tone of the principal street and was soon
conversing with his neighbors on each side, one of whom was our old
friend, Mr. Reddy, and the other the young insurance agent whose
acquaintance Sam had made at the hotel.

"It's going to be a great show," said the former. "I wish I was spry
enough to parade too. It's going to be splendid, but it won't come up
to the time we had when I came back from the war. They've kept them
four boys drunk three days for nothing, but we was drunk a month."

"They've sobered them down for this evening, I believe," said the young
man.

"They've done their best," said Reddy, "and I think they'll go through
with it all right. It's a great time for them, but they'll have their
pension days all the rest of their lives to remind them of it, four
times a year."

"Who are going to take part in the procession?" asked Cleary.

"They're going to have all the military companies and patriotic
societies of these parts," answered Reddy, "and then the firemen too of
course; but they won't amount to much, for most of them are in the
societies, and they'd rather turn out in them."

"What societies are there?" said Cleary.

"Oh, there's the Grandsons of the Revolution and the Genuine Grandsons
of the Revolution, and the Daughters of Revolutionary Camp-Followers
and the Genuine Daughters, and then the Male Descendants of Second
Cousins of Heroes, and the Genuine Male Descendants, and the
Connections by Marriage of Colonial Tax-Collectors, and then the
Genuine Connections, and a lot of others I can't remember."

"The names seem to go in pairs," said Cleary.

"Well, you see, they always have a fight about something in these
military societies, and then they split, and the party that splits away
always takes the same name and puts 'Genuine' in front of it. That's
the way it is."

"I suppose these societies do a lot of good, don't they?" asked Cleary.
"These splits and quarrels remind me of the army. They must spread the
military spirit among the people."

"Yes, they do," said the young man. "It's what they call _esprit de
corps_. If fighting is military, they fight and no mistake, and the
women fight more than the men. I don't know how many lawsuits they've
had. Half of them won't speak to the other half. But they're all united
on one thing, I can tell you, and that is in wanting to put down the
Cubapinos."

"That they are," cried Reddy. "That's why they call '