Still the company commander did not seem to be deeply impressed with the sergeant’s plea. He asked, of no member of the committee in particular: “Does Barriscale know anything about this?” Manning and Boyle replied with one accord, in the same words: “Not a word!” And Manning added: “We have not taken him into our confidence for fear he might disapprove and put a stop to it.” Again Lieutenant McCormack looked into the faces of his visitors for a moment without speaking. Then he said quietly: “I do not think that, under the circumstances, you have been guilty of any breach of military etiquette. I will accept your petition, consider it, and consult with my lieutenants concerning it.” They saluted him, he returned the salute, and then they turned on their heels and left the commander’s tent. Three days later orders were posted announcing the appointment of Private Benjamin Barriscale to the office of First Sergeant. Late in March Company E came home from the border. As the boys marched up from the station, stalwart, bronzed, with ringing steps and beaming faces, the citizenry of Fairweather lined the curbs and hung from the windows to greet and acclaim them. As they went by, Sarah Halpert, standing in her automobile, surrounded by the McCormack family, waved her handkerchief, and shouted her enthusiastic welcome. She had reason to be both proud and happy. For her old wish had been fulfilled; Halpert McCormack was captain of Company E, and Benjamin Barriscale was its first lieutenant. Captain Murray had resigned his commission, and the new appointments had come down through headquarters three days before the entrainment of the troops for home. “Haven’t I told you times without number,” exclaimed Sarah Halpert, “that the boy had the stuff in him? All that was needed to bring it out was a Sabbath morning, and a howling mob, and a threat against Old Glory.” * * * * * Transcriber’s Notes: --Text in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_). --Printer's, punctuation and spelling inaccuracies were silently corrected. --Archaic and variable spelling has been preserved. --Variations in hyphenation and compound words have been preserved. --Except for the frontispiece, illustrations have been moved to follow the text that they illustrate. End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Guardsman, by Homer Greene