"If it hadn't been for me," Frank could not help thinking,
"father would not now be going away. He would have stayed at
home, and I could still go to school. It would have made a great
difference to us, and the loss of one man could not affect the
general result."

A moment after his conscience rebuked him for harboring so
selfish a thought.

"The country needs him more even than we do," he said to himself.
"It will be a hard trial to have him go, but it is our duty."

"Will my little Charlie miss me when I am gone?" asked Mr. Frost
of the chubby-faced boy who sat with great, round eyes peering
into the fire, as if he were deeply engaged in thought.

"Won't you take me with you, papa?" asked Charlie.

"What could you do if you were out there, my little boy?" asked
the father, smiling.

"I'd shoot great big rebel with my gun," said Charlie, waxing
valiant.

"Your gun's only a wooden one," said Maggie, with an air of
superior knowledge. "You couldn't kill a rebel with that."

"I'd kill 'em some," persisted Charlie earnestly, evidently
believing that a wooden gun differed from others not in kind, but