ressed her hair to indicate his sympathy, and she
gathered the hand to her lips and kissed it for thanks, not saying
anything. Presently the reaction came, and the boys began to talk. Noel
Rainguesson said:

"Oh, are we never going to be men! We do grow along so slowly, and France
never needed soldiers as she needs them now, to wipe out this black
insult."

"I hate youth!" said Pierre Morel, called the Dragon-fly because his eyes
stuck out so. "You've always got to wait, and wait, and wait--and here
are the great wars wasting away for a hundred years, and you never get a
chance. If I could only be a soldier now!"

"As for me, I'm not going to wait much longer," said the Paladin; "and
when I do start you'll hear from me, I promise you that. There are some
who, in storming a castle, prefer to be in the rear; but as for me, give
me the front or none; I will have none in front of me but the officers."

Even the girls got the war spirit, and Marie Dupont said:

"I would I were a man; I would start this minute!" and looked very proud
of herself, and glanced about for applause.

"So would I," said Cecile Letellier, sniffing the air like a war-horse
that smells the battle; "I warrant you I would not turn back from the
field though all England were in front of me."

"Pooh!" said the Paladin; "girls can brag, but that's all they are good
for. Let a thousand of them come face to face with a handful of soldiers
once, if you want to see what running is like. Here's little Joan--next
she'll be threatening to go for a soldier!"

The idea was so funny, and got such a good laugh, that the Paladin gave
it another trial, and said: "Why you can just see her!--see her plunge
into battle like any old veteran. Yes, indeed; and not a poor shabby
common soldier like us, but an officer--an officer, mind you, with armor
on, and the bars of a steel helmet to blush behind and hide her
embarrassment when she finds an army in front of her that she hasn't been
introduced to. An officer? Why, she'll be a captain! A captain, I tell
you, with a hundred men at her back--or maybe girls. Oh, no
common-soldier business for her! And, dear me, when she starts for that
other army, you'll think there's a hurricane blowing it away!"

Well, he kept it up like that till he made their sides ache with
laughing; which was quite natural, for certainly it was a very funny
idea--at that time--I mean, the idea of that gentle little creature, that
wouldn't hurt a