attacking you at such a time?" asked the master.

"He reckoned that either I'd kill you, and so he'd got shut of us both in that way, without it being noticed; or if I missed you, the others would hang you-ez they kalkilated to-for killing me! The idea kem to him when he overheard you hintin' you wouldn't return my fire."

A shuddering conviction that McKinstry had divined the real truth passed over the master. In the im

pulse of the moment he again would have corroborated it by revealing Johnny's story, but a glance at the growing feverishness of the wounded man checked his utterance. "Don't talk of it now," he said hurriedly.

Enough for me to know that you acquit me. I am here now only to beg you to compose yourself until the doctor comes back-as you seemed to be alone, and Mrs. McKinstry-he stopped in awkward embarrassment.

A singular confusion overspread the invalid's face. "She hed steppt out afore this happened, owin' to contrairy opinions betwixt me and her. Ye mout hev noticed, Mr. Ford, that ginrally she didn't 'pear to cotton to ye! Thar ain't a woman a goin' ez is the ekal of Blain Rawlin's darter in nussin' a man and keeping him in fightin' order, but in matters like things that consarn herself and Cress, I begin' to think, Mr. Ford, that somehow, she ain't exakly-kam! Bein' kam yourself, ye'll put any unpleasantness down to that. Wotever you hear from her, and for the matter o' that, from her own darter too-for I'm takin' back the foolishness I said to ye over yon about your runnin' off with Cress you'll remember, Mr. Ford, it warn't from no ill feeling to you, in her or Cress-but on'y a want of kam! I mout hev had my idees about Cress, you mout hev had yours, and that fool Dabney mout hev had his; but it warn't the old woman'snor Cressy's--it warn't Blain Rawlin's darter's idea-nor yet her darter's! And why? For want o' kam! Times

I reckon it was left out o' woman's nater. And bein' kam yourself, you understand it, and take it all in."

The old look of drowsy pain had settled so strongly in his red eyes again that the master was fain to put his hand gently over them, and with a faint smile beg him to compose himself to sleep. This he finally did after` a whispered suggestion that he himself was feeling "more kam." The master sat for some moments with his hand upon the sleeping man's eyes, and a vague and undefinable sense of loneliness seemed to fall upon him from the empty rafters of the silent and deserted house. The rising wind moaned fitfully around its bleak shell with the despairing sound of far and for ever receding voices. So strong was the impression that when the doctor and McKinstry's attending brother reentered the room, the master still lingered beside the bed with a dazed sensation of abandonment that the doctor's practical reassuring smile could hardly dispel.

"He's doing splendidly now," he said, listening to the sleeper's more regular respiration: "and I'd advise you to go now, Mr. Ford, before he wakes, lest he might be tempted to excite himself by talking to you again. He's really quite out of danger now Good night! I'll drop in on you at the hotel when I return."

The master, albeit still confused and bewildered, felt his way to the door and out into the open night. The wind was still despairingly wrestling with the tree-tops, but the far receding voices seemed to be growing fainter in the distance, until, as he passed on, they too seemed to pass away for

ever.

*

Monday morning had come again, and the master was at his desk in the school-house early, with a still damp and inky copy of the "Star" fresh from the press before him. The free breath of the pines was blowing in the window, and bringing to his ears the

distant voices of his slowly gathering flock, as he read as follows:

"The perpetrator of the dastardly outrage at the Indian Spring Academy on Thursday last-which, through unfortunate misrepresentation of the facts, led to a premature calling out of several of our most public-spirited citizens, and culminated in a most regrettable encounter between Mr.

McKinstry and the accomplished and estimable principal of the school-has, we regret to say, escaped condign punishment by leaving the country with his relations. If, as is seriously whispered, he was also guilty of an unparalleled offence against a chivalrous code which will exclude him in the future from ever seeking redress at the Court of Honour, our citizens will be only too glad to get rid of the contamination of being obliged to arrest him. Those of our readers who know the high character of the two gentlemen who were thus forced into a hos tile meeting, will not be surprised to know that the most ample apologies were tendered on both sides, and that the entente cordiale has been thoroughly restored. The bullet-which it is said played a highly important part in the subsequent explanation, proving to have come from a revolver fired by some outsider has been extracted from Mr. McKinstry's thigh, and he is doing well, with every prospect of a speedy recovery."

Smiling albeit not uncomplacently at this valuable contribution to history from an unfettered press, his eye fell upon the next paragraph, perhaps not so complacently:

"Benjamin Daubigny, Esq., who left town for Sacramento on important business, not entirely unconnected with his new interests in Indian Springs, will, it is rumoured, be shortly joined by his wife, who has been enabled by his recent good fortune to leave her old home in the States, and take her proper proud position at his side. Although per

sonally unknown to Indian Springs, Mrs. Daubigny is spoken of as a beautiful and singularly accomplished woman, and it is to be regretted that her husband's interests will compel them to abandon Indian Springs for Sacramento as a future residence. Mr. Daubigny was accompanied by his private secretary Rupert, the eldest son of H. G. Filgee, Esq., who has been a promising graduate of the Indian Spring Academy, and offers a bright example to the youth of this district. We are happy to learn that his younger brother is recovering rapidly from a slight accident received last week through the incautious handling of firearms.”

The master, with his eyes upon the paper, remained so long plunged in a reverie that the school-room was quite filled and his little flock was wonderingly regarding him before he recalled himself. He was hurriedly reaching his hand towards the bell when he was attracted by the rising figure of Octavia Dean.

Please, sir, you didn't ask if we any news! "True-I forgot," said the master smiling. "Well, have you anything to tell us?"

"Yes, sir. Cressy McKinstry has left school."

"Yes, sir; she's married."

"Married," repeated the master with an effort, yet conscious of the eyes concentrated upon his colourless face. "Married-and to whom?"

"To Joe Masters, sir, at the Baptist Chapel at Big Bluff, Sunday, an' Marm McKinstry was thar with her."

There was a momentary and breathless pause. Then the voices of his little pupils those sage and sweet truants from tradition, those gentle but relentless historians of the future rose around him in shrill chorus: WHY, WE KNOWED IT ALL ALONG, SIR!"

66

THE army which we ourselves, together with the rest of Europe, are not ashamed to confess in a greater or less degree to copying, is that which in 1866 and in 1870-1 showed to the world at large what could be achieved by scientific administration, a stern discipline, and the most exact training and education of every individual officer and man. On the higher organization of the German army many excellent works are in existence, and many articles have from time to time been published in various journals and magazines. But of the system of training which has brought the individual soldier to such a standard of excellence, of the discipline of the army, of the relations of the officers to their men, of the knowledge of his profession displayed by every officer, of the spirit of patriotism and self-sacrifice which pervades all ranks from the Emperor to the private soldier, it is much to be regretted that so little has been written in England, though such matters are probably much more interesting and certainly more instructive to the majority of military readers than details of mobilization or of the organization of armycorps.

The present writer, having had opportunities of seeing much of the German army, not only during the season of preparation in garrison, but also in most favourable circumstances at the recent autumn manœuvres, hopes through a slight sketch of all that he has seen and heard to make good in some degree this deficiency. Taking first what has and always will be the most important factor in the preparation of an army for war, Lamely the training of the men which

actually form the army, it will be necessary to divide it into two distinct parts, the first being their military education, and the second their physical training.

It must, however, be borne in mind that from the day on which the German recruit joins the army, both of these go hand in hand; and that they are so closely connected that it is often difficult, in judging the results, to distinguish between that which is brought into practice owing to the lessons of theory, and what has become a second nature in the man through constant physical training. The point of perfection to which the military education of the non-commissioned officers and men of the German army has been brought, is indeed to English ideas astonishing. It is probable that by questioning the individual soldier, or observing him at the time of the manœuvres, a better idea will be obtained of the pains which have been taken to make him what he is, than by any other means. The Germany military year commences, as is well known, in November- that is to say, the fresh batches of recruits then arrive to take the place of the men who, after serving two or three years with the colours, are passed to the reserve. In ten months from that time, or at the beginning of the following September, when the autumn manœuvres are about to commence, we will see what these recruits have become during that period. Pick out any one of them at random from the ranks and ask him questions on any possible duties which are likely to fall to his lot to perform in war, and for any one who has had to deal with persons of that class from which

the majority of soldiers are usually drawn, it is almost impossible to understand by what means the country clown or the mechanic of ten months ago has been converted into the intelligent soldier of to-day. If, for example, he is questioned with regard to his duties as a sentry in an outpost line, his answers, showing a thorough practical knowledge of what would be required of him, and what information he would expect to receive from his superior on the position of neigh bouring sentries, his piquet, etc., where the principal roads lead to, what is known of the enemy, the names of neighbouring villages, heights, or rivers, and many other points too numerous to mention here, are all given with a readiness and intelligence which very few English officers would expect to find in the rank and file of their companies. Exactly the same intelligence is displayed in the important duty of patrolling. Whether in an open or much enclosed country, approaching a village or entering a wood, in fact in any possible circumstances, each separate man knows exactly what it is his duty to do. The following translation of a report, actually sent in by a private soldier, picked out casually by the writer from the ranks of a German company and placed in command of a small patrol at the time of the autumn manœuvres, will perhaps show as well as anything else to what a point of excellence military education can be brought. The report is translated as literally as possible, the names of individuals and places mentioned in it only being suppressed, and is as follows:

K- and is keeping on a level with the section which is marching on the high road. I imagine the Section marching on the high road and the Patrol to be for the protection of a march [Marsch-Sicherung). My Patrol remains here and continues to observe them. (Signed) H.

Now it must be obvious that soldiers so educated are in every way superior beings from a military point of view to those of a past era, when to be smart at drill was the beginning and end of existence. And it should be remembered that this intellectual training does not tend to produce only a few geniuses to be exhibited on special occasions. One of "The Times'" correspondents at the recent German manœuvres said very truly of that army that, "It is characterized by a uniformity, that is one of the main secrets of its success. After having seen one army corps, a foreigner may simply multiply it by eighteen and safely say that he has now got a perfect idea of the German army." In just the same way it may with equal truth be stated that one soldier represents the five hundred thousand men who form the peace establishment of the German Empire.

In

Let us next turn to the subject of musketry, which in these days of rapid loading and accurate rifles is so serious a question in all armies, and to the improvement of which, owing to our severe lesson in the Transvaal in 1881, such great efforts have been directed in our own. Germany the greatest possible trouble is taken by the company-officers to train their men on the range to a skilful use of their rifle, the instruction including not merely shooting, as with us, at both standing and disappearing targets, as well as most practical field-firing, but further such useful practices as aiming and firing from behind trees, walls, breastworks, and indeed from any rest which men would be likely to find at hand in the circumstances of war. To such practical instruction must be attributed to some extent the constant

as

Besides this practical musketry, every man has further a theoretical knowledge of the use and capabilities of the weapon in his possession, which is unknown in our army. This is well exemplified in what is known Gefechtsmässiges Einzelschiessen, or the training of the man to use his own judgment in firing during a fight, to a proper understanding of which principle the Germans attach the highest importance. For instance, a man called out from the ranks is shown an enemy kneeling down, we will say, at some distance off, and is then asked how he would proceed to act. We will suppose that he judges the distance to be 250 yards. This being so, he will describe what he must do if acting entirely on his own judgment, in some such words as these: "I should shoot at him, because if I use my weapon properly I can expect to hit a single man kneeling up to 250 yards. I must use the small or 300 yards sight, and must aim as low on the man as I can, because the half height of the man kneeling, or about 2 feet, and the trajectory of the bullet at 250 yards, or about 1 foot 9 inches, nearly agree. I should hit him in the stomach. I must fire kneeling, as I should be unable to take proper aim lying down." He would further be certain to give just the same sort of information, no matter what the distance was estimated to be, within a range of 600 yards, as beyond that distance no single marksman would be expected to use his own judgment in firing. He knows, for instance, that he may expect to hit all objects in any No. 350-vOL. LIX.

position up to 200 yards, a single man kneeling up to 250, two men together kneeling up to 350, three men together standing or a single horseman up to 450, and so on up to 600 yards. When firing with the standing or 200 yards sight, he knows exactly at what part of an object within that range, whether it be a man lying down, kneeling, or standing, or a horseman, he must aim; and this knowledge is not learnt parrot-like, to be forgotten almost as soon as learnt, but is deduced from an accurate knowledge of the trajectory of the bullet at all distances. Such theoretical teaching will perhaps be scoffed at by many as altogether superfluous, and it is only mentioned here to show what is and can be done in a wonderfully short space of time to train men as soldiers. At the same time, it is only right to add that the Germans, who have so much practical experience of what modern. war really is, and who are the last people to waste most valuable time in teaching the recruit anything not absolutely necessary, consider such training as most essential as a means to a proper fire-discipline. Again, follow a company in the fighting line at manœuvres and mark the way in which every sight is carefully adjusted to any named distance and changed at each rush forward, even when the men are excited by a rapid advance. The present writer was a witness of a scene at the manœuvres where a company officer, who had noticed a man fail to change the sight of his rifle at a fresh distance, at once told him off for extra guard-duty, this indeed being no light punishment after the men have been marching and fighting pretty well the whole day. Compare such fire-discipline as this with what one but too commonly sees and hears at Aldershot field-days words of command for troops to fire and no distance named, or if named, not attended to.

And yet no one for one moment doubts the vast importance of the strictest fire-discipline in modern warfare.

H