Is it strange that, as he went on his way, his thoughts were all of the beautiful girl he had just left? But, all unbidden, there arose before him a mental vision of the face of another girl--a girl whose queenly head was crowned with a wealth of golden hair, but whose eyes flashed with scorn at the sight of him--whose very soul loathed the uniform he wore; and he sighed, he hardly knew why. Suddenly the thoughts of all girls were driven from his mind, for in the crowd before him he saw a well-known face--the face of Carl Meyer. Carl was a German boy, about a year older than Lawrence. It was he who had induced Lawrence to join the Home Guards, and thus paved the way to his acquaintance with Frank Blair. They had not met since the battle of Wilson Creek, when Carl went back with a broken arm. In a moment the two clasped hands, their eyes telling what their lips refused to utter. At length Lawrence found voice. "My! how you have grown!" he exclaimed; "and this,"--he touched the strap of a second lieutenant on his shoulder--"Oh, Carl, I am so glad." "And you," replied Carl, the joy gleaming in his honest eyes; "I see it's Captain now." "Come with me, Carl. I must hear all that has happened to you since the last time we met." In the privacy of Lawrence's room, Carl told his story--a story that Lawrence listened to breathless attention. "The wound which I received at Wilson Creek was a bad one," said Carl, "and at first it was thought I would have to lose my arm; but I have it yet, and a pretty good arm it is. After I had recovered, which was early in January of this year, I was with the army which operated against New Madrid and Island Number 10. Lawrence, you should have been with me. It was glorious. The river fight--the mighty siege-guns--the great mortars which hurled shells weighing hundreds of pounds. It was as if all the thunders of heaven had gathered in one place to smite the earth. "Then think of digging a canal twelve miles long, six miles of it through heavy timber. Great trees were sawed off beneath the water, to make a road for the transports." "How could you do it? How could you do it?" broke in Lawrence. "By standing on rafts or in boats and using saws with very long handles. It was a giant's task, but at last it was completed. Not only this, but, amid snow and chilling rains, bayous were waded, swamps considered impassable struggled through; and at last New Madrid and Island Number 10 fell. "The fruits of these victories were glorious: nearly two hundred cannon, great and small; seven thousand prisoners, as many small arms, great stores of the munitions of war, and several transports sunk. All of this with a loss of only fifty." "It was glorious, Carl," cried Lawrence. "No wonder you feel proud of being one of an army that dared so much, and accomplished so much."