"Shall we take that scratch along with us as we march, or will you draw another one for us as we need it?" Monty Scruggs asked, at which the other boys laughed, which did not improve Si's temper. It was long, hard work before he got the restless, talkative young fellows so that they would form a fairly straight line, and maintain it for a minute or two. He looked at them, wiped his perspiring brow, and remarked internally: "Well, I thought them was bright boys, that it'd be no trouble to drill. I'd ruther break in the stoonidest lot o' hayseeds that ever breathed, rather than boys that think they know more'n I do. Now I'm goin' to have the time o' my life learnin' 'em the right face." He began the explanation of that complicated manuver: "Now, I want every one o' you to stop talkin', gether up them scatter-fire brains o' your'n, and pay strict 'tention to every word I say--" "Harry Joslyn," broke in Gid, "if you tramp on my heels just one more time, I'll knock your head off. I've told you often enough." "Well, you just keep off en my toes with them rockgrinders o' your'n," Harry retorted. "Silence in ranks," commanded Si. "Each rank will count twos." "What are twos? Where are they, and how many of 'em do you want us to count?" asked Monty Scruggs, at which the other boys snickered. They were getting very tired of the drill, and in the humor to nag and balk the drillmaster. Si lost a trifle of his temper, and said: "You're too all-fired smart with your tongue, Scruggs. If you were only half as smart learnin' your business--" "Sergeant," said one of the Lieutenants who happened to be passing, "keep your temper. You'll get along better. Don't squabble with your men." This made the boys much worse. "What I mean by countin' twos," explained Si, "is that the man on the right in each rank shall count one, the next one, two; the next one, one and so on. Count twos!" They made such an exasperating muddle of it, that Si almost had a fit. The cooks, teamsters and other hangers-on saw the trouble and came flocking around with all manner of jesting remarks and laughter, which strained Si's temper to the utmost, and encouraged the boys in their perversity. Si curbed himself down, and laboriously exemplified the manner of counting until the boys had no excuse for not understanding it. "Now, said he, at the command 'Right face,' the No. 1 man in the front rank faces to the right and stand fast--" "What do the rest of us do?" they chorused. "The rest o' you chase yourselves around him," said a humorist among the cooks, while the others laughed uproariously. "Shut up, you pot-wrastlers," said Si wrathfully. "If I hear another word from you, I'll light into you with a club. Now you brats--" "Sergeant," admonished the Lieutenant, "you mustn't use such language to your men." This made Si angrier, and the boys more cantankerous. Si controlled himself to go on with his explanations in a calm tone: