o, listening to all this talk with a
flaming face, now retreated down the street. "Wait until I tell dad all
about this nonsense about the Flag and the uniform!"

Hal and Noll stood for some moments gazing at the attractive recruiting
poster in the post-office window. One by one the boys who had gathered
went off in search of other interest or sport, until only Jud and Tom
remained near the two older boys.

"I reckon you think I was foolish, don't you, Hal?" asked Jud, at last.

"No; not just that," replied Overton, turning, with a smile. "No
American can ever be foolish to insist on respect for the country's Flag
and uniform."

"I simply can't stand by and hear soldiers sneered at. My father was a
soldier, you know, even if he was only a war-time volunteer, and didn't
serve a whole year."

"When you get out of patience with fellows like Bunny Hepburn,"
suggested Noll Terry, "just you compare your father with a fellow like
Bunny's father. You know, well enough, that your father, as a useful and
valuable citizen, is worth more than a thousand Hepburns can ever be."

"That's right," nodded Hal, with vigor. "And there's another man in this
town that you can compare with Bunny's father. You know Mr. Wright?
Sergeant Wright is his proper title. He's an old, retired sergeant from
the Regular Army, who served his country fighting Indians and Spaniards,
and now he has settled down here--a fine, upright, honest American,
middle aged, and with retired pay and savings enough to support him as
long as he lives. I haven't met many men as fine as Sergeant Wright."

"I know," nodded Jud, his eyes shining. "Sergeant Wright is a fine man.
Sometimes he talks to Tom and me an hour at a time, telling us all about
the campaigns he has served in. Say, Hal, you and Noll ought to call on
him and ask him for some of his grand old Indian stories."

"We know some of them," laughed Hal. "Noll and I have been calling there
often."

"You have?" said Jud gleefully. "Say, ain't Sergeant Wright one of the
finest men ever? I'll bet he's been a regular up-and-down hero himself,
though he never tells us anything about his own big deeds."

"He wears the medal of Congress," replied Hal warmly. "A soldier who
wears that doesn't need to brag."

"Say," remarked Jud thoughtfully, "I guess you two fellows are about as
much struck with the soldiers as I am."

"I'll tell you and Tom something--if you can keep a secret," replied Hal
Overton, after a s