," said the man reproachfully.
"He was going to try his knife on the wood-work when I caught him."

"Thank you, Sergeant. I'll do my best--but the younger generation, you
know."

"Sit still, if possible!" he directed the squirming boy. "If not,
we'll start home now."

The non-com took a new post within easy reaching distance of the
disturber and attempted to glare impressively.

"Go on, grandfather, tell me. What's D-r-a-y-l-e? What's in the box?
Can't they open it? What are the soldiers for? Must they stay here?
Why?"

"Drayle," said the old man, breaking through the barrage of questions,
"was a close friend of mine a good many years ago."

"How many, grandfather? Fifty? As much as fifty? Did father know him?
Is father fifty?"

"Forty; no; yes; no," said the harassed relative; and then with
amazing ignorance inquired: "Do you really care to hear or do you just
ask questions to exercise your tongue?"

"I want to hear the story, grandpa. Tell me the story. Is it a nice
story? Has it got bears in it? Polar bears? I saw a polar bear
yesterday. He was white. Are polar bears always white? Tell me the
story, grandpa."

* * * * *

The old man turned appealing eyes toward the sergeant. Tacitly a
sympathetic understanding was established. The warrior also was a
father, and off the field of battle he had known defeat.

"Leave me handle him, sir," he suggested. "I've the like of him at
home."

"I'd be very much indebted to you if you would."

Thus encouraged, the soldier produced from an inner pocket and offered
one of those childhood sweets known as an "all day sucker."

"See if you can choke yourself on that," he challenged.

The clamor ceased immediately.

"It always works, sir," explained the man of resource. "The missus
says as how it'll ruin their indigestions, but I'm all for peace even
if I am in the army."

Now that his vocal organs were temporarily plugged, the child waved a
demanding arm in the direction of the main exhibit to indicate a
desire for the resumption of the narrative. But the ancient was not
anxious to disturb so soon the benign and acceptable silence. In fact
it was not until he observed the sergeant's look of inquiry that he
began once more.

"That box," he said slowly, "is both a monument and a milestone on the
road to mankind's progress in mechanical invention. It marks the point
beyond which Drayle's contemporaries believed it was unsafe to go: fo