"That doesn't look so very bad, after all," declared Mrs. Overton, viewing her erect, stalwart young son with an approval which she made no effort to hide. Then they talked on until at last Lieutenant Noll glanced at his watch. "I must be going," he said, rising. "I've overstayed my leave. Mother allowed me to leave her only long enough to run over and tell Hal the news. I've violated my parole already." "What time is it?" inquired Mrs. Overton. "A quarter to six!" "And, good gracious!" cried the little woman, jumping up from her chair. "Hal, in a few minutes more your father will be home, and not a blessed move has been made toward supper. There's no time to get anything ready now. Hal, I shall have to send you around the corner to the delicatessen shop, although I hate such ready-made meals." "Mother," demanded Hal, with a pretense at mild astonishment, "would you think of sending a commissioned officer in the United States Army around on errands, with packages to bring home?" "I--I guess that wouldn't be just right, would it?" agreed Mrs. Overton. "Never mind, my boy. I'll run right around myself. It will take me some time to get used to all the dignity that goes with your new position." "You needn't bother to go, Mother," laughed Hal. "An officer who would let his mother run errands to save his own dignity would be sure to come to a bad end in the Army. I was only joking, of course. This is a day to celebrate, so I propose to ask you and father to dine out this evening. There are several good places in town." "Which one do you prefer?" broke in Lieutenant Noll quickly. "Ralston's," Hal replied. "There's music there, and the food and service are fine." "Then I'll hurry home now and bring my folks up there, too, if I can," proposed Noll. "Good!" agreed Hal. "What hour, Mrs. Overton?" asked Noll, turning to that good woman. "Ask Hal." "In the Army it is customary to ask the ladies, Mother," Hal explained. "Seven o'clock, then," said Mrs. Overton. "Seven it shall be," nodded Noll. "That is, if I don't fail in coaxing Father and Mother out to dine." "You won't fail," Mrs. Overton assured him. "They'll be proud enough to go out with you to-night." Hal's father came home soon after. For years a clerk in one of the local stores, Mr. Overton had lately been promoted to be manager of the store. He was a quiet, thoughtful, studious man, and would probably have gone much higher in the world had not years of ill health interfered with his ambitions. "I don't need to tell you how glad I am, young man," said the elder Overton quietly, when he had heard the afternoon's news. "Nor am I going to offer you any parental advice. Your record in the Army, so far, makes me feel sure that you will go on in the way you have begun, and that your record, at any point, will have been an honorable one. And now I must leave you and go upstairs to put on my best clothes in honor of the distinction that has come upon my son."