faction of displaying the
sleeve adorned with sergeant's stripes. He was not a common cadet, he
had his stripes, and though this did not seem much to one who dreamed
of being a general, still it was a step in the right direction. No;
he did not go to bull-fights. In truth he was an _habitue_ but he had
sacrificed himself in order to talk for a whole afternoon with his
sweetheart at the door of her house in the silence of the Claverias.
The grandmother had gone down into the garden, and "Virgin's Blue"
would not be long in going out and leaving the coast clear, as if
the matter in no way concerned him. "The beautiful evening, friend
Gabriel!" He had far more serious and important affairs than the new
comers at the academy, who spent all their Sundays at the cafes, or
walking up and down like fools--everyone at the academy, even the
professors, envied him his sweetheart.

"And when is the wedding to be?" said Gabriel gaily.

Master Stripes looked most important as he replied: "There were many
things to be done before--first of all to bring his uncle to consent,
which might not be easy, and to follow the guiding of his good star to
attain a certain rank; but he was intended for great things, so it was
only a matter of a few years.

"I, friend Luna, am of the stuff of young generals; it is the good
luck of the family. My uncle, when he was only an acolyte, was certain
he would become a cardinal, and he succeeded. I shall rise much
faster. Besides, you know that to be an archbishop of Toledo is not a
small thing. My uncle has many friends in the palace, and commands in
the ministry of war just as though he were a general. In point of fact
he is far more a soldier than a cleric! And to prove it to you, there
is the only thing he has ever written, a prayer to the Virgin for the
soldiers to recite before they go into action."

"And you, Juanito, do you really feel any vocation for a military
life?"

"A great deal--ever since I knew how to open books and read them I
have wished to rival those great captains that I saw in the prints,
erect on their horses, with swords in their hands, proud and handsome.
Believe me, no one enters on this career without a vocation; many are
entered in the seminaries against their will, but no one can make a
soldier by force; anyone who comes to the academy has the longing in
himself."

"And are all of them as sure of the result as you are?"

"Oh, yes; all," said the cardinal's nephew smili