The soldiers, under whose charge the boys were being conducted to the place where they were to display their skill with the rifles, were laughing heartily at the impotent rage of the little sutler. Dennis, in spite of his bantering, did not betray a trace of a smile on his face. As solemnly as if the errand upon which he was going was the sole purpose in his mind, he looked reprovingly at Levi as if his heart was moved by sorrow more than by anger. "Are you coming with us, Levi?" he inquired. "Yah, I vill surely come. I shall mit great pleasure see you hanged. You shall no more tip ofer--" "I say, sergeant," said Dennis, "what are we to have for a target?" "I don't know," replied the soldier good-naturedly. "We'll find something." "If you haven't any target ready, I would like to suggest one." "What is it?" "I think it would be a great scheme to have this little sutler come along with us and stand him up at a distance of seventy-five yards. Noel, here, can clip one ear an' thin I'll take the other. Thin we'll cut off a part of his nose, though he will have enough left even thin to satisfy any two or three living men--" A cry of rage, not unmingled with fear, from Levi, interrupted the young Irishman. "I shall not be von target! you shall be von target!" "Yes; but, Levi," suggested Dennis, "think what it will mean for you! If Noel cuts off one ear, there's another pinsion. That will be pinsion number three. If I trim your other ear, that will be pinsion number four, and if both of us cut down your nose a little that will be worth more yet. Why, Levi, you'd be a rich man before you would be able to get home. Of course, there may not be very much of you left, but what there is will have a good time to the end of your days." Perhaps it was the expression which Levi discovered on the faces of the soldiers that caused him to halt abruptly. At all events, he stared for a moment at the young sharpshooters, and then, as the soldiers laughed loudly, he turned quickly and without once glancing behind him ran from the place. Even the chaplain had not been unmoved by the bantering of Dennis. He was proving himself a friend, indeed, to the two boys, and it had been largely through his solicitation that the opportunity had been gained for them to show whether or not their claims to have been sharpshooters in the Peninsula campaign were trustworthy. "There comes that little spalpeen ag'in!" cried Dennis suddenly, as he looked back and saw that Levi was following discreetly in the distance. "'Tis well for him he stays behind us, though I think I could put me gun over me shoulder and shut both eyes and not miss the little rascal."