"Never you fear but that I'll be right at my post of duty when the command is given to form ranks," Corporal 'Lige said to the messenger, and after the latter had departed he added as he turned to the boy, "Now, Isaac, lad, you can see what they think of Corporal 'Lige. Colonel Easton and Master Brown are hangin' 'round the inn instead of waitin' for the committee to visit them. An' what do I do? Why, I stay quietly here, knowin' they can't well get along without me, an' instead of coolin' my heels among a lot of raw recruits, I'm sent for when the time is come, as if I was a staff officer. That's one thing you want to bear in mind. If you don't count yourself of any importance, other people are mighty apt to pass you by as a ne'er-do-well." "But I haven't enlisted yet, corporal." "Of course you have. When you said to me 'I'm ready to go as your apprentice in this 'ere business,' it was jest the same as if you'd signed the rolls. I'll arrange all that matter with Master Phelps, my lad. Now do you hasten home; get what you can pick up in the way of an outfit; borrow your father's gun, and kind of mention the fact to your mother that the more she gives in the way of provisions the better you'll be fed, for you an' me are likely to mess together." "How much are you going to take, corporal?" "That will depend a good deal on what kind of a supply your mother furnishes. I'm willin' to admit she's nigh on to as good a cook as can be found in Pittsfield, an' will take my chances on what she puts up for you, providin' there's enough of it." "Of course you are to take your musket?" "I should be a pretty poor kind of a soldier if I didn't, lad--the same one I used under Abercrombie," and he pointed with his thumb toward the interior of the dwelling where, as Isaac knew, a well-worn weapon hung on hooks just over the fireplace. "It's one of the king's arms, an' I reckon will do as good service against him as it did for him, which is saying considerable, lad, as Major Putnam can vouch for. Now set about making ready, for we two above all others must not be behind-hand when the column moves." A fine thing it was to be a soldier, so Isaac thought as he went leisurely from Corporal 'Lige's log hut to his home; he was forced to pass through the entire length of the village, stopping here and there to acquaint a friend with what he believed to be a most important fact. Among all the lads in Pittsfield of about his own age he was the only one who proposed to enlist, and from all he heard and saw there could be no question but that he was envied by his companions.