"Really?" replied the padre, in mild astonishment. As he walked into the camp, he was stopped by a sentry.
"Who goes there?"
"Friend," he answered. Then he went up to the man and added anxiously, "I
suppose that was the right thing to answer, wasn't it?"
The general was delighted at these stories, and asked the Rev. Mr. Jeffries to take his meals at his own table.
"Padre," he said, "don't you think our mess is a happy family?"
"Padre," chimed in the doctor approvingly, "don't you think that this mess has all the characteristics of a family? It is just a group of people thrown together by chance, who never understand each other in the least, who criticize one another severely, and are compelled by circumstances to put up with each other."
"There's nothing to joke about," said Colonel Parker. "It's these compulsory associations that often give rise to the finest devotion."
And being in a lively mood that evening, he related the story of Private Biggs:
"You remember Biggs, who used to be