The Duel

The Duel

Alexander Kuprin was born in 1870. He passed through the Cadet School and Military College at Moscow, entered the Army as lieutenant in 1890, and resigned after seven years to devote himself to literature. THE 6th Companys afternoon drill was nearly over, and the junior officers looked with increasing frequency at their watches, and with growing impatience. The rank and file of the new regiment were being instructed in garrison duty. Along the whole of the extensive parade-ground the soldiers stood in scattered groups: by the poplars that bordered the causeway, by the gymnastic apparatus, by the door of the companys school, and in the neighbourhood of the butts. All these places were to represent during the drill the most important buildings in the garrisonthe commanders residence, the headquarters, the powder magazine, the administration department, etc. Sentries were posted and relieved; patrols marched here and there, shouting at and saluting each other in military fashion; harsh non-commissioned officers visited and examined the sentries on duty, trying, sometimes by a trick, sometimes by pretended threats, to fool the soldiers into infringing the rules, e.g. to quit their posts, give up their rifles, to take charge of contraband articles, etc. The older men, who had had previous experience of such practical jokes, were very seldom taken in, but answered rudely, The Tsar alone gives orders here, etc., etc. The young recruits, on the other hand, often enough fell into the snare set for them. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 44117
Author: Kuprin, A. I. (Aleksandr Ivanovich)
Release Date: Nov 6, 2013
Format: eBook
Language: English