“I can see that a good many of you don’t know the position called for. It’s the position of the soldier. I supposed you learned that in morning drill. Heels on a line, now, and close together, and feet turned out at an angle of forty-five degrees. Knees straight, but not locked. Stand straight from the hips. Put your shoulders back, arching your chest a little. Let your arms hang naturally, elbows back, hands slightly to the rear of the trousers seam. Some of you look as if you were frozen. Get out of it! Ease up! You, third from the left in the second row, relax a little. That’s better. Now, then, heads erect, chins in, eyes ahead. There you are. Probably some of you are finding the position a bit uncomfortable, which shows that you need just the exercise you’re going to get here. First exercise, fellows. Remaining at attention, bend the head back as far as it will go and then forward. Exercise! One――two――three――four――five――six――seven――eight! Attention! Now, from side to side, keeping the neck muscles tense. First to the right as far as you can comfortably go and then to the left. Exercise! Right――left――right――left――right――left――right――left! Attention! “Keep your stomach in, Williams. That’s better. Second exercise, fellows. Raise your arms in front of you, palms down. Now stretch them sidewise, turning the palms up, keeping the muscles tense always. Exercise! One――two――three――four――five――six――seven――eight! Attention! Now relax the muscles and swing the arms backward and forward like this. Exercise!... Now your shoulders. Muscles tense. Move them forward, then up, then back, then down into position again. Get that? Try it. Exercise! One――two――――” And so it went for thirty minutes, until, in spite of numerous brief intervals of rest, more than half of those present were out of breath and aching in all sorts of unaccustomed places! Joe, for one, had never realised that he had so many muscles in his body as were called into play this afternoon! The exercises ended with the body-lift while lying face-downwards, and by that time even the more seasoned of the candidates were ready to quit. Mr. Talbot viewed the flushed faces with satisfaction. “That’s all for today. Tomorrow we’ll try more. After that we’ll use the bells. Now give your names to Mifflin――Oh, he isn’t here? Well, I’ll take them. After that get under the shower and don’t stand around too much. It’s easy to take cold when your pores are open. Tomorrow we’ll start promptly at four. Try not to be late, please. Names, now.”