"Everything looks so quiet and lovely. Aun' Jinkey, there, my old
mammy, is at work just as I have seen her for years, and Chunk is
busy yonder in the garden. It is hard to think how suddenly all
might change."
"A soldier must think and be prepared."
"Have you no fear?"
"Life is sweet to me. I know only one thing--I must do my duty and
trust in God. I have the consolation that no one is dependent on me;
no one would grieve for me very much. I'm quite alone in the world.
My crusty old guardian would inherit my property, and you may well
guess that Aunt Jinkey's tub yonder would hold all his tears if I
should make a sudden exit," and again he smiled in his pleasant way,
as if with the purpose to relieve his words of all sombreness.
"Are you an orphan, too?" she asked sympathetically.
"Such a mature, fully developed orphan as I am is not an object of
pity, Miss Baron," he replied, laughing. Then he added, a little
proudly: "I'm nearly twenty-two; I was twenty-one on my last
birthday, and I celebrated it by a ride only less risky than the one
which landed me at your feet.
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