And once more the cap did duty in the air, as Magnus gave a tolerably quiet version of the class yell.
"Go, child," his mother repeated, smiling at him.
"Yes, I must," said Magnus. "Cherry said I should be pale to-morrow. It is worth while going to sleep, with no reveille gun ahead."
XXVII
OFF LIMITS
Forgotten the sounds of drum and fife,
Forgotten the winter days so drear;
But all was keen with the glad new life
That throbs in the veins in the furlough year. —Howitzer of 1891.
It was just like the cross grain of human nature that without a sound but the singing of birds to rouse him, our young soldier should wake up at precisely reveille gun time. In fact he did it for three days, to his great disgust; and then, as he said of himself, learned to know how happy he was.
Of course, this first morning at home, with everything before him except drills and regulations, going to sleep again was impossible.
So with the sublime unconsciousness of other people's slumbers which marks young men of his age, Magnus lay still and began to whistle. And with that other line of forgetfulness which shows the inferiority of the feminine mind, there was not a woman in the house but would have given her best sleep to hear him.
They were not asleep, however, but up and stirring; and it was perhaps some closing door or opening window, or the long unheard voice of the coffee mill, which reminded Cadet Kindred that in these regions there was no preparatory drum; and that such a noise as he had been making would quite rule out the thought of any private suggestions at his door. Wherefore, he had better get up. But what fun—to dress as he liked, in what he liked, and be as long as he liked about it.