Smiling, Ludwig said: "Allow me to tell you that I am a Colonel."

Julius bowed, and Ludwig continued: "How grand it was that the American
officers, at the end of their war, returned to civil life, while here
in Germany a standing army draws our best energies away from productive
labor."

Quietly but not without confidence, Julius replied: "It seems to me
that Uncle Ludwig is still thinking of the revolutionary times, of the
long forgotten stone age of German history. There is no separation now
between soldier and citizen, and it is very questionable whether any
one has the right to call us soldiers unproductive laborers. Our work
creates a race of men who give firmness and character to our political
life. What the schools are unable to finish, we perfect. To cultivate
the great forest of men, is a higher aim than to reclaim a forest of
trees."

"Oh," interrupted Wolfgang, and Julius turned to him and said: "Dear
Wolfgang, I do not think meanly of that either; it is also a part of
the work that society has before it. But each one must choose his post
and guard it faithfully."

Ludwig insisted to the contrary, and squarely put it to Julius that he
should leave the army, and take charge of his grandfather's estate. He
could, if his country called him, always return to his duty. He hinted,
and not very delicately, that one should not allow one's self to be
seduced by the outward glitter of the soldier's life.

Without any irritation, but in determined language, Julius declared
that he fully recognized how great a spectacle it was to see a
victorious army return home in triumph, and lay down its arms; that it
would have been desirable that the conclusion of peace should produce
the disarmament of Europe. Such a disarmament, however, is only
possible in America, where there is but one powerful nation. In
conclusion, he eulogized the high mission of the soldier's life as a
school for men.

Ludwig rose and said: "Here is my hand; I am converted. Father, I have
now decided. I shall accept the estate."

I do not know how it came to pass, but Martha had laid my
great-grandson in my arms, and when the boy raised his eyes to mine, I
felt as if I was looking forward into the future.

You, my child, rested beside a mother's heart during the battles; you
slept during the triumphant march, and now, around you, great words and
thoughts wander forth into the world. When, at some future time, you
shall learn how your father fou