"I mean, your better half."
"My better half?"
Frank was mystified.
"Yes, your wife." And the grizzly mustache curled with quiet humor.
"I must be a married man without knowing it!" laughed Frank.
"Your ship, then," said the veteran, dryly. "Come with me."
And conducting Frank to his tent, he took from one side an object covered with a blanket.
"My ship!" cried Frank, joyfully, already guessing what treasure was now to be his.
"Your sword, then, if you like that name better. For what his sword is to a hero, what his ship is to a true sailor, what a wife is to a true husband,—such, my young friend, to a genuine drummer is his drum."
So saying, the veteran threw aside the covering, and presented to his pupil the long-coveted prize. The boy's eyes shone with pleasure, and (as he wrote that evening to his parents) he was so happy he could have hugged both the old drummer and the new drum.