“ I don't like to expose my flanks, or my rear, more than another,” growled the brigadier.
“ If agreeable, I will now show you gyration 2d, or position No. 3.”
On my expressing a strong desire to see it, the commodore put himself again in position No. 1; and then he threw what Captain Poke was in the habit of calling a “flap-jack,” or a summerset; coming down in a way tenaciously to toe the mark.
I was much gratified with the dexterity of the commodore, and frankly expressed as much; inquiring, at the same time, if many attained to the same skill. Both the commodore and the brigadier laughed at the simplicity of the question; the former answering that the people of Leaplow were exceedingly active and adventurous, and both lines had got to be so expert, that, at the word of command,
