78 Pages - The Black Vault

stores and tools, which had been dumped down anyhowin a heap, pitch the camp, and get their teas beforedark.Between you and me, I was really relieved to beable to put off my defensive measures till the morrow,because I was a wee bit puzzled as to what todo. In fact, the more I thought, the more puzzled Igrew. The only “measures of de[ence” I could recallfor the moment were, how to tie “a thumb or overhandknot, ” and how long it takes to cut down anapple tree of six inches diameter. Unluckily neitherof these useful facts seemed quite to apply. Now, ifthey had given me a job like fighting the battle ofWaterloo, or Sedan, or Bull Run, I knew all aboutthat, as I had crammed it up and been examined init too. 1also knew how to take up a position for a division,or even an army corps, but the stupid little subaltern’sgame of the defence of a drift with a smalldetachment was, curiously enough, most perplexing.I had never really considered such a thing. However,in the light of my habitual dealings with army corps,it would, no doubt, be child’s-play after a littlethought.Having issued my immediate orders accordingly,I decided to explore the neighborhood, but was fora moment puzzled as to which direction I should take;for, having no horse, I could not possibly get all ~oundbefore dark. After a little thought, it flashed acrossmy mind that obviously I should go to the north. Thebulk of the enemy being away to the north, that ofcourse must be the front. I knew naturally that theremust be a front, because in all the schemes I had hadto prepare, or the exams I had undergone, there wasalways a front, or -- “the place where the enemies12