“Besides his impressive build, the boy had—­had—­” the Judge glanced at the Russian General, whose eyes glowed at the fire.  “The boy had a remarkable face.  It was cut like a granite hill, in sweeping masses.  All strength.  His eyes were coals.  I went home thoughtful, and the Russian boy’s intense face was in my mind for days, and I told myself many times that he not only would be, but already was, a man.

“Events quickstepped after that.  I got to France within the year, and, as you remember, work was ready.  It was perhaps eighteen months after that registration day, June fifth, which we keep so rightly now as one of our sacred days, that one morning I was in a fight.  Our artillery had demoralized the enemy at a point and sent them running.  There was one machine gun left working in the Hun trenches—­doing a lot of damage.  Suddenly it jammed.  I was commanding my company, and I saw the chance, but also I saw a horrid mess of barbed wire.  So I just ran forward a bit and up to the wire and started clipping, while that machine gun stayed jammed.  Out of the corner of an eye I could see men rushing towards it in the German trench, and I knew I had only a moment before they got it firing again.  Then, as I leaped far forward to reach a bit of entanglement, my foot slipped in a puddle and as I sprawled I saw our uniform and a dead American boy’s face under me, and I fell headlong in his blood over him and into a bunch of wire.  And couldn’t get up.  The wire held like the devil.  I got more tied up at every pull.  And my clippers had fallen from my hand and landed out of reach.

“‘It’s good night for me,’ I thought, and was aware of a sharp regret.  To be killed because of a nasty bit of wire!  I had wanted to do a lot of things yet.  With that something leaped, and I saw clippers flashing close by.  A big man was cutting me loose, dragging me out, setting me on my feet.  Then the roar of an exploding shell; the man fell—­fell into the wire from which he had just saved me.  There was no time to consider that; somehow I was back and leading my men—­and then we had the trenches.

“The rest of that day was confusion, but we won a mile of earthworks, and at night I remembered the incident of the wire and the man who rescued me.  By a miracle I found him in the field hospital.  His head was bandaged, for the bit of shell had scraped his cheek and jaw, but his eyes were safe, and something in the glance out of them was familiar.  Yet I didn’t know him till he drew me over and whispered painfully, for it hurt him to talk: 

“’Yester—­day I did—­give Mr. Sir somethings more than dollar.  And he did—­take it.’

“Then I know the big young Russian of registration day who had tried to tip me.  Bless him!  I got him transferred to my command and—­” the Judge hesitated a bit and glanced at his distinguished guest.  One surmised embarrassment in telling the story of the General’s humble compatriot.