o
the smoking-car.

[Illustration]

CHAPTER XII

THEO MAKES A PRESENT

There was great rejoicing when Theo and his father reached home. It
seemed as if Mrs. Swift could never do enough for her boy. The whole
house was turned upside down to make him comfortable, and on the
dinner table were all his favorite dishes.

"To see your mother, Theo, anybody would think you were a fragile
invalid just out of the hospital rather than a husky young camper
returned from the woods," growled the Doctor. "My dear," he
continued, addressing his wife, "Theo hasn't had as much attention as
this in all the time he has been ill. Croyden and I have not pranced
round after him, I assure you. He has had to brace up and bear his
troubles like a soldier; and he has done it, too."

"I suppose soldiers do have to be pretty patient," remarked Theo
meditatively. "I never thought before how hard it must be for them
when they are hurt."

"It is one of the great tests of courage," said Dr. Swift. "We all are
liable to think of soldiers only when the drums are beating and the
flags flying. Then it seems a very easy and pleasant thing to be a
soldier. But there is much more to it than that. A great deal of
drudgery is attached to a soldier's life, and frequently a great deal
of suffering. One of the tests of a hero is to be patient when there
is nothing to do but await orders, or perform some menial and
uninteresting task, or lie tossing on a sick-bed. Then you find out
very quickly the sort of stuff your man is made of. Those who fight
are not the biggest heroes. Often the noblest and most helpful men
are those who themselves are not only cheerful under monotony and
dullness, but aid their comrades to be so. Therefore, Theo, when you
took it upon yourself to bear your troubles in the Maine woods bravely
you proved you had the first essential of a good soldier."

Theo flushed with pleasure.

"That is why we cannot have your mother undoing your virtuous
deeds," continued the Doctor whimsically. "We must make her realize
she has a man and not a baby to deal with. Theo is no invalid,
Louisa. On the contrary, he is going right to school to-morrow."

"Not with those crutches!" protested Mrs. Swift.

"Why not? He has the term to finish, and certainly you would not have
him flat out on his job when the end is in sight. It is only a few
weeks to the last of June. The fishing trip was a vacation; and if he
got more vacation out of i