er the rims of those spectacles.

"Well, Julius Caesar Thornton, this is a serious charge they have lodged
against you?"

"Yassah, dat's what dey say."

"You went forth like a man to fight for your country, didn't you?"

"Na, sah!"

"How'd you get there?"

"Dey volunteered me, sah."

"Volunteered you, did they?" the President laughed.

"Yassah--dat dey did. Dey sho' volunteered me whether er no----"

"And how did it happen?"

"Dey done hit so quick, sah, I scacely know how dey did do hit. I was in
de war down in Virginia wid Marse John Vaughan--an' er low-lifed
Irishman on guard dar put me ter wuk er buryin' corpses. I hain't nebber
had no taste for corpses nohow, an' I didn't like de job--mo' specially,
sah, when one ob 'em come to ez I was pullin' him froo de dark ter de
grave----"

"Come to, did he?" the President smiled.

"Yassah--he come to all of er sudden an' kicked me! An' hit scared me
near 'bout ter death. I lit out fum dar purty quick, sah, an' go West.
An' I ain't mor'n got out dar 'fore two fellers drawed dere muskets on
me an' persuaded me ter volunteer, sah. Dey put dese here cloze on me
an' tell me dat I wuz er hero. I tell 'em dey must be some mistake 'bout
dat, but dey say no--dey know what dey wuz er doin'. Dey keep on tellin'
me dat I wuz er hero an', by golly, I 'gin ter b'lieve hit myself till
dey git me into trouble, sah."

"You were in a battle?"

Julius scratched his head and walled his eyes:

"I had er little taste ob it, sah,----"

"Well, you tried to fight, didn't you?"

"No, sah,--I run."

"Ran at the first fire?"

"Yas, _sah_! An' I'd a ran sooner ef I'd er known hit wuz comin'----"

Julius paused and broke into a jolly laugh:

"Dey git one pop at me, sah, 'fore I seed what dey wuz doin'!"

The President suppressed a laugh and gazed at Julius with severity:

"That wasn't very creditable to your courage."

"Dat ain't in my line, sah,--I'se er cook."

"Have you no regard for your reputation?"

"Dat ain't nuttin' ter me, sah, 'side er life!"

"And your life is worth more than other people's?"

"Worth er lot mo' ter me, sah."

"I'm afraid they wouldn't have missed you, Julius, if you'd been
killed."

"Na, sah, but I'd a sho missed myself an' dat's de pint wid me."

The President fixed him with a comical frown:

"It's sweet and honorable to die for one's country, Julius!"

"Yassah--dat's what I hear--but I ain't fond er sweet things--I ain't
nebber hab