"Cora! Do you mean it, girlie? Do you really mean it?" And two short but strong arms went round her. "But I ain't a sergeant yet, nor won't be for ever so long." "Oh, Teddy!" said Cora, and hid her face right over his second button, "I ain't lovin' yer chevrons; I'm lovin' _you_." * * * * * Shorty received the joyous news in ominous silence. "When's the weddin'?" he demanded abruptly. "Oh, sometime next month, I guess," said the proud husband-to-be. "Nothin' of the sort. You get married next week; do you hear? No mañana about this business; get it over as quick as possible. You'll be worthless to me for long enough, as it is. A great poet _you_ are! The whole thing was nothin' but the girl, just as I told Sergeant Stone." So J Troop had a wedding, and the whole troop turned out in force, brave in full dress, from Shorty down to the latest junior rook--the only member not present being Sergeant Hansen, who had no interest in the proceedings. And the punch flowed so freely and so strongly that every man who tried to enlighten the absent one told a totally different story. * * * * * Spring had come again at Fort Hotchkiss, and one soft evening, as Stone and Whitney were sitting on the porch, Sergeant Theodore Ryan, now proudly sporting his three chevrons, came up to them, smiling a wide-mouthed, foolish smile. "Well, what's up, hombre?" "Recruits fer J Troop--over to my quarters." "_Recruits!_ You don't mean to say there's _two_ of 'em?" Ryan nodded. "Twins," he assented beamingly. "'Heaven meant things to go in twos, Cora,'" quoted Whitney. [Illustration: FROM LEWIS CARROLL TO BERNARD SHAW BY ELLEN TERRY ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PAINTINGS AND PHOTOGRAPHS] _Copyright, 1908, by Ellen Terry (Mrs. Carew)_ One of the best "audiences" that actor or actress could wish for was Mr. Gladstone. He used often to come and see the play at the Lyceum from a little seat in the O. P. entrance, and he nearly always arrived five minutes before the curtain went up. One night I thought he would catch cold--it was a bitter night--and I lent him my white scarf. He could always give his whole great mind to the matter in hand. This made him one of the most comfortable people to talk to that I have ever met.