"Then why did you turn soldier?"

"I feared that some day there might be a woman, and when that day came
I wished to be prepared. I thought that the men who fought would be
the men of the future. But I have learned a great deal. They will be
the men of the past in a few months. The memory of a battle's heroes
fades away almost with the smoke. In a little while, to receive our
just recognition we old soldiers will have to parade before the public
with a brass band, and the band will get most attention. Would you
know that Aaron Kallaberger was a hero of Gettysburg if he didn't wear
an army overcoat?"

"Oh, yes," she said. "I have heard about it so often. He has told me
a hundred times."

"I suppose you have told a hundred other persons of Aaron's prowess?"
said I.

"No-o-o," she answered.

"And so," said I, "when Perry Thomas finished his oration last night, I
had to catch it up; and if my soldiering is to result in any material
good to me I must keep that oration moving to the end."

"But will you?" she asked.

How I liked the way she put it! It was flattering--subtly so. She
seemed to imply that I was a modest soldier, and if there is a way to
flatter a man it is to call him modest. Modesty is one of the best of
policies. To call a man honest is no more than to call him healthy or