1890. 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



21 



off down the winding road in tbe direc- 

 tion of Lost mouufaiu, where the citi- 

 zen soldiers of iijy command were pur- 

 suing their peaceful avocations. A cas- 

 ual inspection of the cover of the book 

 Bhowed me a military officer in full reg- 

 imentals, and as I opened it and began 

 reading my heart. swelled and my bosom 

 glowed with military enthusiasm and 

 patriotic ardor. 



"About 2 o'clock in the afternoeiu I ar- 

 rived in the heart of the forest around 

 Lost mountain, and it occurred to me 

 that as I had never drilled acompuny of 

 soldiers I ought to engage in some pre- 

 liminary tactics and not make a display 

 of my iguorfince to the men whom I ex- 

 pected some day to lead to glory. So I 

 turned aside into the forest, and after 

 riding for 200 or 300 yards through the 

 densest woods I ever saw I dismounted 

 at the root of a fallen tree and tied my 

 pony. 



"Divesting my.se]f of my coat, I put 

 on the emblazoned and epauletted gar- 

 ment presented to me by CaiDtain How- 

 ell and invested myself with the glow- 

 ing sash and its tinseled tassels floating 

 in the wind. Taking position close to 

 the fallen tree, where I thought it 

 would be utterly impossible for any one 

 to come upon me without my discover- 

 ing his approach, I assumed a haughty 

 and commanding posture, and with a 

 copy of Scott's tactics opened in my 

 hand I began drilling the imaginary 

 squadron. 



" 'Carry ahmsl' I called in stento- 

 rian tones. 



" 'Order ahmsl' 



'• 'Eight shoulder ahmsl' 



" 'Present ahmsl' 



" 'Recover ahmsl' 



"Baving gone through with this part 

 of the evolutions to my entire sali-sfac- 

 tion. I began on that portion of tbe 

 manual which referred to loading and 

 firing the old flintlock muskets then in 

 use by the Georgia militia. 



'* 'Di-aw rammer!' 



" 'Bite olT cartridge!' 



*' 'Charge cartridge!' 



" 'Recover rummer I' 



" 'Open pan 1' 



" 'Prime paiil' 



" 'Clo.so pan I' 



" '2iake ready 1' 



•• 'Take aim !' 



=• 'Firel' 



*' 'Cease firing!' 



" 'Carry arms 1' 



** 'Well done, comrades,* said I, in a 

 congratulatory voice to my imaginary 

 squadron. ' You do remarkably well for 

 men who have seen so little service. ' 

 Then bracing myself against the log I 

 called out : 



" 'Attention, company!' 



•• 'By the right wheel I' 



" 'Forward! March 1' 



"Then I began to imitate the tramp 

 of soldiers, 'hep, hep, hep. Closer order 

 there, men, clo.ser order ! Close up the 

 rear rank! Steady men, steady 1 Halt, 

 comrades!' said I, taking a step for- 

 ward. 'You must learn to keep step. 

 Keep your eyes front and follow your 

 guides and hold your muskets in posi- 

 tion. This will prevent so much confu- 

 sion. 



" 'Forward, march! Hep, hep, hep, 

 hep. ' 



" 'Halt!' 



" 'Stack ahmsl' 



•• 'Break ranks!' 



'• 'Comrades, ' cried I, in a voice trem- 

 bling with enthusiasm, 'it affords me 

 pleasure to compliment you upon your 

 proficiency and the care and attention 

 which you have given to these tactics, 

 which are taken from the methods and 

 usages of the greatest commanders of 

 the age. I feel that I can rely upon each 

 and every one of you to do his full dtrty 

 toward his commander and his country 

 when occasion offers. I feel from your 

 gallant and soldierly bearing and exem- 

 plary conduct today that your bosoms 

 are inspired with that patriotic devotion 

 to home and country which are the 

 mainspring of every soldierly virtue. 

 In the flash of your eyes and the bearing 

 of your manly forms I behold that pride 

 of patriotism which should animate our 

 country's defenders, and I know that, 

 should any foe invade our country and 

 attempt any usurpation of our liberties, 

 you would spring to arms and march in 

 the defense of your country and your 

 firesides to death or glorious victory.' 



"'Captain Mills,' said I, imitating 

 the supposititions voice of my first lieu- 

 tenant, 'we Itave listened with the pro- 

 foundest pleasure to your words of kind- 

 ly commendation, which we trust we 

 gball merit in our future conduct. We 



