The boys walked with a springing step, that showed no signs of fatigue, even as they rounded the reviewing stand, and reached the goal of their long march.
Among the many well-drilled companies of boy soldiers, marched one of artillery.
This was perhaps the prettiest feature of the whole parade, for everything was in miniature to match the size of the small artillerymen.
The field-piece which this company boasted was a tiny affair, drawn by two small ponies, and it had its two baby gunners to serve it.
These gunners were very military babies. They sat bolt upright, their arms crossed on their fat little chests in true soldier fashion, and no jolting of the gun-carriage could make those little backs bend, nor those small arms unfold.
There was also a company of naval cadets. These lads marched finely, with their cutlasses drawn, and held across their breasts. So steadily did they grasp their weapons, that it was hard to believe that they were held in place by nothing stronger than the will of these young heroes.
In every company that marched past, the lads showed a pride and steadiness that made one think that this boy soldiering was going to be of the greatest service to them later in life.
Boys are not, as a rule, noted for their neatness, and there are hosts of fine lads who find it hard to remember that clean hands and collars are among the necessary things of life.
Knowing this so well, it was all the more remarkable that, in all the long line of parading cadets, there was not so much as a rebellious lock of hair visible.
Each boy's buttons were in a straight line with those of the next boy, each shoulder-strap set at the same angle as its fellows, each gun was as well polished as its neighbor, and the spick and span appearance the line presented, after its long fatiguing march, spoke volumes in favor of military training.