what he is told, no matter how galling to
the young boy's proud spirit.

The next day, being thoroughly armed, we put on everything red, white
and blue that we could think of--night-shirts are good for white, and
you don't know what you can do with red socks and blue jerseys till you
try--and we waited by the churchyard wall for the soldiers. When the
advance guard (or whatever you call it of artillery--it's that for
infantry, I know) came by, we got ready, and when the first man of the
first battery was level with us Oswald played on his penny whistle the
'advance' and the 'charge'--and then shouted--

'Three cheers for the Queen and the British Army!' This time they had
the guns with them. And every man of the battery cheered too. It was
glorious. It made you tremble all over. The girls said it made them
want to cry--but no boy would own to this, even if it were true. It is
babyish to cry. But it was glorious, and Oswald felt differently to what
he ever did before.

Then suddenly the officer in front said, 'Battery! Halt!' and all the
soldiers pulled their horses up, and the great guns stopped too. Then
the officer said, 'Sit at ease,' and something else, and the sergeant
repeated it, and some of the men got off their horses and lit their
pipes, and some sat down on the grass edge of the road, holding their
horses' bridles.

We could see all the arms and accoutrements as plain as plain.

Then the officer came up to us. We were all standing on the wall that
day, except Dora, who had to sit, because her foot was bad, but we let
her have the three-edged rapier to wear, and the blunderbuss to hold as
well--it has a brass mouth and is like in Mr Caldecott's pictures.

He was a beautiful man the officer. Like a Viking. Very tall and fair,
with moustaches very long, and bright blue eyes. He said--

'Good morning.'

So did we.

Then he said--

'You seem to be a military lot.'

We said we wished we were.

'And patriotic,' said he.

Alice said she should jolly well think so.

Then he said he had noticed us there for several days, and he had halted
the battery because he thought we might like to look at the guns.

Alas! there are but too few grown-up people so far-seeing and thoughtful
as this brave and distinguished officer.

We said, 'Oh, yes', and then we got off the wall, and that good
and noble man showed us the string that moves the detonator and the
breech-block (when you take it out and carry it away