"I haven't any prize money coming, but I am to be a second lieutenant of volunteers," put in Ben. "Our regiment is to be mustered out very soon, and then I'm going to try for something else in the same line."
"And what is that, Ben?" asked Job Dowling and the other boys together.
"I'm going to try for a commission in the regular army."
"Hurrah! that's the talk!" came from Larry. "And if you stay in the army, I'll see what I can do toward working my way up in the navy."
Then both lads looked toward their guardian. Job Dowling scratched his chin in perplexity, and cleared his throat.
"All right, boys—I should say young men, fer ye ain't none o' ye boys no more—go an' do as ye please, I ain't got nothin' agin' it. You have all done yer duty to Uncle Sam, an' thet bein' so, it stands to reason ye are capable o' doin' yer duty to yerselves an' to me. To look back it 'pears to me thet I made some kind of a mistake at the start with ye, an' so I say, you willin' an' me willin', we'll take a fresh start,—an' there's my hand on't."
"Uncle Job, you're a—a brick!" came from Walter, and a general handshaking followed, and then, as Mrs. Graham came on with a coffee-pot and the dessert, Ben arose with the cup in his hand.
"Boys, let us drink Uncle Job's health in a cup of coffee!"
"We will!" came from his brothers.
"And eat it, too,—in a piece of that pie!" concluded the ever-lighthearted Larry.