"Pray what is that?"

"It is an acute attack of admiration for very young men of a military
cut. I use the word cut advisedly, for these incipient soldiers look for
all the world as if carved out of wood. They gradually get over their
stiffness, however, and as officers usually have a fine bearing, as you
may see if we meet any of them. I wish, though, that you could See a
squad of 'plebes' drilling. They would provoke a grin on the face of old
Melancholy himself."

"Where is the danger, then, of acute admiration?"

"Well, they improve, I suppose, and are said to be quite irresistible
during the latter part of their course. You need not laugh. If you knew
how many women--some of them old enough to be the boys' mothers--had
succumbed, you would take my warning to heart."

"What nonsense! You are a little jealous of them, Burt."

"I should be indeed if you took a fancy to any of them."

"Well, I suppose that is one of the penalties of having brothers. Are all
these houses officers' quarters?"

They had now left the ice, and were climbing the hill as he replied:

"No, indeed. This is Logtown--so named, I suppose, because in the earlier
days of the post log huts preceded these small wooden houses. They are
chiefly occupied by enlisted men and civilian employees. That large
building is the band barracks. The officers' quarters, with a few