"It's almost worth it," answered Barry.
Arriving at the bayonet-fighting ground, the little sergeant major
put the squad through their manual as if they had been recruits, to
a running comment of biting pleasantries. After bringing them to
attention, he walked slowly down the line, then back again, and remarked
after due deliberation:
"I have seen worse--not often--" Then, in a tone of resignation, he gave
the order:
"Stan-a-yeh!!!"
The men "stood at ease," and then "stood easy."
"Now, then," said the major, "we'll steal in on him, if we can." They
moved forward toward the little sergeant major, who remained studying
the opposite horizon in calm abstraction until their toes had reached a
certain line, when, like the crack of a whip, there came once more the
long-drawn cry with its explosive termination:
"Ye-a-ou-w!--Yun!!!" with the result that the line was again thrown into
instantaneous, breathless and motionless rigidity.
Toward the advancing officers the sergeant major threw himself into a
salute with one smooth, unbroken movement of indescribable grace and
finish.
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