was that voice within him, prompted on by the words of this man who stood before him.

"Courage!" The sentry said, as though he too could hear the voice Ronnie was hearing and nudge him along. "The will to do it, not for anyone's satisfaction but your own. To do it because you know you can, to prove it to yourself, not to others."

He looked at Ronnie, his words firm and final.

Ronnie stood before his hut; he didn't remember walking there, but there he was. The sentry stood watching him; then he turned and walked away, the rifle on his shoulder.

Ronnie entered the hut.

The next morning, Ronnie remembered why he had tried to run away. This was the day of the TEST. The DI's words were still crystal clear in his mind, burned in like a brand upon a calf's hide.

१९

Anyone not passing this fitness test will wish he'd never been born." These were no idle words.

The tests weren't as difficult as Ronnie had expected, but the anxiety and fear seemed to drain him of that extra strength he needed. The last exercise would decide. Sit-ups. He had to do twenty-five to pass. That panic feeling began to return to him.

One-two-three-four-five. He wasn't going to make it, he just knew it. Eleven-twelve-thirteen. His stomach muscles pulled tighter, unconditioned and straining. Fifteen-sixteen He scanned the faces around him. Searching for what? Help? Sympathy? He was alone. Never had he felt so alone before. No one to rely on. No one to help him.

•

•

Ronnie saw the sentry. He was standing outside the ropes of the testing area, watching Ronnie as he had the night before. Ronnie had imagined him as being several years older than himself. But, now, in the sunlight, he could see that he was young. It was his self-confidence which gave him his air of age and maturity.

"I can do it!" Ronnie said to himself, looking at the smug face watching him "I'll show him I can do it."

Twenty-twenty-one-twenty-two. He caught a second wind, it was easier now. Twenty-six-twenty-seven-twenty-eight-twenty-nine-thirty. His body collapsed in exhaustion and Ronnie lay looking up at the blue sky

overhead.

He passed the test.

The following days and nights were full ones, they helped the time to pass swiftly and unnoticed. Ronnie hadn't seen the boy again until the day he was to begin Rifle Training.

He was leaving the head when someone in a tropical uniform stepped before him. Ronnie froze. He noticed the stripe and mechanically snapped: "By your leave, sir." Then he glanced up at his face and recognized him.

"Congratulations! You're growing up," he said, a slight smile in his eyes. "I've been watching you. You're doing O. K.!" They looked at each other in silence for a moment. "I graduated today and I'll be leaving tomorrow. Good luck!" He offered his hand.

Ronnie took it. It was a strong, firm grasp. In it, he could feel the throbbing energy which flowed within the trim figure before him.

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