough country.
"Sergeant Reed knows the whole route and will be a most capable guide, Mr. Ferrers," explained Captain Ruggles. "We shall look for you to be back by five o"clock this afternoon. Don"t use your men too hard. Now, I"ll stand by to see you start the company."
With a brave determination to show how worthy he was of trust, Lieutenant Algy stepped briskly over to A Company, which rested in ranks in platoon front. Drawing his sword, he commanded:
"Attention!"
Thereupon he put the company through half a dozen movements of the manual of arms, next marching the company away in column of fours. The regulars, of course, responded like clockwork. They made a fine appearance as they started off under their freakish second lieutenant.
Ere they had gone far Ferrers swung them into column of twos at the route step.
"He"s doing that almost well," muttered Captain Ruggles under his breath. "I believe the young cub is trying to be a soldier, after all."
It still lacked much of two in the afternoon when Captain Ruggles, leaving his quarters, saw his company marching back.
"Gracious! How did the youngster ever get the men over the ground in this time?" wondered Captain Ruggles, glancing at his watch. "And he hasn"t used the company up, either. The men move as actively as though they had just come from bed and a bath."
Captain Ruggles walked rapidly over toward barracks. Lieutenant Ferrers threw his company into column of platoons, faced them about and brought the men to a halt. Then he wheeled about, saluting Captain Ruggles.
"Any further orders, sir?" inquired Algy.
"No, Lieutenant. Dismiss the company."
As soon as the men had started barrackwards, Captain Ruggles asked the lieutenant:
"How did you manage it, Ferrers, to bring the men back in such fine condition and so early in the day?"
"Just a matter of good judgment, Captain," beamed Algy.
"What do you mean?"
"I changed the orders a bit, sir, to meet the conditions that I discovered."
"Conditions?"
"Yes, Captain. The day proved to be extremely warm. I marched the men for about six miles; it may have been nearer seven. Curiously enough, Sergeant Reed and I disagreed on that point. He said we had gone about a mile and a half."
"Well? What next?"
"Why, sir, I found it so warm that I couldn"t march with any comfort at all. Now, I don"t believe an officer should expect his men to go where he isn"t willing to go himself, and as for myself I didn"t want to go any further. So I halted the company and----"
"And----"
"Why, Captain," smiled Lieutenant Ferrers, "I just let the men enjoy themselves under the trees until it was time to have their dinner on the field rations they"d taken along."
"And then?"
"Why, then, sir, I marched them back here. I"ll take them out again some day when the weather is cooler, and----"
Captain Ruggles acted a good deal like a man who is about to lose his temper.
"Mr. Ferrers," came his rasping order, "go to your rooms! Remain there until you hear from Colonel North, Major Silsbee or myself."
"Why, what on earth have I done now?" gasped the astonished young man.
"Go to your rooms, sir!"
"Now, what ails good old Ruggles? Isn"t the Army the queerest old place on the map of the moon?"