’But, Major Tracy, you are giving us a shocking idea of the morals in the Service,’ said one lady.

He shrugged his shoulders.  ’I grant you, on the whole, they are better than they were, but the Service is no place for highly strung boys like this one.  The rougher, harder natures get on best.  When they get older, and have sense and strength enough to stick to their principles, then let them enlist.’

‘But I have always heard,’ said Mrs. Graham, ’that the drummer boys are well looked after now.  They have a room to themselves, and the chaplains have classes for them.’

’That may be.  I would only ask you to watch a boy, as I have, from the start, and see what kind of a man he grows into after having spent most of his early youth in the Service.  There are exceptions, I know, but precious few, as far as my experience goes.’

Teddy did not understand this conversation, but he gathered from the major’s tone that he did not approve of him.

‘Do you think I’m too small to be a soldier?’ he asked.

The major laughed.  ‘Don’t bother your head about your size,’ he said; ‘you’ll grow, and there’s plenty of time before you.’

‘I don’t want to be a drummer,’ said Teddy earnestly; ’I’d rather wait and be a proper soldier—­a soldier that fights.’

’A capital decision—­stick to it, little chap, and you have my hearty approval.’

‘You have your father’s blood in your veins,’ said the colonel, laughing; ’meanwhile, I suppose you try your hand on the village boys, to content your fighting propensities.’

‘No,’ said Teddy, a grave look coming into his sunny blue eyes.  ’I don’t fight with anybody but Ipse now; he keeps me always busy.’

‘Who is Ipse?’ asked Mrs. Graham.

’He’s my own enemy; Mr. Upton told me about him.  You see, I belong to God’s army.  He takes very little soldiers.  I’ve been enlisted for months and months, and Ipse is just another part of me—­the bad part!’

There was silence on the little company for a minute, then Major Tracy said with a laugh, ’What an original little oddity it is!—­quite a character!’

And then Teddy was dismissed.  He flew down the avenue home as fast as he could go.  Snow was falling, but he heeded it not, and burst into the kitchen a little later in a breathless state of excitement.

His mother knew already, so was prepared for his news, but she was not prepared for the handsome adornment now on her boy’s coat, and his grandmother and uncle were equally pleased and gratified at the colonel’s kindness.

Teddy’s prayer of thanksgiving that night touched his mother greatly.

’O God, I do thank You.  I knew You would answer me, for You knew how dreadful it was to live without my button, and You knew how unhappy my heart was about it, though I tried to be brave, and not talk about it.  Please, do help me to take great care of it, and never let me lose it again!’