The instruction of new cadets is under an officer of the Tactical Department. In his work he has both officer and cadet assistants.
In order that the cadets themselves might have experience in breaking in new men, cadets of the First (or senior) class are detailed as assistant instructors. They drill the new cadets in the school of the soldier and of the squad. They give him individual instruction in the care of his room, his correspondence, and in the use and care of his equipment and his personal hygiene. It is highly desirable that the new cadet should feel the influence of the older cadet. I shall never forget my first impressions of my cadet instructors. I thought that I had never seen such immaculate human beings in my life. With their straight backs, their lean faces, piercing eyes that stared coldly almost contemptuously at me, I was sure that they were all English generals imported direct from the Boer War. I didn’t know that white duck trousers could be so white, nor brass buckles so shiny. I was then sure that I had an incapacity for military life, that I would never attain such a degree of excellence, and I inwardly withered before their glory.
Meanwhile, Mr. Ducrot and his fellow candidates, having found their rooms in barracks, are approaching the Guardhouse at a dead run upon the insistence of a cadet corporal. Once again they stand in front of their instructors who glare at them like Men of Wrath.
“Fall in,” commands the fiercest looking one.
A shuffling of feet, indefinite movements as if to do something, a few emphatic remarks by a corporal, and a semblance of a line is formed. Two Messrs. Ducrot ignore the suggestion of the Wrathful One, until a fresh-faced lieutenant almost pulls them into line.
The squad is now herded over to the Cadet Store to have issued the initial uniform, consisting of a gray shirt, campaign hat, cap, and gray flannel trousers.
In less than half an hour a complete metamorphosis takes place. The heterogeneous crowd of candidates that entered the store has lost the appearance of a bargain counter on sale day. By no means, however, have they gained a military aspect: all that can be said is that they are harmoniously clothed. It takes time to learn to wear a uniform properly, and nothing is funnier than a new cadet in his first outfit. These garments have been made up in stock sizes so that an issue can be made at once. The fit is fairly good, except the blouses. A plebe, however, soon appreciates a loose blouse. When the cadet instructors command:
“Mr. Dumbguard, get those shoulders back. More yet! More yet!” a number of wrinkles appear in the back of the blouse. The looser therefore it is, the less effort is necessary to produce many wrinkles, and therefore, the task of appeasing the Man of Wrath easier.