The third day I drilled with the awkward squad again; but in the afternoon my gun was put into my hands, and for an extra half-hour I was exercised in the manual of arms. But my first attempts proved very unfortunate. Sergeant Wilson scolded, stormed, and almost swore at me. He placed my gun at the _carry_, and called repeated attention to the exact description of the position, contained in the language of Hardee: "The piece in the right hand, the barrel nearly vertical, and resting in the hollow of the shoulder; the guard to the front, the arm hanging nearly at its full length near the body; the thumb and forefinger embracing the guard, the remaining fingers closed together, and grasping the swell of the stock just under the cock, which rests on the little finger." I simply could not execute the _shoulder_, or _carry_, with any precision, although the positions of _support, right-shoulder-shift, present,_ and all the rest, gave me no trouble after they were reached; reaching them, from the _shoulder_ was the great trouble. Wilson ended by ordering me off and reporting me to the Captain. Captain Haskell sent for me. He said kindly, "Jones, Sergeant Wilson gives a bad report of you." "I do the best I can, Captain." "The sergeant seems to think that you are obstinate on some peculiar point that he did not make me fully understand. He gives you great praise for learning the facings and the steps, but says you will not learn the manual." "I don't understand my awkwardness, Captain. There is something wrong about it." "You find the manual difficult?" "Not only difficult, but absurd," said I; "it makes me nervous." "And the facings and steps were not difficult?" "Not at all; they seemed easy and natural." "Take your gun and come with me," said the Captain; "I think I have a clew to the situation." Behind the Captain's simple quarters was an open space. He made me take position. He also took position, with a rifle at his side. "Now, look," said he; "see this position, which I assume to be the _shoulder_ natural to you." His gun was at his left side, the barrel to the front, the palm of his left hand under the butt. "Now," said he, "this is the _shoulder_ of the heavy infantry manual. I think you were drilled once in a company which had this _shoulder_. It may not have been in your recent regiment that you were so drilled, for this _shoulder_ obtained in all the militia companies of Carolina before the war. Many regiments still hold to it. Follow my motions now--_Support_--ARMS!" The Captain's right hand grasped the piece at the small of the stock; his left arm was thrown across his breast, the cock resting on the forearm; his right hand fell quickly to his side. I imitated him. I felt no nervousness, and told him so. "I thought so," said he; "now, just remember that all the other positions in the manual are unchanged. It is only the _shoulder_, or _carry_, as we sometimes call it, that has been changed. You will like the new drill."