The colonel and adjutant were seated in due state, being in full "service dress," which, as distinct from undress, comprises belt and cap. The sergeant-major, in equally dread attire, ordered the guard and prisoner (the latter being minus both belt and cap—these appurtenances being denied him) to "’Shun!—Right turn; quick march!—Halt!—Right turn!" and the whole squad was in line, awaiting "office." The colonel’s face wore a tired and worried expression; his smile had disappeared. The sergeant-major announced: "Private Jogman, sir!" The adjutant read the charge sheet. "Number 17462, Private James Jogman, is accused with conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline, in that he, on the afternoon of the 21st instant at 4 p.m., in the village of Paris-plage, was disorderly." The colonel turned to the accused: "Private Jogman, you have heard the charge against you, as read. Are you ’guilty’ or ’not guilty’?" "Not guilty,—sir," Jogman muttered shamefacedly. Sergeant Honk, as a witness, expressed his surprise by an almost imperceptible lifting of the brush of red hair which did service in lieu of eyebrows. The sergeant-major’s lip curled slightly. The colonel’s face remained immobile. "Read the written statement of the Military Police, Mr. Adjutant," he commanded. The adjutant did so. Each line was correct and convincing. The accused, when asked, declined to express an opinion on it. "Who is the first witness?" the colonel asked. "Sergeant Honk, sir." "Sergeant Honk, what do you know of this case?" demanded the Colonel. "Sir, h’on the afternoon of the twenty-first, at about four o’clock, h’I was talkin’ to a lady h’on the main street of Paree-plaige, when h’I ’eard th’ devil of a row—beg pardon, sir, it slipped h’out afore I thought." "Go on;" said the colonel drily. "I daresay what you state is quite correct." Thus encouraged, Honk resumed with morose enthusiasm: "H’I says to th’ young lady, says h’I, ’Somethin’s broke loose ’ere.’ The women and men was a-screamin’ an’ runnin’ into their ’ouses. H’I run to the corner as fast as me legs could carry me—" Jogman looked instinctively at Honk’s queer limbs, as if he were about to do a mental calculation of his speed, but was immediately called to attention by the sergeant-major. "When h’I got there, h’I see th’ prisoner goin’ like h—— (h’excuse me, sir); well, ’e were goin’ some, I tell ’e, with a butcher’s’ knife in ’is mit——" "Did he appear intoxicated?" the colonel interrupted. "’Orrible drunk, h’I calls it, sir—’e were that same, sir; and afore h’I gets to ’im, th’ Sergeant o’ Police ’ad ’im by th’ seat of ’is pants an’ ’oisted ’im into the waggin!" "Have you any questions to put to the witness?" the colonel asked. "Yes, sir," Jogman replied. "Will Sergeant Honk state, sir, how many beers he had inside him when he thought he seed me?" The unfortunate Honk turned a deeper hue of red, and shuffled uncomfortably from one foot to the other.