Conscious that they were not cutting much of a figure, Hal and Noll followed the pair ahead of them.
Shrimp led them to a bit of green some distance away from any of the larger drill grounds.
"Squad halt!" he rumbled. "Now, rookies, you"ll fall in in single rank, facing the front and about four inches apart. No, no, ye idiots!" as the four rookies started confusedly to obey. "You"ll wait until I give the order "fall in." When I do, Overton, being the tallest, will take his place at the right, Terry next him, then Strawbridge, and then Healy.
Now, rookies, d"ye think ye understand? And you"ll take your places about four inches apart--just enough distance to allow each man the free use of his body. Fall in!"
So confused were the poor rookies under the scowling glances of Shrimp that, in their haste to obey, they nearly upset each other.
"Ye"re a bad lot," commented the corporal, eyeing them with extreme disfavor. "You don"t even know how to judge the interval between each man. Now, let every man except the man at the left rest his left hand on his hip, just below where his belt would be if he wore one. Let the right arm hang flat at the side. Now, each man move up so that his right arm just touches his neighbor"s left elbow. Careful, there! Don"t crowd.
Now, let your left arms fall flat. There, you ostriches, you have the interval from man to man as well as rookies can get it inside of a week.
Now, each one of you note his interval from the man at his right. So.
Fall out!"
Without moving the rookies stood looking uncertainly at Corporal Shrimp.
"Fall out, I say!" roared the corporal.
"Do we go back to the squad room?" asked one of the rookies.
"Listen to the man, now!" growled Shrimp. "Do you go back to the squad room! You"ll be lucky if ye ever live to see the squad room again. Fall out--fall out of ranks, ye idiots!"
"Oh," answered the same rookie. "Why didn"t you say so?"
"Why didn"t I say so?" roared Shrimp. "Why didn"t I say so, indeed!
Ye"ll take the order the way I give it--not the way ye want it. When I tell ye to fall in, that means to get into line, with the proper interval from man to man. When I say fall out, ye"re to get out of ranks again. Now, then--fall in!"
In a twinkling the recruits jumped to obey. Shrimp surveyed their alignment with a scowl. Nothing that a recruit could do would satisfy him.
"Left hand on the hips, again. Now, get the interval--get it!" roared Shrimp. "Dress up there, ye rookie idiots!"
Shrimp would have made an excellent drillmaster had he possessed the patience and the human decency of Sergeant Brimmer. But this corporal made his work doubly hard, and hindered the rookies from learning, by his persistent nagging and bad temper.
"Now, we"ll see whether ye can do as well at learning the position of the soldier," he snapped out nastily, after a while. "Whenever, in barracks, or elsewhere, in ranks or out, if you hear the command, "Attention," ye"ll come to the position of the soldier. Now, watch me, ye thick-pated rookies, and, as I describe it, bit by bit, I"ll come to the position of the soldier."
After lounging for an instant Corporal Shrimp continued:
"Heels on the same line, and as near together as possible. Turn your feet out equally so that they form an angle of sixty degrees."
Then, straightening up, this irate drillmaster went on:
"Hold your knees straight, but don"t have "em stiff. Keep your body erect on the hips, but inclined ever so little forward; keep your shoulders squared, and let "em fall equally. Let your arms and hands hang naturally, with the backs of the hands outward and the little fingers almost touching the seams of your trousers legs. Keep your elbows near the body. Head erect and square to the front. Draw yer chin in slightly, but don"t hold it as if it was glued there, and keep yer eyes straight to the front."
Corporal Shrimp ill.u.s.trated excellently in his own person. But then he glared at the rookies and shouted, "Attention!"
Of course none of the rookies did it just right.
"Fall out! Overton, ye lobster, come on the carpet before me, and I"ll teach ye or make ye crazy!"
"The--the carpet?" asked Hal, staring dubiously. His head was tired from the corporal"s badgering, or he would have been brighter.
"On that spot!" glared Shrimp, pointing at the gra.s.s about six feet in front of him, and adding an oath that made Hal"s face flush. But young Overton obeyed, nevertheless. Shrimp scolded and hounded, but Hal did his best to keep his patience and really learn. Then it was Noll"s turn.
Terry came in for a worse badgering than ever.
"Ye bandy-legged griddle-greaser!" snarled Shrimp, beside himself. "Is that what ye call letting yer arms hang naturally. Where did ye get yer ideas of nature, anyway, ye spindle-shanked carpenter"s apprentice?"
Sergeant Brimmer had stepped within view, though behind the corporal"s back, and stood looking quietly on.
"Ye wart on an Army buzzard!" howled Shrimp. "Ye----"
"That will do, Corporal," broke in Sergeant Brimmer quietly. "You"re relieved, Corporal. I have time to take over the squad myself. You may go to the squad room."
Shrimp turned with a glare, but with the snarl somehow dying on his lips. He gasped with anger and humiliation, then turned about and stalked away toward barracks.
During the next hour things went along very differently. Sergeant Brimmer was an alert drillmaster, and he permitted no lagging or indifference on the part of the recruits. Neither did he hesitate to single out any rookie who did a thing improperly. But the sergeant"s method of drilling was wholly manly. He was patient, even if firm, and he called no rookie uncomplimentary names.
"Fall out," ordered the sergeant presently. "Sit down if you want to, men, or walk about. And I"ll answer any questions that you may want to ask me out of ranks."
"What a difference between non-coms," uttered Hal to Noll, as the two chums stepped away a few yards. "Sergeant Brimmer is a man, first of all. I"d cheerfully drill under him until I dropped."
"Non-com" is the abbreviation used in the Army for non-commissioned officer--a corporal or sergeant.
"I hope we don"t have to have much to do with Shrimp," muttered Noll Terry. "And I hope we don"t find many Shrimps in the Army."
"Fall in!" sounded Sergeant Brimmer"s voice, at last. How the young rookies sprang to obey, their eyes shining with interest!
Sergeant Brimmer now began to explain the "rests." Next he came to the salute. For some minutes he drilled them in the first principles of marching. But brief rests were frequent, and during these rests he answered all questions put to him.
"Fall in!" he shouted once more. The rookies fell in as eagerly as before. "Squad, attention!"
At that instant a far-off bugle sounded.
"That closes this period of instruction," announced the sergeant.
"Dismissed!"
As the four broke out of ranks Hal approached their instructor respectfully.
"Sergeant, "dismissed" means that we"re through, doesn"t it?"
"Yes, Overton. And this squad is dismissed until supper time. You can return to squad room, or you may remain about out-doors, if you"d rather. Don"t go far away from barracks, though."
"Thank you," Hal replied, and turned away with Noll.
CHAPTER VI
THE TROUBLE WITH CORPORAL SHRIMP