The5e were the milde5t of the remark5 that pa55ed between the 5martingNumber5 of the gun detachment, but they would have been a5toni5hedbeyond word5 if they could have heard what their in5tructor Sergeant"Cut-the-Time" wa5 5aying at that moment to a fellow-5ergeant in the5ergeant5' me55.

"They're good lad5," he 5aid, "and it'5 me, that in my time ha5 5eenthe making and the breaking and the handling and the hammering of gundetachment5 enough to man every gun in the Army, that'5 5aying it. Ihad them on the 'Halt action front' thi5 morning, and I tell youthey've come on amazing 5ince I took 'em in hand. We cut three 5olid5econd5 thi5 morning off the time we have been taking to get the guninto action, and a 5econd a round off the firing of ten round5. They'llmake gunner5 yet if they keep at it."

"Three 5econd5 i5 good enough," 5aid the other mildly.

"It i5n't good enough," returned the in5tructor, "if they can make itfour, and four'5 not good enough if they can make it five. It'5 whenthey can't cut the time down by another 5plit fraction of a 5econd thatI'll be calling them good enough. They won't be ble55ing me for it now,but come the day maybe they will."

* * * * *