never gets much rest. He has to be Johnny-on-the-Spot all the time. Just wait till you're a drummer. What you want to do? Where've you been since morning?"
"I was up in the naval battery."
"Under fire, you mean?"
"Guess so. A big shell burst right in front of me, inside the battery; in the middle of us all. Didn't kill anybody, though. Then an officer made me get. But I've joined the army."
"You have? How? Already?"
"You bet. I'm in the Fourth Regiment."
"What do you do there? A drummer? Who's teaching you? Old Brown?"
"No, I'm not a drummer. I'm with the officers. I'm attached to Lieutenant Grant."
"Aw!" and Hannibal stared. "What you mean now? How 'attached?'"
"That's what he said. I take care of his tent and I go along with him and the Fourth Regiment."
"You do? That's not soldiering; that's only being a follower. But what did you join the Fourth for? Maybe I could have got you into the Eighth. You ought to be a drummer. A drummer gets nine dollars a month and he's some pumpkins, too. He's no private. He wears a sword like an officer, and has his own drill. I could have taught you the taps and flams and drags and rolls. They're easy. Then maybe you'd be a drum major some day. That's what I intend to be."
"Well, I can learn to be an officer. Lieutenant Grant will teach me," Jerry answered.
"You've got to be a soldier first, before you
