rent matter. Most people do what other people tell them to
do. That is why I believe if all the leaders of the world would preach
peace, all war would end."

Instead of appearing to take the youthful pacifist seriously, Lieutenant
Carson smiled. Billy was a little offensive and misguided, nevertheless
there was something interesting about the boy; he had such an intense
manner, such an appearance of being convinced of his own point of view.
And Billy's personality suggested the thinker, not the man of action.

"Then you are under the impression we are over there in our encampment
for the fun of it and in order to kill time which we might be spending
in better ways?" he inquired, thinking that perhaps he might answer
Bettina's anxious questionings and Billy's impertinence at the same
time. "Well, as a matter of fact, our encampment is not a very
attractive place up to the present. Did you think so when you made us
the visit? One job we have been tackling recently is to clear away the
underbrush from a good many thousands of acres of desert which have
remained undisturbed from the year one until now. We killed ninety
rattlesnakes as a part of the first day's work. Later on we are going to
drive artillery across those wastes of sand. Does not sound like play,
does it?"

"No," Billy returned patiently, wondering why people would not sometimes
answer his questions directly, without first preaching long sermons
which seemed to have but little bearing upon them.

"It is because I think a soldier's life is so hard and must be so
distasteful to a lot of men that I wonder why you would rather give
your energy to fighting than to trying to make the world happier and
wiser in other ways."

Lieutenant Carson frowned. He knew the things Billy was saying were
being said by a good many people the world over, who were older and
wiser, or who should have been wiser, than Billy. But he also realized
that these same sentiments were not easy to answer, because they had in
them so much of the germ of truth, which was to blossom and flower at
some future day.

Moreover, unexpectedly he experienced an impulse to help the boy to see
the present world struggle in a clearer light.

"Billy," he added, "you will agree with me, won't you, that pretty
nearly everybody is saying the same thing these days? We all claim that
we wish the world to enjoy universal peace, that we long for greater
justice and happiness and a deeper sense of brotherho