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I ht froravely "Assist, not do it for you, Cadet Assisting a fellow cavallaman is ithin our traditions Go to it"

So we did, whispering quietly together I showed hiravely, arriving at the correct ansith only one prod froain on his calculation But when he said, "It’s much easier But I don’t understand why I can set it up this way It see a step"

"Well, it’s because we can," I said, and then paused, perplexed I knehat I had done, and I’d done siht to ask my math tutor why it could be done that way

Gord’s hand softly ca the proble to co Instead, he looked at Spink and said quietly, "I don’t think you understand exactly what exponents are They’re supposed to be a shortcut, and once you understand them, they’re easy to use Shall I show you?"

Spink glanced at me as if he expectedhinored on the table before him He was a natural teacher I saw that It an his oork, despite his late start at it He didn’t do Spink’s work for him, or even work the problem himself to demonstrate it Instead, he explained exponents in a way that enlightened ood at it in a rote way, just as a s before he knohat nunify quantities I could manipulate numbers and symbols accurately because I knew the rules Gord, however, understood theprinciples He explained exponents in a way thatat a map of mathematics and Gord knew the countryside of it That is an inadequate explanation for such a subtle awakening, but it is the best I can do

Gord’sad because I still could not condone how he ht od had settled around my soul Just as I should be shamed if my horse were dirty or sickly, so should I be shamed if my body were unkempt or poorly conditioned All it required was coht me I could not understand how Gord could tolerate life in such an ungainly body

Curiosity kept h each set of exercises and explained why and how the numbers could be manipulated Then he turned to his own books and lessons We were nearly alone at the table by then Even the proctor had pulled a chair over by the fire and was dozing, a military history book open before him on his lap

Spink was a quick study He worked rapidly through the exercises, only occasionally asking for help when a problem presented a variation, and even then, it was most often to confirm that he had correctly solved it Spink did suffer from weakness in his command of his basic math facts Several tirammar book open beforeit a final time, out of loyalty to Spink, I suppose He and Gord had just finished their hen the proctor suddenly snapped his bobbing head upright and then glared at us as if it were our fault he’d dozed off "You should be finished by now," he inforive you another ten minutes You have to learn to use your time wisely"

In less time than that, we had packed up our books and papers and shelved them The three of us had only a few o down the stairs and fordinner of the previous night Tonight ere given a simple repast of soup, bread, and cheese; our noon meal was expected to be our major nourishment for the day We all ate heartily I would have enjoyed a more substantial dinner, and I do not think I was the only man at the table who felt that way "Is this all there is?" Gord asked pathetically, both alarmed and disappointed at the hter at his expense over it

After dinner, we returned to the parade ground After a brief flag-lowering cereuard of older cadets, Dent dis us that we had best tend to our unifor that ould need for the

We did both, of course Our floor was a jostle of cadets cleaning their boots, co in line for the washbasins, and speculating on what to Dent was correct, however When he ca, half of us hadn’t finished those basic tasks We all used up what tihts-out ied There wasin the dark as we made our blind ways to our rooms and beds In the darkness, I knelt by my bedside to sayhis own thoughts to the good god and then cli that I would have a hard ti more until the drum awoke me to the dim dawn of another day at the Academy