he was in future to hold as her counselor and protector.

Frank and his mother looked sober. They had not realized fully until
this evening what it would be to part with the husband and father--how
constantly they would miss him at the family meal and in the evening
circle. Then there was the dreadful uncertainty of war. He might never
return, or, if spared for that, it might be with broken constitution or
the loss of a limb.

"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 in degree.

"But suppose the rebels should fire at you," said Frank, amused. "What
would you do then, Charlie?"

Charlie looked into the fire thoughtfully for a moment, as if this
contingency had not presented itself to his mind until now. Suddenly
his face brightened up, and he answered. "I'd run away just as fast as I
could."

All laughed at this, and Frank said: "But that wouldn't be acting like a
brave soldier, Charlie. You ought to stay and make the enemy run."

"I wouldn't want to stay and be shooted," said Charlie ingenuously.

"There are many older than Charlie," said Mr. Frost, smiling, "who
would doubtless sympathize entirely with him in his objection to being
shooted, though they might not be quite so ready to make confession as
he has shown himself. I suppose you have heard the couplet:

"'He who fights and runs away
May live to fight another day.'"