weren't thinking of going back--of leaving the fighting?"
Mrs. Johns-Hayes demanded.

The Colonel shifted his wad of tobacco and looked at the woman
carefully as though he couldn't quite believe the evidence of his
eyes. "No, ma'am, I don't reckon I am. I don't exactly look on it the
same as the other boys do. I kind of feel like if we're ever going to
have a country, it's worth fighting for."

Mrs. Johns-Hayes beamed, as did all the other officers of the
Daughters. "Well, your faith and heroism have been rewarded,
great-great-great-great-grandfather. I know you'll be proud to know
that these ladies whom you see before you are the present guardians of
the ideals that you fought for."

"Well, now, is that so, ma'am? Is that so?" Peter Johns looked around
the convention hall in amazement.

"And that I, your descendant, have just been elected their President!"

"Well, what do you know about that! Maybe all the hard times and the
danger we been going through is worth it if you folks still remember
the way we felt about things."

"It's too bad," Decker whispered to MacCulloch, "that we can't let him
see what the country is really like. I'm not sure these ladies are
representative."

There was a worried look on the Professor's face. "That's impossible.
The reintegration is good for only an hour or so. I hope nothing goes
wrong here."

Mrs. Appleby-Simpkin took charge of the Colonel and ushered him to a
seat of honor near the podium while the new President prepared to
deliver her speech. Decker and the professor managed to obtain seats
on either side of Johns just as Rebecca started. He managed to whisper
to them, "I'm sure amazed! I'm sure amazed! All these nice old ladies
feeling the same way about things as we do."

* * * * *

Decker had a premonition of trouble as Mrs. Hayes' words poured forth.
He had hoped for a cut and dried acceptance speech with nothing but
the usual patriotic platitudes, but, as she went on his worst fears
were realized. Inspired by the presence of her ancestor, the woman was
going into superlatives about the purposes and aims of the Patriot
Daughters. She covered everything from the glories of her ancestry to
the morals of the younger generation and women in politics.

Decker watched the Colonel's face, saw it changed from puzzlement to
painful boredom as word after word floated from the battery of
speakers overhead.

MacCulloch was whispering in Johns