Slap! followed his linen.
Smash! went a small hand mirror, flung across the room so that it struck the wall and landed on the floor in atoms.
“May I ask a question, sir?” queried Hal, turning to the officer in charge.
“Silence!”
“I beg your pardon,” went on Hal, imperturbably. “All I wanted to ask was whether my property is to be ruthlessly destroyed before a charge has been even made against me?”
“Silence!”
“If I had committed any breach of decorum in asking,” pursued Hal, calmly, “please consider that I didn’t ask.”
“Silence!”
Thump! The butt of a soldier’s musket landed forcibly in Hal’s stomach.
“Ouch!” grunted the boy.