![]() Sliva, the captain of the company, approached to see what was going on. Round about him, but at a respectful distance, a crowd of soldiers flocked together, accepting with joy and gratitude this interesting little interlude in the wearisome drill. His eyes were bloodshot, and he nervously repelled with his bayonet all who approached him. ÂAnother step and you are a dead man!â shouted the Tartar, in a furious rage. âCanât you recognize your own commander, your own captain?â ÂStop, you madman!â roared Sergeant Bobuilev. At last he lost his head entirely, brought his rifle to the charge, and threatened all the bystanders with the bayonet. He got more and more confused under the commanderâs irritating and insidious questions. Moukhamedjinov, a young soldier, Tartar by birth, was not yet versed in the Russian language. In the third platoon a tragicomic scene took place. âWhat did I tell you just now, simpleton? Did I put you under arrest? What are you sticking there for, then? Why donât you answer?â ÂKhliabnikov!â a stout little noncom cried angrily in a voice which betrayed a passion for ruling. The young recruits, on the other hand, often enough fell into the snare set for them. The older men, who had had previous experience of such practical jokes, were very seldom taken in, but answered rudely, âThe Tsar alone gives orders here,â etc., etc. to quit their posts, give up their rifles, to take charge of contraband articles, etc. Sentries were posted and relieved patrols marched here and there, shouting at and saluting each other in military fashion harsh noncommissioned officers visited and examined the sentries on duty, trying, sometimes by a trick, sometimes by pretended threats, to fool the soldiers into infringing the rules, e.g. All these places were to represent during the drill the most important buildings in the garrisonâ âthe commanderâs residence, the headquarters, the powder magazine, the administration department, etc. Along the whole of the extensive parade-ground the soldiers stood in scattered groups: by the poplars that bordered the causeway, by the gymnastic apparatus, by the door of the companyâs school, and in the neighbourhood of the butts. The rank and file of the new regiment were being instructed in garrison duty. The 6th Companyâs afternoon drill was nearly over, and the junior officers looked with increasing frequency at their watches, and with growing impatience. You can download this and other ebooks carefully produced for true book lovers at. Standard Ebooks is a volunteer-driven project that produces ebook editions of public domain literature using modern typography, technology, and editorial standards, and distributes them free of cost. For full license information, see the Uncopyright at the end of this ebook. The creators of, and contributors to, this ebook dedicate their contributions to the worldwide public domain via the terms in the CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. They may still be copyrighted in other countries, so users located outside of the United States must check their local laws before using this ebook. The source text and artwork in this ebook are believed to be in the United States public domain that is, they are believed to be free of copyright restrictions in the United States. This particular ebook is based on a transcription from Project Gutenberg and on digital scans from the Internet Archive. This ebook is the product of many hours of hard work by volunteers for Standard Ebooks, and builds on the hard work of other literature lovers made possible by the public domain.
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