girl."

"I suppose you have reference to the time before you were married,"
interrupted someone, but Lesponts did not heed him. He went on:

"It seemed the rumor had got out that morning that it was the Captain's
train that had gone off the track and that the Captain had been killed
in the wreck, and this crowd had assembled to meet the body. 'We were
going to give you a big funeral, Captain,' said one old fellow; 'they've
got you while you are living, but we claim you when you are dead. We
ain't going to let 'em have you then. We're going to put you to sleep in
old Virginia.'

"The old fellow was much affected, and made them a little speech. He
introduced us to them all. He said: 'Gentlemen, these are my boys, my
neighbors and family;' and then, 'Boys, these are my friends; I don't
know all their names yet, but they are my friends.' And we were. He
rushed off to send a telegram to his wife in New Orleans, because, as he
said afterwards, she, too, might get hold of the report that he had been
killed; and a Christmas message would set her up, anyhow. She'd be
a little low down at his not getting there, he said, as he had never
missed a Christmas-day at home since '64.

"When dinner-time came he was invited in by pretty nearly everyone in
the car, but he declined; he said he had to attend to a matter. I was
going in with a party, but I thought the old fellow would be lonely,
so I waited and insisted on his dining with me. I found that it had
occurred to him that a bowl of eggnogg would make it seem more like
Christmas, and he had telegraphed ahead to a friend at a little place to
have 'the materials' ready. Well, they were on hand when we got there,
and we took them aboard, and the old fellow made one of the finest
eggnoggs you ever tasted in your life. The rest of the passengers had
no idea of what was going on, and when the old chap came in with a big
bowl, wreathed in holly, borne by Nick, and the old Captain marching
behind, there was quite a cheer. It was offered to the ladies first, of
course, and then the men assembled in the smoker and the Captain did the
honors. He did them handsomely, too: made us one of the prettiest little
speeches you ever heard; said that Christmas was not dependent on the
fireplace, however much a roaring fire might contribute to it; that it
was in everyone's heart and might be enjoyed as well in a railway-car as
in a hall, and that in this time of change and movement it behooved us
a