All this manoeuvring for space in such close quarters was great fun for lads accustomed to roomy houses, and careless, almost to slovenliness, in the matter of keeping things in place.  Absurd as these details may seem, they were all parts, and very important parts, in the life and training of that mighty host that carried the destiny of the country in its discipline during four years.  There was rigid inspection of quarters every Sunday morning, and during the week the non-commissioned officers were expected to see that cleanliness was not intermitted.  The company “street” was “policed” every morning after breakfast, swept and garnished, that is, with the care of a Dutch housewife.  Order is the first law of the soldier as well as of Heaven, and many a careless lad brought from his four years’ drill method and painstaking that made him of more value to himself and his neighbors.

Personal traits, too, could be divined in these toy-like interiors.  The regulations prescribed the arrangement of the “bunks,” blankets folded, knapsacks laid at the head of the bed, accoutrements burnished until, at first sight, the four guns in the rack seemed to be a mirror for the orderly spirit of this thrifty grot.  The shining plates, cups, and spoons, would have done no discredit to the most energetic, housewife, as they hung from pegs either above the bunks or along the wall.  If running water were not accessible, every tent had a tin basin for the morning ablution, each soldier taking turn good humoredly.  The household duties were scrupulously observed, each man assuming his role in the complicated menage.

It was fully a week before the Caribees were installed ready for Sunday inspection, as no exigency was permitted to interfere with morning and afternoon drill, guard-mount, and parade.  Battalion and brigade drill, too, were new diversions for the Caribees, as now, camped near other troops, these more complicated movements were part of the regiment’s allotted duty.  After they were sufficiently trained in this they were to take part in a grand review by the general-in-chief, when the President, the Secretary of War, and all the great folks in Washington rode out to witness the spectacle.

There was no time for dullness.  Every hour had its duty, and these soon became second nature to the zealous young warriors.  Such rivalry to best master the manual, to hold the most soldierly stature in the ranks, to detect the drill-sergeant when, to test their attention, he gave a false command!  And then the coronal joy of a reward of merit for efficiency and alertness on guard!  The rapture the bit of paper brought, and the exultation with which the hero thus signalized went off to town for the day, wandered through the waste of streets, stood before Willard’s and admired in awe and wonder the indolent groups from whose shoulders gleamed one and sometimes two stars!  One day Jack and Barney, walking in Fifteenth Street, saw a stout man, with no insignia to indicate rank or station, coming out of the headquarters hurriedly.  He walked to the edge of the pavement, and, looking up and down, seemed disconcerted.  Noticing the two lads, he came to where Jack was standing in a preoccupied way, and the two saluted decorously.  He returned the salute and asked: