orthy of you," David sighed.

"I don't mean that, and you know I don't," Emily replied indignantly.
"It has nothing to do with me! I want you to be worthy of yourself, of
your grandpa Hiram!"

"But _how_?" complained David. "What chance has a twenty-five
dollar a week clerk----"

It was a year before the Spanish-American War, while the patriots of
Cuba were fighting the mother country for their independence.

"If I were a Son of the Revolution," said Emily, "I'd go to Cuba and
help free it."

"Don't talk nonsense," cried David. "If I did that I'd lose my job, and
we'd never be able to marry. Besides, what's Cuba done for me? All I
know about Cuba is, I once smoked a Cuban cigar and it made me ill."

"Did Lafayette talk like that?" demanded Emily. "Did he ask what have
the American rebels ever done for me?"

"If I were in Lafayette's class," sighed David, "I wouldn't be selling
automatic punches."

"There's your trouble," declared Emily. "You lack self-confidence.
You're too humble, you've got fighting blood and you ought to keep
saying to yourself, 'Blood will tell,' and the first thing you know, it
_will_ tell! You might begin by going into politics in your ward.
Or, you could join the militia. That takes only one night a week, and
then, if we _did_ go to war with Spain, you'd get a commission, and
come back a captain!"

Emily's eyes were beautiful with delight. But the sight gave David no
pleasure. In genuine distress, he shook his head.

"Emily," he said, "you're going to be awfully disappointed in me."

Emily's eyes closed as though they shied at some mental picture. But
when she opened them they were bright, and her smile was kind and eager.

"No, I'm not," she protested; "only I want a husband with a career, and
one who'll tell me to keep quiet when I try to run it for him."

"I've often wished you would," said David.

"Would what? Run your career for you?"

"No, keep quiet. Only it didn't seem polite to tell you so."

"Maybe I'd like you better," said Emily, "if you weren't so darned
polite."

A week later, early in the spring of 1897, the unexpected happened, and
David was promoted into the flying squadron. He now was a travelling
salesman, with a rise in salary and a commission on orders. It was a
step forward, but as going on the road meant absence from Emily, David
was not elated. Nor did it satisfy Emily. It was not money she wanted.
Her ambition for David could not be silenced with a ra