"Nothing but a cruel war could have done it," said the girl quietly.
"What does it matter now," she demanded impetuously, "if Daddy did
fight for the North and the Major for the South? It's all so long ago
that a quarrel about it is foolish."

The Colonel cleared his throat. "Yes, it is foolish," he admitted.

"You see," Ruth leaned eagerly forward, "I met a man who knew the
Major, and he praised him so highly that I lay awake all one night
thinking what a pity it was that two such splendid men as Daddy and his
brother should still be enemies over an old bygone war. You know,
Colonel, they would have been friends ages ago, only each was too proud
to make the first advance. Wasn't it foolish?"

The Colonel nodded, carefully shading his eyes from the fire.

"They were just wasting precious years of companionship," went on the
girl. "That thought came to me as I lay awake in bed, and the very
next morning I wrote to the Major. You see, Colonel Fairfax, I feel
this way," she explained. "There's no North and no South. Daddy and
the Major are citizens of the United States."

The Colonel rose and busied himself about the fire. When he put back
the tongs and reseated himself his cheeks were hot from its blazing
warmth.

"And that's what I told Uncle Edward in the letter, and, Colonel, he
wrote me such a glorious letter back that I had to show it to Daddy.
He was delighted, and he said that any two men who fought over the