'Why, she doesn't believe father's story is true, Sol! You know it is, don't you?'
'She isn't as old as the button itself.'
'Ha! ha! she wasn't born when it was in battle. Much she knows about it!'
Sol had difficulty in quieting the indignant voices.
'Lookee here, you boys, go home and leave my little lass to me; she knows nothing about the button. I'll tell her the story, and then she won't laugh at it any more. Ay, I remember seeing your father, youngster. He was a brave man, he was, but he would never have made war against little maids like this. Shame on you; get you home! Get you gone, I say, or I'll bring my stick out.'
'She's been told the story. She listened, and she laughed. She ought to say she's sorry.'
Teddy stood with his legs wide apart, and his hands in his pockets. His tone was severe.
'I'll never, never, never say I'm sorry. I'm glad of what I said. I don't believe a word of it!'
And with this parting shot Nancy ran into the cottage, and the boys returned to the village more slowly than they came.
'Mother,' said Teddy that night, as his mother bent down for a 'good-night' kiss, 'I haven't been good to-day, and I don't feel good now. I feel, when I think it over, so angry inside.'