Night shift by Alexandr Kuprin. Short summary

5 seconds

Despite the end of evening roll call and the sung prayer, when the eleventh hour stood, none of the soldiers in the Eighth Company were anxious to undress, since tomorrow was Sunday.

1 minute

After evening roll call and prayers are over, the soldiers usually go to bed. However, in the barracks of the eighth company after these activities, the soldiers had not yet thought to undress and finally fall asleep. The fact that tomorrow is Sunday also had its effect. On Sunday, all soldiers get up an hour later. The exception in this regard was the official ranks.

This does not apply to Luka Merkulov, who was on duty as a night watchman. Luka had no right to sleep until two in the morning. Also, the orderly had to walk around the barracks in his field uniform with a bayonet at his side, and control the order: so there was no theft, the appearance of undressed soldiers in the yard and the entry of unauthorized persons into the military base. Whenever his superiors appeared at the base, Luka was to report on what was going on at the company’s location.

Luka became the duty officer not because it was his turn to be on duty, but as punishment because his overcoat was tied with a rope during firing drills.