We continued to take our meals in the Mess Hall, and we marched to and fro as usual, but as the distance was a half mile or more we were now cheered en route (notwithstanding the plebes still carried palms to the front) by the inspiring music of fifes and drums; and we now sat at tables with the old cadets, and had the pleasure of pouring water for them before helping ourselves, no matter how thirsty we might be, but such is the life of a plebe, and it is a necessary part of his training. The first day in camp we were initiated in police duty; the other classmen turned out with us, and, as usual, they did the talking and we did the work. The detail from each company had a wheelbarrow, a shovel, and a broom. The grounds, to us plebes, seemed clean when we began, but we got half a wheelbarrow load of dirt all the same, which we dumped into “police hollow,”[21] near camp and just west of Fort Clinton. We gathered up burnt matches, cigar stumps, tobacco quids, bits of paper, etc. Whenever there was a sign of rain we turned out and loosened tent cords, and after a rain we turned out and tightened them—always by command, of course. We dreaded the nights in camp, but we were not yanked often, unless we got too fresh or rapid, and then, of course, we had to be taken down.[22] The parade ground was changed during camp from the grassy plain in front of Professor’s Row to the space between the guard tents and the west line of company tents. In fair weather the battalion stacked arms on the camp parade ground, and the colors were furled and laid on the center stack. The arms and colors, that is, the United States flag, were left there from after guard mount till 4 p. m., and a sentinel posted to require everybody crossing his post, which is known as the “Color Line,” to salute the colors by lifting the cap. We plebes were very anxious to get guns, but after we did get them we wished we did not have them, for we were again put into small squads and drilled three times a day, notwithstanding the fact that our right arms were very sore, and each rifle seemed to weigh a ton, and, again, we had to spend several hours a day, for weeks, cleaning the guns before they would pass inspection. Each cadet knows his own gun by the number on it. The upper classmen had already taught us how to clean their guns, so we knew something about cleaning our own, and they now were considerate enough to allow us more time to ourselves, and some of the plebes finished cleaning their guns in less than an hour’s time. But, alas! at the first drill with arms the cadet instructors told them that their guns, cartridge boxes, and waist plates were very dirty. After drill we set to work on them again, but still they were said to be dirty. In the course of time we were told that our guns were passable, and later on that they were in fair condition. We soon learned to attend to them immediately after a rain, as it was easier to clean them then than after they had stood awhile.