rcy of his intervention and let the matter drop.

After he had taken every precaution he went out into the night again,
and fought with himself as he had fought all that day and all the night
before; in fact, ever since old Thomas had come to him after leaving
Necia, and had so cunningly shaped his talk that Burrell never
suspected his object until he perceived his position in such a clear
light that the young man looked back upon his work with startled eyes.
The Corporal had spoken garrulously of his officer's family; of their
pride, and of their love for his profession; had dwelt enthusiastically
upon the Lieutenant's future and the length he was sure to go, and
finally drifted into the same story he had told Necia. Burrell at last
sensed the meaning of the crafty old soldier's strategy and dismissed
him, but not before his work had been accomplished. If a coarse-fibred,
calloused old campaigner like Corporal Thomas could recognize the
impossibility of a union between Necia and himself, then the young man
must have been blind indeed not to have seen it for himself. The
Kentuckian was a man of strong and virile passions, but he was also
well balanced, and had ever followed his head rather than his heart,
holding, as he did, a deep-seated contempt for weak men who laid their
courses otherwise. The generations of discipline back of him spoke to
his conscience. He had allowed himself to become attached to this girl
until--yes, he knew now he loved her. If only he had not awakened her
and himself with that first hot kiss; if only--But there was no going
back now, no use for regrets, only the greater necessity of mapping out
a course that would cause her least unhappiness. If he could have run
away he would have done so gladly, but he was bound here to this camp,
with no possibility of avoiding her.

When he drove his reason with firm hands he saw but one course to
follow; but, when his mind went slack for a moment, the old desire to
have her returned more strongly than ever, and he heard voices arguing,
pleading, persuading--she was the equal of any woman in the world, they
said, in mind, in purity, and in innocence. He hated himself for
hesitating; he railed at his own indecision; and then, when he had
justified his love and persuaded himself that he was right in seeking
this union, there would rise again the picture of his people, their
chagrin, and what would result from such a marriage. He knew how they
would take it;