"Now boy, to bed; you have to sleep and grow, if you are going to be a soldier!" Harold threw two little arms around George's neck. "Yep!! I've got to sleep a whole lot to grow to be a big man. I want to be just like you." George laughed. "You must be an improvement on me, Harold. Every generation must strive to be a little better than the last." Harold looked puzzled. He dropped his hands before him, and twisted his little fingers together in thought. "What does generation mean?" he asked wonderingly. "Generation? Well, let me see," replied George smiling down at him. "We all come into the world at a different time, you know. If two men are born at the same time, we say they belong to the same generation." Harold sat earnestly thinking. Then he asked hesitatingly. "Then do you and Mus belong to the same generation?" He thought a moment again, then said vaguely, "But if you and Mus belong to just the same generation, you must belong to one another." "Wonderful child logic!" exclaimed George laughing. "He tries so hard to reason, but his conclusions are usually deplorable," remarked Alma, stretching out her hand to Harold with a smile of indulgence. Harold jumped down from George's lap, and ran to his mother's arms, to receive the petting that he had not yet outgrown. So fond of his mother, he was almost effeminate in his caresses of her. George smiled gently as he watched them. When Alma and he were alone in the library, he asked earnestly, "Alma, can you think of anything that you would not do for Harold?" "What a foolish question! Of course not," she replied, looking her surprise. "I am doubtful of your willingness to do one thing," he said gravely. "I tell you there is nothing," she said fervently. "He is all that I have now." "Nothing? Absolutely nothing, Alma? Would you marry again,--someone who would gladly lay his fortune at your feet, and care for you and the child of his departed friend?" Alma looked at him intently, and his meaning suddenly dawned upon her. "Dear George," she said, and her voice trembled: "I believe that you would sacrifice anything for Will's sake. What a friend you have been!" she exclaimed gratefully. "But you do not answer my question. Would you allow such a friend to have the only satisfaction in his life?" She looked at him frankly, unabashed. "No, George, I would not allow such a man as you to give his life for poor, broken-hearted me. Some other woman will surely give heart for heart, and awaken all the glorious love of your perfect manhood," she replied earnestly. "Alma, it may surprise you to know that my heart is as broken a reed as yours. I have nothing to offer you, except what you can give in return--a lasting friendship. You have loved and lost, so have I. In the losing, you have learned to love the lost one more deeply than before. So have I. It is friendship for friendship, dear girl, and marriage vows for the world's good opinion and our dear Harold's future."