er." It was evident that the
colonel was in joyous mood. But Alice was silent. She wanted to hear the
letter. He would have handed it to Frederick, but both Mrs. Maynard and
Aunt Grace clamored to hear it read aloud: so he cleared his throat and
began:

"MY DEAR COLONEL,--

"Fred's chances for a commission are good, as the enclosed papers will
show you; but even were this not the case I would have but one thing to
say in answer to your letter: he should go back to his troop.

"Whatever our friends and fellow-citizens may think on the subject, I
hold that the profession of the soldier is to the full as honorable as
any in civil life; and it is liable at any moment to be more useful. I
do not mean the officer alone. I say, and mean, the soldier. As for me,
I would rather be first sergeant of my troop or company, or
sergeant-major of my regiment, than any lieutenant in it except the
adjutant. Hope of promotion is all that can make a subaltern's life
endurable, but the staff-sergeant or the first sergeant, honored and
respected by his officers, decorated for bravery by Congress, and looked
up to by his comrades, is a king among men. The pay has nothing to do
with it. I say to Renwick, 'Come back as soon as your wound will let
you,' and I envy him the welcome that will be his.

"As for me, I am even more eager to get back to you all; but things look
very dubious. The doctors shake their heads at anything under a month,
and say I'll be lucky if I eat my Thanksgiving dinner with you. If
trying to get well is going to help, October shall not be done with
before B Company will report me present again.

"I need not tell you, my dear old friend, how I rejoice with you in
your--hum and haw and this is all about something else," goes on the
colonel, in malignant disregard of the longing looks in the eyes of
three women, all of whom are eager to hear the rest of it, and one of
whom wouldn't say so for worlds. "Write to me often. Remember me warmly
to the ladies of your household. I fear Miss Alice would despise this
wild, open prairie-country; there is no golden-rod here, and I so often
see her as--hum and hum and all that sort of talk of no interest to
anybody," says he, with a quizzical look over his "bows" at the lovely
face and form bending forward with forgetful eagerness to hear how "he
so often sees her." And there is a great bunch of golden-rod in her lap
now, and a vivid blush on her cheek. The colonel is waxing as friv