e womenfolk must haste with ministering, greatly restored
his self-esteem. Again the sword began to lose its tarnish; again it
flashed in his hand with zest; again in imagination his company stepped
off with the precision of regulars!

"War's declared," he shouted. "Colonel Hampton and Mr. Strong have
patched up their fuss, and are going to recruit a company and make me
captain. We'll be smashing the Germans inside a month!"

He wondered at the strength with which these last words were spoken, and
was on the point of repeating them because their sound had caressed his
pride, when Miss Sallie gave a cry.

"Sister Veemie," she called, "come with me quickly! War is declared, and
our Jeb has been appointed to lead the soldiers! Oh, what shall become
of us!"

The last symptoms of trepidation lingering in his make-up now
disappeared entirely, and it was a tall, proud, imperious officer who
stood in the front hall waiting for the little ladies who, hand-in-hand,
came timidly down. Without speaking, Miss Veemie crossed to where he
stood. She did not seem to walk, but glide, so smooth and gentle was her
movement and the flow of her wide, rather old-fashioned skirt. Tiptoeing
and putting her arms around his neck, she simply whispered:

"Jeb!"

"Pshaw, Aunt Veemie," he said, feeling delightfully heroic, "it isn't
anything to take on about. We're at war, and at it for keeps!--that's
all there is to it! I've been honored with a captaincy, and we'll be in
France before July Fourth, and in Berlin by Thanksgiving. Think of
that!"

Miss Sallie caught his sleeve.

"Oh, Jeb," she cried, "if your dear father had lived to hear you speak
thus spiritedly!"

"We're so proud of you, dear," Miss Veemie whispered, her eyes gazing up
at him through tears of adulation. "You'll try not to get hurt, won't
you?" She admonished simply from force of habit.

It might have been a war god who dined in their home that evening. He
was seated in Jeb's place, and on either side of him sat a seamed though
gentle handmaiden, missing no opportunity to load his plate with good
things. Their faded cheeks were tinged with a glow that had not been
there in many years, their eyes sparkled with an almost forgotten light,
and the lace on their narrow-breasted bodices rose and fell with an
agitation that required at times a delicate hand to still.

The talk was of war, and Jeb handled the subject to his entire
satisfaction. His highly strung mind drew pictu