"It is quite as well I didn’t see you, for if I had, I’d have forgotten every bit of military discipline I’ve absorbed since being here," responded Dick, smiling good-naturedly at his sister’s mockery; "as it was I came near making a break when Hank Cabell pointed you out to me; but fortunately he grabbed me and saved my reputation as a marine." "Is ’Hank,’ as you call him, the boy about whom you wrote to us--the Southerner?" inquired Dick’s father. "Yes, Dad, and I want you to meet him. He’s a dandy chap and comes from a good family, though I believe they are very poor, and likewise very proud." "Sometimes that combination isn’t all that could be desired as an asset," drily remarked Mr. Comstock. "But he is all right, Dad," said Dick, quickly coming to the defense of his friend against any possible insinuation. "There he is now. I’ll get him to come over here." Suiting actions to his words Richard presently returned with Henry, and the formality of introductions over, Mr. Comstock invited his son’s friend to join them at luncheon and for the day. Henry’s rather sombre face lighted up with pleasure. "I should be very glad to go, sir, providing I can secure early liberty," he said. "How about you, Dick, are you in the same boat as your friend Henry?" inquired his father. "No, Dad; you see, when I told Colonel Waverly you were here he excused me for the rest of the day," replied Richard, and turning to Henry he said, "Suppose you hurry up and get permission, Hank, while I go and put away my implements of warfare." "Implements of war, indeed!" laughed Ursula, pointing banteringly at the drum slung over her brother’s shoulder, "and are your weapons as dangerous as my brother’s?" asked she, turning her questioning eyes on Henry. "Mine consists of a brass trumpet," replied the boy with a smile, "but it has one advantage over the drum as a weapon, for it makes a handy bludgeon in time of need." "Run along, boys," cautioned Mrs. Comstock, "it is nearly noon and I for one am famished." "I reckon it would be better for us to get permission to wear cits; it might be less embarrassing for you all," and Henry looked inquiringly at Richard’s parents. "Not for me," interposed Dick, with some emphasis; "I’m in uniform, and I’m proud of it, and so are my people." "I didn’t mean it in that light," Henry replied, flushing at the suggested rebuke. "I was merely thinking of your mother and sister and the possibility of saving them embarrassment. You may not know this, but enlisted men in uniform are not greeted cordially everywhere, even here in Washington." "Excuse me, Henry, for being so hasty; I had not thought of that side of the question," said Dick frankly, and he turned red himself because of his readiness to find fault with his chum’s remark.