"What signifies?--he got one, and Scripture is the rule of life for men
of our age, _now we are out of the army_."

"I think you had better let him plead his own cause, John; and if he
takes the tone you do, he will get turned out of the house pretty quick;
as you will some of these days, Mr. Baker."

"We sha'n't go, neither of us," said Mr. Baker, but with a sudden tone of
affectionate respect, which disarmed the words of their true meaning. He
added, hanging his head for the first time, "Poor young gentleman! afraid
to face his own father!"

"What's he afraid of?" asked the Colonel, roughly.

"Of you cursing and swearing at him," said John.

"Cursing and swearing!" cried the Colonel--"a thing I never do now.
Cursing and swearing, indeed! You be ----!"

"There you go," said old John. "Come, Colonel, be a father. What has the
poor boy done?"

"He has deserted--a thing I have seen a fellow shot for, and he has left
me a prey to parental anxieties."

"And so he has me, for that matter. But I forgive him. Anyway, I should
like to hear his story before I condemn him. Why, he's only nineteen and
four months, come Martinmas. Besides, how do we know?--he may have had
some very good reason for going."