“A man may have learned to drill without being a soldier,” I remarked quietly.
He said nothing; but I had better have held my tongue.
After the parade, we fell in and proceeded to the orderly-room, where the colonel again inspected us, and asked the usual questions: “Can you read?”
“Yes.”
“Can you write?”
“Yes.” And so on.
“That will do, lad,” said the colonel. “Sergeant-major, that recruit will be posted to F Company.”
The sergeant of that company advanced. “Now, my lad,” said he, “come on.”
I followed him to the room to which I was posted, where he directed an old soldier to look after me and give me all necessary information. My instructor’s name was Higgins. He was a good-natured man, and had seen much service, on the strength of which he indulged in the pleasure of grumbling and finding fault with things in general, rather than with people in particular. After he had showed me the bed which I was to consider my own, and other things, the men came about me, and asked me a number of questions, which I answered frankly; and thus the time passed till one o’clock, when dinner was ready.
The dinner was a very good one, and all the mess things, plates, basins, knives, forks, and spoons, struck me as being very nice and clean. Higgins asked me to sit down; but, as I cast my eye over my rough not over-clean countrified dress, I felt ashamed of myself among so many fine-looking red jackets, forgetting that every man present had once been much in the same state that I then was. All, however, went pleasantly enough till three o’clock, when the recruits fell in for drill, as did the regiment. The drill of the regiment lasted only half an hour, while ours lasted an hour. Our drill-sergeant,