d away
again in the old brown wallet, which was settled in its place with a
satisfied slap; then Flint said briskly,--

"Naouw, Phil, yeou close this interestin' and instructive meeting; and
be spry, fer time's most up."

"I haven't much to tell, but must begin with a confession which I have
often longed but never dared to make before, because I am a coward."

"Sho! who's goan to b'leeve that o' a man who fit like a wild-cat, wuz
offered permotion on the field, and reported tew headquarters arfter
his fust scrimmage. Try ag'in, Phil."

"Physical courage is as plentiful as brass buttons, nowadays, but
moral courage is a rarer virtue; and I'm lacking in it, as I'll prove.
You think me a Virginian; I'm an Alabamian by birth, and was a Rebel
three months ago."

This confession startled his hearers, as he knew it would, for he
had kept his secret well. Thorn laid his hand involuntarily upon his
rifle, Dick drew off a little, and Flint illustrated one of his own
expressions, for he "gawped." Phil laughed that musical laugh of his,
and looked up at them with his dark face waking into sudden life, as
he went on:--

"There's no treason in the camp, for I'm as fierce a Federalist as any
of you now, and you may thank a woman for it. When Lee made his raid
into Pennsylvania, I was a lieutenant in the--well, never mind what
regiment, it hasn't signalized itself since, and I'd rather not hit my
old neighbors when they are down. In one of the skirmishes during our
retreat, I got a wound and was left for dead. A kind old Quaker found
and took me home; but though I was too weak to talk, I had my senses
by that time, and knew what went on about me. Everything was in
confusion, even in that well-ordered place: no surgeon could be got at
first, and a flock of frightened women thee'd and thou'd one another
over me, but hadn't wit enough to see that I was bleeding to death.
Among the faces that danced before my dizzy eyes was one that seemed
familiar, probably because no cap surrounded it. I was glad to have
it bending over me, to hear a steady voice say, 'Give me a bandage,
quick!' and when none was instantly forthcoming to me, the young lady
stripped up a little white apron she wore, and stanched the wound in
my shoulder. I was not as badly hurt as I supposed, but so worn-out,
and faint from loss of blood, they believed me to be dying, and so did
I, when the old man took off his hat and said,--

"Friend, if thee has anything to sa