His mother turned on him like a fury.
"Oh, will he!" she cried. "Not in my eyes!"
"He should get in a cavalry regiment; he'll have the time of his life, and will look an awful swell."
"Swell!—swell!—a mighty swell indeed!—a common soldier!"
"Well," said Paul, "what am I but a common clerk?"
"A good deal, my boy!" cried his mother, stung.
"What?"
"At any rate, a man, and not a thing in a red coat."
"I shouldn't mind being in a red coat—or dark blue, that would suit me better—if they didn't boss me about too much."