"It's odd to think it--but those two boys are the fathers of the regiment."
And now that Grafton looked around and thought of it again--they were. The fathers of the regiment had planted Plymouth and Jamestown; had wrenched life and liberty and civilization from the granite of New England, the fastnesses of the Cumberland, and the wildernesses of the rich valleys beyond; while the sires of these very Westerners had gone on with the same trinity through the barren wastes of plains. And, now, having conquered the New World, Puritan and Cavalier, and the children of both were come together again on the same old mission of freedom, but this time the freedom of others; carrying the fruits of their own struggle back to the old land from which they came, with the sword in one hand, if there was need, but with the torch of liberty in the other--held high, and, as God's finger pointed, lighting the way.
As Grafton walked slowly back, an officer was calling the roll of his company under the quiet, sunny hill, and he stopped to listen. Now and then there was no answer, and he went on--thrilled and saddened. The play was ended--this was war.
Outside the camp the road was full of half-angry, bitterly disappointed infantry--Chaffee's men. When he reached the camp of the cavalry at the foot of the hill again, a soldier called his name as he passed--a grimy soldier--and Grafton stopped in his tracks.
It was Crittenden, who smiled when he saw Grafton's bewildered face. Then the Kentuckian, too, stared in utter amazement at a black face grinning over Grafton's shoulder.
"Nothin', Ole Cap'n--jes doin' nothin'," said Bob, with the _naïveté_ of a child. "Jes lookin' for you."
"Is that your negro?" A sarcastic Lieutenant was asking the question.
"Well, we don't allow soldiers to take their valets to the field."
"My servant at home, sir, I meant. He came of his own accord."
[Illustration: "Nothin', Ole Cap'n--jes doin' nothin'--jes lookin' for you."]
"Go find Basil," Crittenden said to Bob, "and if you can't find him," he added in a lower tone, "and want anything, come back here to me."
"Yessuh," said Bob, loath to go, but, seeing the Lieutenant scowling, he moved on down the road.
"I thought you were a Captain," said Grafton. Crittenden laughed.